Ask 10 neighbors what sustainability means, and seven will picture trees or recycling bins. Few mention paychecks, health or utility bills – yet that is where the benefits show up.
Here are four myths that keep DeKalb from cashing in.
Myth 1: “Sustainability is just about the environment.”
In business, wasting energy, water or raw materials is wasting money.
Northern Illinois University has invested roughly $50 million in lighting, insulation and HVAC upgrades over the past 15 years. Those projects now save the campus about $4 million every year in utility costs while cutting emissions.
On the private side, more than 1,080 DeKalb‑area firms have tapped the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program since 2008, earning $8.4 million in incentives and locking in permanent operating savings.
Even the City’s 2024 Sustainability Plan leads with the “significant economic benefits” of renewable energy – from new jobs to greater energy security. Bottom line: Smart sustainability is a cost‑control strategy. Cleaner air and water are the co-benefits.
Myth 2: “Going green is pricey for residents.”
Community solar blows that idea apart.
The twin Gurler Road solar farms on DeKalb’s south edge generate six megawatts – enough for 850 homes.
Subscribers of community solar generally receive bill credits priced 10 to 20% (or more) below ComEd’s standard supply rate, thanks to the Illinois Shines program.
You don’t buy panels, sign long contracts or pay exit fees, you simply save.
Similar offers across northern Illinois advertise the same discount range, sometimes even larger, depending on the provider and project size. Municipal projects use the same math: The city’s planned LED street-light and electric‑vehicle upgrades are projected to pay for themselves inside five years through lower energy and maintenance bills.
For households or cities, the real question isn’t “Can we afford sustainability?” but “Why keep paying to waste energy?”
Myth 3: “Recycling is the big climate lever.”
Recycling matters, but it is a small slice of any personal carbon budget.
Researchers Seth Wynes and Kimberly Nicholas calculated that even perfect household recycling cuts an American’s emissions by only about 0.2 tons per year – barely 1% of a typical footprint.
Bigger moves dwarf that figure: Ditching a car (2.4 tons), joining community‑solar or another green‑power program (1.5 tons) and shifting toward a plant‑based diet (0.8 tons) all deliver far larger reductions.
Locally, DeKalb already gives residents those high‑impact options: Huskie Bus routes and new bike lanes let households drop a second vehicle. Community‑solar handles electricity. NIU’s compost pilots and “Edible Campus” gardens help students cut food waste.
Keep recycling – but put “reduce” and “reuse” first.
Myth 4: “Individual actions don’t matter.”
They matter the way a single online review matters to a business – one voice is small, but many voices set the market.
When early adopters filled the first two SunVest solar farms, developers rushed to propose a third community array in DeKalb County and larger utility‑scale projects like the 300‑MW Burr Oak Solar field now in planning.
NIU students swapped single‑use clamshells for reusable to‑go containers in dining halls that serve 2.3 million meals a year, a change driven by grassroots “Eco Huskies” campaigns.
Every subscription, purchase and plant‑based lunch sends the same signal: Demand is shifting, so suppliers and policymakers must follow. That’s the butterfly effect in action.
What now?
- Check your address at Citizens Utility Board’s “Solar in the Community” portal and join the next open project. Savings of 10 to 15% are waiting. Both residents and businesses qualify for savings. Renters who pay their own utilities qualify, or landlords can subscribe their entire complex.
- Read the city’s Sustainability Plan and tell your alderperson which action to fund first.
- Pick one high‑impact habit – bike instead of drive once a week, try “Meatless Monday,” or schedule a free ComEd efficiency assessment.
If every household in DeKalb took just one of those steps, we’d keep thousands of tons of carbon out of the atmosphere and millions of dollars in local wallets – proof that good economics and good stewardship are the same thing.
• Shaun Langley is a member of the City of DeKalb’s Citizens’ Environmental Commission.