Chicago, the windy city, located on the southern tip of Lake Michigan is famous as the home of deep dish pizza and Al Capone, but less known is its status as a challenger in the effort to become the greenest large city in the US.

Explore Chicago

Downtown Chicago is known as the loop due to the elevated rail line circuit that runs through the city center. South of the loop is Grant park, home to attractions such as the Field Museum and Soldier Field stadium, but head north of the Chicago river for the Magnificent mile and Lincoln Park. Lake Michigan borders Chicago's eastern edge and the El links downtown to neighborhoods such as Chinatown and Wicker Park.

Eco-friendly Attractions

As well as high rise attractions like Sear's Tower and the Hancock Observatory, Chicago also has plenty of down to earth, green and eco-friendly attractions. One of the greenest being the Peggy Notebaert Museum. The museum is home to a year-round butterfly haven with 250 species of native and exotic butterflies, nature exhibits that give you a chance to get up close to tarantulas and other creepy crawlies, and a 17,000 square foot rooftop. The museum also makes use of solar power, sells eco-friendly goods in the store and has bike and blade racks for visitors who arrive by wheel.

More nature is on show at the Shedd Aquarium, which is home to over 8000 animals, including white sided Pacific dolphins, lizards and manatees. Conservation of sealife is at the heart of everything Shedd does and as well providing conservation information points throughout the building, the aquarium, part of which has a soy-based green roof, also helps fund schemes such as Project Seahorse and the Right Bite program - which spreads the word about sustainable seafood.

The Chicago Center of Green Technology also boasts a green roof, and during tours of the center you can learn how the green roof works and how the building benefits from solar power, ground heat pumps and a water conservation system.

A short journey north of downtown Chicago are the Chicago Botanic Gardens, a 350 acre area of land split between nine islands and featuring a bonsai garden, a waterfall garden, an English oak meadow and much more. Further, undercover gardens, can also be explored at the Garfield Park Conservatory to the west of the city center, which is free to visit for a self-guided tour.

Chicago also has several eco-friendly, human powered options for exploring the city. Head to Millennium Park to rent a range of bicycles including tandems and recumbents for self-guided exploration or join a guided bicycle or segway tour. For keen cyclists, make your way to the Daley Plaza on the last Friday of every month, and you'll be able to take part in Critical Mass - a Chicago bike ride that uses the safety in numbers principal to reclaim the roads for an afternoon.

Instead of two wheels, Chicago can also be explored using two paddles. Kayak and canoe tours along the Chicago River are operated by several companies, including Kayak Chicago, who also run night paddle tours throughout the summer months and rent kayaks for self-guided trips for around $15 an hour. Being the windy city Chicago is also an ideal place to take windsurfing lessons, which are available from the Windward sports store when booked in advance.

Chicago Green Shopping

Chicago is famous for the Magnificent Mile, but delve further afield and you'll find several eco-friendly fashion boutiques and stores. Pivot Boutique, west of downtown, stocks a wide range of eco-fashions, including fabrics made from bamboo and seacell - a blend of wood pulp fiber and seaweed. Further eco-fashions, made from organic merino wool, hemp and organic cotton, can be found in Oqoqo (pronounced oh-koh-koh) on North Halsted near Lincoln Park.

Eco-friendly outdoor gear, including recycled plastic board shorts and green flip-flops, is available in the Patagonia store on Clybourne Avenue, and Greenheart, near the Merchandise Mart, is a non-profit store selling a good range of fairtrade products and recycled gear, including travel bags and organic cotton clothing. In the Andersonville neighborhood some great eco-friendly gifts and bags can be found in the eco-boutique Green Sky, and in Green Genes, also in Andersonville, it's not just the products that are eco-friendly - the store's floors and counter are made from bamboo, salvaged furniture is used throughout the store and even the gift wrap is made from recycled material.

Chicago has two branches of the Buffalo Exchange - where you sell your old clothes or exchange them for new gear, one in Lakeview and one in Wicker Park. The Wicker Park area is also a great neighborhood to explore for thrift and charity stores - one of the most popular being the Brown Elephant Resale store.

Organic Cafes and Restaurants

The title of Chicago's greenest restaurant can be claimed by Uncommon Ground in the city's Edgwater neighborhood. The restaurant boasts Chicago's first rooftop organic garden, which supplies much of the restaurant's organic vegetables, is partially powered with its own solar panels; donates its used cooking oil to a local biodiesel program and even has its own beehives.

Uncommon Ground also hosts a monthly eco-mixer called the Green Room Sessions, which includes free organic appetizers and local music; and serves organic vodka Treetinis - and for each one sold they plant a tree.

No visit to Chicago is complete with trying an authentic deep dish pizza, but if thin crust is more your taste the organic restaurant Crust offers a variety of toppings, including wild herb and cheese or clambake, all of which can be washed down with organic beers and cocktails. Seafood lovers will also enjoy a Right Bite event with the Shedd Aquarium, the dinners, held at various restaurants throughout the year, serve up sustainable seafood and feature a few environmental expert guest speakers.

100% organic brownies, cakes, cookies and candies are the treats on offer at the Bleeding Heart Bakery, and if you're cooking your own food take a visit to the Chicago Green City Market, where stall holders sell locally grown and organic produce and chef demo sessions are regularly held . The market is held in Lincoln Park from May to October and in the Peggy Notebaert Museum in the winter.

Chicago Green Hotels and Hostels

Hotel Monaco
Part of the Kimpton Hotel group, offers reserved parking for hybrid cars, serves organic snacks and drinks, eco-friendly cleaning products are used and has a recycling system in place.
Monaco Chicago

HI Hostel Chicago
A huge 500 bed hostel but with a great downtown location and within walking distance of many attractions. Free guided tours of the city are also available for guests.
Book at Hostelworld

All Rise Gallery
This cozy, shared apartment is above an art gallery in Wicker Park - with an organic market across the road. Three private rooms share a communal kitchen and lounge and a two night minimum stay is in place.
Book at Hostelworld

Going Green

Chicago has always had pollution problems. In the late 19th century sewage flowed down the Chicago River into Lake Michigan - the city's fresh water supply, until engineers solved the problem by reversing the flow of the river. Pollution is still a challenge, but Chicago is making an effort to green up its image.

Chicago's mayor, Richard M Daley, has introduced several green initiatives, including an ordinance requiring all large taxi firms to own several hybrid cabs, and an incentive scheme for building projects to incorporate green roofs. Currently over 150 Chicagoland buildings boast a green top, including the city hall, the Chicago Center for Green Technology and the Apple retail store on Michigan Avenue - all of which help to keep buildings cool in the summer and insulated in the winter.

Recently Daley, and the Clinton Climate Initiative, also announced that the Sears Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the US and one of Chicago's most popular visitor attractions, will be greened up, by retro-fitting it with green technology to increase its energy efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint.

Eco-friendly Bars

As you'd expect from any large city Chicago has a lively nightlife - and since the smoking ban was put in place in 2007, all venues have clean air. If you're aiming to keep it green then take a trip to The Butterfly Social Club - an organic cocktail bar with a imaginative decor and partially powered by solar and kinetic energy. Next door is The Funky Buddha Lounge, which serves up organic cocktails, beers and juices and stays open until late in the night with live DJ's.

In Wicker Park organic beers and micro-brews can be found at the Handlebar - a bicycle friendly bar and grill with free bicycle parking and a late night kitchen that serves a mainly vegetarian menu. The owners of Handlebar are also the main driving force behind the Bloomingdale Trail campaign - which aims to transform three miles of abandoned elevated rail line into parks and cycle paths.

Music

Chicago has produced Fall Out Boy, the Smashing Pumpkins and many more, and while major label bands always stop off in Chicago on tour tickets can be hard to come by, so instead smaller venues such as The Empty Bottle, and Shubas offer a chance to see the next generation of up and coming bands.

Chicago also has plenty of music festivals to check out during the summer months. The Lollapolooza Festival and the Chicago Jazz Festival take place in Grant Park in August each year, and the smaller Pitchfork Music Festival takes place in July.

Getting Around

Subway, metra and El trains connect the majority of Chicago's attractions and neighborhoods, load a CTA card with around ten dollars to last you several trips.

CTA and Pace buses connect destinations the El doesn't reach. Fares can be paid by cash (exact change only) or with a CTA card.

Water taxis link Union Station and Sear's Tower with Michigan Avenue and Navy Pier, one way fares cost $2. Regular architecture and sightseeing boat tours also leave from Navy Pier.

Bicycles are also available to hire from Millennium Park - the traffic free route stretching from Grant Park to Lincoln Park is a great way to explore the city.

If you need a car to explore further afield both zip car and igo car share services have several vehicles available downtown, although membership is required.

Getting There

Chicago is served by O'Hare International and Midway airports - both of which connect to downtown via CTA trains. Amtrak trains terminate at Union Station in downtown Chicago.