Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway International airports are involved in a slew of sustainability initiatives, from installing solar fields to implementing widespread composting.
A new program will cut emissions, fuel use and labor costs for landscaping at O’Hare because it employs goats to do the job.
As your airplane takes off or lands you might notice a herd of 25 goats grazing nearby, hired by the Chicago Department of Aviation. They’ll be put to work chomping on 120 acres on four sites to start – supervised by a shepherd.
Under a $100,000, 2-year contract, the goats will start grazing this spring once the vegetation is high enough. They are being hired for "sustainable vegetation management grazing services," which requires munching weeds and invasive plants. They will clear about clear 250 square feet of vegetation a day.
The benefits are numerous: no herbicides will be needed to control weeds, no dirty, polluting mowing equipment, no fuel, and no emissions from having to transport landscape debris to landfills.
Mostly, the goats will work in fenced off areas and areas that are hard to maintain with landscaping equipment, such as hilly areas, stream banks and along roadways where there’s dense growth. With goats doing the landscaping, equipment won’t cause erosion and there won’t be herbicide runoff into streams.
Grazing is becoming popular at airports. Seattle-Tacoma International has used goats to eat weeds, and last year 100 sheep and some goats ate their way through kudzu and other invasive plants at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
San Francisco International has been employing goats for nine years to control the spread of invasive plants.
Another great initiative at O’Hare is its aeroponic garden. A vertical garden between two terminals grows 1100 kinds of vegetables and herbs that are eaten in airport restaurants. There are also 35 bee hives with over a million bees.
There are 13 green roofs at O’Hare and Midway airports, including FedEx’s which is the size of three football fields.
Airports mostly consist of large areas of impermeable concrete surfaces – green roofs cool the urban heat island effect and help with stormwater management. They also reduce airport noise, reduce air pollution, and lower energy costs by 35% a year.
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