8 Things You Didn’t Know About Lincoln Park Zoo—Sustainability Edition

As the zoo prepares for Earth Week festivities between April 20–26, our hope is to inspire conservation action that creates positive outcomes for wildlife and people. By empowering our community to make climate-friendly choices, together we can take one more step on our individual and collective journeys toward more sustainable lives.

Here are a few ways in which the zoo practices sustainability:

1. When possible, the zoo prioritizes purchasing food for the animals from local farms.

Buying local helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated when transporting food. The shorter the distance from farm to “table” the less fuel needed for transportation. It also helps the zoo invest in local communities. As part of a partnership with Midwest Foods, the zoo’s Nutrition Center sourced almost 210,000 pounds of food for animal diets from partners in Chicago and across the Midwest last year. That’s 190,000 lbs. of hay and 7,800 lbs. of produce!

2. The zoo grows some of its own food for animal diets on-site.

Between July and November 2025, more than 1,900 lbs. of food were grown on-site, harvested and delivered to animals at Farm-in-the-Zoo, Regenstein Center for African Apes, Helen Brach Primate House, and Regenstein Macaque Forest. The harvest included herbs, flowers, red peppers, watermelon, squash, banana leaves, potatoes, carrots, beans, greens, and pumpkins.

Image courtesy of Curator Cassy Kutilek.

3. The zoo diverts waste from landfills through recycling and reuse programs.

Along with traditional commingled recycling, the zoo practices special landfill diversion initiatives to recycle materials like old uniforms, styrofoam, shipping materials, e-waste, used writing utensils, batteries, and more. In 2025, the zoo recycled more than 200 tons of material.

Guests can join us in recycling old cell phones and tablets and supporting gorilla conservation programs using the Gorillas on the Line collection box at Searle Visitor Center.

4. Lincoln Park Zoo composts with the help of LRS.

It can be easy to imagine that organic waste going to a landfill is no different than  compost. However, because organic waste becomes buried in a landfill, it decays without oxygen, producing methane, one of the most potent heat-trapping gases. In contrast, composters introduce oxygen into organic waste piles, often by turning, or aerating, them. This results in a decomposition process that creates nutrient-rich compost with far fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Every year, Lincoln Park Zoo diverts more than 215 tons of organic waste—including animal waste (aka poop!) and food scraps—from landfills, thanks to a partnership with Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS). This helps the zoo reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the equivalent of 45 cars driven for one year while generating nutrient-rich compost.

5. With 33,000 square feet of green roofs, Lincoln Park Zoo’s buildings also benefit Chicagoland.

Did you know that the zoo has 18 green roofs featuring layers of foliage? These green roofs reduce the zoo’s climate impact by insulating buildings and improving energy efficiency, but they also reduce greenhouse emissions and air pollution. In addition, green roofs slow stormwater runoff in cities, filtering pollutants from rainfall and keeping toxins from entering local waters—like Lake Michigan, not far from the zoo’s eastern edge.

Green roof atop Pepper Family Wildlife Center.

6. The zoo runs on 100% green electricity through Renewable Energy Certificates.

Lincoln Park Zoo is powered by green electricity through Green-e® Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates purchased by the Chicago Park District. RECs help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by generating and delivering electricity from a renewable energy source off-site, like solar panels and wind turbines. They are issued when 1 megawatt per hour of electricity is generated and delivered to the electricity grid from a renewable energy source, like solar panels and wind turbines.

7. The zoo audits and reports the use of plastic and palm oil and works to reduce food waste.

Lincoln Park Zoo has introduced zoo initiatives such as reusable containers and paper straws in food service locations. Recently, an audit of eight animal building kitchens helped identify how to reduce food waste during the preparation of animal diets. At public events like Spooky Zoo, hosted by the zoo’s Auxiliary Board, all treats are made with sustainable palm oil.

8. The zoo empowers the community toward more sustainable changes in their own lives by taking small actions that can make a big difference.

From choosing sustainable seafood with help from Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch to making better clothing choices that shed fewer microplastics into the environment, the zoo advocates for simple and effective ways to help animals in the wild.

Earth Day learning tables at Pepper Family Wildlife Center.

For information on ways you can help save species, Take Action With Us!