Where are you going to be on Institute Day? Want a fascinating experience? Interested 3^rd-12^th grade educators should seriously consider joining us on the bus for a surprising, educational workshop. 5.5 CPDUs. Registration limited - call to reserve a spot on the bus!

·         Visit green buildings, and be in the know about this important new approach to building design

·         Discover the "gem" of Chicago's green buildings: The Center for Green Technology

·         Closer to home, climb up to the roof at Lyman Woods in Downers Grove - more stops, too

·         Learn about healthy indoor air; energy efficiency; conserving resources; beautiful landscapes, tile, carpets, etc., made from recycled materials; much more for your own home & workplace

·         Help prepare all your students, especially those interested in environment, construction, design architecture, engineering, landscaping, technology, government, and future city

·         We guarantee you'll be the most interesting "table topics" person at lunch the next day!

To register for these workshops, contact SCARCE: 630-545-9710 or ecoed@sbcglobal.net.

The first Ronald McDonald House (RMH) was dedicated in 1974, to "provide a home away from home for families of seriously ill kids receiving treatment at nearby hospitals." Parents pay a small token to stay at a RMH - it's free for those who can't afford to pay - to be near their children. To supplement this program, schools, scouts & other groups hold aluminum pop-tab collections.

     Let's Help Out (LHO), a Hinsdale Central HS student groupfounded several years ago by Nick Innocenti (now a senior) solely to help those in need, routinely coordinates drives and other projects. Last month, the group organized a blue jeans drive at school, and 700+ pairs were collected for distribution to some of DuPage County's neediest. Currently, LHO is holding a "pop tab" collection drive to benefit the Ronald McDonald House near Loyola Hospital. (above right picture: from Hinsdale Suburban Life, 11/8/07)  Congratulations to these young people who can see value when others see only trash. Good luck with the pop tab drive, and keep up the good work! (Always remember to recycle the rest of the can, after removing the tab!)This is a great opportunity to remind us the value of (& the costs of not) recycling our natural resources. (See scrap metal recycling articles in this issue)

So many science teachers registered for last month's Safe Chemicals in Education Workshop, we had to relocate the event from SCARCE to DuPage County's auditorium in Wheaton! An amazing 82 science teachers spent the day learning about "microscale chemistry" (pictured: a teaching method working with small quantities of chemical substances; smaller amounts means schools save $$, and in case of accident, spillage is reduced); ways to teach using safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals used in science class; and how to safely use, store and dispose of hazardous educational materials.

Contact Peggy Chamness: 217-785-2765 or Peggy.Chamness@illinois.gov

 see DCEO website

Much has been written about mercury in compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs lately, leading many to conclude (myth #1), using incandescent bulbs is the "earth-friendlier" choice.  While it is true CFL's contain mercury, a neurotoxin especially dangerous to children and the unborn, it is present in such minuscule amounts (about 5 mg, enough to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen, is sealed within the glass tube), compared to old thermometers (which contain about 500 mg of mercury), it would take 100 CFL's to equal the amount of mercury in one old thermometer

Mercury is found naturally in air, water and soil; emissions come from both natural & man-made sources. A coal-burning plant is a not-so-shining example of both sources of mercury emissions:

·         mercury is found naturally in many rocks, including coal

·         mercury is released into the air when coal is burned to make electricity

·         coal-fired power plants are the largest man-made source of mercury emissions, accounting for 40% of mercury emissions in US

Incandescent bulbs are a much bigger cause of mercury emissions. Although they contain no mercury within, incandescent bulbs produce far more mercury emissions, because they require more coal to be burned to provide them with all the electricity they need (up to 75% more than CFL's) to remain lit. No mercury escapes from an intact bulb - lit or not.

Because some fluorescent tubes are green-ended, many folks assume (myth #2) they contain no mercury. CFL's, fluorescent tubes, low-mercury or "green tips," and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps (mercury vapor, metal halide, high-pressure sodium, low-pressure sodium, and xenon short-arc lamps - used when high levels of light are required over a large area, as in gymnasiums and parking lots; they are also used in vehicle headlamps) all contain mercury and should be handled with care and disposed of properly.

 (Energy Star website)

DuPage County Recycling Guide lists places where residents and schools, businesses & other organizations may safely dispose of spent mercury-containing tubes and bulbs.

For Residents: Regional Household Hazardous Waste Facility, Naperville, Saturdays & Sundays:  9am-2pm, Naperville Hazardous Waste Collection

For Schools:

·         Air Cycle Corp, 800-909-9709 aircycle website

·         The Bulb Eater: Must-see video of award-winning on-site lamp crushing system at aircycle website  which is EPA and OSHA compliant, and according to AirCycle, "typically cuts recycling costs by 50% or more."

·         Everlights, Mokena IL 815-469-0631 everlights website

·         Mercury Waste Solutions, Union Grove WI Mercury Waste Solutions website 800-741-3343 for pickup or 800-664-1434  for pre-paid postage boxes

·         Fluorocycle, Ingleside IL 815-363-4411

How to decide what to buy and what to avoid, when comparative information is not readily available? Help is on the way! In 2006, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) published a 54-page guide to help schools and businesses reduce their purchase of products containing toxic chemicals. "How to Specify Low-Mercury and Lead-Free Lighting Equipment" is a fact-packed, easy-to-read presentation on mercury in lighting. It compares mercury content by lamp-type and by manufacturer.  It has strategies for reducing mercury: "de-lamping" and "re-lamping," and explains the "non-hazardous TCLP-compliant lamps" that are available. (TCLP: EPA's Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure)

 ABAG website

See the entire list of Energy Saving Gift Ideas.  

To help us wrap our brains around otherwise inconceivable statistics, Seattle artist Chris Jordan translates raw data and numbers into massive digital prints. His prints help us "feel the numbers" and connect with a variety of issues facing contemporary American society. Among Jordan's current work is "Toothpicks" which illustrates 8 million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees harvested in America every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs.

     Another new piece is his immense 60"x92" rendition of Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte. Jordan's Cans Seurat (pictured right) depicts 106,000 aluminum cans - the number of cans we use every 30 seconds in the USA. According to the artist, the most meaningful way to experience his work is in person, but this pop-artist's online exhibit is not to be missed.

How much natural resource is used to produce aluminum?

·         4-5 pounds of raw bauxite is needed to make 1 pound of aluminum

How much energy is used to produce aluminum?

·         3% of the electricity generated worldwide goes to aluminum production

·         229 BTUs: to make one aluminum can from (virgin ore) bauxite

·         8 BTUs: to make one aluminum can from recycled aluminum

Every year, Americans:

·         Collect & recycle aluminum for charities, such as:

o         Ronald McDonald House: 400 million pop tabs worth $4 million since 1987

o         Habitats for Humanity: 17 million pounds of aluminum cans worth $6.3 million since 1997

·         save equivalent of 1 gallon of gas for every 40 aluminum beverage cans they recycle

·         save enough energy to supply all electrical needs of a city the size of Pittsburg for SIX years

·         save 4-5 tons of the natural resource bauxite per ton of aluminum recycled

·         save 5 tons of caustic red mud residue, created in the mining of bauxite, from seeping into surface & groundwater (per ton of aluminum recycled)

·         use more than 100 billion aluminum beverage cans

·         incinerate or landfill about half of them

·         throw away 800,000 tons of aluminum cans, worth $500 million

·         waste equivalent of 15.5+ million barrels of crude oil (entire USA gas consumption for one day)

Information from USEPA, Container Recycling Institute (CRI), Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI)