|
|
|
|
| Book Rescue |
| Our Book Rescue project "rescues" books that are no longer needed, and gets them into the hands of children in need. Please keep this project in mind when your schools gets rid of books or if you need some books for your classroom.
March 8, 2008 9-11 am
Normal Book Rescue Hours: LABOR DAY TO MEMORIAL DAY:
-Monday - Friday
9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
-Tuesday evenings until 7 PM
-The 2nd Saturday of the month 9- 11 a.m.
Location 799 Roosevelt Road
Building 2, Suite 108
Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60137
8:00AM-5:00PM
NEEDED! Reading Books -- If you are doing spring cleaning, we are in need of reading books for ages newborn - high school |
|
|
| March 2008 Ripples
Volume 19, Issue 7 |
March, 2008 |
 Dear Earth Stewards,
It may be -3 below when you read this, but spring is nigh - honest! Have you made plans for Earth Day/Week/Month? We have hundreds of ideas to share with you. Follow the happy shamrock for a pot 'o golden (and green!) resources, activities, contests, events to inspire you to make 2008 the most meaningful Earth Day ever for your students and your school! Environmentally yours,
Kay McKeen
Your email address will be kept strictly for use of send Scarce email and will not be shared.Your email address will be kept strictly for use of send Scarce email and will not be shared.
Our newsletters come from scarce.ecoed@sbcglobal.net. Please take a minute to add this email address to your address book to make sure your spam filter does not block it. If you'd like to forward to a friend, use the link at the bottom of the newsletter. |
|
SPRING INTO ACTION: EARTH DAY IS ON ITS WAY! |
 "And The Winner Is!" 2008 Environmental Contests
The IL Governor's Green (K-12) Youth Award
Application Deadline: March 17th
 Award recognizes outstanding, innovative efforts of IL youth working on environmental & conservation projects. Grade categories: K-4, 5-8, & 9-12. Group categories: Individual Students (homeschool, public, private); School Class (public, private); Club or Organization (4-H, scouts, etc.).Winners to be invited to awards ceremony in Springfield, & may be eligible for certificates, plaques, &/or financial assistance for their programs.
For more info & instructions on IL EPA website
The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes (ages 8-18)
Nomination Deadline: April 30th
"Nominees must have organized and led a truly extraordinary service activity which has clearly benefited other people, our fellow creatures, or the planet we share." They must have participated in their work w/in 12 months prior to April 30, & must be nominated by an adult who is familiar w/the activity. Ten winners: 5 w/focus on helping others, and 5 w/focus on protecting the health & sustainability of the environment. Each winner receives $2,000 for higher ed or their service project. (G. Barron Prize is supported by Nat'l. Geographic, Girl Scouts, etc.) For more info & instructions on Barron Prize website
Environmental Concern's Write On! Wetlands 7th-9th Writers' Challenge
Submission Deadline: April 1st
Theme for 2008: Marshy Migrations: Journeys of a Lifetime. Middle schoolers are challenged to compose a book geared toward children aged 5-9. (The final book will have 16 pages of text, and each page will consist of 20-40 words.)
See the wetland website for flyer. info & instructions
Environmental Concern's Write On! Wetlands K-6th Illustrators' Challenge
Announcement of the winning book to be illustrated: May 1st
Submission Deadline: May 30th
 Theme for 2008: Marshy Migrations: Journeys of a Lifetime. K-6th children are challenged to illustrate one page of the book written by the MS kids.
See the flyer for specific instructions:
Kane-DuPage Soil & Water Stewardship K-12 Poster Contest
Deadline: May 1st
 Theme for 2008: Water For Life. Any media: paint, crayon, colored pencil, charcoal - may be used. NO digital methods and/or computer graphics. Winners in each division: K-3, 4-6, 7-9 & 10-12.
See the flyer for info & instructions |
|
 Whole Foods To Host 5% Day To Support SCARCE,Thursday, March 20
On Thursday, March 20 Whole Foods Market in Willowbrook will host a Community Support Day to benefit SCARCE. Please be sure to stop by the Willowbrook store any time that day and 5% of your purchase will come right back to SCARCE. Also, the store is asking all shoppers that day to bring in used cell phones for recycling through SCARCE. |
APPROVED IL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROVIDERS SINCE TURN OF CENTURY ANNOUNCE Summer WORKSHOPS!
OUR WORKSHOPS ARE FUN, FREE, FAST-PACED, HANDS-ON AND ONE-OF-A-KIND! AT THE END OF EVERY ONE, YOU'LL FIND A POT O' GREEN RESOURCES
7th Annual "Shed Those Watershed Blues" For 3rd-12th Grade Teachers
Thursday & Friday, June 12 & 13, 2008 8 AM -4:30 pm
Official Aurora U. title and course number: Watershed Issues for Teachers, OEDC 6158
 Teacher, let's be kids again. We'll splash around in the water, but no one will get mad at us! Register for our educational (and delightful!) watershed workshop; we'll hop on the bus, pull up our boots, step - gently - into the river, and learn about the quality of the waters of our own streams. We'll conduct water tests, and we'll identify benthic  macro-invertebrates - those interesting bottom-dwelling mussels, crayfish, etc., that serve as indicators of water quality. We will even climb to the rooftops to learn - up close and personal - about green roofs.
We will spend the first day in the classroom building watershed models and more, to learn what we (and our students) can do to protect our watersheds and keep them clean. Day two is filled with visits to several watersheds and stormwater management solution sites. Jump into this class with both feet!
FEE: $15 (AM & PM snacks provided)
CREDIT: 15 CPDUs (FREE) or 1 Graduate Credit from Aurora University ($100)
 10th Annual Where Is Away?
K-12 Teacher Workshop
Monday-Friday, June 16-20, 2008 8 AM - 4:30 PM
And 6/26, 8 AM-Noon, if taking for grad credit*
Official Aurora U. title and course number: Environmental Issues and Concerns, OEDC 6979
 Let us immerse you in trash - well, in the problems, concerns and solutions that surround the "stuff" we make and buy and use and throw away, day in and day out! We'll travel by bus to explore landfills, recycling centers and other sites, to help us understand the many processes that deal with all this garbage. And we'll take time each day to experiment, build, discuss and digest where we have been and why. Lots of fun; lots of learning; lots of resources!
FEE: $75 (AM & PM snacks provided)
CREDIT: 7 CEU's (FREE) or 3 Grad Credits from Aurora University ($225)
* If taking WIA for graduate credit, follow-up meeting is required. All lessons must be presented to fellow participants during this week so lessons can be graded & recorded within Aurora U. time limits. (A 2nd date will be chosen during that same week, by those who cannot make the 6/26 date.)
Both classes must pack waste-free lunches every day.
Those taking either summer course for graduate credit will have a project to complete. Each day will begin & end at SCARCE headquarters in Glen Ellyn. Space is limited.
For more info & to register for these unique & exciting workshops, call 630-545-9710. They are presented by SCARCE, w/funding through DuPage County's Environmental Education Program. Our professional development provider number is 100363. |
Recycling Events Abound Around DuPage in 2008
 Wheaton Recycling Extravaganza: Saturday, April 19, 9am-3pm
Commuter Parking Lot, Liberty & Carlton
For more information, contact Kay McKeen at (630) 545-9710
Items Accepted: Cell Phones, Books, Torn/Faded American Flags (For Proper Retirement), Scrap Metal (i.e., Swing Sets, Railings, Washers, Dryers, Pots & Pans, Metal Hangers), Eye Glasses, Hearing Aids, Keys, Gym Shoes, Lawn Mowers, Garden Tools, Home Repair Tools, Bicycles (Working/Broken), SLA Batteries (Car, Motorcycle, Marine, Lawn Mower, Sump Pump, RV, All Types Of Sport Vehicles)
Items NOT Accepted: Refrigerators, Air Conditioners, Electronics, Household Hazardous Waste
Electronics Recycling Collection West Chicago: Sat, April 19, 8am-2pm
SIMS, 1600 Harvester (1 mile S. of North Ave., east of Powis & DuPage County Airport)
For more information, contact 630-231-6060
Items Accepted: Computers/Computer Systems, Televisions, Scrap Metal, Telephones, VCRs, Fax Machines, Scanners, Answering Machines, Printers, Electronic Games.
Glen Ellyn Recycling Extravaganza: Saturday, April 26, 8am-noon
Commuter Parking Lot at Duane & Lorraine, just west of GE Library
For more information, contact (312) 353-3962.
Items Accepted: Cell phones, laser & inkjet cartridges, books, American Flags, hearing aids, eyeglasses, clean PVC pipe, scrap metal (swing sets, siding, pots & pans, metal hangers, tin, washers, dryers, stoves, hot water heaters, wagons, etc), #1 plastics - pop bottles, #2 plastics - milk/laundry jugs, juice pouches, bottle caps, fire extinguishers, bicycles-working or broken, home repair & lawn tools, lawn mowers.
NOT Accepted: Refrigerators, air conditioners, electronics, computers, printers, monitors, household hazardous waste. |
|
Annual Earth Day Trail Cleanup: April 26 at 9am -- Rain or Shine!
Many volunteers are needed to cover many miles of trails. Consider joining in on the fun!
IL Prairie Path (62 miles in 3 counties)
Great Western Trail (11½ miles in DuPage County)
Southern DuPage County Regional Trail (through Aurora, Naperville, Woodridge, Darien & Willowbrook)
To volunteer, please contact: Ray Bartels, rbartel399@aol.com |
|
Initiate A Gym Shoe Collection: April 22-May 20
WHO? Schools, churches, individuals - everyone is welcome to donate gym shoes
WHAT? Gym/Athletic/Tennis Shoes - any brand, any condition; "light-up" shoes are okay
WHAT NOT? NO spikes or cleats; NO dress shoes, slippers, sandals, or anything that is not a gym shoe
WHEN? Drop off between April 22 - May 20 (MWThF: 9am-4pm; Tues: 9am-7pm;
WHERE? SCARCE Headquarters: 799 Roosevelt Road; Building 2, Glen Ellyn
HOW? First, call to set-up drop-off date/s: 630-545-9710. Then, inspire your students to action: borrow our kits with AWESOME videos or DVDs that show the demanufacturing process of gym shoes, and samples of products made from the recycled "NikeGrind" that groups may check out.
Volunteers needed - high school and older - to help sort, count, pack, move boxes, and remove the batteries from light-up shoes. Call 545-9710 to volunteer. For more details, jog onto the SCARCE Shoe Rescue page. |
|
Plant A Tree:
April 25 Is Arbor Day #136
 On the 4th Friday in April, Arbor Day (a nationally-celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care) is celebrated in Illinois. Everyone in DuPage has special reason to commemorate the day, as it was founded in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton, whose son Joy founded our very own Morton Arboretum in 1922. One tree-rific way to mark the day: plant one on your own piece of land, or a friend's, or your school's, and make sure the plants and trees you're planting are northeastern-Illinois natives! Why not read The Lorax aloud in class? Whatever the age, grade level & subject, it's just what the Doctor (Seuss) ordered, for another awesome way to celebrate the day! Log onto the Arbor Day Foundation for more. |
|
DuPage County Household Hazardous Waste Collection:
May 3, 8am-3pm
Free Event, Elmhurst Public Works
Event hotline: (630) 407-6760 or Print Flyer
ACCEPTABLE ITEMS: Expired/Leftover Medicines, Cleaning Solvents, Acids, Thermostats, Wood Stain & Varnish, Pool Chemicals, Fertilizers/ Pesticides, Poisons, Household Batteries, Automotive Fluids, Mercury, Oil-Based Paints, Insecticides, Asbestos, Fluorescent Light Ballasts, Fluorescent Light Bulbs, Mercury Thermometers & Thermostats, Unwanted cellular phones will also be collected for recycling
DO NOT BRING: Electronics, Fireworks, Agricultural Wastes, Regular Garbage, Ammunition, Radioactive Material, Auto Batteries, Compressed Gas Cylinders, School Wastes, Business Wastes, Explosives, Fire Extinguishers, Smoke Detectors, Medical Waste, Latex Paint, Propane Tanks
*Waste should be kept in the original container whenever possible. |
|
Free Energy Activity Books
For 3rd-7th Graders
 Light up your energy education lessons with help from Horton (he who hears whos - AND, by the way, he's starring in a theatre near you!) & USEPA. Through its Energy Star program, the EPA has published a new 6-page "guide to saving our planet" that's full of connect-the- numbers games, mazes, learn-to-draw lessons, crossword & other word puzzles, & more of kids' favorite learning activities. Bolt onto Energy Star's website to order up to 800 free booklets. To request larger quantities, call 888-782-7937
|
|
Laptop Collection - Now thru April 11 - Drop-Off Sites:
 A used laptop collection sponsored by DuPage Regional Office of Education, in partnership with Rotary Club of Central DuPage-AM and SCARCE, helps support very poor schoolchildren in Guatemala.
þ Any PC or Mac platform in working order is appreciated
þ Working battery not crucial (laptops will be powered by solar energy; there's no electricity in school)
þ Laptops will be processed; all applications and files will be removed prior to shipment
þ Call for drop-off times at the following locations:
§ DuPage Regional Office of Education, 421 County Farm Rd, Wheaton (630-407-5772)
§ Partners for Success, Old Mill School, 848 N. Mill Rd, Addison (630-543-4222)
§ Professional Development Center, 1519 Grace, Lombard (630-495-6080)
§ SCARCE, 799 Roosevelt Rd, Building 2, Glen Ellyn (630-545-9710).
Contact Dr. Tom Bookler, Assistant Superintendent, for more info re: this project or if you need to arrange for your laptops to be picked up. 630-407-5772 or tbookler@dupage.k12.il.us. |
|
Pot O'Green Full of More Earth Day Ideas þ Hold (at least one) class outside þ Hold a puzzle or book exchange þ Schedule a water or waste audit for school þ Read about an eco-hero (we have a long green list) þ Lift everyone's spirits on Earth Day: Fly your Earth Flag! þ Organize a schoolyard tag sale for your families and the community þ Initiate new policies: 1 note home per family/use both sides of paper þ Presentation: acting-out poem, musical review, skit (we have a variety, suitable for all ages) þ Plan to stop by the Resource Room for posters, activity sheets, videos to borrow, lots more þ Weave one environmental issue thru your curriculum all day - from science to art to history to math þ Organize a collection of used crayons, books, cell phones. Donate to charity, i.e., Tools for Schools þ Schedule an classroom visit or school-wide assembly for an environmental program þ Make crafts from throwaways - ask for a copy of our Trash to Treasure Booklet þ Decorate grocery bags for the community earthdaybags.org/þ Organize a "formal wear" exchange for springtime proms & dances þ Make battery collection jugs to bring home for HHW recycling þ Make plastic (from corn - NOT petroleum) right in class þ Conduct a locker/desk cleanout þ
WE HAVE DIRECTIONS, RESOURCES, EVEN MORE IDEAS. JUST CALL.
WE'RE HERE FOR YOU - EARTH DAY AND EVERY DAY! |
|
GM To Go Zero!
GM has made a lofty goal for itself; the American automaker has announced plans to convert half of its 181 operations around the world into "zero waste" facilities by 2010. According to csmonitor.com, "That means not a scrap of metal from those GM sites, or even a juice box from a worker's lunch pail, would end up in a landfill."
This puts GM in a small but a growing fraternity of businesses to "Go Zero." Wal-Mart is also working to eliminate ALL trash from its operations, and several more are about to announce similar intentions. (Toyota's official web site lists the company as having reached zero waste status in January 2007.) As companies find that zero-waste really means less overhead and more $$$, we can expect the numbers will drive a fleet of businesses around the world to get up to speed with GM! |
|
Molasses Helps Clean Up Sticky Situations
Scientists along the west coast are cooking up unusual concoctions for cleaning contaminated groundwater and soil in an environmentally safe, inexpensive, energy-efficient, and rapid manner which promotes "biostimulation." (Encarta Dictionary defines biostimulation as the introduction of nutrients to encourage decontamination: the addition of nutrients to a polluted site in order to encourage the growth of naturally occurring chemical-degrading microorganisms".)
þ In Washington, researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) injected molasses (enough to cook up 88,000 batches of gingerbread cookies!) and water into the groundwater that migrates into the Columbia River. This technique is expected to convert the toxic industrial pollutant, hexavalent chromium, into a nontoxic substance.
þ The soil and groundwater below Romic (a former toxic waste storage site in Palo Alto CA) is contaminated by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as dry cleaning & carburetor cleaning chemicals, paint thinners and chemicals used in the manufacture of computers. The EPA plans to use injection well technology, using a solution of cheese whey, molasses and water to clean up the site for future use. Tests already conducted on site have yielded such spectacular results - a 99% decrease in the amount of contaminants - that EPA hopes to use the technology at more cleanup sites soon.
To learn more about biostimulation, bioremediation, injection well technology, and the CA and WA projects, please visit: http://need.org/needpdf/FEB2008CareerCurrentsColor.pdf and
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/features/romic-paloalto/ |
|
Contest Winners Advise, "Plant A Tree, Yo"
Yo! Make sure you squeeze onto YouTube to check out the winning flick for the High School Global Warming Solutions video contest sponsored by the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Students from Midwestern high schools were asked to create short films depicting solutions to global warming and post them on YouTube. Four students from Harlan, Iowa produced Global Warming PSA - Plant a Tree, Yo, a video focused on the importance of planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide, the pollution responsible for causing global warming. |
|
 BP "A+ For Energy" Grant
Deadline: March 7, 2008
|
|
 Winter 2008 VIP Dates
2005-2015 United Nation's International Decade for Action: Water For Life
2008 U.N. International Year of Planet Earth
2008 U.N. International Year of Sanitation: 2 issues to be addressed: Water Quality & Wastewater Treatments
March 7 Deadline: BP A+ Grant
March 17 Deadline: IL Governor's Green (K-12) Youth Award
March 20 Whole Foods 5% Day, Willowbrook: 5% of day's sales donated to SCARCE
March 22 World Water Day
April 1 Deadline: Wetlands Writers' Challenge for 7th-9th graders
April 8 Green Building HS Design Challenge Presentations at DuPage County, Building, 421 County Farm Road, Wheaton
April 19 Wheaton Recycling Extravaganza, Commuter Pkg. Lot: Liberty & Carleton
April 20 noon-4pm Fullersburg Woods Earth Day Festival for all ages, 630-850-8110
April 22 Gym Shoe Rescue Begins
April 22 Elmer's Glue Crew Recycling Program Begins
April 22 38th Earth Day
April 25 136th Arbor Day
April 26 Glen Ellyn Recycling Extravaganza
April 26 9am Annual Earth Day Trail Cleanup of Illinois Prairie Path, Great Western Trail and Southern DuPage County Regional Trail
April 30 Nomination Deadline: Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes
May 1 Deadline: Kane-DuPage Soil & Water Stewardship K-12th Poster Contest
May 3 8am-3pm DuPage County, IEPA, Elmhurst HHW Collection: Public Works Garage
May 20 Gym Shoe Rescue Ends
May 30 Deadline: Wetlands Illustrators' Challenge for K-6th graders
June 7 Naperville Recycling Extravaganza
June 12-13 8am-4:30pm 7th Annual Shed Those Watershed Blues MS/HS Teacher Workshop
June 16-20 8am-4:30pm 10th Where Is Away? K-12 Workshop
June 26 8am-noon Lesson presentations for teachers taking WIA for grad credit |
|
|
|
|
Return to Scarce Home Page
