Greetings!
Spring is
upon us and with it come a plethora of
environmental happenings! From recycling
extravaganzas to Earth Hour to Earth Day events,
people are showing their concern for the
environment.
We cannot wait to see
all of the exciting things that you have planned
with your schools. Please let us know - send us
pictures! We want to tell the wonderful things you
do and give other schools some great
ideas!
Thanks for all of your
support,
The SCARCE Team
|
The Count Down
is ON!!!
Earth Hour
&
The 40th Anniversary of
EARTH DAY
are Almost Here!
It's
not too late to plan your events and activities
for both of these environmental days. We encourage
you to teach your students about the importance of
Earth Day and why it has evolved into something
that is recognized worldwide. For more ideas and
information, click on the link, Earth Day
2010.
Earth Hour has
become an international symbol for people of
every age,
race and culture uniting behind a single cause:
caring for the earth.
Plan an earth hour party, encourage your students
to turn off the lights for an hour, anything you
can do adds to the solidarity. If you want to see
what happened around the world last year, click on
the link and then click on Earth Hour
Videos. It's amazing to watch! Click here - Earth
Hour.
|
What Can Your
School Do to
MAKE A
DIFFERENCE?
What
if your whole school pledged to turn off not just
the lights for Earth Hour but all of the
electronics that you can for the WHOLE weekend?
It's not just lights that use electricity - it's
the copiers (master switch), fax machines,
computers, monitors, vending machines, ... Let
your students find the things that can be turned
off! Use a Kill-a-Watt  meter to measure how much
energy is being used in an hour and calculate the
energy savings.
What if your school turned
off everything for the WHOLE 10 DAYS of SPRING
BREAK! That would be Fabulous! It's 9-1/2 days of
saving energy, water and pollution!!!
Log
onto Earth Hour Lessons
& Earth Hour Kids for
great ideas!
|
Is Your School
Earning or Re-Certifying Its Earth
Flag???
Contact SCARCE Now
to check
your status
and to schedule
your Earth
Flag Ceremony.
Call 630.545.9710 or email
ecoed@sbcglobal.net
|
Green Building
Workshop
For ALL Teachers
Thursday,
April 29
6.0
CPDU's
Have you heard the
buzz about "Green Buildings"? Would you like to
know what it's all about, and perhaps, lead your
school in the charge to be more
environmentally-friendly? We can show you what is
so exciting about this NEW technology and how you
can help your school to operate with the highest
efficiency in energy, water and natural resource
usage. See how an attractive, healthy environment
can be provided for working, learning and playing
while also helping your school's bottom line. Click this link to
register!
|
Shed Those
Watershed Blues
June 17 &
18
15.0 CPDU's or
1 Graduate
Credit
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 macroinvertebrates - 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.
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 storm water management solution sites. Jump
into this class with both feet!
Learn more or register
here!
|
Where is Away?
Workshop
June 21-25 & July
1
17 CPDU's or
3 Graduate
Credits
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!
Learn more or register
here!
|
Where is
Away?
"Away" Doesn't Really
Exist
The Maine
Department of Environmental Protection received
the results of studies conducted on 3 landfills
and found that pharmaceutical drugs end up in the
leachate (liquid coming out of landfills). This is
a problem because the wastewater treatment plants
are not designed to remove prescription or
over-the-counter drugs from the water. Therefore,
the drugs go into the waterways virtually
untreated. Antidepressants, antibiotics, steroids,
heart, asthma and pain medications were
consistently found.
Not only do we need to
teach the 3Rs, but we also need to instruct
everyone on the proper disposal of hazardous
wastes like prescription drugs. We are fortunate
to have one of the only 3 permanent hazardous
waste collection sites in the state. It is located
in Naperville off of Route 59 at Firestation #4,
1971 Brookdale Rd.
Click here to see a
list of household hazardous wastes, HHW
site.
|
Do Some of the
Reports on Fish Seem Fishy? GotMercury.org &
the US EPA May
Help
Gotmercury.org is
part of Turtle Island Restoration Network's
efforts to protect the environment and the public
from mercury. The website was developed to raise
public awareness and help protect individuals
against the over exposure and consumption of
mercury. Log onto their website to find out how
much mercury is in the seafood you are eating, GotMercury.org.
The US EPA map shown above displays
areas of concern where the most mercury in
waterways has been found. Several pages are
available on their website explaining why mercury
in fish is a concern. Click on US EPA map
or US EPA Fish
Advisories.
|
Smithsonian's
"Dig It!"
Reveals the Secrets of Soil
The
Smithsonian Institute has continued to host this
valuable site teaching about the importance of our
soil even though the exhibit is no longer
available. Log onto the website, Dig It! The Secrets of
Soil, for a treasure house of classroom
lessons, activities, videos and more.
|
|
Sustainable
Design Challenge
Tuesday, April
13
Attention
high school teachers!
The Sustainable
Design Challenge will be held on Tuesday,
April 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
DuPage County high schools
will show their "green" or "sustainable" building
design projects to the public at the 4th Annual
Sustainable Design Challenge for high school
students. There will be amazing models of their
designs along with posters explaining their
research and the design elements that make their
building "green." The students have been guided by
their teachers to incorporate design strategies
from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program
to both reduce environmental impact and provide
occupants with a healthy, productive
space.
The Sustainable Design
Challenge will be held at the
DuPage County
Administration Building Auditorium
421 N
County Farm Rd, Wheaton.
Public viewing
of entries will be from 9- 11:30
a.m. |
Upcycled
Art Contest
It's Our Earth in Wheaton
is hosting an "Upcycled" Art Contest open to all
ages in celebration of the 40th anniversary of
Earth Day. Pieces must be submitted to It's Our
Earth by 5 pm, Wednesday, March 31st.
Judging/balloting by patrons will be held April
1st to April 23. Winners will be announced on
Saturday, April 24th.
Call It's Our Earth at
630.668.3800 or visit their website for
contest details.
|
Mark Your
Calendars!
March
13 - Stop the Drop - 10am-2pm Itasca Community
Library, 500 W Irving Park Road,
630.228.5652March 15 -
March 21 - "Fix a Leak Week" - US households leak
over 1 trillion gallons of water each year! Join
the US EPA & DuPage Water Commission,Water
Sense-USEPA
or DuPage Water Commission
Events, on
their efforts to repair leaking toilets, faucets,
and shower heads.  March 20 -
Water Conservation Event - Stop the Drop-
10am-2pm
|
| Kudos to
Schools Making a Difference!
|
Glen Hill
Primary School
Glen
Hill Primary School of District 16 in Glendale
Heights just began lunchtime recycling. The
students separate their milk cartons and juice
boxes to recycle, and set aside Lunchable
containers, juice pouches and Frito-Lay chip bags
to send to Terracycle. Most recently, the school
has begun separating brown paper lunch bags to
recycle as well.
Congratulations to a
small school making a BIG Difference!
|
SCARCE
is now taking a wider range of items. The
following is a detailed list of everything we
take, plus items we are desperate need
of:
- Any & ALL books and textbooks in any
condition
- Teaching materials
- Large books
- Books on Tape
- Gently Used School & Office Supplies
- Scissors
- Glue
- Notebooks
- Binders
- Overhead Projectors
- Science Supplies (beakers, test tubes,
microscopes, goggles, etc.)
- Rulers (6", 12", Yard Sticks)
- Pens, Pencils, Colored Pencils
- Paper (Color & Plain)
- Ribbon
- Fabric
- Men's Ties
- Buttons
- Broken & Unbroken Crayons
- Large Altoid Containers
- Cell Phones
- Inkjet Cartridges
- Keys
- American Flags
- Empty Scotch Tape Dispensers
- Drink Pouches
- Frito-Lay Chip Bags
- Safety Pins
- Eyeglasses
- Cliff Energy Bar Wrappers
- Candy Wrappers
- Elmer's Glue Containers
- Nonworking Sharpie, Expo, & Paper Mate
writing instruments
If you have any
questions or would like to drop off a donation,
please call SCARCE at 630.545.9710.
| |
So much is
happening all around us - won't you join the
fun ?!?Try to find some time to
enjoy the beauties of spring and to lend a hand in
an activity at your school or in your area that
helps make our world a better place for
everyone.
The SCARCE
Team
Scarce
Environmental Education  | | |
DuPage
County |
| |
