Greetings!
We hope that everyone has had a great, GREEN start to their school year. We have had a wonderful fall so far! The Green Fair at Cantigny that we co-sponsored was fun, educational and truly a success. We are so grateful to everyone who came to support us and who volunteered their time and energy. Our goal was to bring about a true Local "Green" Fair that appealed to many people on many levels from recycling to fashion to vermi-composting to alternative energy to organic foods to art.
Let us know the environmental ways that your school or students started off the year. We love to hear about all of your creative, innovative ideas!
Remember, it is still not too late to think about re-certifying or earning your Earth Flag. There is still time to lay out a plan for your school, just call or email SCARCE, 630.545.9710 or ecoed@sbcglobal.net. For more information, click on Earth Flag.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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Sustainable Design Challenge HS Teacher Workshop
Wednesday, October 7
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Introduce your High School students to challenges and exciting new technologies involved in designing a GREEN Building!
SAVE the DATE, Tuesday, April 13th, for the project presentations
at the DuPage County Government Complex.
The Sustainable Design Challenge is the perfect activity for high school
- science classes teaching about
- ecology
- renewable/non-renewable energy & resources including biological sources (i.e.: OEL, OLED, etc.)
- conservation
- environmentalism
- climate change & carbon footprints
- composting
architecture & art classes learning about interior/exterior design
eco clubs
any interested students
Come to this important meeting to discuss all of the details involved in the 2010 Sustainable Design Challenge.
 Green Building Workshop for Teachers
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
8:00 am - 2:30 pm
6.5 CPDUs Would you like to learn about Green Building Design and
- energy efficiency
- renewable energy
- recycled materials
- water conservation
- the latest & greatest in technology?
Join us for an exciting day filled with hands-on, up-close-and-personal experiences with green roofs, solarpanels, geothermal HVAC systems, wind turbines & more! You've heard of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, but what is it? And, what about all of those GREEN Careers? We'll help you get ready to talk about those as well!
The day begins with registration at SCARCE's headquarters in Glen Ellyn. Promptly at 8:15 a.m., we will board a bus and travel to several green buildings. Snacks will also be provided on the bus.
Register online - Log on right here - SCARCE |
Groundwater Flow Model Workshop
Saturday, November 7
8:00 a.m. - Noon
4 CPDUs
- For Middle & High School Science/Environmental Teachers
- Construct YOUR OWN Groundwater Flow model to take back to your school (One Model per School)
- Actually SEE how groundwater moves & how water is affected by that movement
- Use this model to also teach about stormwater management
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Make 'n Take Natural Resources Globe
Tuesday, November 10
4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
1.5 CPDUs
- ALL ES/Ms teachers (1st - 6th Grade)- Great for ECO-Club Sponsors, ESL, Alternative & Sp Ed teachers
- Make a "Natural Resources Globe," an interactive teaching tool that's filled with hands-on examples that allow students to SEE & FEEL our natural resources
- The globe helps your students learn about ISLS natural resources: how they are used, where they come from, differences between annually renewable, rapidly renewable, & non-renewable
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The Energy Bike Workshop
Thursday, November 12
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
2 CPDUs
- ALL EDUCATORS GRADES 4-12
- Discover the "Enlightened" way to use the Energy Bike, a powerful, hands-on (and FEET-ON!) learning tool -Bring energy conservation to life for your student
- Help students of all ages move from the abstract to a concrete understanding of energy use as they "feel" how much energy it takes to light incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs
- Borrow the bike for your students to see & feel pedaling energy being transformed into light energy
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First Annual
Green Fair at Cantigny
Loaded with Fun for Everyone!
Energy bike; solar ovens (that heated up & baked cinnamon rolls even under cloudy skies) & attic fans; organic clothes, local food, accessories; composting & composters; g eo-melt (instead of road salt); tankless water heaters; environmentally-friendly cars, clean lawncare, native landscaping; wind & geothermal energy... the list of fabulou s booths goes on and on.
The Fashion EcoNista Show was a great success. The audience viewed 39 outfits from kids clothes to hiking wear, from men's outerwear to formal wear. The offerings were eco-friendly, sustainable and dazzling! The participants may not have been professional models, but enthusiam and excitement made the fashion show even more popular and a wonderful achievement!
Eco Artistry held its place at the fair with the phenomenal recycled creations of local high school and college artists. "Green" tunes floated through the air as people hummed along to the songs of The Giving Tree Band who played 3 sets throughout the day, and Johny and the Jedi Council who followed up with one final set at the end of the day. Sparks flew as Joe Gagnepain worked magic with a welder and scrap metal to fashion sculptures out of what would have been trash.
Finally, to make this environmental day complete, a Recycling Collection Event was held as well. Many people volunteered to make this a complete success.
Look at the numbers collected:
- Electronics - 21,033 lbs
- Eyeglasses - 179
- Eyeglass cases - 23
- Flags - 23
- Cell Phones - 227
- Ink Jet Cartridges - 182
- Brita Filters - 6
- Plastic Bottle Caps - 2 FULL Garbage Bags
- Keys - 2.5 lbs
- Bikes - 19
- Scrap Metal - small amount
- Record Albums - 487
SCARCE cannot thank its supporters enough!
Our volunteers were absolutely fabulous!
We received so many compliments about you.
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Recycled Art Contest
at Cantigny Green Fair
Abounds with Eco-Creativity!
Congratulations to the winners of the first of its kind Recycled Art Contest!
1st Place - Nick Sanchez from Willowbrook High School - materials: all scrap metal mostly taken from old cars
 2nd Place - Dean Kershaw from Willowbrook High school - materials: used auto parts
3rd Place - Aubrey Ramsdell from Neuqua  Valley High School - materials: reused women's dress shirt made into a formal homecoming dress
Honorable Mentions:
- Best Display - Erik Roisland, Glenbard West
- Best Variety of Materials - Helen Curtin, Willowbrook
- Most Informative - Nick Marchese, Willowbrook
- Most Innovative - Nick Sanchez, Willowbrook
- True to Green Theme - Maura Cunningham, University of Iowa
- Most Educational - Zach Kocanda, Glenbard South
Thanks to all who participated - we look forward to seeing more wonderful things next time!
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Many Thanks to the Spectacular Volunteers at the Green Fair!
We at SCARCE are thankful to the many volunteers who stepped forward to donate their time and energy to help make the Green Fair at Cantigny a huge success - we could not have done it without you!
The volunteers helped in a myriad of ways:
- setting up beginning at 6:45 a.m.
- manning stations at the Recycling Extravaganza
- directing people as to where to go
- hauling vendor displays to their appropriate sites
- running environmental activities
- overseeing proper recycling/garbage disposal
- assisting at vendor/sponsor booths
- modeling in the fashion show
- tearing down and packing up displays
They helped on so many different fronts. We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and energy that each one brought to the event.
Many businesses and individuals assisted us along the way. Here is a list of the schools who sent volunteers to help:
- Addison Trail High School
- Bartlett High School
- Boy Scout Troops
- College of DuPage
- Elmhurst College, Laura Wilmarth-Tyna class
- Glenbard East High School
- Glenbard South High School
- Glenbard West High School
- Gower Middle School
- Hubble Middle School
- Indian Knoll School
- Lyons Township High School Interact Club
- Naperville North High School
- Neuqua Valley High School
- North Central College
- Park View School
- Rolling Meadows High School
- St. Charles East High School
- St. Mary's School
- St. Phillip the Apostle
- Lewis University
- Waubansee Community College
- Waubonsie Valley High School
- Wheaton College
- Wheaton North High School
- Wheaton-Warrenville South High School
- Frank Novakowski class
- Gloria Latta class
- Key Club
York High School
Thanks again for all you do! The SCARCE Team
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An Environmental College Directory is Available
A website is now available to help direct students to the colleges and universities who offer environmental degrees.
Majors and concentrations included (but were not limited to):
- Ecology
- Ecological Design
- Environmental Education
- Environmental Engineering
- Environmental Policy
- Forestry
- Geology
- Marine Sciences
- Natural Resource Management
- Wildlife Ecology
The site also includes links to Environmental Scholarships and "Building Your Environmental Career."
Just click on EnviroEducation to log on.
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A New Way to Make Halloween Meaningful
It seems that when children understand an issue and are willing to tell others about it, the message is often more readily accepted. Global Exchange, an organization that is working towards worldwide good for people and the planet, is heading up a campaign called "Reverse Trick-or-Treating". The idea behind the campaign is that kids will not only be receiving sweets for Halloween, but also giving them to promote a message. The "treats" that will be handed back are Fair Trade certified chocolates which have an accompanying message about social and environmental justice issues associated with the cocoa industry. The hope is that the "treats" will raise public awareness about fair trade and unfair labor practices involving children in other countries.
Click on the links to learn more about Global Exchange or to get more information about Reverse Trick-or-Treating and to get a free kit.
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 Congratulations to Working Bikes
Celebrating its 10th Year!
The Working Bikes Cooperative is a not-for-profit organization which diverts bicycles from the waste stream in Chicago by repairing them for sale and charity. The bikes are not only given locally to those in need, but also nationally and internationally where owning a bike can mean the difference between having a job or being unemployed.
To learn more, click the link Working Bikes.
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 A Voyage to Find Buried Treasure???
No.....It's to Find a Sea of Plastic
Back in August, a team of scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography returned from an expedition to one of the new "islands" in the Pacific Ocean. The "island", which is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is composed of plastic litter which could only have come from  humans.
The team of 30 researchers of SEAPLEX, Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastics Expedition, set out on a three week journey to see if they could actually find the floating masses of garbage which had not, yet, been documented.
 The team thought that they would have a much more difficult time than they did finding floating plastic in such a vast ocean as the Pacific. Much of what they found were small  pieces of plastic about the size of plankton. It was not until they were well into the Garbage Patch that they came across larger pieces of plastic like whole water bottles. The varying sizes raise concerns on many different levels. Marine life which normally eat plankton may be ingesting the pieces of plastic which could be mistaken for plankton. Some of the large pieces of plastic already had barnacles attached to them. The Algalita Marine Research Foundation conducted research which indicated that the dry weight ratio of plastic to small marine organisms the size of plankton is 6:1. The implications could be enormous.
To find out more, just click on any of the pictures or bold links above to take you to various sites with more details of the voyage and to download pictures from Scripps.
We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came... (John F. Kennedy)
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October Marks the 37th Anniversary of
the Clean Water Act
"The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States." (USEPA)
The Clean Water Act is vital to the preservation of our most valuable natural resource, fresh water. As we have learned from scientists, we cannot make new water. The water we have now is the same water that was on the Earth from the beginning. It is our responsibility to take care of this precious resource.
The books in the 3Rs - Ripples Recommended Reading all talk about water in one way or another. In fact, one of the books , The Water Factory was written by John R. Sheaffer, PhD, one the the people instrumental in the formulation of the landmark Clean Water Act Amendments.
It is still not too late to order water monitoring kits from the World Water Monitoring Day site if you want an idea for helping students to understand the importance of this Act. The US EPA site also has educational ideas, just click here
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October is International Walk to School Month
October 7th is the Official Day
If you are looking for a great way to
- encourage environmental responsibility
- host a free school-wide event
- get students and parents involved
then International Walk to School Day may be just what you need!
Around the globe students will walk to school - most are walking the whole month of October. At the last count, 41 countries have registered to participate in this event. It's a great way to help your students connect to other children around the world.
Your school can participate in so many different ways - plus, if you have a great activity, you can register to try to win an "iwalk" award!
Would you like more information and ideas? Click on iwalkor walk to school usa.
 If you are looking for Safe Routes to walk to school, log onto Safe Routes to School.
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One person, no matter how small, can make all of the difference in the world - even if it is just to one other person.
Make a Difference Day is a national day meant to encourage the idea of neighbor helping neighbor and people reaching out to show that they care. Every little act, whether organized in a group or performed individually, makes a difference to someone and adds to the collective efforts of us all.
Millions have taken part in the activities and events in their areas which have been organized by groups, organizations, churches, neighborhoods, municipalities, etc.
If you are looking for an activity or wish to register one or just have questions,
click on the link,
Make a Difference Day.
One way to participate is to volunteer at or bring items to the
FREE Elmhurst Electronics and Document Shredding Event
Saturday, October 24
9:00 a.m. to Noon
Elmhurst Public Works, 985 S Riverside Dr
sponsored by DuPage County & the city of Elmhurst |
International Day of Action
on Climate Change
"Our mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis-to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet. Our focus is on the number 350--as in parts per million, the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. But 350 is more than a number--it's a symbol of where we need to head as a planet."
Want more information? Check out the website, Internationa l Day of Action on Climate Change.
People around the world are concerned and willing to do something to help. If you would like to find an event or register one, click the picture to the right or log onto 350 - Day of Action.
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November 15th
America Recycles Day
is Just Around the Corner - What will Your School Do?
America Recycles Day is November 15th and no matter what your school chooses to do, whether big or small, it all matters. Organize a collection(s); change a regularly used item to one which is reusable or recyclable; buy or giveaway reusable bags; give your students pencils made out of old jeans, junk mail or old money. Whatever it is, do something so that your students know that their teacher/principal understands that this is important.
For more information, ideas or to register an activity, click on the link, America Recycles Day.
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3Rs - Ripples Recommended Reading
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The Water Factory
Author: John R. Sheaffer, PhD
Ages: 8 & Up
Don't let the cartoon drawings and simply language fool you. The Water Factory has much to offer all ages. The book discusses where water comes from, where it goes and what we do with it. The culminating message is that "we can't 'make' water." The water we have now is the same water that was here from the beginning. Therefore, we have to figure out ways to better use the water and the things we put in it.
(See Clean Water Act Anniversary (above) to learn about Dr. John R. Sheaffer who is a resident of Wheaton.) |
A River Ran Wild
Author: Lynne Cherry
Ages: 8 and up
A River Ran Wild traces the history of the Nashua River from long ago when the Indians lived symbiotically with the river and the forest to the Industrial Revolution where the pollution problem began to the point, not long ago, when the river was so dirty that it smelled and the riverbed could not be seen to now when it has been cleaned up. The pictures are beautiful and the impact of how our actions change everything are clearly seen. All the things we do, big or small, effect the world around us - whether that is good or bad is our choice.
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The Great Lakes Water Wars
Author: Peter Annin
Ages: High School & Up
The book addresses issues related to the unregulated withdrawal of water from the Great Lakes. With the Aral Sea in Central Asia as our example of what will happen if this situation goes unchecked, Annin considers the issue in a comprehensive way. The Great Lakes Water Wars includes accounts and stories from people who are involved. It is a real eye-opener to an issue which is not always openly discussed.
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Living Downstream
Author: Sandra Steingraber
Ages: High School & Up
Living Downstream looks at the way our Earth and the things we do to it are tied to our bodies. Environmental contamination is being linked at an alarming rate to many of the health problems like cancer which we face today. Steingraber takes the information found in toxics-release data and other scientific reports and presents it in a very understandable way which makes the links to our health conditions real. There is hope, but we must be willing to start making the changes necessary.
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 We Want to Hear from You!
It has been so much fun "twitting" and "tweeting" on twitter, AND we absolutely love the fans that are following us on Facebook. If there are things you would like to know about or things that you would like to see from us, drop us a line and let us know! You can always email us at ecoed@sbcglobal.net.
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Remember, we really value the ideas that you tell us about and the activities you do with your students. 
Also, the Book Rescue has loads of text and library books. Drop by to see if there is anything you need. On Tuesdays, we are open until 7:00 p.m.
Hope to see you soon!
Sincerely,
The SCARCE Team
Scarce Environmental Education | | |
DuPage County |
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