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Come to our Energy Bike workshops on any one of the listed times to learn about ways to spice up your energy unit.

• Learn the real costs behind energy consumption.
• Reduce energy costs at your school or at home.
• Increase student awareness of how their consumption affects both their environment and the school budget.
• Learn about wind, solar, and geothermal alternatives, and how to “kill a watt” or two – at school and at home!
• Try out our new Energy Bike and learn how you can check it out for use in your own classroom.
• Look over energy kits and workbooks that hold a wealth of knowledge and are available for checkout.

Filled Hearts
Materials

• Newspaper
• Paint or markers
• Glue
• Construction paper or heavy paper
• Wire from used spiral notebooks (optional)

1. Trace heart shape on construction or heavy paper (as big as you’d like)
2. (For younger kids fasten heavy paper together with paper clips)
3. Cut same shape out of both pages
4. Decorate the shapes with markers, paint, etc. as desired
5. Glue edges of hearts together leaving one side open
6. Stuff desired amount of newspaper into opening of heart
7. Glue last side closed.
8. (optional) Poke two holes in the top of the heart and insert notebook wire for hanging

CD / Cassette Case Picture Frame
Materials

• Old jewel (CD) cases OR old cassette cases
• (2 of the same kind for each student, the fewer the scratches the better)
• Drawings, Magazine Pictures, Photos
• Scissors
• Heavy tape
• (optional) Unwanted CD’s for the inside of jewel cases

1. Cut out pages the size of the jewel or cassette case (you can use the old insert from the cases as a template)
2. Decorate the pages with pictures, photos, or Valentine’s Day messages
3. Tape 2 cases together where the indents line up (see yellow tape on example above)
4. Slide pictures into clear side of the cases
5. (optional) Old CD’s can be put back in the cases, shiny side out for extra decoration options. You can also write messages on the CD’s using permanent markers.

To learn more about the contest or to get “Environmental Pathways” from their web site visit www.epa.state.il.us/kids/teachers/contest. You can also check out the packet from our Resource Room.

A recent Chicago Tribune investigative series revealed that seafood for sale in our grocery stores is contaminated with mercury, a toxic metal that is released from coal-fired power plants. Last year the EPA issued an advisory warning pregnant women, children, and at-risk groups not to eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish because of high mercury levels. Many experts now believe that even tuna-fish sandwiches can be risky for children, if eaten too often. Mercury poisoning can manifest as learning difficulties in children through damage to the central nervous system and as neurological disorders and fatal heart attacks in adults. In one of the most comprehensive studies of fish contamination, Tribune researchers bought 18 pieces of 8 varieties of fish (including canned tuna) from local stores and submitted them for mercury analysis at Rutgers University. High levels of mercury were found in some samples of swordfish, grouper, tuna steak, orange roughy, and walleye. Also, mercury levels were found to vary widely for a species; an orange roughy sample from a Crestwood store had seven times more mercury than a piece from a Chicago store. A spokesman from a third grocery chain commented that their fish is just as likely to contain mercury. The testing showed that mercury is much more pervasive in fish than most people believe. To reduce your risk of health effects, it’s recommended that you limit the amount of fish you eat weekly. Access the Tribune fish mercury calculator based on your weight and fish species: www .chicagotribune.com/mercury

Mercury contamination of fish is primarily a result of air pollution washing out of the atmosphere in rain. Since pollution can travel around the world before falling to the ground, mercury emissions from a factory in China can pollute a lake in America. However, the more likely source of mercury emissions is from coal-fired utility plants right here in America. Citing the Tribune series on mercury contamination, Governor Rod Blagojevish is pushing to enact new state rules that will reduce power plant emissions of mercury by 90% by 2009. The Illinois plan would also prohibit utilities from trading the right to release mercury by purchasing “credits.” If adopted, Illinois’ rule will be among the toughest in the U.S.

• For more information on this, too: www.chicagotribune.com/mercury

  Other Web Sites With Mercury Information

  • For extra ideas on how to remove mercury from your home, as well as the effects of mercury on wildlife, visit www.nwf.org/mercury.
  • For tips and information on mercury in homes visit www.epa.state.il.us/land/hazardous- waste/household-haz-waste/mercury-fact- sheet.html

Artist Laurie Tümer’s stunningly beautiful photographic series “Glowing Evidence” reveals what we can’t see about pesticides; they are everywhere. Tümer combines art and science to show us the invisible travel of pesticides from indoor and outdoor use onto our clothes, skin, and children’s toys - finally into our blood. Tümer uses a technique developed by Dr. Richard Fenske, Director of the Northwest Agricultural Health and Safety Center at the University of Washington, in which a fluorescent dye powder is used to simulate farm workers’ pesticide exposure. The dye (like the pesticides) adheres to hands and clothes, despite the use of protective gear. The powder “glows” under ultraviolet light, and the film records the scenes as rich cobalt blue colored objects sprinkled with dazzling white powder representing the pesticides. Tümer’s photographs of people, places, and things are about what Fenske’s demonstration implies for those of us who are not farm workers but are exposed daily to the same pesticides used routinely in many schools, businesses, homes, and communities. Tümer’s photos also reveal what pesticide exposure looks like in the Rio Grande and on the scales of the endangered silvery minnow. Tümer explains that people exposed to pesticides may develop rashes, flu-like symptoms and even life-threatening allergies so severe they must live a restricted life. Tümer herself suffers from multiple chemical sensitivity after she experienced a pesticide-poisoning episode in 1998. Though this restricts her mobility, it has not prevented her from becoming a highly accomplished photographer, with a body of widely exhibited work.
We’d like to thank Laurie Tümer for all her help and permission to use her pictures!
Stop by the artist’s site at www.laurietumer. com.

This past December Illinois Lt. Governor Pat Quinn awarded 13 citizens, cities, and groups with “Environmental Hero” Awards in recognition of their “commitment to providing and maintaining a healthful environment for this and future generations in Illinois.” We would especially like to mention the following awards to our local heroes. Congratulations!

The City of Naperville received their award for their Renewable Energy program (Ripples October ’05). This program allows residents to choose to use renewable energy in their homes. For an extra fee as low as $5 a month, So far 1,085 residents have signed up for this program since it began in Jan 2005. The estimated environmental benefit from each participant is equivalent to planting 181 trees. To read more about this program visit www.naperville.il.us/dynamic_template.cfm? id=1076.

Thanks to Jana Bendik, a 21 year old resident of Downers Grove, there is a new state law that requires government agencies to inform residents of toxic substances in their air, water, and soil. As a teenager Jana battled and survived non- Hodgkins lymphoma caused by a decade of drinking water that was contaminated by a local business. She led the citizens campaign in support of the Toxic Chemical Disclosure Act that was passed this summer. To read more visit http://cbs2chicago.com/health/local_st ory_363175834.html.

Ron Humbert of Lombard will be posthumously honored for his work to educate students about the ecological importance of amphibians and reptiles. Last year (February ’05) we wrote about Mr. Humbert’s efforts to organize the first ever election to choose an Illinois state reptile and amphibian. Thousands of students and citizens participated online to elect the painted turtle and the Eastern Tiger Salamander.

The IL Dept of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (ILDCEO) is once again offering their Lights for Learning Program. This is a great opportunity to use a fundraiser to educate students, family and friends about these energy efficient light bulbs. These compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs range from $5- $10 and the any size school or organization can earn a 50% profit for each sale. Depending on how many students participate, it is also possible to earn bonuses of up to $1,000 based on the number of bulbs sold. For more information, contact Grace Burek at (877) MW-ESTAR or by e-mail L4L@appliedproactive.com.

New climate data from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies show 2005 as the hottest year on record, continuing a 25 year trend of rising global temperatures. Readings from 7,200 weather stations around the world showed global average temperatures up a tenth of a degree Fahrenheit, surpassing the previous 1998 high. Looking at the longer term, global temperatures are up about 1.36 degrees F compared to averages in the period 1950- 1980.

Scientists are also reporting record shrinkage of the Artic Sea ice cover and unprecedented high ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. The ice cap shrank to 2 million square miles, or 500,000 square miles less than its average area between 1979 and 2000. (That’s a 25% reduction.) A scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined that the ocean surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico was higher last August than any time since 1890, which may have contributed to the intense hurricanes that struck the coast last fall. Many climatologists believe that the rapid temperature rise over the past 50 years is driven by the increase in carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere, the result of burning fossil fuels and other human activities.

For more information visit data. giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2005/ or www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202498.ht ml

Change A Light Pledge

As your families are considering buying their CFL bulbs (even if they don’t buy them from your fundraiser) they can sign up to take the Energy Star Change a Light Pledge. At their web site, families can pledge to replace household light bulbs with an energy efficient bulbs. Look for the Energy Star symbol to let you know which bulbs meet the strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US Department of Energy. You will also see a map letting you know how many other families have signed the pledge, how much energy they are saving, and how many pounds of greenhouse gas are being prevented from being released.

Sign the pledge at www.energystar.gov/ind ex.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showPledge.

This newsletter is part of the Teacher Training Program funded by DuPage County. The mention of a specific product or company is not an endorsement by DuPage County’s Environmental Education Program.