Drop a pebble in a pond, see the ripples go on and on. Be the pebble in your pond and help us reach more teachers. Please forward the newsletter or articles (i.e., the renewable energy art contest) to appropriate educator/s (the art teacher).

Principals, superintendents, and all administrators are invited to attend “Green and Healthy Schools: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle for Fiscal Management” on Friday, October 20, 2006, from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. This new, approved, fast-paced administrators’ academy course is intended to introduce administrators to a variety of conservation techniques that will save money in their schools and create a healthier school environment for both students and staff.

Participants will travel to several sites to observe various conservation techniques in action, and will even have the opportunity to climb upon a green roof! They’ll learn, first-hand, about green building systems and operation techniques that foster learning, and how they can implement or better utilize conservation strategies such as waste reduction, energy efficiency, hazardous waste elimination, and environmental grant opportunities.

The day will begin and end at our Environmental Sustainability Center, which is conveniently located in central DuPage on Roosevelt Road just west of I- 355 in Glen Ellyn. The doors will open at 8AM for registration; a continental breakfast will be available. Participating administrators will receive free resources and implementation planning tools. Registration is limited; call 545-9710 to register with us for this exciting, one-of-a-kind workshop.

FEES: $15 to Regional Office of Education and $15 to cover cost of continental breakfast & lunch
CREDIT: 6 Professional Development Hours
Pictured: Monroe MS school teachers, Beth Ruscitti and Donna Sceerey, build a Groundwater Flow Model at last month’s workshop, to bring back to their Wheaton students. Keep reading for more pictures and to learn about the workshop.

With the objective to bring the best thinking on stormwater management to students in the county, we are thrilled to announce our brand new Sustainable Design High School Challenge. Students, either individuals or teams, will design a green building that incorporates excellent environmental attributes, from the building materials to its landscape to its placement on the land. Then they will build a model of their designs. To help the young challengers with their designs, we have lined up a team of “green” architects interested in mentoring high school students to advise them. The designs/models will be displayed at DuPage County’s Administration Building in April, judged by the architect teams, and awards will be given.

On September 16th, 26 middle school teachers attended our first Groundwater Flow Model Workshop of the school year, and this workshop was better than ever! DuPage County has funded the purchase of 55 groundwater flow models, to enrich water education at each public middle school in the county, so participating teachers were able to build (outside, on a beautiful day!) their own models to take back for use at their own schools.

This year’s groundwater flow model program dovetails perfectly with last year’s county program to fund the training and distribution of watershed models to all county public middle schools. (Several watershed and groundwater flow models are available on loan to *trained teachers of all K-12, public, private, and parochial schools in DuPage.) Now, all the MS kids in the county will know what’s going on with the water – both above and under the ground! The next Groundwater Flow Model Workshop will be held from 8:30 AM to Noon on Saturday, October 28 – Make A Difference Day. Make a difference with your teaching and register to attend this fun, free, hands-on, educational workshop! To receive a model, each qualifying school must send two teachers for training. *Training is free for all DuPage K-12 educators, who are welcome to attend but must call to register.
Pictured above: L-R: Karl Volkman, Leslie Stavnem and Patti Edwards, from Westfield MS, Bloomingdale

ENVIROSCAPE WATERSHED MODEL WORKSHOP
CELEBRATE THE CLEAN WATER ACT!

• K-12 Teachers
• 2 CPDU’s
• Wednesday, October 11
• 4:30-6:30 and *6:45-8:45 pm

MAKE ‘N TAKE A NATURAL RESOURCES GLOBE WORKSHOP
ONE OF OUR MOST POPULAR, HANDS-ON, WORKSHOPS!

• ES Teachers
• 1.5 CPDU’s
• Thursday, October 12, 4:30-6 pm

ENERGY BIKE WORKSHOP
GEAR UP FOR NATIONAL ENERGY MONTH!

• 4th-12th Teachers
• 1.5 CPDU’s
• Tuesday, October 17
• 4:30-6 and *6:15-7:45 pm

GROUNDWATER FLOW MODEL WORKSHOP
MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH YOUR TEACHING ON MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY!

• MS teachers
• 3.5 CPDU’s
• Sat, October 28, 8:30 am-noon

Call 630-545-9710, to register for these free workshops at the Environmental Sustainability Center, Route 53 & Roosevelt Rd, Glen Ellyn

Cafeterias and lunchrooms everywhere use Styrofoam (#6 polystyrene) trays. Unfortunately, because these trays are not recycled in our area, they end up in the garbage. They represent hidden costs, as the trays take up a good deal of trashcan space. One way to reduce the volume of garbage, which has been used successfully in schools for years, is "Tap ‘n Stack". Before the trays are thrown out, students trained in the procedure tap the food scraps into the trash, and then stack the emptied trays for disposal. On top of this, the bags in which the trays are delivered are perfect for reusing to deposit the stacked ones. Some schools now use sectioned aluminum plates in their lunchrooms. Preparing these plates for recycling, using the Tap ‘n Stack method, will help the schools recoup some of their original cost. Tray bien!

Start the year off right; teach your students how easy this is to do. We can visit your school to teacher model a Tap ’n Stack training program with your students. This represents a real savings for your school with fewer: lunchroom trash bags, staff trips to the dumpster, and costly extra pickups. Call us to schedule a free teacher modeling program. It’s tray chic to tap ‘n stack!

Pictured above: One student from Glen Crest MS taps away in Glen Ellyn and another at Willowbrook’s Westview Hills MS sees how his stacks up against the rest.

Parent groups are among the great strengths of our schools, and can play a big role to ensure that schools successfully reach their goals. Today, many of our K-12 schools are working toward zero waste throughout their buildings (less waste = more money for education). PTAs, PTOs, Home and School – all parent groups – can initiate, develop, and support programs and policies, and ensure that parties, festivals, and all planned events help their schools meet these goals. Listed below are several tried and true projects, policies, and other strategies to help reduce the amount of garbage generated at your school. Give us a call: we have many more ideas, and can work with your parents to implement them.

• Tap ‘n Stack
• Waste audit
• Environmental assemblies
• No waste lunch
• Both sides of paper
• Book/Puzzle exchange
• Environmental fundraisers (i.e. Lights for Learning)
• Locker/desk leftovers
• Improved school recycling (inkjet cartridges, crayons, cell phones, etc.)
• One note home per family

• BYO mugs to PTA meetings
• Earn/Recertify Earth Flag
• Earn Ecology Flag
• Environmental field trips
• Reusables and recyclables at all parties/school events
• Elect a parent “Lost ‘n Found Captain”
• Encourage kids to check out the lost ‘n found box

Well, today's your lucky day! Call Tools for School, 630-545-9710, ASAP, for this adorable wishing well – rescued by former SCARCE intern Diane Zaharodny from Lombard’s Recycling Extravaganza – there’s only one!

The global plan is for zero waste – nothing will go to the landfill. With this in mind, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity again is offering opportunities for schools to fund ways to reduce their waste. The two-year old Zero Waste Grant is designed to “help schools minimize, and, eventually, eliminate unnecessary waste.” The goal is that virtually all waste generated at the school is reduced, reused, or recycled.

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development is now accepting applications for its Healthy School Communities Grant program, to enable pilot schools to create a healthy school environment through community engagement. K-12 public schools (and independent schools that can apply as individual schools or as a group) are eligible. Ten schools will be selected to receive up to $10,000 each.

To recognize their outstanding efforts to work to preserve and protect our environment, students, teachers, and community groups throughout the country are invited to apply for the 2007 SeaWorld/Busch Gardens/Fujifilm Environmental Excellence Awards. All U.S. K-12 public, private, and licensed home schools, community service organizations, and other nonprofit groups working to protect the environment at the grassroots level are eligible to apply. The projects must be sponsored by a formally recognized school group (i.e., classroom, grade level, or club); the applicant should be able to demonstrate significant accomplishments that have occurred before the submission deadline.

The Environmental Concerns Commission of Villa Park is sponsoring a COMPUTER RECYCLING EVENT on Saturday, October 14, 2006 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. The event will be held at the Villa Park Vehicle Maintenance Garage (100 W. Home Ave). This is near the police station and about half a block west of Ardmore. Acceptable items include all current and older model computers, hard drive components, monitors, keyboards, cables, adapters, power sources, and printers. Please be careful not to damage anything in transit. NO "DUMB" TERMINALS will be accepted. . If you have questions about what components will be accepted, contact Jeff Pointec of United Recycling Corp. at 630-279-5750 for specifics.

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