School News You Can Use – January, 2017

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

• CLUB Conference News - Keynote Speaker Selected/Call for Workshop Speakers • CLUB News - Welcome Sarah McGraw; Maple Avenue Elementary TOLD Event; NH the Beautiful Check

for Campbell HS • Grant & SWIP News - Introducing 3R’s of the Common Core and Teaching Toxics Resources • In The News – Making a Game of Recycling • Contests, Scholarships & Fundraisers - Green Up VT Contests • EPA & NHDES News - National FRC School Winner • Activity – Snowman Bingo & Reusing Old Calendars

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CONFERENCE NEWS

Save The Date for the School CLUB Conference!

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Please Join Us for the 8th Annual School Recycling Conference:

• Our theme: Back to the Future for Recycling…It’s Time • Our date: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 • Our location: The Radisson in Manchester, NH

Mark your calendars for this important recycling event and expo! Be prepared for activities, workshops, games, exhibits and a lot of FUN!

Remember, NH schools may apply for Conference Registration Grants through NH the Beautiful!

Click HERE to go to our 2017 Conference Page!

Hollis Brookline Senior Tapped as Keynote Speaker for 8th Annual School Recycling Conference

We are very pleased to announce that Hollis Brookline High School Senior,

Allie Campbell has accepted our invitation to speak at the School Recycling Conference on May 23, 2017.

Ms. Campbell was featured in last month’s School News You Can Use. She so inspired us that we felt compelled to invite her to speak at the Conference.

Allie started her own environmental blog: http://www.deepgreenblog.com/ and we felt that students would identify with her commitment to recycling and ability to create change.

Please join us in May to hear her story!

Alexandra Campbell

Call for Conference Speakers: 8th Annual School Recycling Conference!

That’s right! It’s time to start setting up our School Recycling CLUB workshops for May 23.

Do you have a successful recycling program in your school? We would love to hear your ideas and read your proposals.

We encourage students and clubs to present their programs to other students, teachers and administrators. Tell us how you got started – the ups and the downs!

Click HERE for submission details. Please submit your ideas or outline ASAP or by January 20, 2017. Feel free to contact The CLUB with any questions or if you need more time.

Speaker Deadline Extended to January 27!

Now Accepting Award Nominations!

Do you know a deserving student, teacher or staff person that goes above and beyond in recycling? Why not nominate them for a School CLUB Award and see them honored at the Conference Luncheon? We will be posting the Nomination Form here shortly! Until then, feel free to send a write up to us at The CLUB !

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CLUB NEWS

Welcome to the CLUB Sarah McGraw!

From NRRA’s Executive Director:

First off let us welcome Sarah McGraw to the Team. The NRRA Board of Trustees committed to expanding the NRRA School CLUB Program for 2017 so that even more schools could take advantage of the excellent USDA

sponsored upgrades to the CLUB programming that had been melded with the Association of Vermont Recyclers offerings back in 2012. Sarah will be conducting proactive outreach to all NH Schools as a priority as well as Mass, Maine, Vermont and Connecticut. The goal here is to Train the Trainers in schools to help build or maintain sustainable recycling programs long term with additional on-site help from NRRA. Sarah will conduct free Star Assessments for any school that joins or any existing school club member and they will be offered discounts on training workshops, TOLDS and the upcoming NRRA School Conference. The NRRA mission is half marketing materials and technical assistance for dealing with the entire waste stream and half educational outreach. This will be a big help to grow what is becoming a nationally recognized, quality program. To get your school started please contact Sarah at smcgraw@nrra.net or info@nrra.net or call 800-223-0150 x 17.

Here is what Sarah has to say about her first couple of weeks here at NRRA:

“Just two weeks in to my new role as School Program Special Projects Manager and things are off to a fast start! In the first two weeks since I started, I toured the BCEP and Derry Transfer stations, visited Campbell High School to learn about their school recycling program, and award them with a NH the Beautiful grant check, as well as attend a M.O.M meeting. Now that I am settling in, I realize just how dedicated and hardworking everyone is at NRRA. Gwen Erley, School Programs Coordinator has been very helpful in getting me up to speed on how the NRRA School CLUB program works and now I have been set with the task to involve and engage as many New Hampshire schools as possible.

As I reach out to schools, I am learning that they are excited and willing to recycle but without the proper training and support, these programs have a hard time sustaining for the long run. That is where the NRRA School CLUB program comes in, providing multifaceted programs to jump start recycling efforts or assist an established program. I look forward to working with the many stakeholders involved, making school recycling programs as successful as possible. If you are involved in school recycling efforts or know of a person or group, feel free to contact me at smcgraw@nrra.net.”

Sarah McGraw

Maple Avenue Elementary Hosts TOLD Event

Goffstown, NH – New records were set as NRRA Staff and Educators cycled 434 students through our Trash On the Lawn Day (TOLD) event at Maple Avenue Elementary School in Goffstown, NH.

Media Darlings! We were delighted that the local TV station was able to video the event and interview Town Engineer, Meghan Theriault, and Principal Suzanne Pyszka. Click HERE to access the You Tube video link. They also sent a Facebook link. The local news also had a clip. For the video clip on WMUR Channel 9, click HERE. For the Press Release with more photos, click HERE.

Maple Avenue Elementary students learn the finer points of recycling from Goffstown Town Engineer, Meghan Theriault (NRRA photo)

NH the Beautiful, Inc. Awards Grant to Campbell High School Recycling Team

Litchfield, NH: The Campbell Recycling Advocacy Program (C.R.A.P), was awarded $200 to assist with the purchase of a wire stripper. The wire stripper will help the students remove insulation from copper wire, donated by a local electrician, to then be redeemed to further the recycling programs efforts. The award was presented to the recycling team by John Dumais of NH Grocers Association/NH the Beautiful and Ray Dube of Coca Cola Co./NH the Beautiful. Stacey Morrison and Sarah McGraw of Northeast Resource Recovery Association/ The NRRA School Club were also present. New Hampshire the Beautiful commends the efforts of the recycling team for their exceptional recycling program in addition to the faculty advisor Dennis Perreault .

The Campbell Recycling Advocacy Project is responsible for organizing and administering the recycling program at Campbell High School. There are currently thirteen students enrolled in the program with a similar number preregistered for the second semester. This program is one of, if not the only, self-sustained, student operated school recycling program in the state. Several years ago, the program acquired a mini-vertical baler. As a result of this acquisition, they have been able to bundle and sell through their affiliation with NRRA: paper, cardboard, plastics, aluminum cans, steel, plastics bags and wrap, and electrical wire. It was because of their unique program and clear commitment to recycling that NH the Beautiful awarded Campbell High School with this special grant.

Click HERE for the Press Release.

Pictured L-R: Students from the recycling team: Erick Portillo, Jake Pucillo, Dillon Mason, Bryce Barrett, Nate Readyhough Cailler, James Cardello, Louis Dorval-Carson, Matt Livingston, Matt Gagne, and Wesley Shaffer; Ray Dube Coca Cola/NH the Beautiful, and John Dumais NH Grocers Association/NH the Beautiful

Back by Popular Demand . . .

NRRA Compost Bin Sale!

After a taking a year off, we are bringing back our popular Compost Bin Sale this year! Watch for details on the NRRA website. You may also request to be put on our mailing list for this sale. Just contact info@nrra.net!

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GRANT & SWIP NEWS

Introducing our New Curricula . . .

Classic K-12 Recycling Activities with 21st Century Standards

NRRA’s School CLUB is pleased to announce that the newest editions of their school curricula 3R’s of the Common Core: A Teacher’s Resource Guide to Solid Waste and Recycling and Teaching Toxics: Creating Solutions to Household Pollution are ready for distribution! The former Association of Vermont Recyclers (AVR), a leader in Vermont recycling education programs, originally created these publications 25 years ago. In 2012, the CLUB assumed ownership of AVR’s school resources and materials. Last year, NRRA received funding from a USDA Rural Development grant program to update this outstanding curriculum. It now aligns with the national common core standards and is non-state specific. The intent was to correlate the standards to the lesson plans as originally written. This proved to be an incorrect assumption. Most of the lessons were revised and the Information and Resources sections upgraded, but the authors upheld the original concepts and objectives.

Everyone who participated in the teacher trainings held during the production of the new editions will be receiving their training packets (CLUB classroom workshop modules including TT and the 3R’s) very soon. We thank you for your patience and participation in helping us develop NRRA’s Train the Teachers program. Anyone else interested in this program and receiving Teaching Toxics: Creating Solutions to Household Pollution and the 3R’s of the Common Core: A Teacher’s Resource Guide to Solid Waste and Recycling, please contact NRRA Programs Coordinator, Gwen Erley, at gerley@nrra.net.

BCSWA School & Business Outreach

BCSWA contracted NRRA and the School CLUB to provide outreach and training to schools and businesses in the Alliance area regarding Vermont’s Universal Recycling Act 148.

We are currently reaching out to Alliance schools to provide this free programming. Contact BCSWA or the School CLUB if you would like to get on the schedule.

The Bennington County Solid Waste Alliance serves the communities of: Arlington, Bennington, Dorset, Glastenbury, Manchester, Pownal,

Rupert, Sandgate, Searsburg, Shaftsbury, Stamford, Sunderland and Woodford, VT.

Business outreach will resume in 2017.

The Alliance website offers many useful links. Here is the link to the Alliance Webpage. They also have their own School Newsletter!

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Scheduling Now

Free Workshops Available for BCSWA Schools

Outreach to the Alliance schools continues for this school year. BCSWA schools interested in receiving FREE programming for the next school year should contact: TheCLUB@nrra.net to get on the calendar.

Would you like to host a TOLD, Garbage Guerrillas or another Workshop at your school? Let the CLUB Help!

• Improves academic performance, especially in science and math • Can lead to financial savings for schools • Decreases the school’s carbon footprint through practical solutions that

reduce energy and water consumption • Reduces school waste and conserves natural resources • Encourages student environmental awareness and stewardship • Increases parental involvement • Helps students and teachers develop stronger

relationships with their communities

Previous EPA EE-funded research at over 200 New England schools completed by the NRRA School Recycling CLUB (the CLUB) found that the single most challenging area for school recycling programs was in providing curriculum integrations that brought recycling and sustainability into classrooms to be used as the subject matter for meeting state and local curriculum standards. The intention of the CLUB programs is to address just that issue in schools across all six New England states. Our goal is to use the CLUB’s workshops and technical assistance programs, all experiential and hands on, as a tool for educating K-12 students about consumption, proper diversion of waste, the resulting impacts on climate change and what they can do to change it. Through these offerings, we are also afforded the opportunity to link these priorities to curriculum standards. In addition, these workshops will model, for educators or community leaders, exemplary ways of teaching in creative, effective, and efficient methods about human health threats from environmental pollution as well as how to minimize human exposure to preserve good health. Click here to learn more or contact us at theclub@nrra.net or call 1.603.736.4401 ext. 19

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School CLUB set up for TOLD event

IN THE NEWS

Making a Game of Recycling

From our friends at Waste360

Pokémon Go Inspires Indiana Resident to Create amEco Recycling App

The app would allow users to “rescue” creatures by depositing recyclable materials in specific amEco bins, ultimately gaining points and a spot on the leaderboard.

Waste360 Staff | Dec 13, 2016

Indiana Resident Bethany Hohman used her inspiration from Pokémon Go to create amEco, a recycling app to help Hoosiers recycle more.

The app, which isn’t yet developed, would allow users to “rescue” creatures by depositing recyclable materials in specific amEco bins, ultimately gaining points and a spot on the leaderboard.

Hohman and her team are trying to secure a grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental management to build an alpha version of the app.

Forbes has more information:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthunckler/2016/12/12/can-a-pokemon-go-like-app-solve-indianas-recycling-problem/#3a8985d05353

From our Friends at the EPA-Region 1

6 Futuristic Design Concepts That Could Create a ‘Wasteless’ Society

11/21/16 WasteDive

For the full story and some great designs, go to: http://www.wastedive.com/news/6-futuristic-design-concepts-that-could-create-a-wasteless-society/430806/

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Aequorea off coast of Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Vincent Callebaut Architectures

From our friends at NWF

TEACHERS, HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!

Calling all high school students! It’s never too early or too late to begin planning your next journey in sustainability after you graduate from high school. The best jobs for the 21st century will be in the green economy, and the National Wildlife Federation’s EcoLeaders program is positioned to prepare the future sustainability workforce in collaboration with colleges and universities across the U.S. In order to prepare students for a rapidly shifting economies, colleges will need to ramp up sustainability education across all disciplines. Students and faculty need to understand local and regional job demands, professional credentials, and how to enhance students’ preparedness inside and outside the classroom.

NWF’s EcoCareer Conference 2017 is designed to help. We will open the gates to our large array of leadership and career development resources for sustainability.

Please join us for this two-day virtual event on February 22 and 23, 2017 to hear from leading experts and learn more about:

• Finding well paid jobs in the clean economy • Developing effective career plans • Identifying top degree programs and project learning credentials • Exploring online sustainability career skill resources • Learning bout resources to enhance academic offerings across all disciplines • Interacting with others across fields interested in leading for a clean economy

Find out more and register today—Registration is complimentary for registered EcoLeaders and group discounts are available. Don’t miss this early registration offer to build your pathway to a sustainable career!

Interested in green cleaning? If you would like to host a workshop in your school, please consider The CLUB’s Healthy Home, Clean Waters Workshop or our Technical Assistance Training for facilities staff on Green Cleaning & Indoor Air Quality Evaluation & Review.

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Contests, Scholarships & Fundraisers

VT Green Up Day Contests

Green Up’s mission is to promote the stewardship of Vermont’s natural landscape and waterways and the livability of our communities by involving people in Green Up Day and raising public awareness about the benefits of a litter-free environment.

Green Up Day is the first Saturday in May – May 6, 2017.

All VT students in grades K-12 are invited to participate in Green Up Vermont’s annual Poster Design and Writing Contests. The winner of each contest will receive $250! Visit our Poster and Writing Contests page for more information.

You can access the rules here: http://www.greenupvermont.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Click-Here-to-Download-the-Poster-and-Writing-Contest-Guidelines.pdf

Enter by January 31, 2017 (last working day in January)

For more on Green Up Day, visit their Face Book page: https://www.facebook.com/GreenUpVermont/

From our friends at the National Wildlife Federation

National Wildlife’s 46th Annual Photo Contest

Continuing a long tradition of showcasing some of the world’s best nature photography, NWF’s 46th annual contest opens for entries on January 9, 2017.

Prizes: Experienced judges will select winners, awarding a grand prize of $5,000 and cash prizes to first- and second-place winners in each of seven categories. Winners will also be published either in print or online and receive other recognition.

Categories: Baby Animals, Backyard Habitats, Birds, Landscapes and Plants, Mammals, Other Wildlife, People in Nature.

Photo courtesy of Kathrin Swoboda

Consider donating: Photographers retain ownership and rights to their images, though we encourage you to consider donating some of your images to the National Wildlife Federation to help us save the world’s treasured wildlife species and their habitats.

For the gallery of 2015 winners, go to: http://www.nwf.org/PhotoContest/Contest-Details/2015-Winners.aspx

For Photo Contest Details: http://photocontest.nwf.org/menu-home.aspx?comp_id=AA757BF0-9221-4B68-9453-A2242755951E

Please Note: Entry Fee: Enter up to ten photos for $20.00. No limit to the total number of images. Your fee helps support NWF’s work to protect wildlife and wild places.

• Grand Prize: $5,000.00. • First Place: $500.00 for the winner in each category. • Second Place: $250.00 for the second place in each category. • Honorable Mentions: Each will receive a National Wildlife Federation calendar.

NH Schoolyard Action Grants

Now Accepting Applications Deadline January 30

Do you have an outdoor classroom you want to expand?

Are you considering starting an outdoor classroom?

A NH Schoolyard Action Grant can support your planning, implementation, and curriculum development for engaging students in schoolyard studies. The grant period for this opportunity is open now through January 30th.

This is NH Audubon’s second year offering schoolyard grants with New England Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Now called the New Hampshire Partnership for Schoolyard Action Grants, we are

pleased to announce our new expanded partnership with New Hampshire Project Learning Tree and NH Fish and Game Project HOME.

Photo by Sara Hiland, Goodlife Photography

We have joined efforts to support schools that want to achieve the benefits of nature-based studies for student development and learning. Our common goals are to nurture future environmental stewards by connecting kids with their local environment and to enliven learning through nature.

One benefit of the partnership is a new common application process. Applicants will only have to fill out one form and will be eligible for grants from all the organizations in the partnership. In addition, the partners will review the applications as a team.

The grant deadline is January 30. Grants are available to any school teaching Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. Please visit our website for details.

Questions about the grant and qualifying projects may be directed to Hilary Chapman, NH Audubon Education Department, 84 Silk Farm Rd., Concord, NH 03301; (603) 224-9909; nha@nhaudubon.org.

[Learn more…]

RecycleMania 2017 – Webinar Feb. 1

Registration Closes Feb. 3

Campuses across the country compete from the beginning of February until April to see which campus can recycle most! Schools involved in the program get the opportunity to engage students in recycling and waste reduction while benchmarking their performance against schools across the country. In any given year, over half of the campuses in the competition report a noticeable increase in recycling due to their participation. Schools who have not competed in the past, or are returning to the competition after a break of more than a year, will be entered into a drawing to win a $500 stipend for their campus when they register.

We will be hosting an “Overview of Rules and Tracking Requirements” webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 1 from 2-3pm ET. Click here for webinar registration.

You can learn more about the competition and find information on registering for RecycleMania here.

From our Friends at Vermont.gov

VT Funding for Composting Supplies

Funding is now available for the purchase of supplies for composting for residents and schools.

Grant funding can be used towards the purchase of backyard compost bins and/or the cost of equipment and supplies for school composting systems.

Please see the RFP here: http://www.vermontbusinessregistry.com/BidPreview.aspx?BidID=19176

Applications are due: February 16

Please direct any questions to John Fay at john.fay@vermont.gov

John Fay, Environmental Analyst 802-522-5771 Department of Environmental Conservation 1 National Life Dr., Davis 1, Montpelier, VT 05620-3704

The Paradigm Challenge was created by Project Paradigm, a private foundation, in collaboration with American Red Cross

$100,000 Challenge

What is the Paradigm Challenge?

The Paradigm Challenge is an annual competition that inspires youth to use STEM skills plus kindness, creativity, and collaboration to make a difference. The 2016-17 Challenge aims to generate new ideas to reduce waste in homes, schools, communities, and around the world.

• Ages 4-18 • Ideas to Reduce Waste (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) • Deadline: May 1, 2017

Mini-Contests – up to $500 – Acts of Kindness

• Create a video, poem, story, drawing, photograph, or anything else that captures one of your acts of kindness.

• Upload your entry (or entries) to tell the world about your kindness. Then ask friends, family, and everyone else you know to vote for your entry. The entry and voting deadline for the current public voting contest is December 31, 2016.

• WIN! The 10 entries with the most votes will win cash prizes up to $500!

Public Voting Contests

Project Paradigm will host different public voting contests to help raise awareness about waste and to promote The Paradigm Challenge. Youth will create and submit a contest entry and ask friends and family to vote. The 10 entries with the most votes will receive cash prizes up to $500.

Ambassadors:

• Three Ambassadors (along with a parent or guardian) will win a 4-day/3-night trip to Los Angeles to attend The Paradigm Challenge Prize Ceremony.

• Ambassadors will compete in three age divisions: Ages 4 to 8 Ages 9 to 13 ● Ages 14 to 18. The top Ambassador in each age division will win the trip to Los Angeles.

• The first 100 Ambassadors to earn at least 100 points will receive an official Challenge Ambassador T-shirt. All Ambassadors who collect at least 50 points will receive a Challenge Ambassador Certificate.

Educators:

Educator Teams can win grants up to $5,000

We Have a Winner!

Nashua Recycling Center 2017 Calendar Contest

The competition is over and the calendar has been printed.

Here’s a picture of the one in the CLUB office. The theme for 2017 was “Don’t Waste the Landfill…RECYCLE.”

There were 437 entrants! Congratulations to all the competitors and to the 12 winning entries!

Students making a difference!

From our friends at DoSomething.org

Leah fought sexism by calling out retailers for selling only “sexy” Halloween costumes in the women’s section. She won the $3,000 Sexy or Sexist scholarship!

Leah says:

“I don’t want to be put in a box by any person or company. I am a woman! A young, strong, determined woman! I hate that all my lady friends and I are sexualized every year by the Halloween industry and by our society’s screwed up idea of what a woman is ‘supposed’ to look like, or how a woman is ‘supposed’ to act or dress. I want

the future generations of women to have as many options as they desire, not just for Halloween costumes, but for every aspect of life! Getting these Halloween companies to realize we are tired of being put into a box and having NO dress option other than being ‘sexy’ is an important step! Halloween is my favorite holiday, so let’s make it fun and stress free for everyone!”

Hannah won the $1,500 Hate-Free Halloween scholarship by encouraging her friends to make better-informed costume decisions. Amazing!

Hannah says:

“As a person of color and a human being, I believe that respect for other people’s differences is the most important thing. Halloween is an opportunity to be something you are not: a ghost, a werewolf, a vampire. Halloween is not meant for you to be disrespectful and oblivious to other people’s’ cultures.”

Shout out to Regan for making a vision poster of women in STEM! She inspired elementary schoolers and brought home the $5,000 Innovation Inspiration scholarship.

Regan says:

“I am so grateful all the women that were trailblazers in generations before me made it even a possibility for me to get a college education. The career choice I have made is

a very male dominated field: video game design. I hope I can continue to blaze trails for the girls who are yet to come and make these women proud. Thank you for this campaign, which helped me honor these women and their remarkable work.”

Oneisha used social media to encourage friends to register to vote and won the $5,000 Lose Your V-card scholarship!

Oneisha says:

“The youth of today have a chance for their voices to be heard. By exercising our right to vote, we are not left in the dark on what’s going on in office like past generations were.”

Alexis created 20 welcome home banners for a veterans’ new homes and won the $1,000 Welcome Home scholarship!

Alexis says:

“This campaign was important to me because I am not old enough to serve our country, and this was a way I could do my part. The veterans did so much for us, it

would be cruel not to welcome them back home.”

Madalyn won a $1,500 Caption Obvious scholarship for helping YouTubers make better captions for the Deaf and hard of hearing communities!

Madalyn says:

“This campaign was more than correcting captions to me, but also about acknowledging the Deaf society. We forget about the small percent of people who live with that disability, since we live in a world where the majority are born are able to hear. We might think hearing an alarm clock every morning is a nuisance, but there are those in the world that will never get the chance to hear something as simple as an alarm clock. I could never imagine the struggles they must go through daily. I’m just glad I can actually help out those in a simple small way.”

Congratulations to all the winners! Want to apply for an easy scholarship right now? Play a game of would you rather to learn and share ways to save money. You could win a $5,000 scholarship!

From our friends at the Composting Council

Poster Winner from Composting Council

The Composting Council Research & Education Foundation is pleased to announce the winner of the International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) Poster Contest. Out of over 200 entrees from all over the world and all ages, Ursula Gutowski’s design was chosen. Ursula is a designer from Niles, IL.

Using this year’s theme of Compost! Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, Ursula’s design will be turned into a poster and sent across the country to help promote ICAW held May 7 – 13 this year.

For more information on ICAW and how to participate, go to compostfoundation.org

From our friends at EPA

New application period for PEYA program

Applications are now being accepted for the next round of the President’s Environmental Youth Award (http://go.usa.gov/3u7XB). Applications are due March 1, 2017.

The PEYA program promotes awareness of our nation’s natural resources and encourages positive community involvement, through recognizing outstanding environmental projects by K-12 youth. The award celebrates student leadership in protecting the environment and building a livable, sustainable global community. Recent award winning projects included activities such as:

• creating a new eco-friendly fertilizer; • fighting deforestation; • educating communities on the need to protect various animal species; • restoring and conserving local habitats; • promoting community gardening; • promoting recycling and other waste reduction methods in schools and communities; • banning polystyrene (Styrofoam); • researching the impact of energy consumption methods; • analyzing the impact of solar panel installation; • inventing a new water pollution mitigation method; • educating communities on water conservation; and • analyzing storm water flow and flood risk.

From our friends at EPA

PEYA Teacher Awards

Teacher award applications now being accepted

Apply now for the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (http://go.usa.gov/xkgTS), which recognizes outstanding K-12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context for learning.

Award winners receive up to $2,500 to continue their professional development in environmental education. Additionally, the teacher’s local education agency will receive up to $2,500 to fund environmental educational activities and programs. Learn about the creative work of our previous award winners (http://go.usa.gov/xkgbT).

Applications are due March 1, 2017.

Other School Grant Opportunities

(Collected from NWF Eco-Schools Newsletter) http://www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA/Newsletter.aspx?s_email_id=20150819_ECO_ENG_Educators|#schoolyardhabitats

DonorsChoose.org – Can list on site up to 4 months http://www.donorschoose.org/about Helps classrooms and students in need

DoSomething.org - DoSomething.org offers many ways to earn scholarship money.

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EPA & NHDES NEWS

From our Friends at EPA Region 1

EPA FRC National School Winner

Lanikai School video, National FRC Award winner

This is a GREAT video about the composting done at Lanikai School, a national FRC awards winner in the data driven category and also a regional awardee. Check it out:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ymnjivrc2b7vam/ZeroWaste_FINAL3_3.mp4?dl=0

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From our friends at NH DES

NH DES Composting Brochure

Want to learn more about composting? The New Hampshire Dept. of Environmental Services has produced a very concise brochure of the basics.

Click HERE to view the PDF.

EPA’s WasteWise encourages organizations and businesses to achieve sustainability in their practices and reduce select industrial wastes. WasteWise is part of EPA’s sustainable materials management efforts, which promote the use and reuse of materials more productively over their entire lifecycles.

To learn more, go to WasteWise Fact Sheet.

As part of EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge, organizations pledge to improve their sustainable food management practices and report their results. The FRC is part of EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management Program (SMM). SMM seeks to reduce the environmental impact of materials through their entire life cycle. This includes how they are extracted, manufactured, distributed, used, reused, recycled, and disposed.

To learn more, go to: EPA FRC

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ACTIVITY

From our Friends at AllFreePaperCrafts.com

Snowman Printable Bingo Cards

By: Amber from crazylittleprojects.com

Updated October 20, 2016

Instead of going out in the cold, stay in and play a game with these Snowman Printable Bingo Cards. You may be able to build a snowman by getting a bingo. Some of the bingo space images including a branch arm, carrot nose, scarf, and top hat. There are also other winter themes, such as snowflakes and Santa’s beard. This printable bingo game is an awesome winter activity for kids and adults alike. After you’ve made these printable bingo cards, you can laminate them so that you can reuse them whenever it’s too chilly outside.

Click here for the free paper project

Estimated Cost: Under $10 Time to Complete: Under an hour Primary Technique: Paper Crafts Project or Page Size: 8.5 inches x 11 inches Type of Paper Used: Cardstock

Reusing Old Calendars

From our Friends at Real Simple:

They offer seven ways to repurpose old calendars as:

This image courtesy of crazylittleprojects.com

• Decorative Boxes • Coasters • Candle Holders • Notebook Covers • Gift Tags • Gallery Wall • Envelopes

For all the instructions, click HERE.

They have some great ideas for reusing old things at : http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/new-uses-old-things

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GREEN CALENDAR

03/22/17 – World Water Day – To plan your event, visit www.unwater.org.

04/22/17 – Earth Day – To plan your event, see future newsletters and visit www.earthday.org.

04/28/17 – Arbor Day - To plan your event, visit www.arborday.org.

05/06/17 – VT Green Up Day – For more information, visit: http://www.greenupvermont.org/

05/22/17 – NRRA’s 36th Annual Recycling Conference & Expo Begins

05/23/17 – School CLUB’s 8th Annual School Recycling Conference (the Conference within the Conference); Registration assistance available for NH schools through NH the Beautiful.

06/05/17 – World Environment Day - To plan your event, visit www.unep.org.

06/08/16 – World Oceans Day - To plan your event, visit www.worldoceansday.org.

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Groundhog Day is right around the corner (Feb. 2)!

Let’s vote for NO SHADOW!

FORGET ME NOT REMINDER!

VALENTINE’S DAY IS FEB. 14!

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Thanks to activityvillage.co.uk

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WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL CLUB UP TO? The NRRA School CLUB always loves to hear what its members and other schools are doing to recycle and help the environment so we can share it through our newsletter. There are so many different things being done, and you are our best source of information about what is working in your school. It can be a new program, a long-term project that’s been proven over time, a field trip, etc. Always feel free to contact me or submit something and you may see it in the next School News You Can Use! – Gwen Erley, theCLUB@nrra.net 1-603-736-4401 Ext. 19