Earth Day Blount County Style Sponsored by: Education Committee – FLFR (Friends of the Locust Fork River) Legacy, Partners in Environmental Partners

Earth Day – April 22 Earth Day was established to: Honor our earth Protect the environment Take care of our planet Encourage recycling

Vocabulary Terms you need to know: Environment Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Sustainable Renewable resource Going Green Carbon footprint

Did you know? The average American creates 4.5 pounds of trash each day. Alabamians create 10 pounds of trash per day. That’s a lot of waste going into our landfills! Not very sustainable.

Plastic bottles add up! 1 bottle, per student, per day = 7 bottles per week x 52 wks/year 364 bottles per year (12 years in school) x 12 years 4,368 empty bottles ea. kid (Avg. class size) x 30 kids 131,040 empty bottles

How much time does it take for 131,040 bottles to decompose? 1 year? 10 years? 20 years? 100 years? 1,000 years?

HOW LONG? It could take up to 1,000 years PER BOTTLE to decompose or break down fully.

Recycling – it’s an important part in taking care of our environment.

Have you seen this symbol? What does it mean?

The 3 R’s of the Recycling Symbol: REduce REuse REcycle

Reduce: This is our First and most important step! Do I need to buy it? Do I need to print it? Can I buy it with less packaging? (buy in bulk?)

Reuse: Before we trash or recycle it, maybe we can use it again. Maybe in a different way. Use a glass or reusable water bottle instead of bottled water. Donate and shop for usable items at thrift stores. Reuse grocery bags or better yet, take reusable cloth bags. Use egg cartons for starting garden seeds.

Recycle: if you can’t reuse it, then Recycle ! Aluminum Cans Plastics # 1 & # 2 Glass Paper, mixed paper, & cardboard Keep it out of our Landfills! Waste is a precious raw material

The 3 R’s CAN make a difference!

You CAN Make a Difference Aluminum can be recycled over and over again.. Aluminum can be turned into a new can and back on store shelves in 60 days. Aluminum can recycling bins are usually available at locations nationwide. Aluminum Can recycling usually pays per pound. Recycling Pays

Every Day is Earth Day What can you do? How can you be involved? How can you make a difference?

5 things YOU can do Turn off lights and electronics when not in use. Turn off water while brushing your teeth. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Use tap water and refillable bottles. Do not litter!

Get Involved Encourage recycling at your home and school. Practice the 3 R’s every day and with every purchase. Learn about your Carbon FootPrint. Join a group that cares about the environment like Friends of the Locust Fork River.

It’s our Earth – Don’t trash it. Make a difference! Reduce Reuse Recycle

For more information about environmental workshops for teachers or resources go to www.legacyenved.org Do your part to help our environment in Alabama and purchase a special license car tag. Proceeds go to environmental education projects.

Friends of the Locust Fork River www.FLFR.org For more information on The Locust Fork River and Environmental Issues in Blount County, Alabama, contact: Friends of the Locust Fork River www.FLFR.org 8th – 12th graders get involved! Join the YA! FLFRs (Youth Activists! Friends of the Locust Fork River) Contact: Martha Hunter 205-429-4120 or martha.1645@greenirene.com

Resources http://www.aeconline.org/recycling/center http://sustainability.und.edu/earthday http://earth911.com/recycling/metal/aluminum-can/ http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/swmp/pubs-reports/threers.htm http://greenitudes.com/recycling http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/index.htm http://www.recycledproducts.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0 The Story of Stuff – Bottled Water http://kilowattours.org/ http://www.carbonfootprint.com http://www.legacyenved.org/

Love our renewable resources – Go Green! Maybe ditch this for things they could do.