ENVIRONMENTAL AMBASSADOR 2010 National STAR Events July 4-8 Chicago, IL

Environmental Ambassador Provide speaker information here or delete.

Environmental Ambassador is an individual or team event that recognizes participants who address environmental issues that adversely impact human health and well-being and who actively empower others to get involved. Participants will research one of the five current topics, investigate areas where they can make a differences, develop and carry out a stewardship project for their home, school, or community, and educate others in their school or community about the problems, effects, and solutions regarding the environmental concern. Environmental Ambassador

Environmental Ambassador Event Rules STAR Events Manual Pages

Environmental Ambassador Basic Event Elements Environmental Issue Research – check out this year’s 5 topics online at Stewardship Project – after researching problems and solutions within your topic, find a way to do something beneficial for your home, school, or community Educational Presentations – talk to people in your school or community about your project and what they can do to help Portfolio – just like Applied Technology, Career Investigation, Early Childhood, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality, and Job Interview Oral Presentation – up to 15 minutes

Environmental Ambassador Getting Started Research-Based – begin with the topic which interests you most Need-Based – develop a project that meets a pre-determined need of your home, school, or community

Environmental Ambassador Topics Reduce your carbon footprint through efficient energy use and recycling. Effects of climate change on air quality and the resulting affect on human health. Impact of community/home composting and gardening on the local environment and human health. Relationship of climate change to insects and other organism populations and mutations. Impact of climate change on sunlight quality and the resulting affect on youth health.

Environmental Ambassador The FCCLA Planning Process The Planning Process is always the best place to start a project. Get a copy from your adviser or find it on the FCCLA national website,

Environmental Ambassador Event Specifications & Rubric Before you begin your project, check out the specifications and the rubric to see exactly what is required. Use the rubric as you complete project components to ensure you are on the right track.

Environmental Ambassador Sample Project This presentation demonstrates project content, not the appropriate manner in which to display content. For more information on how to prepare your portfolio, please read the event specifications in the STAR Events Manual.

Environmental Ambassador! Identify Concerns Our school does not have any recycling receptacles and the community recycling center is only patronized by a few residents. This leads to the conclusion that the majority of waste in our school and community is sent to the landfill rather than given a chance to be recycled.

Environmental Ambassador Set a Goal Develop an environment where recycling is just as easy as disposing of items. Place recycling bins next to each trash receptacle in our school. Secure a plastic bag and film recycling receptacle at the local grocery store. Educate students and community members about how to make recycling a natural part of everyday life.

Environmental Ambassador Form a Plan 1.First, we need to learn as much as possible about recycling before we start our project so we will begin by doing research. 2.We will discuss the current situation with our principal and superintendent and get permission for the placement of school recycling receptacles. 3.We will then raise funds for school recycling bins through a project that also encourages recycling education.

Environmental Ambassador Form a Plan 4.We will discuss the addition of plastic film recycling collection bin at the local grocery store with the owner. We hope to use leftover money from the school project to help fund this project, or potentially with a community sponsor. 5.Finally, we will educate others in the school and community about the importance of recycling by presenting programs on recycling to various school and community groups, including an all-school assembly, school staff breakfast, Lion’s Club meeting, Rotary Club meeting, and other various community organizations.

Environmental Ambassador Act We developed: Main talking points from recycling research School Recycling Receptacle proposal Recycling Receptacle fundraiser Plastic Bag and Film Recycling Collection Bin proposal Community support letter Recycling Education Program proposal Recycling Education Program

Environmental Ambassador Research We found that since recycling is such a popular topic in today’s society, there is a lot of very current and reliable information on the internet and decided to use this form of researching as our primary tool. In addition, we talked with the county recycling center supervisor for information about the resources available in our community. He was very excited about our project and gave us pamphlets on how to use the recycling center to distribute during our presentations to school and community groups.

Environmental Ambassador Research Here’s a list of websites with great information about recycling: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – American Chemistry Council – Earth 911 – America Recycles Day – Waste Management – Plastic Bag Facts – Plastic Bag Recycling – Coke’s Live Positively –

Environmental Ambassador! School Recycling Receptacle Proposal As we thought about how to best collect recyclable waste, we realized that the more access people have to a recycling bin, the more likely they will be to recycle. Therefore, we decided on four types of locations for recycling bins to be placed: Classrooms, Offices, & Locker Rooms Hallways & Common Spaces Outdoors Sporting Events

Environmental Ambassador! School Recycling Receptacle Proposal: Classrooms, Offices, & Locker Rooms We will place two recycling bins (one for paper/one for plastic) next to each trash bin in all school classrooms and offices. Our school has 15 classrooms, 5 offices, and 4 locker rooms so we will need 48 (24 Blue/24 Green) of these 28-quart Rubbermaid desk-side recycling bins. We talked with the local hardware store who agreed to sell them to us at wholesale plus shipping and tax, so the total cost will be approximately $300. Plastic Bottles Paper

Environmental Ambassador! School Recycling Receptacle Proposal: Hallways & Common Space We will place two recycling bins (one for paper/one for plastic) next to each trash bin in three hallway locations and three large common areas. These are larger, 23 gallon, bins with venting and recycle specific lids. Each container, including the lid, is about $75 with our local hardware store agreement, which means the total for all six is approximately $900. Paper Plastic Bottles

Environmental Ambassador! School Recycling Receptacle Proposal: Outdoor The permanent bin outside the school entrance will be for plastic only. We studied students outdoor disposing habits and found that most students discarded waste from food products in this trash can. Most paper is disposed of inside, therefore, a paper bin is not needed in this area. This bin will be decaled with the school mascot on two sides and the recycling symbol with “Plastic Only” on the other two sides and top. 38 Gallon Capacity $200

Environmental Ambassador! School Recycling Receptacle Proposal: Sporting Events Since our concession stand, vending machines, and the convenience store across the street only sell plastic bottles of beverages, we will place one recycling bin for bottles next to each sporting event trash bin. These bins are light-weight so the can easily be transported to the different event sites and put in storage when not in use to increase the life of use. They will be labeled and since they are clear, people who aren’t aware of the recycling program will be able to tell they are for plastic only. 30 Gallon Capacity $150 x 3 = $450

Environmental Ambassador Classroom, Office, & Locker Rooms: $300 Hallways & Common Spaces:$900 Outdoor$200 Sporting Events$450 Total$1,850 Fundraising Goal$2,000 (to cover receptacle, supplies, and unexpected costs) School Recycling Receptacle Proposal

Environmental Ambassador School Recycling Receptacle Fundraiser Chico Bags

Environmental Ambassador School Recycling Receptacle Fundraiser Chico Bag Features: Lightweight – bags range from 1.5 to 5.6 ounces Compact – all bag styles are sold with a small pouch to store bags when not in use. Bags easily fit in the pouch without special folding or effort. Portable – each pouch comes with an attached carabineer so you can attach it to your keys, purse, pants, etc. Stylish – Chico Bag makes products in modern colors and shapes so being green can be just as fashionable as any other choice. Durable – depending on the style, bags can hold anywhere from pounds. Washable – get your bag dirty? Just throw it in the wash and let it air dry.

Environmental Ambassador School Recycling Receptacle Fundraiser: Buy Green, Go Green, Be Green Original rePETe Vita rePETe Materials for Both: Fabric & Cord: 100% Recycled PET (plastic) Carabineer: 97% Recycled Aluminum Cord Lock: 100$ Recycled Polyurethanes Total: 99% Recycled materials Holds up to 25 lbs. Holds up to 40 lbs.

Environmental Ambassador School Recycling Receptacle Fundraiser: Buy Green, Go Green, Be Green Messenger rePETe Sling Daypack rePETe Bags to have as samples of available products to order Product Descriptions, Colors, & Prices Order Form

Environmental Ambassador School Recycling Receptacle Fundraiser Our Green Selection

Environmental Ambassador School Recycling Receptacle Fundraiser

Environmental Ambassador School Recycling Receptacle Fundraiser The bags turned out to be very popular! We sold out of the bags we had on hand and took orders for anyone who had missed out or wanted a bigger selection. Many young adults and mothers bought multiple bags to use for groceries, daily errands, and game day necessities. Several students special ordered “Sling” and “Messenger” bags. In total, we raised $3,115!!!

Environmental Ambassador Plastic Bag & Film Recycling Collection Bin Proposal Recycling Collection Bins Bin Decals Store Posters

Environmental Ambassador! Community Support Letter

Environmental Ambassador School & Community Presentations 1.National Elementary School – this presentation was based on a children’s book called Michael Recycle and was developed to help young children make recycling part of their lifestyle 2.National Middle & High School – we put together a skit by FCCLA members about recycling in our school, asked the community recycling center coordinator to speak about how to recycle at home, and announced in-school recycling incentives (tokens for FACS cookies, free sodas, and an all- school pizza lunch for reaching our recycling goals) 3.NHS Community Thanks B-Ball Night Half-time Entertainment – we took participants out of the audience and played a recycling trivia game during half-time of the girls varsity basketball game. Throughout the evening we also allowed those who recycled their beverage bottles to enter a drawing and selected the winner during the boys varsity game.

Environmental Ambassador School & Community Presentations 4.Lion’s Club – this group is primarily made of men in the community. We talked about how they use recyclable materials everyday, what typically happens to them, and how they can make simple changes to their daily routine to be more environmentally responsible. 5.Rotary Club – this group is primarily business men and women in the community. We focused our presentation on how they can start recycling programs in their businesses, educate employees on recycling, and be involved in an active environmentally responsible community. 6.Xi Theta Sorority – this group is made up of women active in the community. We focused our presentation on how they can start home recycling programs and how to encourage a recycling lifestyle for their children and neighbors.

Environmental Ambassador Project Summary Submission

Environmental Ambassador Follow Up The school recycling bins were installed in December and our school maintenance staff has reported a 35% lower amount of trash throughout the second semester compared to the first semester. Our community recycling center has reported a 500% increase in recycling compared to last year’s amounts. The plastic bag and film recycling has been incredibly successful. Both bins have to be emptied twice each month. Since this is the first opportunity our community has had to recycle this material, the amount of plastic we are saving from the landfill is tremendous. Because of our efforts in school and community recycling, our school board asked for more information on how we could become a more environmentally responsible environment. We gave them the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s sample proclamation as a place to start in determining needs and making changes. They have now signed a proclamation and we have all become EPA Climate Ambassadors.

Environmental Ambassador Evaluating Your Project The STAR Events rubrics are a great way to make sure that your project is up to the highest standards. Use the rubric as you prepare your portfolio and speech to make sure you are ready to compete!

Environmental Ambassador Point Summary Form

Environmental Ambassador Rubric

Environmental Ambassador Tips for Success Follow the Rules! – The STAR Events Manual is now available at If you have questions, ask your adviser or state adviser to help clarify the rules. Be Purposeful – think about what could really benefit your school or community and plan a project with purpose. Get Support First – this project will likely be more successful if you have support from key school or community members before you start. Make sure you do your research and know your stuff so you can impress others and gain their assistance in the cause.

ENVIRONMENTAL AMBASSADOR 2010 National STAR Events July 4-8 Chicago, IL