My Farewell Address

FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:

.. it's been a great 2 years with the Environmental Club. It is so very sad to leave you guys.

Just to update things a bit - Amity is now recycling because the superintendent is enforcing that. If things ever go bad again, just let him know and he'll enforce it again. The raffle was also a success - 3 96 gallon bins filled with bottles and cans! And I'm SURE the winners loved their t-shirts and starbucks gift cards!

Oh, and on June 8th, we had a beach cleanup at Smith's Point in Milford right by the Audubon Center. I'd say that was also a big success, even with a limited few we collected a bunch of trash... some rusty/spiky fence thing.. and even a tire. Our cleanup had to help the local animals some. Thanks to Save the Sound for all the sweet cleanup equipment.. bags.. gloves.. first aid kit.. chapstick! and double thanks to Callie/ her family for providing air conditioning and bagels.

as for next year, Nimisha's gonna be president.. and everyone else can assign their own positions. we're going to need someone to keep updating this blog!!! usually all the other seniors are all [co-] vice presidents. think of ways to recruit more people... try not to let the recycling program fall apart....... think of cool activities.. have fun.. get the school/ community involved with stuff.. and yeah, do some good.

Much love,
Kate

The beach cleanup 6/8/08

A lot has been happening in the past few weeks. We started our bottle raffle on April 21st and have already collected 2 full bins! It will be ending this friday and we will draw the bottles on the TV announcements. Mrs. Cheng had a meeting with Dr. Brady and he decided that 'not recycling at Amity is not an option.' So a legitimate recycling program will begin May 12th! Huzzah!

Goals for May 6, 2008 meeting
- get a signed letter to starbucks to try and get prizes for the raffle
- make copies of signs, or maybe email teachers the signs for their recycling bin
- set up stations upstairs and downstairs
- find out where we can get a big box for the raffle bottles
- confirm the styrofoam in the cafeteria is special biodegradable styrofoam
- pick leadership positions for next year
- possible sneaker drive at relay for life? to recycle old sneakers in the Nike Reuse-a-shoe program. closest drop-off center is in New Haven.
- set a volunteer date in June for 'Save the Sound' to clean up a beach

"How about 6 hours this spring or fall? Join the coastline and river cleanup team.Our Save the Sound coastal cleanup program is a great way to get outside, join neighbors at a site near you, and see how a half day of working together can clean up a section of coast or river in your ecological neighborhood.Or, become a Cleanup Captain, and bring together your own team to cleanup a new location. Contact Emily Schaller, for more information at 203 787 0646/ext. 113 or email her at eschaller@savethesound.org."

THE CLUB..... IS BACK. and better than ever.

April 10, 2008 Meeting

Some words from Nimisha:
So, environmental club was cool today. Here's what went down...
1. Ms. Cheng is going to schedule a meeting with Dr. Britton so we can go talk to him about everything.
2. We talked about how to reform the recycling system and make it actually work long term, without having a few kids do all the work. This is basically our biggest problem. (detention kids...)
3. We're going to try to get recycling bins specifically for cans and bottles in the cafe. We could turn them in at stop and shop and keep the money for ourselves.
4. We're going to see where the whole switching-styrofoam-plates-to-paper-in-the-cafe thing goes.
5. raffle!!!!!!!!! On earth day, we're going to use Nana's kickass idea of having kids use water bottles as raffle tickets and dumping them into one big bin.

What are we doing for prizes?I think that's it for now..

Oct. 4, 2007 Meeting
- we appointed our amazing and wonderful cabinet of dedicated environmentalists
- we created a list of goals for the year
GOALS
Recycling
- make sure the janitors actually recycle the contents of the recycling bins
- put recycling bins in the cafeteria for bottles/ cans
- switch from Styrofoam plates to paper/ recyclable plastic in the cafeteria
- have a collection box for other recyclables [ink cartridges, batteries, cell phones]
Events/ Fundraising
- debate the republican club on global warming [November 7th?]
- show an environmental film in the new auditorium
- have a guest speaker
- fundraiser [with israeli american club?] - reuseable tote grocery bags, raffle at lunch collecting plastic bottles
- end of year trip?
Volunteering
- Save the Sound- cleaning up local beaches
- Solar Youth- environmental/ youth development group in New Haven

which brings us to our next meeting...
Goals for Nov. 1, 2007 Meeting
- discuss meeting with principal from monday Oct. 29 [re: recycling in the school/ cafeteria]
- prepare a lot of 'ammo' for the global warming debate versus the republican club
- publicize the debate
- fully plan/ set dates for fundraiser [late november, early december]
- sign-up list for volunteering
- discuss the 1-minute environmental film contest we could enter [charley's idea! :o)]

Peace and love,
Kate

P.S.
- Americans throw away our entire commercial air fleet’s worth of aluminum every 3 months
- It can take 500 years for just one aluminum can to decompose.
but...
+ Recycling that single aluminum can saves the amount of energy to light one 100 watt bulb for 20 hours or run a TV for 3 hours.+ A recycled 12oz. can saves the energy equivalent of 6oz. of gasoline.
+ A recycled aluminum can reappears on the shelf as a brand new coke can in about 90 days.

Human Behavior, Global Warming, and the Ubiquitous Plastic Bag

Many supermarkets sell reusable bags for 99 cents, but few people buy them. It is estimated that Americans consume 100 billion plastic bags a year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/nyregion/30towns.html?ref=nyregion

Environmental Club Public showing of The 11th Hour: Date Pending (after club day)

Leonardo DiCaprio's "The 11th Hour" is a feature length documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions and their impact on the planet. "The 11th Hour" documents the cumulative impact of these actions upon the planet's life systems and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity. With the help of over fifty of the world's most prominent thinkers and activists, including reformer Mikhail Gorbachev, physicist Stephen Hawking, and Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, "The 11th Hour" documents the grave problems facing the planet's life systems. The most powerful element of "The 11th Hour" is not the portrait of a planet in crisis, but the hope and solutions the films offers. Scientists and environmental advocates paint a portrait for a radically new and exciting future in which humanity seeks not to dominate the earth's life systems, but to mimic them and coexist. "The 11th Hour" calls for a future that is both sustainable and healthier.

A New Year...

School is almost here!

Let's have a brainstorm meeting sometime early september to plan things we want to accomplish this year. Top of the agenda- find a teacher advisor, because Mrs. Cheng is out for half the year on maternity leave (congrats Mrs. Cheng!) and recruiting members!!

We'll work out what day is best for everyone. This year is gonna be the best the enviroclub has ever seen. Now go out and cherish those dwindling days of summer.

Peace and love,
Kate