Xmas tree recycling - City of Austin

Recycle your Christmas Tree and Turn it Into a Resource!

Twenty-six years ago, the City of Austin began recycling Christmas trees, and now, almost 20,000 trees are kept out of area landfills annually. The tradition continues in 2011: recycle your tree into a free local resource!

For City of Austin garbage customers, recycling a Christmas tree is as easy as setting it on the curb. Beginning Dec. 27, 2010, Solid Waste Services will pick up all trees with yard trimmings on regularly scheduled collection days. They are then recycled along with yard trimmings to make Dillo Dirt™.

 

Residents who do not have City of Austin garbage service, including apartment and condo residents, can recycle their trees by dropping them off in Zilker Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following dates:

• Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011
• Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011
• Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011

 

Trees collected at Zilker are recycled into mulch, which is made available free on a first-come, first-served basis to Austin residents in mid-January.

 

Source: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/sws/sws_news_details.cfm?nwsid=2850

A Greener Holiday Season

BCBC's Green Committee is wishing all BCE families a Happy and Green Holiday season!

Please take a moment to consider a greener holiday for your family and our Earth:

If every family in the country gift wrapped just three gifts by recycling existing paper they already have (how about school art paper/homework from your kids that you might otherwise recycle…reuse it and then recycle after the holidays!), the paper saved would be enough to cover 45,000 football fields. Now, that’s a green Christmas and a whole lot of trees saved too!

Replace your holiday lights with energy efficient LED lights. According to Energy Star, holiday LED lights consume about 70% less energy and last up to 10 times longer than traditional holiday strands.  The lights will pay for themselves in electricity savings in less than five years!  There are weather resistant ones for outdoor use, too!  Also, if one light goes out, the strand still works.  Nice, right?

Choose a live tree? There is definitely a bit of controversy on this topic. Best option: no tree. That most likely won’t go over well, another green suggestion would be a live tree that won’t be dumped out after the holidays.

Although an artificial tree can be used year after year, real trees might still the more sustainable choice.  Eventually artificial trees (which are made from petroleum products and contain PVC) will end up in the landfill and their plastic content will make them stay there forever.  Live trees are a renewable resource grown on tree farms.  While they are growing, they contribute to better air quality, and over 90% are reduced into mulch after the holidays.

Recycle old electronics. When the latest version of an electronic gift shows up under your tree, make sure that you recycle your old ones.  BCE will help you recycle most older electronics! Check out the escrip box in the entrance hallway at BCE for dropping off electronics!

Rethink your Holiday traditions and start newer and greener ones.

This is the best gift you can give our Earth!

Resources:

http://ecofriendlygreenearth.com

http://blog.greenearthbamboo.com/

http://www.christmastree.org/faketrees.cfm

Pumpkin Alert!!!

Friday, November 4th, 2011 

Pumpkin Collection and Recycling Day at BCE

Early morning, freezing cold and dark!
Nonetheless, we had quite a crowd of 1st and 4th grade volunteers with parents together to help take pumpkins out of cars and into the pick up truck and trailer.

Three first graders redirecting traffic:

A BCE student carrying a pumpkin to the trailer:

After morning drop off, we had the pick up truck full to the max with pumpkins.
The trailer was about 1/3 full.

Coming back in the afternoon, the trailer was packed with pumpkins!
It was quite an orange sight!

Such a great turn out and
a wonderful community effort to save pumpkins from going to landfill and harming our Earth through green house gases.

A few more parents came to drop off pumpkins once school was out.
BCE students helping with pumpkin collection in the afternoon:

The trailer went to Alexander Family Farm.
BCBC Green Committe and a few students helped unload pumpkins.
It was very excited to see the cattle eat our pumpkins.
What a great way to reuse Halloween pumpkins!

Our 1st grade team took the pick up truck to Green Gates Farm. 
This farm has pigs and chickens that love pumpkins.

Unloading pumpkins in front of the compost bin:

A pig eating a pumpkin:

Tuesday and Thursday, November 1st and 3rd, 2011

1st grade volunteers and parents reminded car riders during morning drop off to keep their pumpkins out of the trash and landfill and rather bring them to school Friday, November 4th, for recycling (compost and animal food).

Monday, October 31, 2011: 

 ORANGE is the new “green” for Halloween at BCE

DON’T SCARE THE EARTH ON HALLOWEEN!

This FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4^th the Barton Creek Elementary School will be collecting carved and uncarved pumpkins to share with nearby pig and cattle farms.

Parent and student volunteers will be collecting your pumpkins during morning “Drop- Off” OR if you prefer, place your pumpkins in the trailer parked behind the school anytime that same day. The trailer will leave BCE after school.

Not only will we be making quite a few cows and pigs happy with a pumpkin feast, our Earth will thank you as well for being ORANGE (The new “green” for Halloween)! 

Did You Know?
"About 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkin end up in our landfills after Halloween. Not only do these pumpkins take up space, they emit methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide." [1]

 “If just 10 percent of all pumpkins sold this year were composted instead of being thrown out with the garbage, 100 million pounds of waste could be kept from the nation's landfills annually. The effect of this level of waste reduction would be as though nearly 42,000 U.S. households stopped producing garbage altogether.” [2]

[1] http://www.opportunitygreen.com

[2] www.blueegg.com/answer/Compost-Your-Jack-O-Lantern.html

Composting Fridays at BCE

Barton Creek Elementary school is proud to announce:
Composting Fridays!

We are composting all fruit and veggie leftovers. 
Our BCE students know: "First Eat, Then Compost".

Why do we want to compost at BCE?
Are a few pounds of compost every Friday really worth while the trouble
(our very first Friday we had 38 pounds)?
You bet!

1st grade students composting fruit leftovers

Our kids are the future to a greener earth. It is not really about composting a few pounds of leftovers here and there, it is about educating our children about a greener earth, not being wasteful but being respectful and responsible citizens, learning about soil (dry Texas soil vs lifely compost soil) and just having FUN!
Yes, composting is FUN! BCE students are all excited to compost.

 All of 1st grade took over composting as a year long service project. The kids learned about soil, learned what to compost and how, made poster boards and educated all other grades about composting.

Math and Composting?
We weigh each compost bucket and the kids get to add the weight of 4 compost buckets together.

 A view into our compost  bin:

 Hopefully by spring time we will have compost for BCE's veggie garden!

Laptop Lunchboxes - Coupon Code!

Great news for all BCE parents:
we have a coupon code just for our school!!!

Get your Laptop Lunchbox now and save 15% of your order. 

Contact Birgit to get your coupon code to save those 15%.

Thank you all for keeping ziplog bags out of our school trash and landfills!!!

BCE goes green, one step at a time ...

and we need EVERYONE's help to keep our Earth green!

Green Party Box

The box is indeed GREEN.
The contents is GREEN.
What more can our earth wish for?

Here is the scoop: our BCE Green Party Box has reusable plates, cups and spoons for an entire classroom.
No more disposable plates,
no more individual drinks (our earth is so much happier when we recycle one big bottle of water and juice rather than 20+ small bottles!),
no more plastic cutlery ending up in our landfills.

If your classroom has a treat or party day, please use our Green Party Box. It is sitting in the library, waiting to be used. Sign up sheet and instructions are in the Recycling Mailbox in the front office.

Let the BCE Green Committee know if you have any questions or concerns.

Idle Free School Zone?

Want your child to breath fresh air at school?

Please consider to turn your engines off to pick-up and drop off students. Not only does turning off our cars improve the air in the immediate surroundings, it also reduces the formation of ground-level ozone, the biggest air quality problem in Central Texas!

Idling your vehicle emits harmful pollutants, wastes fuel, and contributes to climate change. Many areas have anti-idling laws, generally for health reasons. And most of the “justifications” given for idling are myths. Here are a few facts:

• Idling a car for more than 10 seconds uses MORE fuel than turning the engine off and back on.
• The best way to warm up your car in the winter is to drive it slowly. This warms up the transmission, wheel bearings, and any other moving parts. Idling only warms the engine.
• Idling a cold engine (i.e. just after turning it on in the winter) produces more than twice the normal harmful emissions.
• Excessive idling damages your engine by depositing residues from incomplete combustion.
• Every two minutes of car idling consumes the same amount of gas required to drive approximately one mile. If a driver idles for one hour, one gallon of gasoline is wasted.
• The United States contains less than 5 percent of the world's population but produces 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
• Every gallon of gasoline burned—for driving and idling—releases 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, making the transportation sector responsible for about a quarter of overall US carbon dioxide emissions.

And remember, as long as you’re idling your fuel economy is ZERO [1] [2]

[1] http://brighterplanet.com/personal-actions/20-avoid-idling-your-car

[2] http://www.greenyour.com/transportation/car/car-driving/tips/avoid-car-idling

Connecting with Bryker Woods Elementary school

We had a wonderful morning at Bryker Woods Elementary school (close to Central Market north) and were amazed at their green projects. This school, teachers, staff, students, and their parents are just amazing.
Here are a few outstanding things we saw:
- solar cells: they provide power for 1 entire classroom, how cool is that??!!!
- compost: the school has reduced lunch waste from 17 bags to 3 everyday, amazing!
- no more plastic cutlery in the cafeteria
- party pack and compost bucket to borrow for school parties or birthday parties
- walk and bike to school with a log in system for students who bike to school, this way parents know when their child arrived at school safely
- waste free school family picnic

I am all inspired by Bryker Woods elementary school.
We can learn a lot and I hope we will see some changes at BCE in the next school year!

It needs a whole school to go Green. Let's get moving to Green!!!

Did you know?

Did You Say BOW WOW?

Did you know that the City’s Child Safety Program has a program called

BOW WOW?

It stands for Bike on Wednesday. Walk on Wednesday. And it applies to all campuses in Austin!

One of the biggest environmental, energy security, & health decisions your family makes takes place every morning before 8 am. Motorized transport represents 28% of the nation’s carbon footprint.

We are already 60% reliant on other nations for our petroleum needs, and this number is growing. Walking at least 1 mile a day is a top recommendation for all Americans, burning roughly 100 calories, or an 8 oz glass of 1% milk.

Idling a car for more than 10 seconds wastes money while exposing the motorists and nearby children to far higher levels of carbon monoxide, fine particulate matter, and other forms of air toxins that are contributing to record levels of asthma and associated disabilities. (And exposure is actually highest inside your vehicle.) Two minutes of discontinued idling should get you a mile of added travel.

Walking & biking to school is COOL! Please help your kids & families become accustomed to new travel habits that can become healthy lifetime habits. You’ll feel better about your family’s carbon footprint.

If you live too far to bike or walk, you can drive part of the distance, and walk the final half mile. If you do have to drive into campus, please turn that engine off for any stops of more than 10 seconds (this can include red lights).

Carpooling also helps eliminate car trips.

Did you know that 5 out of every 10 trips in Sweden & the Netherlands are by walking or biking? And 4 out of every 10 in Italy & France. Somehow it’s just 1 out of every 10 here in the U.S. We possess 3% of the world’s oil reserves and 5% of the world’s population, but consume 25% of the planet’s oil supply. We can (and need to) change that. It starts here, with you & your terrific children!

No matter where you live, please pick at least one day every week to walk or bike in: get fit, protect the planet & have fun.

Further reading: Jacobsen PL. (2003) Safety in numbers: more walkers and bicyclists, safer walking and bicycling. In the journal Injury Prevention 9:205-209.

Other items to note (from www.walktoschool.org & cleanairforce.org):

· Children are at highest risk to air pollution exposure because they breathe faster than adults & take in more air per pound of body weight.

· In 1969, 42% of American youngsters walked or bicycled to or from school – versus just 16% today.

· Under 50% of those who live within a mile of school walk or bike to school even once a week.

· In some cities, up to 25% of morning rush hour traffic is school-related.

· Childhood asthma rates more than doubled between 1980 and 1995, and they remain very high. Asthma is a top childhood disease and a major cause of childhood disability.

· The walk or bike to school offers stress reduction, relief of ADHD symptoms in children, and increased cognitive and motor functioning. It also offers children an opportunity to spend time in the natural environment, while developing a sense of independence that is important for human development.

· You can very effectively teach your children about safety while walking & biking to school: Stay to the side of the road, watch out at driveways, look & listen, and make eye contact with drivers near your crosswalk.

Earth Week 2011

We are proud to report:
Lots going on at BCE during Earth week:
and a big thanks to all the BCE kids, parents and not to forget teachers and staff to make a difference and keeping our Earth green.

The Earth Day Grocery Project:
BCE students decorated grocery bags with environmental messages.
Shoppers at Westlake HEB will receive their groceries in a "Celebrate Earth Day" bag.
Here are some Kindergarten students with their decorated bags:

A little side note on plastic grocery bags can be found all the way on the bottom.

Our T-shirt drive is in full force!
Students are bringing in old T-shirts. The Open arms company, which employs refugee women, is reusing these T-shirts to make new products: 100% recycling of our students T-shirts. Cool!


Plastic bags [1]:

• 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year, worldwide.
• About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute.
• A single plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.
• The U.S. goes through 100 billion single-use plastic bags. This costs retailers about $4 billion a year.
• Plastic bags are the second-most common type of ocean refuse, after cigarette butts (2008)
• Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down.
• Every square mile of ocean has about 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it.

[1] from http://www.reuseit.com/

Your Laptop Lunch Ideas

Now what could be better? Prepare your kids lunch the day before, stack them nicely into your fridge and in the mornings just put those Laptop Lunchboxes into the carrying case and off your kids go with a healthy and nutritional lunch!!!

I pack lunches the day before
and mornings are (still a little hassle here and there) but lunches are a no brainer!
Laptop lunchboxes don't take up a lot of space in your fridge.
Here is a photo of how our fridge looks like with 3 Laptop Lunchboxes stacked on top of each other:
What to pack into your lunchbox? Those 4 compartments make it easy:
fruit, veggies, protein and carbs and you have a nutritious meal everyday.
I took a few photos of our lunches and I do hope to post lost of photos from all of you BCE parents. Inspire us with your lunchbox ideas!!!

1/2 hamburger, homemade potato fries, cheese cubes with organic ketchup in small container (top left), strawberries (top right), tortilla chips (bottom left), carrots and apple slices (bottom right)

1/2 hamburger (top right...this child does not like potato and cheese too much;-), apple and green pepper slices (top right), grape tomato with pretzel sticks and ketchup for hamburger in small container (bottom left), carrots and strawberries (bottom right).

Laptop Lunchboxes

Do you pack your child's lunch?...even if you don't, you might still want to check this out since making lunch with Laptop Lunchboxes is a piece of cake!

Did you know that on average you are spending $26 on ziplog bags in one school year?
Why not invest this money into a Laptop Lunchbox and help make BCE greener, save some money for yourself and stop adding more plastic to our landfills?

Containers Are...
	Safe: NO lead, BPA, phthalates, or PVC.
	Cost-effective: A set will pay for itself.
	Reusable: They last for years!
	Recycled & Recyclable: Made with recycled content.
	Easy to Clean: Dishwasher safe. (Top rack only. No heat boosters.)
	Waste-free: Eliminate tons of waste from your landfill or incinerator.

FAQs:

1. Can I see a Laptop Lunchbox before I order?

YES! There is a display sample, Laptop Lunchbox with Flower Carrying Case, just outside the BCE office (from April 15th, 2011 on for at least 2 weeks). Take a look.

2. How do I order a Laptop Lunchbox for my child?

The order forms were in your child's Thursday folder. Fill them out, place the order form with check into the provided envelope and have your child return this to the teacher.

2. When will I receive my Laptop Lunchbox?

Laptop Lunchboxes will be handed out during Lemonade Social in August.
One thing less to worry about! Cross the lunchbox off your to-do-list!

3. Can I fit a sandwich into the Lunchbox?

YES! A regular slice of bread, cut in half, will fit nicely into the square bigger container.

4. Should I order now?

Laptop Lunchboxes will increase in price after May 1st. BCE will run another order of Laptop Lunchboxes early next school year but you have to be prepared to pay 10% more unfortunately.

5. Another Booster Club fundraiser?

Not at all. The main reason we are doing a BCE school order is to get BCE waste free.
For you: a BCE order will save you money on shipping costs:
shipping is free with our school order!!!
Laptop Lunchboxes will give our school a 20% kick-back for our bulk order.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Thanks for visiting our school's RRR blog.
We would love to hear from you!
Suggestions and comments on how we can make BCE more green are much appreciated.

We would also love to post on this blog...
- your photos
- your projects
on how you: kids, parents and teachers are keeping BCE green!