Bits and Bones
Spencer treats you to some fun facts

Tips for Greener Travel from The National Geographic Society
Reducing your speed to 55 mph from 65 mph may increase your fuel efficiency by as much as 15 percent; cut it to 55 from 70, and you could get a 23 percent improvement. To travel with a lighter footprint:
• Stay closer to home. The less you drive, the easier your trip is on the environment.
  Instead, take an alternative form of transportation, like a train or a bus.
• Increase your fuel efficiency on the road by inflating your tires, and driving at a
  leisurely pace.
• Don’t idle. Turn your engine off and save gasoline.
• Travel by train. Amtrak has great deals.
• Stay at eco-friendly hotels and resorts.

Recycled Learning Tools
Crayons to Computers, a local free store for teachers, receives school supplies and other materials from companies and works with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to recycle those materials into classroom supplies and learning aids.

An unusual item is called Turn and Learn, a math teaching tool. It is made from plastic tubes that originally held ball bearings used to manufacture Mitsubishi automobiles. For more information about Crayons to Computers visit www.crayons2computers.org.

Notable U.S. Airport Figures
650,000  Projected tons of waste generated by U.S. airports in 2015
425,000  Tons of waste generated by U.S. airports in 2004
19,847    Total number of U.S. airports
58           Number of Boeing 747 jets that could be built from aluminum cans discarded
              annually by the airline industry
Source: Professional Convention Management Association, 2009

Recycled Costume Contest Winners
Six 4th grade students from St. Aloysius Gonzaga E-Club recently won first place in the Recycled Costume Contest sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition as part of its 2009 Earth Day Celebration. The $100 prize will be used to assist their school garden program. Their school recycling program is led by teachers Kathy Holscher and Peggy Cappel. Congratulations!

Grant Opportunity
Quite a number of schools that have composting programs also have educational gardening programs. The National Gardening Association is offering a grant opportunity for youth gardening programs that focus on education, curricular integration, nutrition, environmental awareness/education, entrepreneurship, and social aspects of gardening such as leadership development, team building, or service-learning. For more information please go to www.kidsgardening.org.

School Composting
Composting at schools falls under the guidelines of the local health department and the Ohio EPA.

• Must have proper permits from your local health department
• Place the bins at least 10 feet away from the school
• Make sure you are not composting close to waterways
• Keep the food waste covered with organic matter such as leaves, wood chips, dry
  grass clippings or straw – there is nothing worse than a smelly compost pile
• Control access with fencing – raccoons and other vermin can become problems
• Use the finished product at the school
• Wear gloves and wash your hands after working in the pile

Before starting a program, please contact Keebler Holley at 946-7736.

Trash Becomes Art
A new art exhibit recently opened at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Entitled “Trash Menagerie”, the exhibit features 30 pieces from 24 artists, and uses a variety of trash to create one-of-a-kind sculptural pieces. The exhibit runs until May 2010. For more information visit www.pem.org.

Abitibi Paper Retriever Program Also Retrieves Cardboard in Hamilton County!
Abitibi Paper Retriever has partnered with Omaha Paper Stock to accept cardboard. This partnership will help schools divert cardboard waste using their Abitibi dumpster. Make sure to break down and flatten your clean, dry cardboard boxes before recycling. For more information about Abitibi call 242-3671 or visit www.paperretriever.com.