Notes from my Recycle class on 3/14

We had 3 speakers tonight. First was the director of Willow Bend on teaching recycling to children. They teach a class at the recycle center once a month on the first Friday at 1pm for all ages. They also partner with the city, and the Azulita Project to teach recycling primarily to school children from K-6th grade. They also include climate change and renewable energy. The director spent her time mostly in telling us how to teach children.  The primary sugesstions were simple, clear, short, with lots of participation and demonstration,.

The next two speakers were about sustainable building - Nina Schmidt from Coconino County's Sustainable Building Program and Tom Elsass who is a local builder who emphasizes sustainable building practices.

The mission of the Coconino County Sustainable Building Program is to encourage, educate, support and develop sustainable building practices and processes for residents of Coconino County and all the communities within it.

Coconino County Sustainable Building Program offers the following services to all residents of Coconino County, and the cities and communities within it, for free:

•Consultations

•Certification Program

•Resources for Sustainable Building

•Code Support

•Educational Opportunities

Notes from Recycle Class 2

If you are interested in Food Waste there is a great site with suggestions - http://savethefood.com/

Some tips from my class included: 

                buy the right amount

                stick to your grocery list

                shop in season

                store properly - lettuce wrapped in a moist paper towel then a plastic bag, do not refrigerate tomatoes

                store in clear containers

                eat what you have - be creative

If you are looking for solutions for global warming there is a book titled Drawdown:

Last of all we visited the recycle processing center on Butler. Every first Friday they do a class and tour of the facility which is presented by Willow Bend Environmental.  It was very informative and fun - great for kids. I learned I am recycling a few items incorrectly.

                No wrapping paper or paper with anything but paper (some candy wrappers have plastic)

                No orange medicine bottles  - they are a 5 - only 1 and 2's

                Not all 1 and 2's are OK - they should have a screw top or lid

                No clamshells or fruit containers - the extension uses them for planting demos if large   

                            enough

                You can add foil to the recycle - clean and scrunched into a ball is better

Watch for next week. It is about compost and we will visit the NAU facility.