We did it! We walked to school!

It was soooo much fun!!!!! We had more then 273 walkers! Students, teachers, parents, siblings! Even Mayor Abernathy came out to shake hands with all the walking heroes. We were awake, fresh and ready to learn when we got to school - and happy that we kept our air a little bit cleaner for the morning! Let's do this more often!

For more pictures go to : http://www.flickr.com/photos/sproutpictures/sets/72157622736913301/

Thank you-s to the Mayor, to the Police and Clemson Univerity's Students for Environmental Awareness volunteers!

Walk to School Day - November 20th, 2009

Here's our chance to WALK TO SCHOOL again!!! Hurray!!! We'll be fresh at school and we help our air stay clean!!! Get on your feet and join the walk! Let's imagine, that we're making a "walking schoolbus": we are together so that we can enjoy the company - just as we would on schoolbuses, but we don't pollute our air, because this "walking schoolbus" moves by our feet!
Here's a map I made for you to see, where this "walking schoolbus" has stops. You can "hop on" at any stop. See the green footprints for locations and the time for the arrival of the walkers.

On South side of school:
7:20 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Issaquena
7:22 - departure from Camelot (E. Anderson park)
7:30 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Rock Creek Rd.
7:35 - departure from intersection of Berkeley and Evergereen
Country Walk walkers walk on their nature path to the bridge area
7:42 - join up with folks from Clarendon
7:45 - cross the bridge (closed on both sides by Clemson police)

On North side of school :
7:30 - Berkeley Village
7:35 - Village Walk North entrance
7:40 - Village Walk South entrance
7:45 - Pleasant View Drive

Those coming from further:
feel free to park near the walking schoolbus stops and walk with your child to school and back to your car.

Please, make sure that there is a responsible adult accomanying each child on the way to school!

The way home is not part of the fun, so just use your usual method of transortation home.

Halloween parade - what I spotted!

Kids, I just love the parade in downtown Clemson. It is so great to see so many kids walking in all kinds of costumes. This year, I spotted some great ideas which could very easily inspire you to recycle something into a costume for next year or just for fun!



Save an empty box and empty buckets and make yourself into a lego.

Save your wrappers from Moe's and make yourself into a kiss, a Hersey kiss (that is)!


--- Sprout!

Halloween! make your costumes from recycled materials!!!

Kids making your own costumes can be fun! and there is so much there to be creative with and it is always great to recycle.

I saw, in town and near here some homemade costumes recently that I want to share with you! 

These were not for Halloween but maybe they will spur up some ideas. If you do make your own costume, I would love to see it. Send me your photos or link them to this post. 

Sprout's email  gogreence@gmail.com 

Sprout!

At the Lake Eden Leaf Festival, the characters in the children's parade were made completely out of garbage and they were gorgeous! Check it out! What do you see in the above photos, that you recognize? Wow! Maybe we should also make our Homecoming floats with what is usually garbage...

Clemson University student Andrew Temples, designed a dress out of an abandoned couch and used coffee filters. Even the zipper for the dress came from the couch! The coffee stained filters are beautiful! what do you think? Maybe I will also see you in downtown Clemson this Thursday in a fantastic costume out of your disposed items!!

Art project with empty paper towel rolls? Bring yours to school!

Kids, if you use paper towels, bring in your empty rolls to school! Ms. Purnell (the new art teacher at Clemson Elementary) has been collecting them but still needs more for a project the third graders will be doing in November.

Just put them in your backpack and drop them off in the collect box at the end of the 3rd grade hall or drop them off at your art class.

Field Trip

Guys, you won't believe the cool fieldtrip I went to with the 3rd grade classes!

We visited the Pickens Transfer Station where I saw what happens with all our trash after it gets picked up. I learned, that if we separate recyclables, they come to this huge transfer station and they get bailed up into giant, compressed cubes, and these recyclables are sold to recycling companies that make new things out of them. Our county earns money with this.

I also saw that everything that we don't put into our recycling bins, is collected here and gets trucked down to Homer, Georgia. We need to take it so far, because we don't have our own lined landfill. (We used to have one, but it filled up and is covered with soil now. Methane gas is still escaping from the decomposing waste, though...) Taking away our unselected trash costs out county 1 million dollars!

See, if we made less trash buy reducing our waste, or reusing some items, or by separating our recyclables, we wouln't need to spend such a big chunk of our county taxes on getting rid of our junk. Do your parents know this?

Click here for more pictures!

Great Go Green Tour! Kids send us your visions!

As you might know, 141 third graders from Clemson Elementary went on a great Go Green tour through our small city last week. They went to a recycling center where they heard a Land fill talk, visited the Clemson Sustainable Agriculture Farm were they heard a worm bin talk and ended their day at the Picture Green event at Clemson University where they looked at Visions for Self-Sufficient cities by Clemson University Architecture students. Go Green!! Go! 

Hey kids, tell me, Sprout, your vision for a self-sufficient city, one that takes care of itself and doesn't abuse the environment. You can write your idea on this post or email me drawings at gogreence@gmail.com!.

In this city called Reciprocity, waste is used and reused to make the city work. Everything is good for something, everything is recycled. Human waste is turned into fuel to make things work. The city works a little like a worm bin. 

In this city, harmful gases created by cars are transformed into Oxygen through photosynthesis using algae and streets are turned into parks.  Many existing cities can be transformed like this. The name of this proposal is Go the Park Way.

In this city every drop of water is collected and used for many of our water needs. This city, which acts like a sponge is called Pourouscity.

Don't forget kids! send me your ideas! together, we can think about how to make our cities and our world more Green, more ecological! ____ Sprout

Sprout's Summer

Look, this is how Sprout spent this summer! Can you write a title that can go under these pictures? Send me your captions in the "comment" link bellow, or e-mail me your ideas to gogreence@gmail.com!

2008/09 Recycling Numbers

Spout Awards

Sprout says "THANK YOU!" to faculty and staff members of CES who went green in the 2008/09 schoolyear.

And the winners are:
Linda Knudsen – paperless distributor
Lorrie Jones –general helpfulness
Dr. Ken Weichel –general cooperation
Rosemary Blintz – morning announcements

Ms. Hill (5th) – garden compost
Ms. Hardin (IMA) – worm bin
Ms. Merritt (2nd) – aluminum recycling bin
Ms. Nunamaker (1st) – recycling advocate

Ms. Ray (Self-contained) – paper recycling
Ms. Whitlock (self-contained) – aluminum recyling

Michelle Conley (K), Joni Campbell – collecting plastic
Elizabeth Felder (K), Tracy Woods – using recycled material
Michelle Johnson (K), Martina Killermann – recycling unit, recycled art
Mandy McAtee (K), Janet Lester – using recycled materials
Trisha McGinn (K), Pat Bennett – using recycled materials
Marla Rhoads (K), Geneva Hicks– using recycled materials

BIKE or WALK to school this Friday!

Don't forget it is BIKE or WALK to school day this FRIDAY. Let's fill up the streets with bikes and people. It is good for you and for your city and it is fun! Get your gear ready and let's roll.

Bike or Walk to School!

Here's our chance to see what it feels like to bike or walk to school!!!

Do you think it will make us feel healthy? Do you think it will make us more awake? Do you think it will help us concentrate in school? Do you think it will cut down on traffic? Do you think it will save us money? Do you think it will make our air cleaner?

It's worth a try!!!

If you would like to volunteer, send an e-mail to gogreence@gmail.com

Celebrate Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day! Most people use this day to make good resolutions to take better care of the planet...I dare you to go one step further: Starting today, make 3 easy changes to your life and start making a difference immediately!

1. buy a reusable shopping bag (or 6) - and have your family use it (them) every time you go to the store

2. tell your parents to use a real mug for their morning coffee

3. buy a reusable waterbottle and keep it with you for when you get thirsty

..... Come on, I know you guys can do it ...

If they want to do even more they can green their mailbox and cut down on those piles of paper around the house by going to http://www.catalogchoice.org/ and http://stopjunkmail.org/

thanks for saving our planet!

Sprout at Something Special tonight!

Kids don't forget to stop by and see me. We will be making sprout book marks at Something Special tonight. If you have any spare yogurt, ricotta or cottage cheese lids, bring them to school tonight. We will use them for our crafts.

I hope to see you!

Presidential Garden

I am so excited! The First Lady and her family and helpers are planting a garden at the White House! http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/michelle-obama-gardens-47022002?src=nl&mag=tdg&list=dgr&kw=ist Soon some of my relatives will be sprouting in Washington DC! Maybe I'll take a road trip to see them and meet the president....!
How are your own gardens shaping up?

Feed the Worms! for me, for you!

Thanks to all of the kids that helped me and my team collect compost at our last Go Green Wednesday at Clemson Elementary. We collected more than 20 gallons of compost (uneaten lettuce, apple cores, carrots...). Instead of going to a landfill and becoming harmful to our environment, these leftovers (which may be any food and vegetable waste) will become food for worms, and eventually food for me, Sprout, as nutritious rich compost which will help me grow healthy! This in turn eventually becomes food for you in the lunchroom! 

Can you kids imagine what 20 gallons is? Each of your milk jugs at home (the big ones) is a gallon. 20 of these a day means (20 x 5) 100 gallons a week, and (20 x 180) 3,600 gallons a school year. Try to picture that many gallons in your refrigerator? Impossible. 

So kids instead of making garbage :( we are completing a cycle of life :) Don't you think we should do this everyday?

About Landfills

Composting for Kids

Help! are we really going digital?

As a Sprout, I spend a lot more time outside soaking up the sun than watching tv. But... a friend just reminded me that our tv's are becoming obsolete and "what were we going to do?!!" Well, I don't know if you want a converter box or a brand new tv, but I'm more worried about what will hapen to the old ones. They are toooxxxiic! I don't want them hanging out in my garden, leaching their yucky lead into our earth! So before you throw yours away, consider donating it (places such as the Helping Hands or the Salvation Army love a nice tv) or go to http://earth911.com/ and find out where to recycle it. Thanks

Green Games!

Hey look green computer games and quizes http://www.kidsbegreen.org/

Jacques Cousteau

Remember the other day when I said that Jacques Cousteau was one of my heroes? This is a beautiful picture book about his life; I love everything about it! In the end the author says "His rallying Cry...when exploring, was "il faut aller voir", which translates roughly as "We must go and see for ourselves" , which I think is a wonderful way to start just about anything."

10 Things I can do to Help My World

This pretty picture book by Melanie Walsh gives even the youngest kids some ideas on how to go green; check it out! http://www.lmnop.com.au/blog/2009/02/10-things-i-can-do-to-help-my-world/

oops...

Have you ever "composted" your apple core, or banana peel, by throwing it out of your car window? Aside from the possibility of being pulled over by the game warden for littering (no really, it happened to a very embarassed friend of mine) It seems there is an even better reason for not throwing those things out of the window.....hmm, I never even thought of that...

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/travel-outdoors/roadside-litter-kills-animals.html

I did want to include the other quote by Samuel Coleridge: "Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink"

Happy Go Green Wednesday! : Water

"Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends have become global garbage cans"- Jacques Cousteau (One of my personal heroes)

If you were listening at school today, you'll already know that water is the subject of todays green wednesday. Here is a link with as much information on the global water crisis as you could ever wish to know (that's where I picked up those two great quotations too) http://www.globalcitizencorps.org/issues.htm?page=issues_water&elon=1&gclid=CKT-kcGH1ZgCFQZeswod4Vws1g

You can even take a quiz and see how much you know already. In any case, When in doubt: reduce, so just remember to turn off the water while you brush your teeth and soap up your hands, and we're already a step ahead.

Valentines crafts

Wow! I just found a bunch of great projects for valentines day! Follow the link and check it out http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/ they always have good ideas. Have fun!

Happy Green Valentines Day

Get creative and make your own valentines this year! Cut pictures out of old magazines, make paper flowers, use stickers or cut a heart shaped stamp fom a sponge. They don't have to be complicated, with all those kids in class, who has the time? A little effort goes a long way to make your cards stand out , your friends feel special, and your planet a little more loved! Oh, did I mention it's fun too?

Check the display case next to the cafeteria for some more planet friendly valentine ideas.

Bingo!

The environment won a prize last friday at Clemson Elementary's "Bingo Night"! Thanks to Eunice Lehmachers help, we recycled two trash bags of plastic bottles that would otherwise have landed in the landfill. Looking forward to other events, lets make recycling a schoolwide habit!

Meet Sprout on the coming Green Wednesday!

COME AND MEET ME on GREEN WEDNESDAY!
Jan. 14th, 2009


Think, play and act green during recess with the help of parent volunteers and the GoGreen Team! If your parents would like to join us, show them this form! If you feel like, make a picture for the "Sprout Gallery" by printing this page (on the back of a used paper), then coloring me and giving me a funny face! See you soon, friends!


I'm writing this after I've met you, guys! What fun it was!!! Let me show you some pictures!

You and me:

Sprout stamps:









Milk jug bowling:









Chinese jumprope from rubber bands:

Sandtoys from plastic bottles and lids: