Inside
Environmental Education
Is For YOU!...............................2
DON'T WASTE — Composting Is A Mulch Better Way To Go!..............................................3
REAL PEOPLE:
Saving Watersheds................4
Easy Ways To
Save Eneryg NOW!..................5
Pennsylvania Business.........6
GreenWorks Classifieds:
Help Given!...............................7
Kids Corner..............................8
GreenWords
Find all the web links mentioned
here in one place —
www.GreenWorks.tv
Type in special "GreenWords"
that take you directly to the pages with the information
you want.
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The Enviromental Fund for Pennsylvania
(EFP) is a nonprofit organization connectin people with ways
to improve the environemt. EFP produces the "GreenWorks"
family of education programs — the Emmy Award-winning GreeenWorks
television series, the www.GreenWorks.tv website and more!
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more than a decade, Nancy Fromnick has promoted composting
in Chester County, training nearly 100 "master composters."
In some areas, where organic waste items such as grass, leaves
and other yard materials make up some 42 percent of all trash
during the fall, the fruits of her success couldn't make her
any happier.
One of Fromnick's master composters, Steve Goddard, made compost
heaps, adopted the bin system and uses a rotating system that
produces nutrient-rich compost in as few as eight weeks.
"Using compost - and a lot of it - allows your plants
to do their best," Goddard explains. He and his wife,
Marna, use the nearly five tons of compost they generate every
year on their vegetable garden, helping them grow high-quality
peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and other produce.
Like Fromnick's other master composters, the Goddards also
help teach others about composting. "This program could
not exist without volunteers," Fromnick says. See page
3 for more about composting.
See page 3 for more about composting.
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 eading,
writing, arithmetic…environment! Pennsylvania students
are expanding their education to include environmental responsibility.
One of their teachers is Sister Pat Lupo.
As executive director of Glinodo Earth Force, Sister Lupo
is achieving her goal of getting students and communities
interested in protecting the environment.
"It's very exciting to see what young people can do when
we let them," she says. "Earth Force teaches kids
how to inventory their community, select a specific topic,
review policies and practices that result in sustainable change,
and then take action." Sister Lupo's commitment to education
is nurturing environmental activism in Pennsylvania's youth.
The result is a feeling of responsibility to Pennsylvania's
environment that produces new stewards for our land, air and
water.
For more information on how to get involved with Earth Force,
visit www.GreenWorks.tv
GreenWords "Earth Force."
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In the early 1990s, in response to rising energy
costs and diminishing funds for education, Thomas Motley, plant
operations director for the Pittsburgh School District, had a bright
idea: "With faith in the resourcefulness of our students, an
energy conservation awareness program can be implemented in each
school." And so began the Student/ Employee/ Community Teamed
for Energy Management (SECTEM) program, promoting the wise and efficient
use of energy as a means to reallocate funds for educational programs.
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Motley has since retired and Ken Frazier has taken over, working
successfully to expand the program beyond expectations. Now more
than 45 elementary and secondary schools participate. Each school
has a committee -composed of students, parents, teachers and custodians-that
plans energy usage reductions in its buildings.
Activities include a student energy patrol, poster contests and
an award program to recognize conservation efforts. In the past
year, the district saved 2.9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity
and more than $350,000. |
Motley's vision of teaching students lifelong lessons
about energy and Frazier's commitment to the program's expansion
have been key to the district's success, but the SECTEM program
meets an even greater challenge: teaching students to be energy
conservationists for years to come. See page
5 for more about saving energy.
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