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Live Green in Plano Volunteers,
This issue features stories of volunteers spanning several generations living their passion for the environment. Read them and you will be inspired! Thank you to Victoria Gandy, Liz Aviles, Tanis Roelofs, Hannah Hale, Barri Montgomery, Jan Eppard and Greg Holdsworth for sharing their thoughts and expertise.
Volunteer opportunities for the fifth Live Green Expo are now posted for registered volunteers. You'll find the best selection to fit your interest and schedule by clicking here. Surveys from past Live Green Expos point to the friendly and knowledgeable volunteers as key to attendees' positive experience. Volunteers, in turn, report satisfaction and fun in supporting the event. The public will also have access to the positions by the end of this month.
Congratulations to Jinx Smith, Sustainability Volunteer of the Year. Jinx supports the Plano Community Garden, the Reuse Center and many of the environmental education trainings. He built comfortable and attractive Adirondack chairs for the grounds at the Environmental Education Center using scrap pallets and Conservation Colors re-blended paint. Jinx will be teaching a class on the process on Saturday, April 30. He has logged 633 hours in three years, 314 in 2010. Robin Popik read a proclamation from Mayor Phil Dyer honoring Jinx's work at the Volunteer Recognition dinner.
Thank you to the Live Green in Plano volunteers who have completed their 24 hours of service: Janice Bowling, Autumn Dillon, Lakshmi Kantamneni, Jessica Nu, Tammy Pritchett, Pamela Sengupta, Cherie and Matthew Ware, and Aubrie Wolff. Thirteen volunteers with 100 hours or more of service received a gift certificate for free delivery or Texas Pure Products. Many are dedicated Plano Community Gardeners:
Charlene Babb, Jan Eppard, Kathy Grove, Karen Mitchell, Barri Montgomery, Tanis Roelofs, David Schawe, Mimi Serrao, Greg Sidon, Jinx Smith, Brenda Steib, Brian Welch and Melissa Wright.
Plano residents benefit in countless ways from your work! Thank you to each of you for the hours you give to Live Green in Plano.
Deb Bliss
Sustainability Volunteer Cooridinator |
I have a confession to make. While many people consider me a vehemently anti-plastic eco-warrior, I am in fact utterly dependent on plastic. Sure, I never go to the store without a canvas tote; I always refill my aluminum bottle; and some of my homemade disposable alternatives are strange enough to merit their own articles. Yet, the organic cotton hoodie I'm wearing has a zipper made out of a nylon. The chair I'm sitting on is vinyl on a plastic frame (poly-filled no doubt). The computer I'm working at is not only housed in plastic but has many important plastic components inside. Even the mug I'm sipping from covered with environmentalist propaganda (when heated, portions of the globe printed on it disappear showing the side effect of global-warming--the melting of the polar ice) cannot claim innocence. The magic is accomplished by heat-sensitive dyes suspended in, yes, plastic. In fact, I'm having trouble finding something near me that's simple existence is not reliant on what we've deemed the planet's greatest adversary: plastic.
Valentine's Day is big business and as such has the potential to have substantial impact on the environment. You can show a bit of extra love for the environment by carefully considering what you buy. Here are some ideas:
I'm a Cadette Girl Scout in troop 1615. My friend Morgan Oberle and I are earning our Girl Scout Silver Award by conducting environmental awareness workshops for younger Girl Scouts. The Girl Scout Silver award consists of 40 hours of planning and executing an event that can have a lasting impact on the community. Morgan and I decided to choose this for our project after completing the Live Green in Plano volunteer course. We thought that it was very interesting and learned how easy it is for everyone to decrease their carbon footprint. One of the main ideas we try to teach in our workshops is everyone can do a little something to help the environment and it will end up making a big difference. 
