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Dear Live Green in Plano Volunteers,
I can't believe it has already been two months since I started here at Live Green in Plano. I've toured gardens and compost piles; taught classes and taken classes; hosted educators and event planners; written updates, articles and lesson plans; and worked with some of the most giving people ever!
 We've all been busy at the Environmental Education Center. In September, we hosted a Green Education Open House demonstrating our programs to local teachers, along with PTA and Scout leaders. This past Monday, we held another open house for Event Planners showcasing the EEC as a rental venue. Classes continue at the EEC, with programs such as Kids in the Garden, 3rd Saturday Talk & Tour, LGIP Volunteer Training and more! Let's keep the EEC busy with learning opportunities for Plano residents.
Cooler weather offers the perfect time to get out of the house and volunteer! We have litter cleanups, open shifts at the Household Chemical Reuse Center, Recycle Right Plano Street Team events, festivals, along with helping at the EEC and the Community Garden. Check our website for more info! www.myvolunteerpage.com.
Volunteers are the heart of our department. Since this newsletter covers both November, as well as October, I'd like to express my thanks to each of you. I look forward to many more months of working together to learn and live green! ~Charlotte |
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October Monthly Challenge: Save-a-Cup!  We want to inspire you to take your love of the environment one step further. In fact, one step per month!Each month we'll focus on one of the three R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - with an easy lifestyle change . . . that you can count! This month's challenge: REDUCE the amount of cups going into the landfill with Save-a-Cup. WHO can Save-a-Cup? You...your spouse...your kids...your neighbors...your students... your colleagues ...your friends ...everyone! Keep a count! WHAT can you do to Save-a-Cup? Use reusable beverage containers whenever you leave your house. Take a cup into fast food restaurants, your local coffee shop, the office, or anywhere you may encounter a disposable cup. I even have a reusable Slurpee cup! At meetings bring your own coffee cup! WHEN do you Save-a-Cup? ALL THE TIME...but we're just going to keep count during the month of October. WHERE do you tell us how many cups you have saved? Post on our Facebook, Twitter (#saveacup), Instagram (#saveacup), or e-mail me at charlotted@plano.gov. (Please use hashtag #saveacup on Twitter and Instagram.) WHY are we saving a cup? To REDUCE the amount of waste going into our landfill! But if you had to ask...sign up for the next round of Live Green in Plano Volunteer training in January! |
Summer at the BELL by Dhara Patel
 This summer I had the great fortune of attending the Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (also known as "BELL") held in Bristol, Rhode Island. BELL is one of the renowned continuing education summer programs at Brown University and is designed to bring students with the common passion of helping the Earth together. The leadership program accepts students not only from the United States, but from all over the world; in my course alone we had students from Japan, China, Russia, Bahrain and India. Most of the students are within the age bracket of 14 to 18 years old and all of them have led a self- constructed project, or series of projects, to better the environment in their local communities.
To read more click here... |
Out of the Box Water Conservation: Cut the Meat!
by Ananya Jha 
The hamburger is worth more than 30 average American showers! Dairy and meat products use the most water to grow and prepare. One easy way to make your water footprint smaller is to cut down on such products, and eat some leafy greens instead. But for those meat-lovers out there, don't fear! If you don't want to give up your hamburgers, an easy way to save is to choose grass-fed instead of grain-fed, because corn and such crops require a lot of water to grow. |
Megabus to the Metroplex for a Buck
by Craig Feronti
As a great believer in alternative transportation and alternative energy, my son, Curtis, decided to use the new Megabus service from Houston to Dallas on his last visit. He related his adventure to me.
Curtis loved that the bus was a double-decker (like buses in London). Free WIFI was available. The buses are state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly, with restrooms, power outlets, reclining seats, seat belts for safety and reading lights. The trip took about 4 hours and fifteen minutes and was an express bus (non-stop).
Intercity buses have lower emissions per person mile than other forms of transportation according to Scholar Randal O'Toole the "Anti-Planner". This is an important issue to Curtis as he is studying Environmental Engineering at Rice.
Per Curtis, the best thing about the Megabus was the price. The earlier you book your travel the lower your price. You can even get a $1 ride from Houston to Dallas. In Curtis case he booked 5 days in advance and paid $6.50 one way from Houston to Dallas. Also, Curtis liked that he could put his time to good use (listening to music and ipod casts, reading, enjoying the beautiful I-45 corridor, etc.) while leaving the driving to the pros! |
Book Review: American Wasteland
A Shocking and Informative Look Into America's Food Systems
by Lauren Behgam
 American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of it's Food (and what we can do about it), written by Jonathan Bloom and published in 2010, is an informative, easy to read exposé about food waste in our country. If I could, I would require every America citizen to read this book, but I do not have that type of power! Instead, I highly recommend it to you.
Bloom takes readers on a journey through American farms, food processors, food distributors, restaurants, grocery stores, landfills, and even our own homes using knowledge that he gained from real-world experience and interviews with experts and academics. All the while he highlights the business and societal systems that allow for nearly half of our annual crop yield to be wasted. With every page I turned, I felt that I was gaining more knowledge and therefore more power to change our flawed food systems, which is one of Bloom's main intentions with this book. Bloom also highlights the disparity between the vast amount of American food waste and hunger in our country. While 1 in 7 Americans are food insecure, approximately 160 billion pounds of food is thrown away every year. This should be especially important to Texans, as our state has the second highest rate of hunger in the nation.
To read more click here... |
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Greening Plano One Business at a Time
Greg Sidon proves daily how one person can make a difference in our city.
So far he has convinced two local branches of businesses he frequents to change one of their practices to a greener habit. The first was Sprouts grocery store on Legacy Drive. After several conversations, Greg convinced the manager to save the used coffee grounds for him.
The manager had some initial concerns with health department and sanitation issues but Greg worked with him and eventually they settled on five gallon drums with lids marked with Greg's name and number. Greg picks up the drums weekly making it low effort for the store and high gain for Greg's garden!
To read more click here... |
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