The Go Green Initiative Movement in Syracuse

List-serve edition #2

July 8, 2006

What’s in this edition:

•    Who’s new
•    GREEN Tip of the month
•    Highlights of our newest GREEN ideas
•    GGI stars at Grant Middle School
•    A city wide rap competition – SIGN UP NOW!
•     NYSAR3 seed money due soon – get your $1000.00 today!
•    Upstate Worm Farms - (Brenda Article)
•    GGI business opportunity
•    Calendar of events

Who is new-

Welcome 6 more schools to our GREEN team!

LeMoyne Elementary School
Salem Hyde Elementary School
Grant Middle School
Roberts School
Central Tech Vocational Center
Hughes Magnet School

The GREEN team now includes representatives from 17 schools, located throughout Syracuse!

GREEN tip for July-

What if you were potentially doing more harm than good when you clean your house? You may not know it, but some of the household cleaning products we rely on to remove dust, dirt, bacteria, germs and odors may leave behind harmful chemicals that can pollute the air and cause potential health problems for you, for your family and your pets. Try the following alternative, natural recipes:

Grease Cutter – 1 cup of lemon juice + 1 cup of water
Laundry Stain Remover – 1 tsp. of white vinegar or baking soda per machine load
Toilet Bowl Cleaner – 1 cup vinegar (leave overnight and brush clean the next day)
Floor and Furniture Polish – 2 parts vegetable oil and 1 part lemon juice (for leather furniture use 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup of linseed oil)
Metal Cleaners – (brass or copper) lemon juice + salt to form a paste OR hot white vinegar + salt OR hot ketchup applied with a rag
Glass Cleaner- 1 part vinegar + 1 part water
Rug and Carpet cleaner – baking soda
Flies – well watered bowl of basil
Moth repellant – cedar chips in cotton sachets
Roach repellent – chopped bay leaves and cucumber skins

Some Green Ideas from our Newest GGI Schools:

The Culinary Art of Composting
Central Technical Vocational Center hopes to involve their culinary department with the GGI program, by asking them to take on composting their waste. Composting doesn’t have to start with the cafeteria post lunch time! It can begin, as a controlled project, in the kitchen!! Or in classrooms where the contents of the compost bin can be closely monitored.

OCRRA Blue Bins available at a School near you
Hughes Magnet School is planning to host a “pick up your blue bin day” for parents and community members to attend, with the hopes of increasing the recycling initiative throughout the Hughes School district. The schools central location in the community make it ideal as a blue bin pick up spot – this is also a great opportunity to educate the community and parents of the GGI!

Student Teachers
Roberts School plans to reinitiate a past recycling education program, with literal
‘student teachers’, during the 2006 -2007 school year. In past years students have given presentations with the purpose of teaching other students how to recycle correctly.

The Go Green Initiative at Grant School

Thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of teacher Mary Laframboise, Grant Middle School is well on it’s way to implementing a spectacular GGI program in the fall of 2006! Mary Laframboise, an earth-science teacher at Grant, is working with Brenda Lotito, of Upstate Worm Farms, to begin a vermicomposting program. Vermicomposting will serve as a visual learning tool for students learning about invertebrates and micro-organisms. Mary hopes to involve the cafeteria in the composting endeavor. In order to combat non-compost-able material decomposing in the compost (and the stink that follows!!) a crew of student volunteers will ensure that only compost-able material is deposited in the compost receptacle. Special education teacher, Michael Lamontagne has volunteered to coordinate the recycling initiative at Grant school, with the assistance of his student ‘green team.’ Grants recycling program will feature daily collection and weighing of recyclable material. Thanks to Mary and Michael for their inspirational work thus far with the GGI program! For more information on the GGI Grant program please visit www.naefrecycling.com

Rap for the Environment :
Syracuse city-wide competition

Does your green team have musical talent? Would you like to showcase the abilities of your students AND help get the word out about the Go Green Initiative? Then SIGN UP TODAY! Participants will be asked to pick one of the 5 GGI guidelines to rap about. Raps should be no more than 45 seconds in length, and should be appropriate for all ages. 5 winning raps will be selected (one for each guideline) and will be used in further GGI promotional campaigns, and possibly broadcast on the radio! Looking for some inspiration? Visit the official Syracuse GGI website (www.naefrecycling.com) to listen to the HW Smith energy conservation rap, which was broadcasted on WAER!!
If you are interested in joining the competition email GGI coordinator, Jennifer Spoor, at bluewillowrox@hotmail.com to sign up!!
What can you do with up to $1000.00?

Your Local GGI sponsor, NYSAR3 is offering up to $1000.00, GGI program seed money for schools who have signed onto the GGI program. The money is being offered in exchange for a short 500 word essay explaining how you will implement the GGI program at your school, and a chart outlining how the money will be spent. Hurry!! All entries must be postmarked by July 15th! Please email GGI coordinator Jennifer Spoor at bluewillowrox@hotmail.comm, for more information.

Upstate Worm Farms
By Brenda Lotito

Upstate Worm Farms produces vermicompost for use as an alternative to pesticide, herbicide and insecticides- all of which cause harm to our environment.  Our services and expertise have been applied throughout Central New York, providing customers with consulting services, red worms, worm boxes and educational material. Currently, we are excited to be part of the Go Green Initiative by supporting the education of our future generations in the benefits of using the Earth's own creatures to return vital nutrients back to the soil without the use of chemicals. To learn more, please log on to our website at www.brendalotito.comm.

JA Young Entrepreneur Program:
Start your own GGI business this fall!!

The JA entrepreneur program is an excellent opportunity for high school students to gain valuable and practical knowledge of the business world and great way to make new friends from other schools as well as connect with local professionals AND promote the GGI in the process!! Examples of an environmentally friendly business promoting the GGI program would include generating GGI merchandise, or designing recycling posters, etc. Participating seniors are eligible for the scholarship program including a full 4-year tuition scholarship to Syracuse University, valued at $100,000!! If you are interested please email Pamela Baker Gratton at Pamela@ja-cny.orgg.

GO Green Initiative Syracuse Events to attend!

•    July 19th - Board of Education meeting – GGI is introduced to the curriculum committee
•    November 10-12th NYS PTA conference
•    November 18- 19th NYSAR3/GGI conference
•    Naef Recycling scholarships for graduating seniors *details to become available in Sept.

Show your support of the GGI program! If you would like to attend these any events please email Jennifer Spoor at bluewillowrox@hotmail.com for more information.

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