K-6 Business Basics Program
This program is sponsored by chapters of Junior Achievement. Its goal is to curb the drop-out rate by working with young elementary children when they are first exposed to the education system. Volunteers supplement school curricula by demonstrating the relevance of learning to success in adult life.
The Edison Project
In 1994 the Whittle Communications' Edison Project was headed by the former president of Yale University. Whittle Communications had over $200 million in sales in the summer of 1992. Time Warner owned 37% of the shares, Phillips Electronics of the Netherlands owned 25% and Associated Newspapers owned just under 25% and 13% was owned by a group of executives. Whittle is focusing only on projects that can yield $100 million in revenues. Millions of dollars were being poured into a 3-year plan. $2.3 billion needed to be raised by the Edison Project to launch 200 schools by 1995. The USA then spent an average of $5,000 per pupil to educate American youngsters. Whittle intended to show that the private sector could do a better job with less money. He envisioned 20% of his students receiving full scholarships. He wanted to set an example which could be copied by the public sector.
StarServe
The goal of this program is to encourage community service projects in the schools. StarServe provides help in planning projects and often donates materials. The projects take place both during and after regular school hours.
The Great Paint Giveaway
In Sonoma County, California, not one drop of unused paint ends up in the hazardous waste stream if Pavitra Crimmel, of Garbage Reincarnation Inc., has anything to do with it. She organized The Great Paint Giveaway, a program that finds ways to use leftover paint.
"It's illegal to throw away paint in California," explains Crimmel. "Disposing o it in a hazardous waste landfill costs almost $500 a barrel. Recycling it costs about $5 a gallon. But giving paint away to people who can use it costs nothing - and that's what we do."
Crimmel's success relies heavily on the principle that much of what we throw away may have value to somebody else. So every month, she gives away some 400 gallons of much appreciated paint to local neighbors. Paula Swanson found just the color she needed to paint her home office, while Albert Bruin picked out 36 gallons to paint a barn he'd recently built. "It really saved me a lot of money!" said Bruin.
Crimmel hopes recycling centers nationwide will put more emphasis on reusing products, "Our environment is our habitat," stresses the environmentalist. "Since 60% of all household hazardous waste is paint, our giveaway program is making an important contribution to protecting our habitat. And people are receiving something they need."
Tucson Calls Up Old Phone Books
The citizens of Tucson, Arizona are recycling their old telephone books instead of throwing them into the trash. "Last year, we collected 50% of the books that would have otherwise ended up in landfills," says founder Joan Lionetti, executive director of Tucson Clean and Beautiful.
The town gears up for the annual drive during four busy weeks every fall. Then old directories from all over town are brought to convenient drop -off points at malls, stores, banks and libraries. Since paper accounts for roughly 41% of all disposal in landfills, Tucson's telephone directory recycling program is playing a major part in cutting that waste. In four short years, the program has saved more than 22,000 trees and 1,500 barrels of oil, both of which would have been used to manufacture new paper.
"Our success also helps people realize the need to recycle all kinds of products," says Bruce Philbrick, Tucson's recycling coordinator. The program has served as a model for similar efforts in other states and has received national awards from Renew America and Keep America Beautiful. Lionetti knows this would not have been possible without her community volunteers: "Basically, the program works because the people are so committed to saving the environment through recycling."
Rebuilding the Parks With Plastic Lumber
Reading about recycled plastic timbers inspired Fred White, Chicago Park District's recycling program director, to ask, "Why not use this material to help rebuild our aging playgrounds?" This question blossomed into a city-wide program called "Plastics on Parks"(POP), that collects discarded plastic milk, water and detergent jugs, soft-drink bottles, even plastic six-pack rings, and turns them into plastic lumber. Seven days a week, residents can take their "donations" to 263 sites around Chicago. Since July 1989, over two million pounds of plastic have been diverted from landfill space and converted into building materials for more than half of the city's 663 playgrounds. Melted down and molded into planks, these plastic logs form playground walls and seating areas. "Initially, it's more expensive," says White, "but it saves money in the long run because recycled plastic lasts 30 to 40 times longer than wood." The "lumber" doesn't splinter or rot, doesn't need painting or staining, requires less maintenance, resists graffiti and even spares a few trees.
Today the district is investigating using the material for swing sets and basketball backboards. "This has really caught on," says White, "because people genuinely welcome a chance to help protect the environment."
Free Trees for a Plentiful Future
While canoeing three years ago, David Kidd was struck by the natural beauty of the woodlands and became convinced that planting trees on a massive scale would help combat global warming. Kidd discovered two-year- old seedlings could be bought for 10 cents a piece. Since his goal was to plant millions of trees, he needed financial help. His solution: secure funding from local Rotary Clubs and other groups, buy seedlings in bulk, and give them away to anyone who promised o plant them.
Today, Kidd's America Free Tree Program, based in Stark County, Ohio, is that state's largest private volunteer project. More than 826,000 trees have been planted by service clubs, businesses, school children and private citizens.
"Trees are the vacuum cleaners of the environment," says Kidd. "Every single leaf is sucking in dirty air and breathing out cleaner air."
In October 1990, Kidd's free tree program received the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Award from President Bush - "an honor free every one of the 120,000 local citizens who helped plant the free trees," says Kidd.
"We need to send a message across the country that is possible to change the direction of things in our world," he notes proudly. "Because the environment is not simply 'an issue'- it's where we live."
By the year 2000, David Kidd hopes the program will have planted one billion trees nationally.
A Greenhouse for all Seasons
Anna Edey's concern for the environment and caring for the world's hungry prompted her to devise a non-polluting, cost effective method to grow food anywhere on earth.
The Solviva Solar Greenhouse on Martha's Vineyard provides year-round fresh produce without heating fuel, external power or toxic chemicals.
"People think it sounds too good to be true," says Edey, who designed this first-of-its-kind greenhouse. Since 1983, Edey has been producing more than 30 varieties of vegetables and edible flowers and selling many of them to area restaurants. "The greenhouse turned out to be four times more productive and profitable than I expected," Edey notes happily.
No oil or gas is consumed. Instead, the body heat of 100 chickens and 30 angora rabbits helps keep the indoor temperature to a minimum of 44 degrees F. Solar power generates enough energy to warm 4,500 gallons of stored water and run circulating fans and pumps. Vents at the top and bottom of the greenhouse prevent overheating without additional fans. Edey now teaches others how to build year-round greenhouses--even in cities. The Solviva garden proves that healthy food can be grown in any climate, without depleting natural resources or creating hazardous waste. Edey stresses,"This needs to become the norm, rather than the exception."
Massachusetts Neighbors Rescue a Dying River
"There used to be T-shirts that read,'I canoed the Blackstone and survived'," says Russ Cohen of the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. "You don't see those anymore."
The disappearance of that gloomy slogan is a fitting tribute to the Blackston River Watershed Association. Against all odds, neighbors from 11 towns along the Blackstone River's banks in south central Massachusetts have banded together to save one of the nation's most polluted waterways.
"It's the local people who turned the tide," says Cohen. "They have a strong sense of community, and the pollution hurt the pride they take in their towns." The Blackstone River's unique ecosystem has played an important role in our nation's development: The river powered the textile mills that began the American Industrial Revolution. But by the 1970's, over 150 years of development had taken a deadly toll on the river.
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