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Local Educational Events and Environmental Stewardship Opportunities

Home Compost Workshops

GreenSylvania School Paper Recycling Competition

Farmingdale Trail

Environmental Agencies' Educational Opportunities

EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW) Educational Resources

Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education

Pennsylvania Environment and Ecology Education

Eco Express

PA CleanWays

Air Quality Partnership of the Susquehanna Valley

Curbside Value Partnership

Keep America Beautiful

Industry Educational Opportunities

The American Forest & Paper Association

Earth 911

Glass Packaging Institute

The Aluminum Association

National Assocation for PET Container Recycling

Home Compost Workshops

For the 7th consecutive year the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority has partnered with municipalities and Penn State Master Gardeners to conduct educational workshops where residents will learn how to recycle organic waste from their kitchens and gardens instead of putting it in the trash. Composting is an excellent way to recycle vegetable scraps, grass clippings, leaves, and other organic materials and turn them into a useful and valuable product to naturally improve the soil.

Workshop attendees will also learn how to build effective, yet inexpensive home compost bins to meet their needs.

Lancaster County residents are invited to attend any one of the home compost workshops scheduled this year. If required, residents should pre-register by no later than Friday at noon prior to the Saturday workshop they'll be attending.

• August 28 at the Community Center in East Petersburg Borough located at 6051 Pine St., East Petersburg, PA 17520. The workshop is from 10 am to 11 am. No fee is required, but pre-registration is recommended for this workshop. To pre-register or for more information, please contact the East Petersburg Borough Recycling Coordinator at (717) 569-9282 or email vag.ep4@comcast.net

• September 18 at the Fuhrman Park pavilion in East Donegal Township located at 110 Rock Point Rd., Marietta, PA 17547. If raining, the workshop will be held at the Township building located at 190 Rock Point Rd. The workshop is from 10 am to 11 am. No fee is required, but pre-registration is recommended for this workshop. To pre-register or for more information, please contact the East Donegal Township Recycling Coordinator at (717) 426-3167 or email Vicki@eastdonegaltwp.com

• October 2 at the Little Chiques Park in Mount Joy Borough located at 229 Park Ave., Mount Joy, PA 17552. The workshop is from 10 am to 11 am. No fee is required, but pre-registration is required for this workshop due to limited capacity. To pre-register or for more information, please contact the Mount Joy Borough Office at (717) 653-2300 or email jwagner@mountjoypa.org

• October 9 at the Upper Leacock Township Municipal Office located at 36 Hillcrest Ave., Leola, PA 17540. The workshop is from 10 am to 11 am. No fee is required, but pre-registration is required for this workshop. To pre-register or for more information, please contact the Upper Leacock Township Recycling Coordinator at (717) 656-9755 or email bhink@ultwp.com

• October 16 at the West Lampeter Township Municipal Office located at 852 Village Rd., Lampeter, PA 17537. The workshop is from 10 am to 11 am. No fee is required, but pre-registration is required for this workshop due to limited capacity. To pre-register or for more information, please contact the West Lampeter Township Office at (717) 464-3731 or email joellyn@westlampeter.com

GreenSylvania School Paper Recycling Competition

A Competition for Pennsylvania's public, private, charter and homeschool K-12 schools. Register on-line during September 2010. Competition is from October 4 through October 30, 2010. information and on-line registration at www.greensylvania.org.

Farmingdale Trail

The Farmingdale Trail trail head and parking area are located on the 10-acre Noel Dorwart Park and Nature Area in East Hempfield Township. The trail lies on 70 acres of land purchased by LCSWMA in 2002 and consists of about 3 miles of paths through wetlands, wooded areas, meadowlands and along the Little Conestoga Creek. Several picnic tables and benches are placed along the trail for rest and relaxation. A dog play area is also located along on of the paths.

The Office of Solid Waste (OSW) Educational Resources

This site provides a wealth of materials for teachers, kids, students, and researchers to develop an increased knowledge of solid waste issues. These resources are intended to increase environmental awareness and inspire participation in environmental activities.

Students of all ages will find fun activities and project ideas to learn more about waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. This site also provides information sources, tools, and data to enable student researchers to collect environmental information for use in projects and reports.

Teachers will find curriculum, activities, games, and other educational materials to teach students about waste generation and management. Student award and grant information is also provided, as well as information about environmental careers.

Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education

The Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education was established to provide increased public and private access to quality environmental education through service, education, and research.

Pennsylvania Environment and Ecology Education

Environment and Ecology is concerned with the interrelationships among components of the natural and human-made world. These components incorporate the disciplines of ecology, resource management, agriculture diversity, government and the impact of human actions on natural systems. This interaction leads to the study of watersheds, threatened and endangered species, pest management and the development of laws and regulations that protect, control and manage the environment to meet societal needs for long term sustainability.

Eco Express

Educators can use the real world video stories of the Eco Express website, produced by the GreenTreks Network, Inc., to help engage students on a variety of environmental topics in an inspiring way.

Each video story is accompanied by a learning pod which includes everything from curriculum alignment, inquiry-based problem solving activities, service learning projects, resources materials, community connections and more.

The initial topic areas include: watersheds and wetlands, agriculture and society, threatened, endangered and extinct species, renewable and nonrenewable resources, integrated pest management, humans and the environment, environmental health, ecosystems and their interactions and environmental laws and regulations.

Eco Express is designed to help educators implement Pennsylvania 's Environmental and Ecology Standards administered by the Department of Education.

You can help shape this beta version of the website by offering your comments and making suggestions for material to add. Visit the Eco Express website and send comments to Brie Knight, GreenTreks, by sending email to: BKnight@GreenTreks.org.

PA CleanWays

The message is loud and clear - Pennsylvania youth are concerned about their environment! The Litter Hawk Program gives children and teens a chance to illustrate their concern about littering and illegal dumping prevention, recycling, proper disposal, beautification, and stewardship through visual arts, language arts, and community outreach activities. The Litter Hawk Youth Award Program is available to schools, scout groups, informal groups and individuals. Litter Hawk Program entry deadline is March 31 each year.

Click on the Litter Hawk at left to request an entry application.

Air Quality Partnership of the Susquehanna Valley

Breathing clean air helps us stay healthy. Learn about improving air quality and the causes and effects of particulate pollution.

Check out the Adventures in Air Quality with Miguel and Megan.

Keep America Beautiful believes that each of us holds an obligation to preserve and protect our environment. Through our everyday choices and actions, we collectively have a huge impact on our world. It's really a simple concept, but one with far reaching effects.

Keep America Beautiful follows a practical approach that unites citizens, businesses and government to find solutions that advance our core issues of preventing litter, reducing waste, and beautifying communities.

Industry Educational Opportunities

Learn about the benefits of recycling and other important environmental information.

Welcome to the one-stop source for glass container recycling facts, tools, and local resources. Learn more about the benefits of glass recycling to the environment and the economy. Then find out how best to recycle glass in your community.

   RECYCLING 

It makes a difference ... for the environment and for your community.

Do you know that the can you recycle today ends up back on store shelves as a new can? And that it only takes 60 days?

TWO out of THREE cans produced in the U.S. begin the recycling process either at local recycling centers, community drop-offs or charity collection sites.  Reverse vending machines or curbside pick-up make up the other one-third.

There are many ways you can recycle in your community including curbside recycling, which is offered in nearly 50% of communities nationwide. Currently the Aluminum Association and the Can Manufacturer's Institute are implementing a national education campaign centering around the benefits of recycling at the curb and the financial benefit of recycling high-value materials such as aluminum cans. When residents trash a can, instead of recycling that can, they are literally throwing money away .

The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) is the trade association for the PET plastic industry. We promote the introduction and use of PET packaging, facilitate the recycling of PET packaging, and communicate the success of the PET container as an environmentally sustainable package.