Make your Lake Superior Day plans now: July 20, 2008 celebrate the world’s largest, cleanest freshwater lake – annual event sponsored by Lake Superior Binational Forum, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada

Celebrate Lake Superior Day on Sunday, July 20, 2008

Whats better than a July picnic on a hot, sandy beach next to the worlds largest freshwater lake?

A picnic and a Lake Superior celebration!

Individuals and families, churches and kids, communities and clubs, and businesses and industries hold activities or events that celebrate Lake Superior Day, held annually on the third Sunday in July (July 20 this year).

Can you do something that symbolizes your own connection to the lake on that day?

Lake Superior Day was started in the early 1990s to highlight the importance of this great water body to the basins environment and economy.

The Lake Superior Binational Forum promotes this basin-wide event to highlight the special connections people have to this unique world treasure.

Many events have been held to educate or entertain people about lake issues, special places, and recreational opportunities.

You are invited to hold activities or events that celebrate this world-class lake.

This year the theme is Lets Go Fly a Kite! to symbolize clean energy sources such as wind power.

Organize your group or family to fly a kite at your favorite beach or park on July 20!

Click on this link for more information about flying a kite on Lake Superior Day.

Families fly kites made from homemade materials off the deck of the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth.

Photo (above) from Minnesota Sea Grant Dec. 2007 newsletter: Making a Great Lake Superior by Sharon Moen.

Photo by Marie Zhuikov

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Last year almost 45 groups and communities participated in some way, including special events such as dragon boat races, beach clean ups, musical concerts, library displays, church services, and signed proclamations that designate the third Sunday in July as Lake Superior Day.

Contact the Lake Superior Binational Forum to receive free color postcards and buttons to give to your Lake Superior supporters at your event.

The Forum’s website offers ideas about how the day was celebrated last year and what you can do to celebrate Lake Superior. Click on Current Projects. New information is posted regularly.

For more information email organizers – or call (715) 682-1489

University of Minnesota Sea Grant Foundation photo

South Carolina Map – Geology.com

Lake Superior’s surface covers 31,700 square miles, or about the size of South Carolina.

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The lake is so big it could hold all the water from the other four Great Lakes, plus three more lakes the size of Lake Erie.

The Johnson-Sea-Link deep-sea scientific research submersible
Photo courtesy the Public Library of Science journal via Wikipedia

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In 1985, scientists using a submersible vessel descended for the first time to the deepest part, which is near the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigans Upper Peninsula.

Lake Superior s deepest point is 1,332 feet, which would almost cover the Sears Tower in Chicago, one of the worlds tallest buildings.

Sears Tower photo by Western Michigan University student Meghan Hurley of Glenview, Illinois.

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The lake stretches approximately 350 miles from west to east, and 160 miles north to south. If you could travel along the entire Lake Superior shoreline, you would travel 1,826 miles, or the distance from Duluth to San Francisco.

The Lake Superior Binational Forum is a multi-sector stakeholder group of U.S. and Canadian volunteers that work together to provide input to governments about lake issues and educate basin residents about ways to protect and restore the lake.

Members come from Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

Northland College Ashland, Wisconsin photos courtesy:
Northland College, Liturgical Environments, Wayne Nasi Construction

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The Forum is located in the United States at Northland College in Ashland, WI, and funded in the U.S. by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Great Lakes National Program Office.

The Canadian Forum office is at EcoSuperior in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and funded by Environment Canada.

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Top Ten Ways You Can Protect Lake Superior Every Day

Wisconsin DNR Map

1. Install water saving devices on your kitchen and bathroom faucets and showerheads. Purchase these at local hardware and building supply stores–most cost between one dollar and nine dollars.

2. Replace regular light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. Burning an energy bulb requires less energy, which means power plants burn less coal and that produces less mercury in the air.

3. Never burn garbage, especially plastics or tires, in burn barrels on your property. These produce more toxins in the air than an industrial incinerator. Not only do you breathe these toxic fumes as the garbage burns, but the pollutants enter the lake when it rains.

4. Instead of burning garbage, recycle or compost what you can and throw away the rest.

5. Take your lawn and household hazardous materials to area Cleansweeps collection days in Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas, and Iron counties this summer. Call the Northwest Regional Planning Commission at 715-635-2197 for dates and locations of collections in your county.

6. Put your lawn on a chemical-free diet. Poisonous lawn herbicides and pesticides seep into waterways that end up in the lake and soil, which can hurt your family and neighbors. Lawn chemicals can also sicken or kill birds and pets. Bring these kinds of chemicals to a Cleansweep event where they are disposed of safely.

7. Never pour any liquids into a storm drain. Storm drains empty untreated liquids into a nearby river, stream, or Lake Superior.

8. When youre boating or fishing, inspect your boat and trailer and remove any plants and animals before leaving the water body. Drain water from the motor, live well, bilge, and transom before leaving the water body. Never release live bait fish in the water or live earthworms on the land or water.

9. When planning landscaping or gardening activities, use plants that are native to the region. Consult with garden centers or the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute for a list of the best native plants for this area. Learn what non-native species look like and additional prevention tips by contacting your local state or federal natural resource management agency and ask for information and identification material for non-native species.

10. Love it! When you care about something as grand as Lake Superior, youll feel good about making sure it stays a Great Lake.

For more info contact:

Lissa Radke
US Coordinator
Lake Superior Binational Forum
Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College
Ashland, WI
54806

715-682-1489
FAX 715-682-1218

“Water is life, and the quality of water determines the quality of life.” –Lake Superior Binational Forum vision statement

Lake Superior Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in July!

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Interfaith projects to protect Lake Superior are discussed in this video by:

Rev. Tesshin Paul Lehmberg
Head Priest
Lake Superior Zendo
Zen Buddhist Temple

Rev. Jon Magnuson, LSBF board member
Lutheran Campus Ministry
Northern Michigan University
Marquette, Michigan

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Supers:

South Carolina map courtesy Geology.com

The Johnson-Sea-Link deep-sea scientific research submersible
Photo courtesy the Public Library of Science journal via Wikipedia

Sears Tower photo by WMU student Meghan Hurley

Minnesota Sea Grant photo by Marie Zhuikov
Families fly kites made from homemade materials off the deck of the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth
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For more info contact:

Lissa Radke
US Coordinator
Lake Superior Binational Forum
Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College
Ashland, WI
54806

715-682-1489
FAX 715-682-1218

Lake Superior Binational Forum
http://www.superiorforum.info

Lake Superior Binational Forum vision statement:
“Water is life, and the quality of water determines the quality of life.”

Lake Superior Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in July
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Related websites:
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Lake Superior Binational Forum
http://www.superiorforum.info

Flying a kite on Lake Superior Day pdf:
http://www.superiorforum.info/uploads/Kite_Poster.pdf
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Wisconsin DNR page on Lake Superior:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/nature/habitat/lakesuperior.htm
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University of Minnesota Sea Grant Foundation
http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/

Minnesota Sea Grant Dec. 2007 newsletter: Making a Great Lake Superior by Sharon Moen
http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/newsletter/2007/12/making_a_great_lake_superior.html

Minnesota Sea Grant kite flying photo by Marie Zhuikov
Families fly kites made from homemade materials off the deck of the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth.
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Northland College Ashland, Wisconsin photos courtesy:

Northland College:
http://www.northland.edu/Northland

Liturgical Environments:
http://www.liturgicalenvironments.com
http://www.liturgicalenvironments.com/Images/Leaded%20Glass%20Contemporary/LdNORTHLAND-COLLEGE.jpg

Wayne Nasi Construction:
http://www.wnasi.com
http://www.wnasi.com/images/portfolio/school_northland.jpg
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EcoSuperior Environmental Programs:
http://www.ecosuperior.com
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Environment Canada:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/

Telephone
1-819-997-2800
Canada only:
1-800-668-6767
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Johnson-Sea-Link – Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Sea_Link

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution:

http://www.hboi.edu

Submersible & crew info:
http://www.hboi.edu/marineops/jsl_crew.html

The Johnsen Lab page of Johnson-Sea-Link
http://www.biology.duke.edu/johnsenlab/gallery/insidechamber.html

Johnson-Sea-Link, deep-sea scientific research submersible built by The Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in 1971.
Submersible was designed by Edwin Albert Link, friend of Harbor Branch founder Seward Johnson.
Image first published March 15, 2005 in the Public Library of Science journal.
Source: Gulf of Mexico Cruise SJ0107
The Public Library of Science journal website states that the content of all PLoS journals is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license.
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South Carolina Map – Geology.com
http://geology.com/state-map/maps/south-carolina-state-map.gif
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Sears Tower photo by Western Michigan University student Meghan Hurley of Glenview, Illinois:
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~m4hurley/searstower2_skyscraper_1.jpg
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~m4hurley

View of Erie, Pennsylvania from Presque Isle
Photo by Pat Noble, WikiProject Erie

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Pennsylvania Sea Grant Keep Unwanted Medicine out of Lake Erie Medicine Collection Day in Erie, Pennsylvania on April 26, 2008
All medicine collection photos in this story are by Anna McCartney, Erie Times-News in Education

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Erie, Pennsylvania residents turn in about 600 pounds worth of medicine and personal care products, over 73,000 pills at the April 2008 Sea Grant Pharmaceutical collection during EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

(Erie, Pennsylvania) – Erie, Pennsylvania area residents dropped off about 600 pounds worth of medicine and personal care products on Saturday, April 26, 2008 during the Pennsylvania Sea Grant pharmaceutical collection.

Showing their love for Lake Erie, residents brought in over 73,000 pills and a large amount of controlled substances like narcotic pain medication, according to Sara Grisè, Pennsylvania Sea Grant coastal outreach specialist.

The collection was held at the Cruise Boat Terminal Building behind the Memorial Library named for Dr. Raymond Blasco in Erie, Pennsylvania.

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Keep Unwanted Medicine out of Lake Erie Medicine Collection results:

87 participants

Collected 120 gallons of materials

5 of the 120 gallons were controlled substances

About 600 pounds worth of medicine and personal care products

Controlled category II:

1,031 pills

130 milliliters of liquids

Controlled category III, IV, V:

1,397 pills

1,180 milliliters of liquids

Controlled Unidentified:

1,410 pills

102 milliliters of liquids

4 pieces of gum

6 towelettes
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Controlled total: 3,839 pills

Non-Controlled total: 69,232 pills

Personal Care products: 384
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The Keep Unwanted Medicine out of Lake Erie Medicine Collection Day was held as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

The challenge involved over 100 pharmaceutical and electronic waste collections in hundreds of communities across eight states in the Great Lakes Basin.

Ohio EPA Map of polluted Lake Erie in 1970s

Across America, the reputation of Lake Erie – especially in the 1960s and 1970s – was that of an extremely polluted and even dead lake.

By all accounts, residents and officials have done a great job restoring Lake Erie – where fishing, boating and swimming are popular.

Lake Erie photo (above) courtesy Jim’s Photos Unixdoctor

View of Lake Erie from Cranch Park in Erie, PA
Photo by Pat Noble, WikiProject Erie

EPA Graphic

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The EPA Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan has been a big force in the recovery of Lake Erie.

EPA/Bay City Times/Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab Photo

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In recent years, officials have been fighting the Zebra Muscle problem in Lake Erie. It’s been a love/hate relationship as the muscles have done good and bad things to the lake.

One goal of the pharmaceutical collection was to prevent medicine s from being discharged into Lake Erie and to make sure the drugs don’t end up in other surrounding lakes and streams.

Goal of medicine collection is to protect rivers, lakes and streams like Cascade Creek in Erie, PA
Photo by Pat Noble, WikiProject Erie

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Many wastewater treatment plants around the world are not designed to remove the cocktail of chemicals after the drugs are flushed or dumped down the drain – and the drugs can leach out of landfills into the groundwater.

Pictured above are Erie Police Dept. officers. Law enforcement officers are required by federal law at collections of controlled substances

Students and pharmacists from the LECOM School of Pharmacy counted and sorted drugs during the medicine collection

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Some of the unsung heros at pharmaceuticals collections are the police and pharmacists – without whom the collections would not be possible.
At all locations, including Erie, Law enforcement and pharmacists were on hand to accept the pharmaceuticals.

Based on experience, organizers discovered the turnout was bigger when residents don’t have to preregister.

Of the 87 residents participating in the collection, 61 did not preregister.

Sara Grisè, Pennsylvania Sea Grant coastal outreach specialist (pictured above on the right; and Marti Martz, also a Pennsylvania Sea Grant coastal outreach specialist, and many others worked hard to make the collection a success.

Over 70,000 pills were turned as Erie, PA area residents showed their love for Lake Erie by participating in the Keep Unwanted Medicine out of Lake Erie Medicine Collection Day

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And similar to the other collections, most Erie participants were older adults as 89 percent were over the age of 46.

Assisting in the proper disposal of the medicines was ECS & R – Environmental Coordination Services and Recycling in Cochranton, Pennsylvania.

Medicine Collection Sponsors:

The organizers of the Erie collection included Pennsylvania Sea Grant, the City of Erie, Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force, LECOM school of Pharmacy, and Erie Times-News in Education.

Organizers partnered with the WJET-TV Channel 24 Erie Green Campaign.

WSEE TV provided their news story for use in a video about the collection.

The Pennsylvania Sea Grant received a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Great Lakes map highlighting Lake Erie by Lawrence W. Ellerbruch, Northern Michigan University

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The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was the collecting and recycling of one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) plus the collection and proper disposal of one million pills. The EPA says those goals were exceeded by 400 to 500 percent.

The Earth Healing Initiative assisted some challenge organizers by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encourage members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office also in Chicago in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment.
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For more info contact:

Sara Grisè
Pennsylvania Sea Grant
814-217-9011

Unwanted Medications
301 Peninsula Drive, Suite 3
Erie, PA

Marti Martz
Coastal Outreach Specialist
Pennsylvania Sea Grant
814-217-9015
814-217-9021 (fax)
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Erie collection organizers received assistance from EPA Region 3 (with assistance from Region 5), Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Organizers thank following organizations who were part of the team that make the collection program a success:
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Related websites:
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Community Health Net
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Environmental Coordination Services and Recycling (ECS&R)
Erie County Environmental Coalition
Erie Center on Health and Aging
Erie County Health Department
Erie Housing Authority
Erie Port Authority
Erie Wastewater Treatment Facility
Local Pharmacies
Greater Erie Community Action Committee (GECAC)
Hamot Medical Center
Lake Erie Sierra Club
Local Senior centers
Pennsylvania Lake Erie Watershed Association
Presque Isle Audubon
State Board of Pharmacy
USDEA local agent
Visiting Nurses Association
WJET-TV 24 Erie Green Campaign

Pennsylvania Sea Grant:
http://www.pserie.psu.edu/seagrant/seagindex.htm

In November 2006, Sara Grisè joined Pennsylvania Sea Grant as a Coastal Outreach Specialist:
http://www.pserie.psu.edu/seagrant/about/grise.htm
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EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois
http://www.epa.gov/region5
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ECS&R – Environmental Coordination Services & Recycling
3237 US Highway 19
Cochranton, PA
16314

814-425-7773
814-425-3201 (fax)

ECS&R 24 hour emergency response call:

877-902-2452

email:
info@ecsr.net

http://www.ecsr.net/
http://www.ecsr.net/environmental.html
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WJET-TV 24 Erie Green Campaign:
http://yourerie.com/
http://yourerie.com/content/green
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WSEE TV Erie. PA
http://www.wsee.tv/
http://www.wsee.tv/news.php
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=WSEE01
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City of Erie
http://ci.erie.pa.us/

City of Erie flag/seal are courtesy the English Wikipedia Graphics Lab & Cronholm144

Erie Police Dept.
http://ci.erie.pa.us/Departments/PoliceDepartment/tabid/72/Default.aspx
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Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force
http://www.earthforce.org/section/offices/lea
http://www.earthforce.org/section/offices/lea/leasuccess_stories

http://www.earthforce.org/section/offices/lea/leacontact_us
http://www.earthforce.org/section/offices/lea/leaschools
http://www.earthforce.org/
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LECOM School of Pharmacy in Erie, PA

Photo by Pat Noble, WikiProject Erie

LECOM school of Pharmacy
http://www.lecom.edu/school_pharmacy.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LECOM
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Erie Times-News newspaper building in Erie, PA

Photo by Pat Noble, WikiProject Erie

Erie Times-News in Education
http://www.goerie.com/
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=ETN
Erie Times-News front page April 23, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Times-News
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Erie, PA photos by Pat Noble

Erie, Pennsylvania – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie

Erie photos courtesy Pat Noble aka Pnoble805, a member of WikiProject Erie
Photos include Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry monument, Liberty Park’s Pepsi Amphitheater, Times-News building, skyline of Erie, Pennsylvania as seen from Presque Isle, Cranch Park, west branch of Cascade Creek under a small bridge at Frontier Park, and the LECOM medical school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pnoble805
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pnoble805#My_work_on_WikiProject_Erie

City of Erie flag/seal are courtesy the English Wikipedia Graphics Lab & Cronholm144
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Lake Erie Photos courtesy Jim’s Photos Unixdoctor
http://www.unixdoctor.com/gallery/niagara/Lake_Erie_02
http://www.unixdoctor.com/gallery/albums.php
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Lake Erie map graphic courtesy Lawrence W. Ellerbruch, Northern Michigan University
http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255f03/cs255students/ateraves/P6/tutorial2.html
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Shallow Lake Erie photo courtesy Environment Canada:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/
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Lake Erie polluted photo courtesy Ohio EPA
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/oleo/reports/leqi/leqi2004/pollutionsources/Pollutionsourcespic.jpg
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/
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EPA: Lake Erie Management Plan reports:

http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/erie.html
http://www.epa.gov/lakeerie/index.html
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EPA – Zebra Mussels photo info:
http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/image/viz_iss4.html
Zebra mussels washed up on beach, Lake Erie
Bay City Times (courtesy Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab)
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White House Office of Drug Control Policy:
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/
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Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/

Call:
906-401-0109
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Cedar Tree Institute
http://www.cedartreeinstitute.org/
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Earth 911:
http://earth911.org/
http://earth911.org/blog/2008
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Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Baha’i Community)
Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:
http://www.interfaithresources.com/

Justice St. Rain
1-800-326-1197 (toll free)
1-847-733-3559 (wk)

Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, IN
47436

Photos of the April 2008 pharmaceutical collection in Erie, Pennsylvania

Photos by Anna McCartney, Erie Times-News in Education

Syracuse, NY residents show their respect for Great Lakes including love for Lake Erie by turning over 9 tons of old TVs to be recycled by the Onondaga County Resource Recover Agency

Syracuse skyline photo by Joe Grimes, Wikipedia

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(Syracuse, New York) – A leader in electronic waste recycling projects in the northeast is the Onondaga County Resource Recover Agency (OCRRA) in Syracuse, NY.

The agency held a TV collection on Saturday, April 19 in the Alliance Bank Stadium parking lot as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

The Onondaga County Resource Recover Agency received an EPA grant to help offset costs of the recycling project.

It was one of over 100 projects involved in the challenge across eight states in the Great Lakes Basin.

Organizers keep traffic flowing smoothly as 964 vehicles arrived with old TVs.

The event took in 1,551 old television sets weighing 97,080 pounds, according to Andrew Radin, Director of Recycling and Waste Reduction for the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency.

That means nearly 9 tons of old TVs from central New York were recycled.

Syracuse State Tower building photo by Joe Grimes

Syracuse Franklin Park photo by Kai Brinker, Newkai is a member of WikiProject Syracuse, New York

Syracuse Jerry Rescue Monument photo by Paul Malo

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The agency also holds ongoing e-waste collections at the Community Collection Center also know as 3-C – located at 6085 Court Street – in Syracuse, NY.

The electronics collection dates and times are:
Tuesdays from 4pm to 8pm;
Thursdays from 8am to noon;
and Saturdays from 9am to 1 p.m.

There is no charge to drop off household e-waste and other items at the collection center including old computers plus related equipment and fluorescent bulbs, household batteries, cell phones, smoke detectors, tabletop copiers, DVD players, electronic game consoles like Nintendo, and Xbox, fax machines, phones, VCRs and stereos including speakers.

The agency is developing a plan to accept TVs at the center.

Over 60,000 pounds has been turned in at the Community Collection Center so far this year.

Business waste in not accepted.

The center also accepts books – covers must be removed.

In a unique twist – the agency is helping the hungry – by asking residents dropping off items to be recycled to also bring canned food and other non perishables for Food Bank of Central New York.

The Onondaga County Resource Recover Agency is known as OCRRA for short using its initials.

Since 2002, OCRRA has collected over 1,000 tons of e-waste from the community for recycling

OCRRA has numerous environment projects that benefit the Syracuse area including its Blue Bin It campaign.

Blue Bin It is based on the well-know blue bins that are popular in recycling projects across the country.

OCRRA has a series of radio spots promoting its blue bin it campaign.

(See Blue Bin It Radio ads in this video)

The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was the collecting and recycling of one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) plus the collection and proper disposal of one million pills. The EPA says those goals were exceeded by 400 to 500 percent.

The Earth Healing Initiative assisted some challenge organizers by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encourage members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office also in Chicago in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment.

Im Greg Peterson and youre watching Earth Healing TV
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Related Links:
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Onondaga County Resource Recover Agency (OCRRA) recycling page

http://www.ocrra.org/recycling_c3.asp

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Contact:
Onondaga County Resource Recover Agency (OCRRA) in Syracuse, NY
Andrew J. Radin
Director of Recycling and Waste Reduction
Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA)

315-453-2866
315-295-0726
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The Food Bank of Central New York

http://www.foodbankcny.org/

Portrait of Hunger:

http://www.foodbankcny.org/default.aspx?PageID=752

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Onondaga Creek running through the Franklin Square area

Syracuse on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracuse,_New_York

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Syracuse skyline photo by Joe Grimes
Syracuse skyline wide shot photo by Joe Grimes
Syracuse State Tower building photo by Joe Grimes

Onondaga Creek running through the Franklin Square area

Syracuse skyline photo by Kai Brinker, Newkai is a member of WikiProject Syracuse, New York

Syracuse Franklin Park photo by Kai Brinker, Newkai is a member of WikiProject Syracuse, New York

Syracuse Jerry Rescue Monument photo by Paul Malo

EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois

http://www.epa.gov/region5

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Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative

http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org

Call:
906-401-0109
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Cedar Tree Institute

http://www.CedarTreeInstitute.org

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Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Baha’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

Justice St. Rain
1-800-326-1197 (toll free)
1-847-733-3559 (wk)

Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, IN
47436

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More photos from OCRRA TV Collection:

Western U.P. electronic waste collections set: June 21 in Houghton and Keweenaw counties; July 12 in Baraga County; dates for other areas TBA

The Western Upper Peninsula Electronics Recycling Program, a project of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), provides households with an environmentally and economically sound solution to disposing of electronic waste.

Residents of Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon Counties, who have generated electronic waste in their household, may bring their items to e-waste collection sites on the specified collection dates in their area.

The initiative received grants and/or other assistance from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The northern Michigan collection is connected to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that involves over 100 projects in eight states across the Great Lakes Basin.

More than a dozen previous collections since 2005 have garnered nearly 48 tons of e-waste from over 850 participants.
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2005: 8 collections, 26.5 tons
2006: 4 collections, 15 tons
2007: 1 collection, 6.25 tons
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Commonly called e-waste, electronics waste includes old and broken computers, cell phones, TVs and other items found in many homes.

The collection for Houghton and Keweenaw counties will be on June 21 from 9 am to noon at the health department offices in Hancock.

An e-waste collection will be held in Baraga County on July 12 from 10 a.m. to noon at a site to be announced.

Collection events for other Copper Country counties will be announced in the future.

The cost to drop off e-waste is 10 cents per pound.

The Western Upper Peninsula Electronics Recycling Program will accept a wide range of e-waste during collection events including cell phones, computer and related equipment like laptops, monitors, towers aka central processing units, printers, scanners, keyboards and computer mice

Other e-waste accepted includes stereo equipment, televisions, VCR and DVD players, copiers, cordless telephones, fax machines, fluorescent light bulbs that are 4 to 8 feet in length, microwave ovens and batteries including alkaline, nickel cadmium, lead acid, lithium, mercury.

Organizers said it estimated that between 1997 and 2007, nearly 500 million personal computers will became obsolete. That’s almost 2 computers for every person living in the United States.

TV’s and computer monitors contain an average of 4 pounds of lead, as well as other toxins.

According to Closing the Circle News, the manufacture of one computer consumes 529 pounds of fossil fuels, 49 pounds of chemicals, and 3,307 pounds of water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency projects that nationwide nearly 250 million computers will become obsolete in the next five years.

For additional information contact the Western Upper Peninsula Electronics Recycling Program or RSVP at 906-482-7382.

The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was the collecting and recycling of one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) plus the collection and proper disposal of one million pills. The EPA says those goals were exceeded by 400 to 500 percent.

The Earth Healing Initiative assisted some challenge organizers by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encourage members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office also in Chicago in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment.

Im Greg Peterson and youre watching Earth Healing TV
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Related websites:
—

Western Upper Peninsula District Health Department:

http://www.wupdhd.org

—
e-waste info:

http://www.wupdhd.org/rsvp/e-waste.html

—
RSVP:

http://www.wupdhd.org/rsvp/index.html

—
Contact info:
Western Upper Peninsula District Health Department and the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program
540 Depot Street
Hancock, MI
49930

Barbara Maronen
906-482-7382
—
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois

http://www.epa.gov/region5

—

Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative

http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org

906-401-0109
—

Cedar Tree Institute

http://www.CedarTreeInstitute.org

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Baha’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

Justice St. Rain
1-800-326-1197 (toll free)
1-847-733-3559 (wk)

Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, IN
47436

Free, special collection for old prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals for residents of southwest Michigan set for June 21, 2008 in Kalamazoo County

Residents of the Kalamazoo area and all of southwest Michigan can to their part to protect the Great Lakes during a free public pharmaceutical collection later this month.

Old and unwanted medicines and personal care products will be accepted on Saturday, June 21, from 9 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Loy Norrix High School, 606 E. Kilgore (off Lovers Lane) in Kalamazoo.

The pharmaceutical collection is sponsored by Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that provided a grant for the project.

The collection is connected to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that involves over 100 projects in eight states across the Great Lakes Basin.

Southwest Michigan residents can rid their home of unwanted prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals plus personal care products.

For example – items that will be accepted include:

Prescription medication, such as antibiotics, birth control, and insulin (but no sharps or syringes)

Medication samples and over-the-counter medication, such as ibuprofen, aspirin, cold medicine

Personal care products, such as medicated ointments, lotions, and shampoos

Veterinary medications

Items that will not be accepted include:

Medical waste like sharps and syringes

Products containing mercury like thermometers
—
The collection is free to all households in southwest Michigan.

Organizers say the collection is important to protect Lake Michigan and other lakes and streams – like Arcadia Creek.

The reason – an investigation by the Associated Press found a wide variety of pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, mood stabilizers and hormones, in the drinking water of 41 million Americans.

Most medications pass untreated through wastewater treatment plants because those facilities are not designed to remove the chemicals.

That means the pharmaceuticals are discharged into local rivers or groundwater.

For more information call 269-373-5211

Or visit the EPA and Kalamazoo County websites at these addresses:

http://www.epa.gov/ppcp

http://www.kalcounty.com/hcs

Again – a free pharmaceutical collection for residents of the Kalamazoo area and southwest Michigan will be held on Saturday, June 21 from 9 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Loy Norrix High School at 606 E. Kilgore (off Lovers Lane) in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The pharmaceutical collection is sponsored by Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was the collecting and recycling of one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) plus the collection and proper disposal of one million pills. The EPA says those goals were exceeded many times over.

The Earth Healing Initiative assisted challenge organizers by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encourage members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office also in Chicago in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment.

Im Greg Peterson and youre watching Earth healing TV
—
Related Links & Information:
—

Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services

http://www.kalcounty.com/hcs

Kalamazoo County Environmental Health Bureau

http://www.kalcounty.com/eh/index.htm

Kalamazoo County homepage:

http://www.kalcounty.com

—
EPA – Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs)

http://www.epa.gov/ppcp

—
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois

http://www.epa.gov/region5

—

Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative

http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org

906-401-0109
—
Cedar Tree Institute

http://www.CedarTreeInstitute.org

—
Kalamazoo – Southwest Michigan First

http://www.southwestmichiganfirst.com/index.cfm

Maps:

http://www.southwestmichiganfirst.com/pdf/Kalamazoo%20Region.pdf

http://www.southwestmichiganfirst.com/pdf/Kalamazoo%20County1.pdf

—
Kalamazoo Downtown Central City website:

http://www.central-city.net

http://www.central-city.net/festivalsite?mth=festivalsite&subc=festplanning

—

Kalamazoo Wikimedia:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kalamazoo%2C_Michigan

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Kalamazoo.jpg

—
Kalamazoo River:
www.kalamazooriver.net
—

Loy Norrix High School:

http://www.kalamazoopublicschools.com/education/school/school.php?sectionid=24

http://www.kalamazoopublicschools.com/education/school/schoolmap.php?sectiondetailid=279&sc_id=1210344809

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loy_Norrix

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Baha’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

Justice St. Rain
1-800-326-1197 (toll free)
1-847-733-3559 (wk)

Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, IN
47436
——-
Kalamazoo County Environmental Health Bureau
3299 Gull Road
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49048
269-373-5210
—

(Marquette, Michigan) – The founder of two interfaith environment groups is often asked by people around the globe to explain the best way to start an effective similar interfaith group in their own community.

Along the shores of Lake Superior, creating similar interfaith environmental groups was discussed by leaders of the Earth Healing Initiative and the Upper Peninsula Earth Keeper Initiative, both based in Marquette, Michigan.

The non-profit Earth Healing Initiative provided interfaith volunteers and participants top numerous cities during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

The challenge involved the recycling of millions of pounds of electronics and the proper disposal of millions of pills and other pharmaceuticals in April 2008 during over 100 projects across eight states that make up the Great Lakes Basin.

This warm and calm day in May 2008 produced the tiniest of ripples in an unusually calm Lake Superior as wildlife heralded spring in the background. The serene setting was perfect to discuss interfaith environment work and how it can be created in others areas of the world.

Earth Healing founder Rev. Jon Magnuson co-founded the Earth Keeper Initiative that started when nine northern Michigan faith leaders signed the Earth keeper Covenant in 2004.

The bishops and other faith leaders pledged to reach out to Native Americans and actively participate in interfaith environment projects.

This video includes the thoughts of Rev. Jon Magnuson, director of Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) at Northern Michigan University (NMU) in Marquette, MI; and Rev. Tesshin Paul Lehmberg, head priest of Lake Superior Zendo, a Marquette Zen Buddhist temple; and Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod (NGLS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Rev. Lehmberg and Bishop Skrenes were among the nine original signers of the Earth keeper Covenant.

The non-profit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) co-founded the interfaith Earth Keeper Initiative in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that works closely with ten faith traditions on a wide range of environment projects that include college students, at-risk teens, American Indian tribes and others.

Rev. Magnuson is the executive director of the CTI.
.
The CTI Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative is developing a relationship with the same faith communities in northern Michigan and others across the Great lakes.

The faith communities include Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha’i, Jewish, The Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as the Quakers) and Zen Buddhist.

The Earth Healing Initiative assisted challenge organizers by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encourage members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office – also in Chicago – in cooperation with the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, Michigan.

The Earth Healing Initiative involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal protect and defend the environment” said Rev. Magnuson, Earth Healing founder.

The next project during the summer of 2008 involves encouraging bee and butterfly pollenization through means that include creating habitat thanks to help from at-risk teens and American Indian tribes. The pollen project is important because billions of bees have died prematurely across the country and the problem has become alarming in the Midwest. More on this project in the near future.
—
Supers:

Rev. Tesshin Paul Lehmberg
Head Priest
Lake Superior Zendo
Zen Buddhist Temple

Rev. Jon Magnuson
Lutheran Campus Ministry
Northern Michigan University
Marquette, Michigan

Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes
Northern Great Lakes Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

—
Related Links:
—

Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative

http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org

906-401-0109
—

EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois

http://www.epa.gov/region5

—

Cedar Tree Institute

http://www.CedarTreeInstitute.org

—
The Lake Superior Interfaith Communication Network

http://www.lakesuperiorinterfaith.com

—

ELCA Northern Great Lakes Synod

http://www.nglsynod.org

—
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
8765 W. Higgins Road
Chicago, IL
60631

1-800-638-3522
(aka 1-800-NET-ELCA)

1-773-380-2700
Fax: 1-773-380-1465
—

ELCA Website:

http://www.elca.org

Ecumenical:

http://www.elca.org/ecumenical

—

Earth 911:

http://earth911.org/blog/2008

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Baha’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

Justice St. Rain
1-800-326-1197 (toll free)
1-847-733-3559 (wk)

Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, IN
47436
—

EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge: Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes says – “We are all environmentalists” & “Every day is Earth Day”

Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes praises interfaith success of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

(Marquette, Michigan) – A Lutheran Bishop who has participated in interfaith Earth Day recycling projects for four years in a row said.

“Celebrate – what a great day Earth Day has been 2008,” said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod (NGLS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). “The Earth Healing Initiative has been a great success this year.”

“Congratulations Earth Healers – you’ve done it, it has been a success,” Bishop Skrenes said. “The EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has been a great success.”

“Computers have been recycled, pharmaceuticals have been brought together for proper disposal,” Skrenes said. “We are hearing reports from all over the Midwest about wonderful things that are happening.”

“Pharmacological waste – more than a million pills – and all kinds of poundage of equipment and computer materials that are surplus that will not pollute the beautiful Great Lakes over the next years because of the success of this challenge.”

“Congratulations to those members of the faith communities and others who have been a part of this,” Skrenes said. “It has been a great day, a great week, a great Earth day 2008.”

“What a great opportunity it has been to be part of the ecumenical work and interfaith work of assisting others to see the environmental concerns set before us,” said Bishop Skrenes of Marquette, Michigan.

“We are all environmentalists,” Skrenes said. “Everybody is an environmentalist because all of us want clean air to breathe, all of us want clean drinking water. We all enjoy the outdoors and nature.”

“So every single one of us – no matter our political understandings are – no matter where we are on the liberal and conservative line – no matter what we think of any of the big issues facing the world today – all of us can agree that it is in all of our interests.”

The interfaith protecting of the environment “is an honoring of the God that made us, that we can be part of this movement to preserve to reuse to recycle – to make a difference,” Skrenes said.

“We call that the environmental movement,” Skrenes said. “Sometimes all kinds of political forces connect to that but yet all of us agree that we can all certainly conserve and save and bring back – and then give to the next generation what has been given to us.”

With hundreds of thousands of people participating across eight states in the Midwest and Northeast, Bishop Skrenes said interfaith environment projects like the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge will help ensure a better future for all humans.

“It is a sign of great significance that people can join hands and work together,” Skrenes said. “So celebrate – it is a good day for the environment and it is a good day for all of us together.”

Bishop Skrenes thanked the EPA, faith communities and “people of goodwill throughout the upper Midwest who have been a part of this work.”

“Thanks to the Environmental Protection Agency for their help and assistance in all of this work,” Bishop Skrenes said. “The EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has been a part of the lives and will be a part of the future of this whole area.”

“It is a wonderful opportunity to begin to look at what it is that we hold in common,” Skrenes said. “What we hold in common is this wonderful Great Lakes basin.”

“This is a wonderful place with lakes and streams and forests everywhere in the Midwest, and the great plains and the great fields,” Skrenes said. “We have been a part of saving some of this and making a difference – that’s what it is all about making a difference.”

“The faith communities do that each and every day in so many ways, this is just one more way. People of faith have bonded together and are working together to make a difference in the world.”

“When we are working together as different believing communities great things can happen,” Skrenes said.

“Sometimes we become so focused on what divides us, what disconnects us, what separates us – and there are important things that sometimes do that – but yet we can all have loyalty and allegiance to this world that has been our home and this part of the world that we have been blessed with by God.”

“God has given us the privilege of living here in the midst of these lakes and in the midst of all of this beautiful nature,” Skrenes said.

“When people of faith, whether they be of Christian traditions or of other traditions, gather together to work on what connects us. One of those things that connects us is respect and awe for the creation that surrounds us.”

“We are part of a movement together in these early years of the Twenty-first (21st) Century to save what has been given to us by the generations before us and what God has provided to us,” Skrenes said.

“When you can have people of all traditions working together – wonderful things can happen. People joining hands and making things happen. A spectacular success was this initiative. Thanks be to God for that – and thanks be to all the people that made this possible.”

Bishop Skrenes is one of the original nine faith leaders who signed the Earth Keeper Covenant in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 2004 that lead to many interfaith projects

Background: Earth Healing Initiative and the Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative

The Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) co-founded the interfaith Earth Keeper Initiative in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that works closely with ten faith traditions on a wide range of environment projects that include college students, at-risk teens, American Indian tribes and others.
.
The CTI Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative is developing the same relationship with the same faith communities in northern Michigan and others across the Great lakes.

The faith communities include Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha’i, Jewish, The Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as the Quakers) and Zen Buddhist.

Springtime, Earth Day, the Great Lakes challenge and similar events are a renewal, Skrenes said.

“Now in the springtime – what a better time of year there is than spring I can not imagine. Springtime when the trees are just blossoming and the flowers are coming up and the spring rains – to be reminded of what a great God we have who has provided all this to us.”

“So it is our privilege then to do this ministry to do this work together. “Every day is Earth Day – every day is an environmental concern day,” Skrenes said.
—
Related Links:
—

Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative

http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org

906-401-0109
—

EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois

http://www.epa.gov/region5

—

Cedar Tree Institute

http://www.CedarTreeInstitute.org

—
The Lake Superior Interfaith Communication Network

http://www.lakesuperiorinterfaith.com

—

ELCA Northern Great Lakes Synod

http://www.nglsynod.org

—
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
8765 W. Higgins Road
Chicago, IL
60631

1-800-638-3522
(aka 1-800-NET-ELCA)

1-773-380-2700
Fax: 1-773-380-1465
—

ELCA Website:

http://www.elca.org

Ecumenical:

http://www.elca.org/ecumenical

—

Earth 911:

http://earth911.org/blog/2008

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Baha’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

Justice St. Rain
1-800-326-1197 (toll free)
1-847-733-3559 (wk)

Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, IN
47436
—

The EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge removed a huge amount of electronic waste and pharmaceuticals from eight states.

The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was the collecting and recycling of one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) plus the collection and proper disposal of one million pills.

These goals were exceeded many times over.
—
A few examples:
—

In Milwaukee: 32 tons of electronic waste and 3.5 tons of pharmaceuticals were turned in.
—

At the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin near Green Bay: Approx. 4 tons of e-waste was collected plus thousands of pounds of other trash cleaned from reservation

Tribal members turned in ver 23 pounds of medicines including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.
—

In Traverse City: Over 28,750 pounds (over 12.5 tons) of computers and other e-waste was collected.
—
The electronic waste is recycled, and the pharmaceuticals are incinerated in state-of-the-art EPA -license facilities.

So why is this important?

The old and broken electronics – like computers, cell phones and TVs – contain heavy metals that can leach into the groundwater if dumped into landfills.

The unused pharmaceuticals can end up in your drinking water if they are flushed or poured down the drain.
Thats because most wastewater treatment facilities are not designed to remove chemicals from these pharmaceuticals including hormones, narcotics, seizure medication and many more – that end up back in your drinking water.

In an April 2008 press conference in Milwaukee – EPA and other officials explained why the Great Lakes Challenge and similar projects are important to protect the environment and your health.

Pharmaceutical chemicals are sent back out into the Great Lakes, rivers and other places were people recreate and are the intakes for drinking water.

Studies show that the chemicals are appearing in the nations drinking water in small amounts – the long term effects are not known – however they have been linked to mutations in fish and other wildlife.

Also – these medicines can be stolen, diverted or accidently ingested by children – if they languish in your medicine cabinet.

Around the country many e-waste and pharmaceutical take back programs have been developed by governments and local businesses.
Please check with your local officials to find out details for your area.
Because every day should be Earth Day.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office also in Chicago in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal protect and defend the environment,” said EHI founder Rev Jon Magnuson of Marquette Michigan.

Im Greg Peterson and youre watching Earth Healing TV
—
Supers:

Bill Graffin
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District

Voice of:
Dr. Susan E. Boehme
EPA Coastal Sediment Specialist
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant

EPA Milwaukee Medicine Collection Photos/Video by Dr. Susan Boehme

EPA Milwaukee e-waste video by John Perrecone

Bharat Mathur
EPA deputy regional administrator
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago

Tom Barrett
Milwaukee Mayor

Rick Meyers
City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works
DPW Recycling Manager
——-
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois

http://www.epa.gov/region5

—
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois
Bharat Mathur, EPA Deputy Regional Administrator

312-886-3000
mathur.bharat@epa.gov

http://www.epa.gov/region5/aboutr5/organization.htm

—

For more information on the electronics collection contact:
City of Milwaukee Dept of Public Works
Rick Meyers, Recycling Manager
414-286-2334
—
Milwaukee Dept. Of Public Works:

http://www.mpw.net

Milwaukee DPW e-Waste event page:

http://www.mpw.net/Pages/escrap.html

City of Milwaukee e-Waste event flyer:

http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_flyer.pdf

City of Milwaukee e-Waste advertisement

http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_ad.pdf

—

Medicine collection sponsor/contact:
Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District
260 West Seeboth St.
Milwaukee, WI 53204

Steve Jacquart, Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District
414-225-2138 (wk)
—

Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District:

http://www.mmsd.com

Milorganite – How do we make this stuff?

http://www.mmsd.com/news/detail.cfm?id=114

—
Milwaukee pdf flyer – scroll down pdf to bottom to see mini-version:

http://www.mmsd.com/images/programs/MedicineCollection_041908.pdf

—
Traverse City, Michigan
April 26, 2008

Sponsor/Contact: Grand Traverse County Resource Recovery

Kim Duane Elliott
231-995-6075
kelliott@grandtraverse.org

Type of Event: e-Waste

Goodwill Industries, Sam’s Club and Grand Traverse County Resource Recovery held a free Computer Recycling Collection.

Tons of home and business computer equipment and peripherals were dropped of to a donation truck at Sam’s Club, 2401 US Hwy 31 S, Traverse City on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

websites:

Grand Traverse County Resource Recovery:

http://www.co.grand-traverse.mi.us/departments/resource_recovery.htm

Recycle Smart Brochure-pdf:

http://www.co.grand-traverse.mi.us/AssetFactory.aspx?did=2359

—
Related information/websites:
—

Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org

—
Milwaukee Earth Healing Initiative page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/milwaukee.html

—
Final EPA Flow of the River blog post:

http://flowoftheriver.epa.gov/greatlakeschallenge/2008/05/so-long-and-tha.html

—
Media News Wire:

http://media-newswire.com/release_1064289.html

—
Freedom Ring Blog – Milwaukee:

http://freedomeden.blogspot.com/2008/04/milwaukees-great-lakes-2008-earth-day.html

—
EPA #1 results press release:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/fa96ab2aafc467688525743a003c9efa?OpenDocument

—
EPA says challenge a big success: Goals met and exceeded

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/epas-great-lakes-earth-day,367679.shtml

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Baha’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

Justice St. Rain
1-800-326-1197 (toll free)
1-847-733-3559 (wk)

Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, IN
47436
—
Project sites included locations in eight states:

Illinois:
Alton, Beecher, Bellwood, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Channahon, Chicago, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Glenview, Joliet, Lockport, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Romeoville, Shorewood, Villa Park, West Chicago, Wheaton, Woodstock

Indiana:
Columbia City, Hammond, Knox, LaPorte, Fort Wayne, Rushville, Valparaiso

Michigan:
Bay City (two events), Benton Harbor, Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn Heights, East Lansing, Farmington Hills, Goodells, Grand Rapids (two events) Harbor Springs, Lansing, Midland, Monroe, Royal Oaks, Sault Ste. Marie, Southfield, Traverse City

Minnesota:
Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Duluth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Madison, Maple Grove, New Ulm, Saint Cloud, Shakopee, St. Louis Park, St. Paul

New York:
Brockport, Buffalo, Fredonia, Rochester (two events), Syracuse (two events).

Ohio:
Cleveland, Grove City, Kent, Perrysburg, Sandusky, Springfield, Toledo, Warren

Pennsylvania:
Erie, Lancaster

Wisconsin:
Appleton, Brillion, Chilton, Crandon, Green Bay, Keshena (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and College of Menominee Nation), Manitowoc, Milwaukee, New Holstein, Oshkosh, Plover (two events), Racine, Superior, Waupaca.
—
A special thanks to the residents of Milwaukee who proved they love their city, Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes.

Also, we appreciate the support of the city of Milwaukee DPW and MMSD event partners without whom the collection would not have been possible:

E-scrap collection sponsors:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.

Medicine collection sponsors:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Milwaukee Police, Milwaukee Brewers, City of Milwaukee, Aurora Pharmacy, Columbia St. Mary’s, City of Racine, Racine Police Department, Burlington Police Department, Western Racine County Health Department, Caledonia/Mt. Pleasant Health Department, Ozaukee County Public Health Department, Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Department, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Village of Saukville, Washington County, Washington County Sheriff’s Department, and City of West Bend Sewer Utility.

City of Milwaukee DPW collects about 32 tons of electronics and Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District garners 3.5 tons of pharmaceuticals in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

Milwaukee area residents turned in 32 tons of electronic waste and 3.5 tons of pharmaceuticals during two events in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

There were two collection events in the Milwaukee area as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

About 3.5 tons of pharmaceuticals were turned by the public during the Milwaukee areas Medicine Collection Day on Saturday, April 19, 2008 sponsored by the Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District (MMSD).

Meanwhile – the Milwaukee DPW organized an electronics collection on Saturday, April 26, 2008 that garner about 32 tons of electronics.
—
Electronics collection:

E-Waste coillection photos by John Perrecone, EPA

Hundreds of Milwaukee residents dropped off electronics as nearly 32 tons of e-waste was collected during the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

The Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW) kept things organized and flowing smoothly as cars lined up to drop off electronics for recycling.

The collection site off-loaded an average of three cars per minute.

The electronics are often called e-waste or e-scrap.

Officials say 706 cars dropped off electronics at the collection site located in a large parking lot south of the Italian Community Center just west of the Summerfest Grounds.

This collection site was within eyeshot of Lake Michigan near the Henry Maier Festival Park better known as the Summerfest Grounds where the world’s largest music festival is held.

The one-day collection event – organized by the City of Milwaukee DPW – was held on April 26, 2008

More than two thirds of the collection involved computers and related equipment.

The DPW collected 643 computer monitors weighing over ten tons – thats 21,188 pounds of computer monitors.

And – residents dropped off 338 televisions weighing nearly 13, 200 pounds – thats over 5 tons of TVs from city of Milwaukee homes.

Other computer related equipment turned in included nearly 15,100 pounds of personal computers – thats over 7 tons of PCs alone.

Nearly 5 tons of computer printers were turned in – that adds up to 9,148 pounds of printers.

Eight percent of the collection – nearly 5,000 pounds – involved miscellaneous e-waste like cell phones and other electronic items.

—

Equipment type Pounds Percent by Weight

Monitors 21,188 33% (643 computer monitors recycled)

PCs 15,098 24%

TVs 13,185 21% (338 televisions recycled)

Printers 9,148 14%

Miscellaneous 4,878 8%

TOTAL 63,497 100%
——-

The challenge was important because scrap electronics are the fastest growing segment of municipal solid waste stream.

Electronic waste or e-scrap may contain hazardous materials including lead, mercury and heavy metals that can pose a risk to human and environmental health through the release of toxins into the air and water.

During a press conference, EPA, DPW and other Milwaukee officials said the recycling of electronics is needed to avoid unwanted pollution and divert waste from the landfills.

EPA officials called the challenge a great success – adding it’s a win-win situation for the public and for the Great Lakes ecosystem.

The challenge was an easy for everyone to take part in protecting the Great Lakes.

The EPA awarded grants to numerous cities participating in the challenge including the city of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said the “recycling televisions and computers reduces the risks of toxins contained in these products being released into our air and water.”

Event partners included the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN-TV.

The contact is Rick Meyers with the City of Milwaukee Dept of Public Works. Call Meyers at 414-286-2334
—
Pharmaceutical collection:

Pharmaceutical collection phtos by Susan Boehme

There was a second successful challenge collection event in the Milwaukee area.

About 3.5 tons of pharmaceuticals were turned during the Milwaukee areas Medicine Collection Day sponsored by the Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District (MMSD).

The name of the pharmaceutical collection was “A prescription for clean water and safe kids.

In just four hours, more than 2,000 people delivered 3.5 tons of unused medication to collection sites in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, and Washington Counties for the third annual Medicine Collection Day.

The event is held to help protect our rivers and Lake Michigan, prevent childhood poisonings, and reduce substance abuse.

Never flush or pour old medicine down the drain.

Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove them from wastewater.
——-

Participants Non-controlled Controlled

Substances Substances

Milwaukee County 1,080 4,487 lbs 36,831 (Pills, Patches & Bottles)

Ozaukee County 365 1,022 lbs 3 (30 gallon drums)

Racine County 523 761 lbs 50 lbs

Washington County 380 743 lbs 83 lbs

Totals: 2,348 7,013 lbs

——-

Law enforcement destroys controlled substances, which include: narcotic pain killers, cough syrup with codeine, and tranquilizers.

Veolia Environmental Services incinerates non-controlled substances at a federally licensed incinerator. Examples of non-controlled substances include: blood pressure medicine, aspirin, and cholesterol medication.

The medicine collection program thanks the following partners:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Milwaukee Police, Milwaukee Brewers, City of Milwaukee, Aurora Pharmacy, Columbia St. Mary’s, City of Racine, Racine Police Department, Burlington Police Department, Western Racine County Health Department, Caledonia/Mt. Pleasant Health Department, Ozaukee County Public Health Department, Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Department, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Village of Saukville, Washington County, Washington County Sheriff’s Department, and City of West Bend Sewer Utility.

For more information on the medicine collection call MMSD Public Information Manager Bill Graffin at 1-414-225-2077
—
The MMSD distributed nearly 200,000 postcards promoting the event that has been widely publicized by area media.

The Earth Healing Initiative distributed the final 5,000 cards to interfaith contacts in the Milwaukee area.

The Earth Healing Initiative thanks our local interfaith liaison in Milwaukee.

He’s Rev. Brad Brown, campus pastor at Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry – in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee events were among about 100 projects involving hundreds of communities across eight states around the Great Lakes basin that participated in the EPA Earth Day 2008 challenge.

The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was the collecting and recycling of one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) plus the collection and proper disposal of one million pills.

The Earth Healing Initiative assisted challenge organizers by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encourage members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office also in Chicago in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette MI

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal protect and defend the environment” said EHI founder Rev Jon Magnuson of Marquette Michigan
—
Supers:

Bharat Mathur
EPA deputy regional administrator
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago

Tom Barrett
Milwaukee Mayor

Rick Meyers
Director/City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW)

EPA Milwaukee collection Photos by Jon Perrecone and Susan Boehme

—
For more information on the electronics collection contact:
City of Milwaukee Dept of Public Works
Rick Meyers, Recycling Manager
414-286-2334
—

Milwaukee Dept. Of Public Works

Milwaukee DPW e-Waste event page:

http://www.mpw.net/Pages/escrap.html

City of Milwaukee e-Waste event flyer:

http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_flyer.pdf

City of Milwaukee e-Waste advertisement

http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_ad.pdf

—

Medicine collection sponsor/contact:
Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District
260 West Seeboth St.
Milwaukee, WI 53204

Steve Jacquart, Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District
414-225-2138 (wk)
—
Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District

Milorganite – How do we make this stuff?

http://www.mmsd.com/news/detail.cfm?id=114

—
Milwaukee pdf flyer – scroll down pdf to bottom to see mini-version:

http://www.mmsd.com/images/programs/MedicineCollection_041908.pdf

—
Related information/websites:
—

Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative

—
Final EPA Flow of the River blog post:

http://flowoftheriver.epa.gov/greatlakeschallenge/2008/05/so-long-and-tha.html

—
Media News Wire:

http://media-newswire.com/release_1064289.html

—
Freedom Ring Blog – Milwaukee:

http://freedomeden.blogspot.com/2008/04/milwaukees-great-lakes-2008-earth-day.html

—

EPA #1 results press release:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/fa96ab2aafc467688525743a003c9efa?OpenDocument

—
EPA says challenge a big success: Goals met and exceeded

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/epas-great-lakes-earth-day,367679.shtml

—
WISN TV Milwaukee:

http://www.wisn.com/aboutwisn12/15961138/detail.html

—
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois

http://www.epa.gov/region5

—
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois
Bharat Mathur, EPA Deputy Regional Administrator

312-886-3000
mathur.bharat@epa.gov

http://www.epa.gov/region5/aboutr5/organization.htm

—

Midwest Computer Recyclers:

http://www.deadcomputers.com

——-
WISN News Channel 12 in Milwaukee is one of the sponsors:

http://www.wisn.com

WISN produced a 15 second PSA about the event
——-

Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful
Joe Wilson, executive director
414-272-5462, ext. 103

website:

http://www.kgmb.org/

KGMB is coordinating volunteers for event on Sat., April 26, 2008

KGMB has numerous events scheduled in near future and would like volunteers.

http://www.kgmb.org/volunteer.html

Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, Inc. (KGMB) is an award winning, private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. Established in 1983, it has been affiliated with Keep America Beautiful, Inc. since 1985.

KGMB has a strong history of responsiveness, renewal and innovation. KGMB uses a unique combination of community improvement programs like Great American Cleanup and education to accomplish its goals.

KGMB Goals
KGMB works in partnership with its communities to address:
neighborhood cleanup and beautification
waste reduction, reuse, and recycling
environmental education for children
environmental forums
renewable and efficient energy use
resource conservation
—
KGMB Conact info:

http://www.kgmb.org/contact.html

KGMB facility features an in-house waste reduction education center.
Educational tours can be arranged by phone:
414-272-5462

email:
education@kgmb.org

KGMB links:

http://www.greeningmilwaukee.org

http://www.everydrop.org

——-
Milwaukee Earth Healing Initiative page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/milwaukee.html

—
Earth Healing Initiative Milwaukee interfaith liaison:
Rev. Brad Brown, campus pastor
Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
414-288-3691

email:
bradley.brown@mu.edu

Pastor Brown’s blog:

http://www.mulutherans.com/index.php

Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) website:

http://www.mulutherans.com

—

Marquette University Ministry
AMU 236
1442 W. Wisconsin Ave. P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee, WI
53201-1881

922 South 29th Street
Milwaukee, WI
53215
—
website:

http://www.marquette.edu/um

http://www.marquette.edu/um/staff/

http://www.marquette.edu/um/worship/documents/1018107web.pdf

Phone: 414-288-6873 Fax: 414-288-3696
—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Baha’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

Justice St. Rain
1-800-326-1197 (toll free)
1-847-733-3559 (wk)

Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, IN
47436

—

Project sites included locations in eight states:

Illinois:
Alton, Beecher, Bellwood, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Channahon, Chicago, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Glenview, Joliet, Lockport, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Romeoville, Shorewood, Villa Park, West Chicago, Wheaton, Woodstock

Indiana:
Columbia City, Hammond, Knox, LaPorte, Fort Wayne, Rushville, Valparaiso

Michigan:
Bay City (two events), Benton Harbor, Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn Heights, East Lansing, Farmington Hills, Goodells, Grand Rapids (two events) Harbor Springs, Lansing, Midland, Monroe, Royal Oaks, Sault Ste. Marie, Southfield, Traverse City

Minnesota:
Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Duluth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Madison, Maple Grove, New Ulm, Saint Cloud, Shakopee, St. Louis Park, St. Paul

New York:
Brockport, Buffalo, Fredonia, Rochester (two events), Syracuse (two events).

Ohio:
Cleveland, Grove City, Kent, Perrysburg, Sandusky, Springfield, Toledo, Warren

Pennsylvania:
Erie, Lancaster

Wisconsin:
Appleton, Brillion, Chilton, Crandon, Green Bay, Keshena (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and College of Menominee Nation), Manitowoc, Milwaukee, New Holstein, Oshkosh, Plover (two events), Racine, Superior, Waupaca.
—
A special thanks to the residents of Milwaukee who proved they love their city, Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes.

Also, we appreciate the support of the city of Milwaukee DPW and MMSD event partners without whom the collection would not have been possible:

E-scrap collection sponsors:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.

Medicine collection sponsors:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Milwaukee Police, Milwaukee Brewers, City of Milwaukee, Aurora Pharmacy, Columbia St. Mary’s, City of Racine, Racine Police Department, Burlington Police Department, Western Racine County Health Department, Caledonia/Mt. Pleasant Health Department, Ozaukee County Public Health Department, Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Department, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Village of Saukville, Washington County, Washington County Sheriff’s Department, and City of West Bend Sewer Utility.
—

(Keshena, Wisconsin) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the second of several videos explaining the numerous MITW projects including teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture, cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art and making garbage monsters.

In part two, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the sturgeon education classes.

—

(Keshena, WI) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena held massive electronic and pharmaceutical waste collections during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge – involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great Lakes basin.

However, the tribe was creative as it added other facets to the challenge like teaching the children about its culture and the close relationship to the earth and its many lakes and streams.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage, said Joe Awanahopay, language arts instructor at the Menominee tribal school.

Joe Awanahopay, Menominee Tribal School language arts instructor

Called the protectors of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology, habitat, legends, current/past spawning grounds and the cultural and practical value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee people since the dawn of their tribe.

“The sturgeon are a historic importance to our people,” Awanahopay said.

“Since the beginning of time, our people have relied upon the sturgeons for various reasons including for food and scraping hides.” “In our legends, the sturgeon are the protectors of our wild rice,” said Awanahopay of the slow growing giant fish known for its thick hide and rubbery snout whose uses and related regulations have sometimes pitted white fishermen against American Indians.

“We have been engaging the students in the culture, language, science and the social studies of what the sturgeon mean to our people.”

“In the science department they have been studying the anatomy and the physiology of the sturgeon,” Awanahopay said. “In the language arts department they are looking at the sturgeon habitats and what the effects of pollution are.”

“In social studies they are looking at the different migrations, the geography, the path the sturgeon used to take to come to their home here – their traditional spawning grounds on the Menoninee Indian reservation,” Awanahopay said. “Because of two dams that are here now south of our reservation, sturgeon are no longer able to come home here to their ancestral spawning grounds.”

The tribal school students are immersed in Menominee culture and learn to speak the language and its meaning.

This was applied to the sturgeon lessons.

“In the language and culture room, I focus on the historic importance and the legends of the sturgeon and how these things were passed down from one generation to another generation and why its important for our youth to hang on to that,” Awanahopay said.

The students learn “to look forward into the future with the knowledge of the sturgeon, but yet hang onto their spiritual and cultural heritage that is so rich.”

The tribal school students have a vast reservoir of sturgeon knowledge that the elders are happy to pass on.

“We are so fortunate to have so many elders that we still work with that are able to give us this knowledge and pass it from one generation to the next, despite all of the forced assimilation and the changes in our youth, who are trying to make their way in modern society yet integrate the traditions with the technology in todays world Awanahopay said.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included a collection of unwanted medications and e-waste at the College of Menominee Nation and the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, the Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way – as the tribe’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 – and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables were removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

“The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall,” said teacher Beth Waukechon. “All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club.”

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

“The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done,” Waukechon said. “They are taking a moment each day to do that.”

“We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment,” she said. “We are the ones that need her, she doesn’t need us.”

“Clean up the Rez Day” was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe’s Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who “need to learn healthy behaviors,” Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe’s Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

“One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things,” Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created “Garbage Monsters” out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.

—

I’m Greg Peterson and you’re watching Earth Healing TV

—

Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website – homepage:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

MITW Tribal School website:

http://mts.bia.edu

—

College of Menominee Nation:

http://www.menominee.edu

—

Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org

—

MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php

http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26

http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred

—

University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html

—

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php

—

Youth Development and Outreach

W3191 Fredenberg Drive

P.O. Box 910

Keshena, WI 54135

715-799-5137

715-799-5227 (Fax)

Director: Darwin Dick

—

Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council

http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

http://www.interfaithresources.com/subcategories.php?dir=leftMenuSub&template=default&id=10

http://www.interfaithresources.com/products.php?id=2469

—

Call Justice St. Rain at Interfaith resources:

1-800-326-1197

—

Interfaith Resources

P.O. Box 9

511 Diamond Rd.

Heltonville, Indiana

47436

—

“Bah’u'llh, the One who founded the Faithclaims to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Promised One of all religions. His life and teachings are worthy of further study to determine the goodness of His fruit, and the validity of His claim.”

Quote from “Finding Common Ground”

How many beliefs do you share with members of the Bah’i Community?

You may be surprised!

By Justice St. Rain

(Bloomington, IN: Published by Special Ideas, 1997), p. 11

Interfaith graphics located with help from Bahai Media and Public Information specialist Ellen Price

wk: 847-733-3559

http://www.bahai.us

—

Samuels Recycling – Green Bay, WI:

http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm

—

Links to sites about Samuel’s Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow – 1-920-494-3451)

http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400

http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500

–

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

—

>

(Keshena, Wisconsin) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the second of several videos explaining the numerous MITW projects including teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture, cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art and making garbage monsters.

In part two, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the sturgeon education classes.

—

(Keshena, WI) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena held massive electronic and pharmaceutical waste collections during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge – involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great Lakes basin.

However, the tribe was creative as it added other facets to the challenge like teaching the children about its culture and the close relationship to the earth and its many lakes and streams.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage, said Joe Awanahopay, language arts instructor at the Menominee tribal school.

Joe Awanahopay, Menominee Tribal School language arts instructor

Called the protectors of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology, habitat, legends, current/past spawning grounds and the cultural and practical value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee people since the dawn of their tribe.

“The sturgeon are a historic importance to our people,” Awanahopay said.

“Since the beginning of time, our people have relied upon the sturgeons for various reasons including for food and scraping hides.” “In our legends, the sturgeon are the protectors of our wild rice,” said Awanahopay of the slow growing giant fish known for its thick hide and rubbery snout whose uses and related regulations have sometimes pitted white fishermen against American Indians.

“We have been engaging the students in the culture, language, science and the social studies of what the sturgeon mean to our people.”

“In the science department they have been studying the anatomy and the physiology of the sturgeon,” Awanahopay said. “In the language arts department they are looking at the sturgeon habitats and what the effects of pollution are.”

“In social studies they are looking at the different migrations, the geography, the path the sturgeon used to take to come to their home here – their traditional spawning grounds on the Menoninee Indian reservation,” Awanahopay said. “Because of two dams that are here now south of our reservation, sturgeon are no longer able to come home here to their ancestral spawning grounds.”

The tribal school students are immersed in Menominee culture and learn to speak the language and its meaning.

This was applied to the sturgeon lessons.

“In the language and culture room, I focus on the historic importance and the legends of the sturgeon and how these things were passed down from one generation to another generation and why its important for our youth to hang on to that,” Awanahopay said.

The students learn “to look forward into the future with the knowledge of the sturgeon, but yet hang onto their spiritual and cultural heritage that is so rich.”

The tribal school students have a vast reservoir of sturgeon knowledge that the elders are happy to pass on.

“We are so fortunate to have so many elders that we still work with that are able to give us this knowledge and pass it from one generation to the next, despite all of the forced assimilation and the changes in our youth, who are trying to make their way in modern society yet integrate the traditions with the technology in todays world Awanahopay said.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included a collection of unwanted medications and e-waste at the College of Menominee Nation and the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, the Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way – as the tribe’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 – and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables were removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

“The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall,” said teacher Beth Waukechon. “All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club.”

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

“The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done,” Waukechon said. “They are taking a moment each day to do that.”

“We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment,” she said. “We are the ones that need her, she doesn’t need us.”

“Clean up the Rez Day” was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe’s Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who “need to learn healthy behaviors,” Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe’s Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

“One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things,” Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created “Garbage Monsters” out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.

—

I’m Greg Peterson and you’re watching Earth Healing TV

—

Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website – homepage:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

MITW Tribal School website:

http://mts.bia.edu

—

College of Menominee Nation:

http://www.menominee.edu

—

Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org

—

MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php

http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26

http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred

—

University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html

—

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php

—

Youth Development and Outreach

W3191 Fredenberg Drive

P.O. Box 910

Keshena, WI 54135

715-799-5137

715-799-5227 (Fax)

Director: Darwin Dick

—

Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council

http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

http://www.interfaithresources.com/subcategories.php?dir=leftMenuSub&template=default&id=10

http://www.interfaithresources.com/products.php?id=2469

—

Call Justice St. Rain at Interfaith resources:

1-800-326-1197

—

Interfaith Resources

P.O. Box 9

511 Diamond Rd.

Heltonville, Indiana

47436

—

“Bah’u'llh, the One who founded the Faithclaims to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Promised One of all religions. His life and teachings are worthy of further study to determine the goodness of His fruit, and the validity of His claim.”

Quote from “Finding Common Ground”

How many beliefs do you share with members of the Bah’i Community?

You may be surprised!

By Justice St. Rain

(Bloomington, IN: Published by Special Ideas, 1997), p. 11

Interfaith graphics located with help from Bahai Media and Public Information specialist Ellen Price

wk: 847-733-3559

http://www.bahai.us

—

Samuels Recycling – Green Bay, WI:

http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm

—

Links to sites about Samuel’s Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow – 1-920-494-3451)

http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400

http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500

–

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

—

>

(Keshena, Wisconsin) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the second of several videos explaining the numerous MITW projects including teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture, cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art and making garbage monsters.

In part two, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the sturgeon education classes.

—

(Keshena, WI) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena held massive electronic and pharmaceutical waste collections during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge – involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great Lakes basin.

However, the tribe was creative as it added other facets to the challenge like teaching the children about its culture and the close relationship to the earth and its many lakes and streams.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage, said Joe Awanahopay, language arts instructor at the Menominee tribal school.

Joe Awanahopay, Menominee Tribal School language arts instructor

Called the protectors of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology, habitat, legends, current/past spawning grounds and the cultural and practical value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee people since the dawn of their tribe.

“The sturgeon are a historic importance to our people,” Awanahopay said.

“Since the beginning of time, our people have relied upon the sturgeons for various reasons including for food and scraping hides.” “In our legends, the sturgeon are the protectors of our wild rice,” said Awanahopay of the slow growing giant fish known for its thick hide and rubbery snout whose uses and related regulations have sometimes pitted white fishermen against American Indians.

“We have been engaging the students in the culture, language, science and the social studies of what the sturgeon mean to our people.”

“In the science department they have been studying the anatomy and the physiology of the sturgeon,” Awanahopay said. “In the language arts department they are looking at the sturgeon habitats and what the effects of pollution are.”

“In social studies they are looking at the different migrations, the geography, the path the sturgeon used to take to come to their home here – their traditional spawning grounds on the Menoninee Indian reservation,” Awanahopay said. “Because of two dams that are here now south of our reservation, sturgeon are no longer able to come home here to their ancestral spawning grounds.”

The tribal school students are immersed in Menominee culture and learn to speak the language and its meaning.

This was applied to the sturgeon lessons.

“In the language and culture room, I focus on the historic importance and the legends of the sturgeon and how these things were passed down from one generation to another generation and why its important for our youth to hang on to that,” Awanahopay said.

The students learn “to look forward into the future with the knowledge of the sturgeon, but yet hang onto their spiritual and cultural heritage that is so rich.”

The tribal school students have a vast reservoir of sturgeon knowledge that the elders are happy to pass on.

“We are so fortunate to have so many elders that we still work with that are able to give us this knowledge and pass it from one generation to the next, despite all of the forced assimilation and the changes in our youth, who are trying to make their way in modern society yet integrate the traditions with the technology in todays world Awanahopay said.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included a collection of unwanted medications and e-waste at the College of Menominee Nation and the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, the Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way – as the tribe’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 – and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables were removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

“The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall,” said teacher Beth Waukechon. “All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club.”

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

“The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done,” Waukechon said. “They are taking a moment each day to do that.”

“We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment,” she said. “We are the ones that need her, she doesn’t need us.”

“Clean up the Rez Day” was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe’s Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who “need to learn healthy behaviors,” Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe’s Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

“One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things,” Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created “Garbage Monsters” out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.

—

I’m Greg Peterson and you’re watching Earth Healing TV

—

Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website – homepage:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

MITW Tribal School website:

http://mts.bia.edu

—

College of Menominee Nation:

http://www.menominee.edu

—

Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org

—

MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php

http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26

http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred

—

University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html

—

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php

—

Youth Development and Outreach

W3191 Fredenberg Drive

P.O. Box 910

Keshena, WI 54135

715-799-5137

715-799-5227 (Fax)

Director: Darwin Dick

—

Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council

http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah’i Community) of Interfaith Resources – Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

http://www.interfaithresources.com/subcategories.php?dir=leftMenuSub&template=default&id=10

http://www.interfaithresources.com/products.php?id=2469

—

Call Justice St. Rain at Interfaith resources:

1-800-326-1197

—

Interfaith Resources

P.O. Box 9

511 Diamond Rd.

Heltonville, Indiana

47436

—

“Bah’u'llh, the One who founded the Faithclaims to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Promised One of all religions. His life and teachings are worthy of further study to determine the goodness of His fruit, and the validity of His claim.”

Quote from “Finding Common Ground”

How many beliefs do you share with members of the Bah’i Community?

You may be surprised!

By Justice St. Rain

(Bloomington, IN: Published by Special Ideas, 1997), p. 11

Interfaith graphics located with help from Bahai Media and Public Information specialist Ellen Price

wk: 847-733-3559

http://www.bahai.us

—

Samuels Recycling – Green Bay, WI:

http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm

—

Links to sites about Samuel’s Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow – 1-920-494-3451)

http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400

http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500

–

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

—

College of Menominee Nation: EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge and a lesson in Great Lakes recycling 101

Dr. William Van Lopik, College of Menominee Nation professor of the Implementing Sustainable Development classes

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the first of several vidoes explaining the tribes numerous projects that included cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art, teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture.

In part one, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the many recycling projects of the College of Menominee nation.
—

(Keshena, WI) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena is being praised for its massive cleanup projects during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge – involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great Lakes basin.

The college of Menominee Nation held a pharmaceutical and electronic waste collection as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, The Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage.

Called the protector guardian of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way – as the tribe’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 – and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe.

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables – plus litter – was removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

“The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall,” said teacher Beth Waukechon. “All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club.”

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

“The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done,” Waukechon said. “They are taking a moment each day to do that.”

“We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment,” she said. “We are the ones that need her, she doesn’t need us.”

“Clean up the Rez Day” was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe’s Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who “need to learn healthy behaviors,” Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe’s Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, pictured on the left above, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

“One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things,” Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins that the college plans to share with the tribal school.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created “Garbage Monsters” out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
—

I’m Greg Peterson and you’re watching Earth Healing TV
—
Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:
—
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website – homepage:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

—
MITW Tribal School website:

http://mts.bia.edu/

—
College of Menominee Nation

http://www.menominee.edu

—
Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org

—
MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php

http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26

http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred

—
University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html

—
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php

—
Youth Development and Outreach
W3191 Fredenberg Drive
P.O. Box 910
Keshena, WI 54135
715-799-5137
715-799-5227 (Fax)
Director: Darwin Dick
—
Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council

http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html

—
Samuels Recycling – Green Bay, WI:

http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm

—
Links to sites about Samuel’s Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow – 1-920-494-3451)

http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400

http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500

–
From Wikipedia:
The College of the Menominee Nation (abbreviated CMN) is one of 34 tribal based community colleges in the United States. The college’s main campus is in Keshena, Wisconsin and has another campus in Oneida, Wisconsin. The college is one of two tribal based colleges in Wisconsin.
The tribal college was chartered in 1993. The college began offering classes in the 1993 Spring semester. The College of Menominee Nation was granted full accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission on August 7, 1998. The college is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

Recycle Mania:

http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/overview.htm

http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/university_detail08.asp?ID=4018

National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola:

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/bingrantrelease.aspx

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/coca-colanrcbingrantprogram.aspx

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-22-2008/0004797928&EDATE=

College of Menominee Nation: EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge and a lesson in Great Lakes recycling 101

Dr. William Van Lopik, College of Menominee Nation professor of the Implementing Sustainable Development classes

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin  contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the first of several vidoes explaining the tribes numerous projects that included cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art, teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture.

In part one, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the many recycling projects of the College of Menominee nation.
—

(Keshena, WI) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena is being praised for its massive cleanup projects during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge – involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great lakes basin.

The college of Menominee Nation held a pharmaceutical and electronic waste collection as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, The Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage.

Called the protector guardian of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way – as the tribe’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 – and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe.

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of  e-waste and other recyclables  – plus litter – was removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

“The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall,” said teacher Beth Waukechon. “All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club.”

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

“The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done,” Waukechon said. “They are taking a moment each day to do that.”

“We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment,” she said. “We are the ones that need her, she doesn’t need us.”

“Clean up the Rez Day” was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe’s Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who “need to learn healthy behaviors,” Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe’s Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, pictured on the left above, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

“One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things,” Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins that the college plans to share with the tribal school.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created “Garbage Monsters” out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
—

I’m Greg Peterson and you’re watching Earth Healing TV
—
Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:
—
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website – homepage:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

—
MITW Tribal School website:

http://mts.bia.edu/

—
College of Menominee Nation

http://www.menominee.edu

—
Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org

—
MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php

http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26

http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred

—
University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html

—
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php

—
Youth Development and Outreach
W3191 Fredenberg Drive
P.O. Box 910
Keshena, WI 54135
715-799-5137
715-799-5227 (Fax)
Director: Darwin Dick
—
Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council

http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html

—
Samuels Recycling – Green Bay, WI:

http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm

—
Links to sites about Samuel’s Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow – 1-920-494-3451)

http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400

http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500

–
From Wikipedia:
The College of the Menominee Nation (abbreviated CMN) is one of 34 tribal based community colleges in the United States. The college’s main campus is in Keshena, Wisconsin and has another campus in Oneida, Wisconsin. The college is one of two tribal based colleges in Wisconsin.
The tribal college was chartered in 1993. The college began offering classes in the 1993 Spring semester. The College of Menominee Nation was granted full accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission on August 7, 1998. The college is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

Recycle Mania:

http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/overview.htm

http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/university_detail08.asp?ID=4018

National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola:

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/bingrantrelease.aspx

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/coca-colanrcbingrantprogram.aspx

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-22-2008/0004797928&EDATE=

College of Menominee Nation: EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge and a lesson in Great Lakes recycling 101

Dr. William Van Lopik, College of Menominee Nation professor of the Implementing Sustainable Development classes

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the first of several vidoes explaining the tribes numerous projects that included cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art, teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture.

In part one, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the many recycling projects of the College of Menominee nation.
—

(Keshena, WI) – The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena is being praised for its massive cleanup projects during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge – involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great lakes basin.

The college of Menominee Nation held a pharmaceutical and electronic waste collection as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, The Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage.

Called the protector guardian of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way – as the tribe’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 – and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe.

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables – plus litter – was removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

“The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall,” said teacher Beth Waukechon. “All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club.”

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

“The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done,” Waukechon said. “They are taking a moment each day to do that.”

“We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment,” she said. “We are the ones that need her, she doesn’t need us.”

“Clean up the Rez Day” was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe’s Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who “need to learn healthy behaviors,” Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe’s Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, pictured on the left above, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

“One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things,” Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins that the college plans to share with the tribal school.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created “Garbage Monsters” out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
—

I’m Greg Peterson and you’re watching Earth Healing TV
—
Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:
—
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website – homepage:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

—
MITW Tribal School website:

http://mts.bia.edu/

—
College of Menominee Nation

http://www.menominee.edu

—
Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org

—
MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php

http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26

http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred

—
University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html

—
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php

—
Youth Development and Outreach
W3191 Fredenberg Drive
P.O. Box 910
Keshena, WI 54135
715-799-5137
715-799-5227 (Fax)
Director: Darwin Dick
—
Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council

http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html

—
Samuels Recycling – Green Bay, WI:

http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm

—
Links to sites about Samuel’s Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow – 1-920-494-3451)

http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400

http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500

–
From Wikipedia:
The College of the Menominee Nation (abbreviated CMN) is one of 34 tribal based community colleges in the United States. The college’s main campus is in Keshena, Wisconsin and has another campus in Oneida, Wisconsin. The college is one of two tribal based colleges in Wisconsin.
The tribal college was chartered in 1993. The college began offering classes in the 1993 Spring semester. The College of Menominee Nation was granted full accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission on August 7, 1998. The college is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

Recycle Mania:

http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/overview.htm

http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/university_detail08.asp?ID=4018

National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola:

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/bingrantrelease.aspx

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/coca-colanrcbingrantprogram.aspx

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-22-2008/0004797928&EDATE=

At the Metcalfe Federal Building, the unwanted medicines collection continues under the supervision of two plainclothes Chicago police officers. (Photo courtesy EPA Flow of the River Blog)

EPA Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade encourages public to participate in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge; lauds the wonder of the Great Lakes and reminds audience how much progress has been made since Earth Day started nearly 40 years ago

At the Metcalfe Federal Building, the unwanted medicines collection continues under the supervision of two plainclothes Chicago police officers. (Photo courtesy EPA Flow of the River Blog)

EPA Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade encourages public to participate in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge; lauds the wonder of the Great Lakes and reminds audience how much progress has been made since Earth Day started nearly 40 years ago

At the Metcalfe Federal Building, the unwanted medicines collection continues under the supervision of two plainclothes Chicago police officers. (Photo courtesy EPA Flow of the River Blog)

EPA Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade encourages public to participate in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge; lauds the wonder of the Great Lakes and reminds audience how much progress has been made since Earth Day started nearly 40 years ago