OF THE EPA TRIBAL WASTE JOURNAL
Calendar Contests
Want a way to deliver your
waste management or environ-
mental message 12 months of
the year? Create a calendar and
fill it with recycling, compost-
ing, and other waste reduction
tips. Consider sponsoring a
poster or photography contest
for students as artwork for the
calendar to get kids excited
and involved. The Red Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians held
a poster contest for middle
school students. More than 40
students submitted posters with
a pollution prevention and pro-
tecting the environment theme.
Red Lake Department of
Natural Resources staff select-
ed the 12 winning posters for
use in the calendar and distrib-
COMPOST CROPS
uted more than 500 calendars
to tribal members.
The White Earth Band of
Chippewa Biology Department
also produced a calendar to
increase environmental aware-
ness within the community.
The calendar featured photo-
graphs of scenic areas on the
reservation, such as a local
landing at sunset and native
wildlife, and contained envi-
ronmental quotations in
Ojibwa from famous chiefs.
The tribe packed the back
page of the calendar with
information on its solid
waste ordinance and ways for
members to report illegal
dumping incidents.
After your kids have put in all the hard work and effort composting
yard trimmings or food scraps in their backyard and vermicompost-
ing bins, here is a great exercise to demonstrate the usefulness of
compost. Using two similar garden plots—one with a bucket of
compost mixed into the soil and one without—kids can compare
compost's influence on the plants' rate of growth. Over a 4 or 5
week period of watering, weeding, and measuring the plant growth
for each of the plots, kids can compare the size and appearance of
the plants in both plots. They can also dig up one plant from each
plot and compare the root structures of both plants, and dig
around in the soil and examine and compare differences between
the soil texture, moisture content, and presence of worms or other
insects. When the vegetables are ripe, harvest and have a feast!
For additional information about this activity, visit
,
or order a free copy of The Quest for Less: Activities and Resources
for Teaching K-6 (EPA530-R-00-008) from EPA's National Service
Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) at 1-800-490-9198.
"Worms are
more powerful
than the African
Elephant and
more important
to the economy
than the cow."
—Charles Darwin
JUNE 2005
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COMPOSTING AND OTHER WASTE REDUCTION WEB SITES FOR KIDS
FirstGov For Kids is the
U.S. government interagency Kids' Portal
developed and maintained by the Federal
Citizen Information Center. It provides
links, grouped by subject, to federal kids'
sites along with some of the best kids'
sites from other organizations. Included
are links to numerous composting, vermi-
composting, and recycling sites.
healthfinder®,
Health and Human Services, is an excel-
lent resource for finding government and
mation on the Internet. Among the links to
lions' Web sites, are links to numerous
al composting and recycling sites.
COMPOSTING
EPA's Planet Protectors Club for Kids
Kids Recycle! Composting
Recycling: Make a Compost Heap for
Your Garden (World Wildlife Fund)
VERMICOMPOSTING
Ask the Answer Worm!
As the Worm Turns: Worm Composting
at Portland Public Schools
Kids Recycle! Vermi-composting
National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences (NIEHS) Kids' Pages:
Vermicomposting (Making Good
Use of Garbage!)
The Adventures of Herman:
The Autobiography of Squirmin' Herman
the Worm
Worm Away Your Cafeteria Food Scraps
(North Carolina Cooperative Extension
Service )
GARDENING
Junior Master Gardener
index.k2?did=2016§ionlD=2016>
University of Illinois Extension: My First
Garden: A Guide to the World of Clever
and Fun Gardening
Handtmade Recycled Paper Planters
Here is an activity that lets kids close
the loop on used paper by creating
recycled paper planters out of used
newspaper. Begin by soaking small
pieces of shredded newspaper and
pulping the paper fibers with a hand
egg beater until it looks like mush.
Then mold the pulp to the inside of a
plastic cup-shaped container or soda
bottle with the top cut off, squeezing
out as much water as possible. Let the
pulp dry completely for the next
three days. Carefully remove the
handmade recycled paper planter
from its mold, and it is ready for use!
The planter can be transplanted in
the ground where it will decompose
and provide nutrients to the plant as
it takes root and grows. You can fur-
ther close the loop by using compost
from classroom vermicomposting or
backyard bins and planting the
seedlings in school or home gardens.
For additional information about this
activity, visit , or order a free copy of
The Quest for Less: Activities and
Resources for Teaching K-6
(EPA530-R-00-008) from EPA's
National Service Center for
Environmental Publications
(NSCEP) at 1-800-490-9198.
COMPOSE YOUR OWN
COMPOSTINC. SONC.
composting, recycling, or any
other environmental issue. They
can rewrite the lyrics to one of
their favorite songs or compose
their own music and lyrics. The
Compost Song is a great example:
THE COMPOST SONG: "TAKE
ME OUT TO THE COMPOST"
(Sung to the tune of "Take Me Out
to the Ball Game")
Take me out to the compost
Take me out to the pile.
Add some soil and a few good
worms
I don't care if I'm turned and I'm
churned
'Cause it's root root root for the
microbes;
If they don't live it's a shame.
For in two, four, six weeks, I'm out
in the old garden.
—Pam Ahearn, Waits River School,
East Corinth, Vermont
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