Severson Dells

Energy Conservation at Home and in Your Neighborhood

Wednesdays, November 7, 14 and
Saturday, November 17
6:30-8:30 pm
Learn how you can use less energy by improved efficiency and easy lifestyle changes using tried and true conservation methods that will help you limit your impact on the planet.

These sessions are designed to present a variety of traditional conservation practices that you can easily adopt, as well as to discuss ways that those practices can be more widely promoted and implemented.

The first two sessions will be at Severson Dells.  The last session will be a field trip to the home of session leaders Mary and Keith Blackmore to view energy conservation practices that they have adopted.

Fee: $10 to members of
“Friends of Severson Dells;” $15 per nonmem-
ber. Call 1-815-335-2915 to register. Limit 20.

This from Canada: Global trends indicate a looming environmental catastrophe, and engaging high school students through Internet social networks around the world may be the only hope.

High schoolers changing the world with Facebook, something most adults would have to ask, “What is Facebook?”

Social networking sites are powerful forces that are shaping students, our future leaders. Online communities are tying together millions of ordinary people, who will have to mobilize to lead government and industry down the paths of sustainability if it is to happen.

As trends show global consumption of seafood, steel, aluminum and other resources continuing to break records, the only real hope for a sustainable planet is for a grassroots global citizens’ movement unlike anything ever seen on the face of the Earth, according to a story by Stephen Leahy — Can Networking Teenagers Save the World?

Steve Chase, director of the Environmental Advocacy Program at Antioch University in New Hampshire, trains activists. Chase tells Leahy that students were a major force in civil rights and social justice movements. They will be a major force in creating a sustainable planet.

“High school students are my hope. They could save the world — after all they will inherit this world,” Chase said.

Governments at all levels along with individuals need to attack this problem with energy and determination, Chase says. But little will change without a global citizens’ movement, sparked in large part by teenagers deeply worried about the world they will inherit.

“We have just a few years left to do something about this,” he said.

Chase argues that social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace could be the vehicles that drive society away from consumerism, that it can help them overcome the $600 billion influence of advertising and its effect on popular culture that equates more and more stuff with good.

We hope Chase is right. We agree that today’s students will have to live the greenest lives of any modern generation as global economies compete for for limited resources.

And we hope that part of their coping is learning about nature to understand the plants, animals and ecosystems that sustain life on the planet.

How do we do that? Sengalese environmentalist and poet Baba Dioum gave us the formula in 1968, when he said:

“In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand what we are taught.”

We’re teachers at Severson Dells. Nature is both the subject that the most pressing issue of the 21st century.

Learn about it.

Teach someone else what you know.

Share the love.

Get active.

Click here to become a Severson Dells Facebook friend. 

Students are headed back to college and this year they’re more likely to meet someone with suggestions on how to make their dorm room greener.

The Los Angeles Times reports that campus crusaders for green living hope to influence what dorm livers buy and how they go about their daily lives — Green goes to school; Students spread the word, and eco-friendly dorms arrive on campus.

The story says it is part of a much larger trend and that lies ahead for college living.

“Some schools have already built apartments with low-flow shower heads, low-VOC paints, carpeting made from reused materials, even solar-heated pools. Others lag behind. It’s one thing to install motion sensors that automatically turn off lights in a 40-year-old building; it’s another thing to construct a new hall with high-efficiency heating and cooling units that shut off when windows open.”

Going green isn’t a destination. It is a journey. People don’t become green overnight. They take incremental steps to become more responsible.

There are great tips on the web on how to make your dorm room greener. Do a google search using the words “green dorm room.”
Here’s how one Annie B. Bond, executive producer of Care2’s /Green Living Group, helped her daughter make her dorm room greener. Use these tips and green up your dorm life.
Old Paradigm: plastic water bottles
Easy Greening: tabletop filter; pretty stainless steel water bottle (find these online through a search engine)

Old Paradigm: plastic electric kettle
Easy Greening: stainless steel electric kettle

Old Paradigm: air freshener plug-ins
Easy Greening: natural air freshener using essential oils (or better yet, clean up the mess causing the odors)

Old Paradigm: scented candles made of paraffin and synthetic fragrance
Easy Greening: beeswax candles (these are natural air cleaners in their own right)

Old Paradigm: permanent press sheets made with polyester blend
Easy Greening: natural fiber, preferably organic

Old Paradigm: synthetic pillows
Easy Greening: pillow made with natural materials

Old Paradigm: polyester-filled comforter
Easy Greening: organic wool or organic cotton-filled duvet; wool or cotton blankets
Note: Buying a comforter like this is the big ticket item, but it will last a lifetime.

Old Paradigm: scented laundry detergent
Easy Greening: “Free and Clear” laundry detergent

Old Paradigm: fabric softener
Easy Greening: no fabric softener unless from a respected green brand such as Seventh Generation or Ecover

Old Paradigm: no education about energy use with laundry
Easy Greening: Give them 12 Laundry Tips for Maximum Energy Saving

Old Paradigm: plugs everywhere, no easy way to turn off electronics
Easy Greening: Take a power strip to attach all the sundry electronics *and* easily turn them all off to reduce phantom loads (electronic devices that keep running clocks, etc., even when the power switch is turned off).

Old Paradigm: lamps that use only incandescent light bulbs
Easy Greening: buy lamps that can accommodate compact fluorescents; switch existing lights in the dorm room to compact fluorescents.

Old Paradigm: halogens
Easy Greening: compact fluorescents (halogens can be a fire hazard)

Old Paradigm: not paying attention to the fields that electronics give off
Easy Greening: To avoid electromagnetic fields make sure that all transformers, such as the little black boxes, and digital alarm clocks and other electronic equipment is at least 6 feet from the sleeping area.

Old Paradigm: Bug sprays with DEET
Easy Greening: Herbal alternatives found in health food stores

Old Paradigm: not reading labels on personal care products
Easy Greening: Many body care products contain ingredients that can disrupt hormones and cause reproductive harm. Find safe brands and companies from this list:
http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/findings/index.php#companies

Old Paradigm: lindane-based shampoos for head lice
Easy Greening: Use a natural alternative to lindane for head lice and scabies, if they become a problem. (Lindane was banned by the EPA for agricultural crops in August, 2006, but use as a shampoo is regulated by the FDA and lindane has not yet been banned for this use.)

Old Paradigm: sodas with aspartame/Nutrisweet
Easy Greening: drinks with natural flavors

Old Paradigm: fragrance in body-care products
Easy Greening: naturally-scented or unscented products instead

Old Paradigm: regular coffee
Easy Greening: organic, fair trade coffee

Old Paradigm: no plants
Easy Greening: Top 10 house (dorm room) plants for cleaner air: /greenliving/top-ten-houseplants-for-cleaner-air.html

Old Paradigm: nothing
Easy Greening: salt lamps… crystalline salt is a natural air ionizer that boosts the negative ions in the air; an environment rich in negative ions has a wonderfully positive effect on your physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual health.

Old Paradigm no attention to chi energy
Easy Greening: ; Feng Shui Your Bedroom; and you can always give the hint by offering How Clutter Affects You

Old Paradigm: paper plates and plastic utensils
Easy Greening: cheap metal kitchen ware, including bowls and plates

Old Paradigm: toxic all-purpose cleaner
Easy Greening: all-purpose cleaner from a respected green company such as Seventh Generation of Ecover

Old Paradigm: junk microwave food
Easy Greening: whole food snacks

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Come to Severson Dells Saturday morning to learn what you as an individual can do about climate change.
Keith Blackmore, retired biology professor from Highland Community College, will present and lead a discussion about the issue of climate change from10:30 a.m.-noon, Saturday, at the nature center.

Part of the discussion will center around the Oscar-winning movie An Inconvenient Truth. If you have not seen it, it will be showing at 8:30 a.m. that morning.

Also, there will be a signup for the four-session program of the Northwest’s Earth’s Institute’s discussion group on climate change. The discussion course will include the history and science of global warming; personal values and habits as they relate to climate change; and personal steps you can take to curb global warming’s impact.

Come out or call to find out more about it. After the progam make sure you take the time to take a nice walk on the paths of Severson Dells Forest Preserve. Call 815-335-2915 for more information.

WHERE: New Venue: Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 920 Third Ave., Rockford. Park and enter on the north side, just off 6th Street.

WHEN: Saturday, February 24, from noon until 6 pm

Film Schedule:

12:00 - Too Hot to Handle
1:45 - SUV City
1:55 - Out of Balance
3:10 - Fiore Cartoons
3:20 - Wind Over Water
3:35 - Rising Waters
4:50 - Nobility
5:10 - The True Cost of Food
5:25 - Kilowatt Ours
(see below for descriptions)

Admission for complete day: $10.00 donation, ($5.00 students) no one will be turned away.

Donation covers all the films (no one will be turned away).

The Films

TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE: A primer on global warming, this HBO documentary features contributions from leading scientists in the field and shows how businesses, local governments, and citizens are taking positive actions to reduce global warming emissions. (90 minutes)

OUT OF BALANCE: This film shows the influence that the largest company in the world has on governments, the media and citizens and what can be done about global warming. “Out of Balance” does not just critique ExxonMobil, it also offers challenging, large-scale ideas for the global social changes that must take place if there’s any chance of having a livable planet for future generations. (60 minutes)

RISING WATERS: Through personal stories of Pacific Islanders, this film puts a human face on the international climate change debate. by showing the viewers the physical and cultural impacts caused by global warming. (57 minutes)

KILOWATT OURS: Filmmaker Jeff Barrie takes viewers on a journey from the coal mines of West Virginia to the solar panel fields of Florida, as he discovers solutions to America’s energy related problems. (38 minutes)

SUV CITY: A short satirical animated film about the absurdity of big SUVs. Some people might find it funnier than others as the underlying message about four common types of big-SUV buyers may ring true. (8 Minutes)

FIORE CARTOONS: Mark Fiore is a San Francisco cartoonist and animator whose work also appears in the Washington Post, L.A. Times and other publications. He will choose several short films exclusively for Sierra Club’s Energy Film Festival. (5 cartoons at approx 2 minutes each

WIND OVER WATER: In November 2001, Cape Wind Associates of Boston announced plans for America’s first offshore windfarm. Almost immediately, a battle between environmentalists and residents on the Cape was born. Journalist Ole Tangen, Jr. was on hand to chronicle the fight in this fascinating documentary about land and the future of renewable energy. (15 minutes)

THE TRUE COST OF FOOD: Food issues are heavy. This animated video takes a light approach to explaining the hidden costs of mass-produced food and about alternatives that are kinder to the planet. (15 minutes)

NOBELITY: A stunning look at the world’s most pressing problems through the eyes of nine Nobel Laureates, Nobelity follows filmmaker Turk Pipkin’s personal journey to find enlightening answers about the kind of world our children and grandchildren will know. Filmed across the U.S., and in France, England, India, and Africa, Nobelity combines insights of nine distinguished Nobelists with a first-person view of world problems and the children who are most challenged by them. Our children’s future is in your hands. (18 minutes).

For more information, call Stanley Campbell, conservation chair, at (815) 964-7111.

Smart Money says it costs the planet 100 million trees each year to keep junk mail flowing to mailboxes.

And if you are an average American (obviously, you’re above average because you’re reading this) you get 11 pieces of junk mail each week. Over the course of a year, the Center for a New American Dream says that equals two trees per household. By reducing the amount of junk mail you receive, you can prevent 92 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the air, says Smart Money.

All it takes is a few minutes of your time. Smart Money says follow these steps to delist your name from junk mail lists.
Abacus Catalog Alliance: Signing up permanently halts the catalog mailings from association members. Email optout@abacus-direct.com with your full name and current address.

Direct Mail Marketing Association: Costs you $1, but works for five years. Download form or disassociate online by clicking here.

OptOutPrescreen.com: Keeps you off prescreened credit and insurance lists for five years. Click here.

Smart Money has more tips. Read the story:

Stopping Junk Mail Is Easy, and Good for the Environment