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Green Elk Rapids is a local volunteer organization committed to raising awareness of environmental issues.
We pursue our mission through collaboration with local organizations such as schools, village government, businesses, and community organizations. Programs have included films, educational forums, nature hikes, student projects, guest speakers, and special community service activities.
Welcome to Green Elk Rapids |
WHAT'S NEW!
PLEASE NOTE: All planned events are being reviewed as new guidelines occur. Stay healthy!
UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE:
-April 21-25 (Earth Day April 22) - CELEBRATE EARTH DAY WITH GREEN ELK RAPIDS - Details on "Events" page
-REGISTRATION FORM FOR TRASHFORMATION EXHIBIT
ONGOING PROJECTS:
MDOT highway pick-up: The spring highway pickup is cancelled. Stay tuned.
Beach pick-up: Stay tuned
UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE:
-April 21-25 (Earth Day April 22) - CELEBRATE EARTH DAY WITH GREEN ELK RAPIDS - Details on "Events" page
-REGISTRATION FORM FOR TRASHFORMATION EXHIBIT
ONGOING PROJECTS:
MDOT highway pick-up: The spring highway pickup is cancelled. Stay tuned.
Beach pick-up: Stay tuned
GREEN ELK RAPIDS EARTH DAY CELEBRATION!
Saturday, April 24, 11:00-1:00 p.m.
Enjoy a Saturday in downtown Elk Rapids, bring your friends and family and make a few stops to learn what you can do for the planet!
For more information on stations, please visit the "EVENTS" tab at the top of the site.
Enjoy a Saturday in downtown Elk Rapids, bring your friends and family and make a few stops to learn what you can do for the planet!
For more information on stations, please visit the "EVENTS" tab at the top of the site.
COMMUNITY INVITATION
Green Elk Rapids invites the community to join them in celebrating International Earth Day, April 22, over several days from Wednesday, April 21-Sunday, April 25. This year’s international theme is "Restore Our Earth”. Join citizens, businesses, and students to promote community, create local business activity, have some fun, showcase your creativity, and create more awareness of environmental issues.
A few ideas to jump-start your thinking:
-create a Trashformation (a creation made from recycled items, with an environmental message, clever or witty)
-host a Trashformation from the high school classes or show one in your store window, in your yard, on your porch
-display your earth-friendly store items for sale
-show practices you do for the sake of the planet
-offer an earth-friendly entree or vegetarian item in your restaurant; share the recipe
-identify a special restored or recycled feature of your building…the floor, the tiles, beams, the history
-offer your space for an activity or exhibit
-draw an environmental cartoon for your window.
Plans include several stations on Saturday, April 24, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. with activities and exhibits relating to environment topics.
More details coming soon! Check the EVENTS page greenelkrapids.org for updates, or call 231-264-0618 for info.
COVID safety guidelines will be observed.
A few ideas to jump-start your thinking:
-create a Trashformation (a creation made from recycled items, with an environmental message, clever or witty)
-host a Trashformation from the high school classes or show one in your store window, in your yard, on your porch
-display your earth-friendly store items for sale
-show practices you do for the sake of the planet
-offer an earth-friendly entree or vegetarian item in your restaurant; share the recipe
-identify a special restored or recycled feature of your building…the floor, the tiles, beams, the history
-offer your space for an activity or exhibit
-draw an environmental cartoon for your window.
Plans include several stations on Saturday, April 24, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. with activities and exhibits relating to environment topics.
More details coming soon! Check the EVENTS page greenelkrapids.org for updates, or call 231-264-0618 for info.
COVID safety guidelines will be observed.
2021 GREEN ER SUPER RECYCLING INFORMATION
ARTICLES
Water could make the Great Lakes a climate refuge. Are we prepared?
"TRAVERSE CITY—Intrigued by warming winters, researchers from the University of Michigan set out in 1989 to formally measure changes in the geographical distribution of plants and animals in the dense pine and hardwood forests of northern Michigan." Read more
Saving the Great Lakes
“In the cover story, “Saving the Great Lakes,” writer Tim Folger explores how the Great Lakes helped make the U.S. an economic powerhouse, and how, now, North America’s most valuable resource is at risk as climate change, pollution, and invasive species threaten the lakes’ complex ecosystems. The story shares how scientists expect the frequency of extreme weather to increase across the region in the decades ahead, with bonus graphics and maps depicting how the Great Lakes food web is in trouble and showing how dramatically fertilizer is choking the lakes.” Read more
WATCH - Saving Birds Thru Habitat, A Conservation Organization
Cities Connecting Children to Nature cities rely on partnerships to support schools with outdoor learning
Detroit Waldorf School students play on a fort as their parents help build the school’s outdoor classroom. Photo credit NBC news, Erin Einhorn.
As school districts across the country grapple with tough decisions about reopening schools, many CCCN cities used the momentum from previous years to support local school districts in exploring outdoor learning options. A few concrete examples are:
Schools seeking alternative to remote learning try an experiment: Outdoor Classrooms
While some educators remain skeptical, others see outdoor classrooms as a way to make in-person learning safer during the pandemic. This NBC news story explores ways some cities are using COVID to accomplish outdoor learning and health objectives.
Additional Resources for Outdoor Learning:
- In Seattle, WA, the school board announced it will pilot a program for outdoor classrooms with the hopes of expanding it to all grades across the district. Read more in this local NPR news story.
- In Austin, TX, CCCN city team members, as part of the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative’s early adopter working group, developed standard operating procedures (SOP) for outdoor learning.The school district included the SOP in recommendations for reopening and shared broadly with school principals.
- In Baltimore, MD, the CCCN city team galvanized momentum from their green schoolyard partnerships to support school reopenings this fall. The team, also part of the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative’s early adopter working group, developed guidelines for outdoor learning and directed local funds to support outdoor learning pilot projects this fall.
Schools seeking alternative to remote learning try an experiment: Outdoor Classrooms
While some educators remain skeptical, others see outdoor classrooms as a way to make in-person learning safer during the pandemic. This NBC news story explores ways some cities are using COVID to accomplish outdoor learning and health objectives.
Additional Resources for Outdoor Learning:
- Outdoor classes are safer. How can teachers make it happen? CNN, Aug. 18, 2020
- Fauci: Schools should be outdoors as much as possible. EducationWeek, Aug. 14, 2020
WATCH - "Plastic Wars"
Source: FRONTLINE, PBS. Link to original video: https://www.pbs.org/video/plastic-wars-8wxame/
Americans are open to plant-based diets — but they don’t know where to start.
That’s according to a new report, “Climate Change and the American Diet,” published this morning by Earth Day Network and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
The report, which surveyed 1,043 American adults, found that more than half of Americans are open to eating more plant-based foods, but they don’t know what to buy. Additionally, that same number said they’d eat more plant-based foods if they better understood their meals’ environmental impacts...
READ MORE..
Source: Earth Day. Author Brandon Pytel - February13, 2020
That’s according to a new report, “Climate Change and the American Diet,” published this morning by Earth Day Network and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
The report, which surveyed 1,043 American adults, found that more than half of Americans are open to eating more plant-based foods, but they don’t know what to buy. Additionally, that same number said they’d eat more plant-based foods if they better understood their meals’ environmental impacts...
READ MORE..
Source: Earth Day. Author Brandon Pytel - February13, 2020
Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health
Illustration: LUISA RIVERA FOR YALE ENVIRONMENT 360
A growing body of research points to the beneficial effects that exposure to the natural world has on health, reducing stress and promoting healing. Now, policymakers, employers, and healthcare providers are increasingly considering the human need for nature in how they plan and operate...
READ MORE..
Source: Yale Environment 360. Author Jim Robbins - January 9, 2020
READ MORE..
Source: Yale Environment 360. Author Jim Robbins - January 9, 2020
“The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”
—Richard Louv