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Green Partners provides updates about environmental education resources, tools, programs, grants and events to our environmental education partners.
Hennepin County has the following free environmental education resources available to partners.
Hennepin County Environmental Education & Outreach Team
Angie Timmons
Alisa Reckinger
Angie Ziobro
Christina Schmitt
Jessica Arika
Mary Karius
Patience Caso
Please forward this email to interested individuals and encourage them to sign up.
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 Hennepin County has developed a natural resources strategic plan to help guide the county and its partners in responding to natural resource issues and developing internal and external policies, programs and partnerships that improve, protect and preserve natural resources. This is the county's first comprehensive strategic plan focused on the protection and preservation of natural resources.
Opportunities for partners to provide feedback
Watershed organizations, government agencies, parks, non-profit organizations and community groups that work on natural resources issues are encouraged to provide feedback on the plan by completing our online survey or by attending the next Natural Resources Partnership meeting.The next meeting on Tuesday, July 28 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Ridgedale Library in the RHR room will focus on gathering feedback about the Natural Resources Strategic Plan.
Opportunities for residents to provide feedback
Residents can provide feedback on their priorities for protecting natural resources in the county by taking our online survey.
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With a little planning, it’s easy to make your Fourth of July celebrations red, white, blue and GREEN. Hennepin County will be sharing the following tips for making Independence Day and any celebration more environmentally friendly on Facebook and Twitter. Spread the world by sharing these tips on your own social media pages and other communications channels.
- Provide your 4th of July guests with recycling containers or ask your host for one. Print recycling labels for free at www.hennepin.us/eventrecycling.
- Use your own dishware instead of disposable paper or plastic plates and silverware. Although you may spend a few extra minutes at the sink, the extra effort goes a long way in reducing waste!
- Grocery shopping for the 4th? Shop local by finding a farmers market near you using the Hennepin County Farmer’s Market and Community Garden map. Remember to bring your own reusable shopping bag.
- Provide reusable food containers for guests to bring leftovers home, or encourage your guests to bring their own. You’ll have less to clean up and avoid food waste!
- Look for MPCA air quality updates and avoid having a bonfire during poor air quality days.
- Traveling around town for the 4th? Bike or use public transportation instead of driving if possible.
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Buy 4th of July decorations that can be reused every year instead of decorations that can only be used once.
Hennepin County is looking for aquatic invasive species (AIS) detection volunteers to help prevent the spread of AIS in the county. Volunteers will monitor for signs of AIS in their daily activities, so ideal volunteers are people who already spend time on or near lakes in Hennepin County, including people who fish, boat, live by or walk near lakes.
Volunteers will learn how to look for signs of AIS at a training session on June 30 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Water Patrol in Spring Park. The training will focus on early detection of AIS where management options may still be available.
For more information, contact Tony Brough at tony.brough@hennepin.us or 612-348-4378.
Hennepin County recently released the Recycling Progress Report to highlight progress on the Hennepin County Solid Waste Master Plan, which outlines the counties strategies for meeting our recycling goals. Some highlights from the report include that 81 percent of waste was diverted from landfills and reused, recycled, composted or burned to create energy. Recycling also increased to 41 percent in 2014, the amount of organics collected for composting increased by 15 percent due to more cities and business offering organics recycling, and the total amount of waste generated remains 20 percent below 2007 levels.
Help us recycle more
The county is committed to making recycling as convenient as possible and expanding opportunities to recycle and compost. But the success of our efforts relies on individuals, businesses, manufacturers and partners taking action to support and improve recycling. You can help us meet our recycling goals by using and promoting the following resources:
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Recycling at businesses and organizations: Grants, signage, best practices guide, staff assistance and a recognition program are available to help businesses and organizations troubleshoot and set up recycling programs.
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Recycling at apartment buildings: Free education materials, signage and on-site assistance are available to property owners and managers.
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Recycling at schools: Grants, signage, classroom presentations and staff assistance are available to help schools improve recycling and educate students and staff.
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Recycling at events: Recycling containers for events, event recycling and waste reduction guide and green event resources are all available for free.
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Promote recycling: Factsheets, brochures and handouts, including a recycling guide and ideas for reducing waste, are available to partners for free. We also have resources to engage your audience in learning more about recycling, including learning trunks, activity ideas, and field trip ideas and transportation funding.
Order the following environmental education resources with the online literature order form.
Updated: Reducing waste and recycling information for your move
Moving can be a busy time that in which you have to make a lot of decisions about the stuff that you have. Giving yourself enough time to sort through your things before you move will keep you from feeling overwhelmed and allow you to find the best reuse, recycling and safe disposal options. The updated Reducing waste and recycling during your move factsheet provides tips and resources for reducing, reusing, recycling and disposing of a wide variety of materials people commonly need to deal with when moving. Tips for being green when packing and moving in are also included.
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New: How to identify and reduce hazardous chemicals in your home
 Many products we have in our homes contain hazardous materials that can harm the health of our families, pets and the environment if not properly used, stored and disposed. Reading the label is the easiest way to identify and reduce hazardous products in our homes. The new How to identify and reduce hazardous chemicals in your home brochure contains information on signal words to look for on labels, hazard levels of common household products, safe storage and disposal tips, and simple steps to reduce hazardous chemicals in the home.
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New: Green Cleaning Recipes in Spanish
 Our new Green Cleaning Recipes booklet is now available in Spanish. Many common household products, such as baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar and liquid dish soap, can make effective and inexpensive cleaners. Using these ingredients can help reduce the amount of products containing hazardous materials you have in your home and help protect the health of your family, pets and the environment.
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Events
 Hennepin County organizes collection events to give residents more convenient local options for disposing of household hazardous wastes. Materials accepted include unwanted automotive wastes, household, lawn and garden products, batteries, mercury-containing items and more.
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Collection events are held Thursday - Saturday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. The following collection events are scheduled for 2015:
- July 9 – 11 in northeast Minneapolis
- August 20 – 22 in south Minneapolis
- September 17 – 19 in Shorewood
Download the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events flyer to promote these events.
 Get free, guided assistance on disassembling, troubleshooting and fixing broken household items at an upcoming Fix-It Clinic.
Clinics are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
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- Saturday, July 11 from noon to 4pm at Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church, in Robbinsdale
- Sunday, August 9 from noon to 4pm at Arc’s Value Village in Bloomington
- Saturday, September 19 from noon to 4 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Reuse Program warehouse in Minneapolis
Download a flyer to promote the Fix-It Clinics.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Nancy Lo at nancy.lo@hennepin.us or 612-348-9195.
Saturday, August, 2 to 4pm at Mount Olive Church in Minneapolis
Start sorting through your closet now for unwanted items you can trade for new-to-you treasures! Clean clothing, shoes and accessories for any age, gender and size are welcome. Do It Green will also be establishing a permanent Seed Library site at the Midtown Global Market, so plan to bring your seeds to swap too! Learn more.
Environmental outreach specialist Jessica Arika
 Jessica will oversee community engagement and outreach programs, especially focused on multicultural, low-income and disadvantaged audiences. Jessica holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Economics with an emphasis in Environment and Regional/Urban Planning from the University of Mysore in Karnataka, India. She has over ten years of work experience in grants management and community outreach on agroforestry and health topics in Nairobi, Kenya. Contact Jessica at Jessica.Arika@hennepin.us or 612-348-3025.
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Environmental education and communications specialist Angie Ziobro
 Angie will focus on developing and updating our environmental education resources, coordinating our participation in community events and promoting the department’s programs and services. Angie has been working in environmental and outdoor education for over a decade. Her educational background includes a baccalaureate degree in English-Writing and a graduate certificate in Environmental Education. She has previously worked as a graduate naturalist at Wolf Ridge ELC and a family adventure coordinator at a resort in Ely. She spent two years out west working as an environmental educator and wrangler before joining the team at Hennepin County. Contact Angie about upcoming events, volunteering at events and to reserve learning trunks at Angela.Ziobro@hennepin.us or 612-348-9850.
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The following projects are being funded
through the Green Partners Environmental Education Program. These groups have been busy engaging their audiences in taking action
to protect the environment. For more information about Green Partners grants,
contact Patience Caso at patience.caso@hennepin.us or 612-348-9352.
Eden Prairie Early Childhood Family Education recycles electronics and educates about energy
 Eden Prairie Early Childhood Family Education hosted a Tech Dump electronics collection event this past spring and collected more than 10,000 pounds, helping keep electronics out of landfills. They also taught kids about saving energy with a visit from TOLBY, the energy-saving firefly.
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Cycles for Change skill shares and used bike drives
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Cycles for Change and Three Rivers Park District are hosting a used bike drive and skill sharing clinic at the Hyland Lake Park Reserve on August 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is a great opportunity to donate your used bike and learn basic bike repair skills.
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Noble Academy use poetry to share what they learned on environmental field trips
 Students at Noble Academy attended field trips to nature centers and local parks, created environmental posters on a topic that inspired them or was relevant to their class and wrote Haikus to celebrate the environment. A few of our favorites include:
Do you recycle?
You can recycle most things!
Paper, plastic, glass
By second grader Alan Y.
I will help the earth
I reuse and recycle
The earth is my home
By first grader Kaitlyn V.
The world is special
Clean the world, make a difference
You can make a change
By seventh grader Emerald C.
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Students make prints of rain garden plants at Highpoint Center for Printmaking
 Fourth and fifth grade students visited two on-site rain gardens at Highpoint Center for Printmaking and explored issues facing Minnesota’s water and potential solutions to these problems. The students created prints based on the plants they found in the rain gardens.
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Minnetonka Early Childhood Family Education has vermicomposting worms available
 Need worms for your indoor worm compost bin? Minnetonka ECFE has composting worms left over from their school year. Contact LINDA.MORANTEZ@minnetonka.k12.mn.us to arrange pick up from their facility in Deephaven/Excelsior.
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Freshwater Society receives Environmental Initiative Award for Master Water Stewards program
 The Freshwater Society received an Environmental Initiative Award in the Environmental Education Category for the Master Water Stewards program, which engages volunteers in implementing projects and educating their community about protecting water quality. The Environmental Initiative Awards annually honor innovative projects that have achieved extraordinary environmental results by harnessing the power of partnership.
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Project Sweetie Pie hosts garden grand opening and trains compost captains
 Project Sweetie Pie officially opened the Karamu Garden on Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis on June 13. At the event, attendees learned about community services, participated in planting the community garden and reused yard waste by building a Hugelbed garden. Project Sweetie Pie also hosted their first Compost Captain training in April for community leaders affiliated with various community gardens in north Minneapolis.
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Aquila Elementary School in St. Louis Park hosts the Earth Balloon
 More than 400 students and 65 staff at Aquila Elementary in St Louis Park were able to experience the Earth Balloon when it was recently at the schools for two days. The school also hosted a successful family night with that provided the opportunity for more than 300 families to see our world from a different perspective, up close!
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