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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.
View all of Hennepin County's Environmental Education Resources.
Hennepin County Environmental Education & Outreach Team
Angie Timmons
Alisa Reckinger
Christina Schmitt
Mary Karius
Patience Caso
Sarah Goodspeed
Please forward this email to interested individuals and encourage them to sign up.
Sign up
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 A revamped hennepin.us launched recently with some exciting changes. The new site is accessible on any device – desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile. Information is written in plain language and organized with the user in mind. And a new search engine will bring you better and faster results.
Please be aware that many of the links you have used to find information on our site have changed. If you link to our programs on your website, please check for and update any broken links. Note that any short URLs you use to direct to our content will still be active and will link to the correct page on the new website (see a list of common short URLs below).
Moving forward, our goal is to continue to ensure that important information is easily accessible to residents and partner organizations. If you have any questions about the new site or need help finding information, please email environment@hennepin.us.
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Hennepin Environment short URLs
Below are some, but not all, of the short URLs you can use to quickly direct to our content:
www.hennepin.us/environment
www.hennepin.us/dropoffs
www.hennepin.us/atozdisposalguide
www.hennepin.us/recycling
www.hennepin.us/naturalresources
www.hennepin.us/environmentaleducation
www.hennepin.us/greenpartners
 RethinkRecycling.com has also been recently upgraded with a new, mobile-friendly look! The site is now more useful, useable and functional than ever.
The redesign involved giving the homepage a fresh, new look. You can still find helpful waste reduction, recycling and disposal information in the resident and business recycling guides. The site also has event recycling resources, information about Community POWER grants and recycling education resources.
If you have any questions or feedback, email info@rethinkrecycling.com.
Funding for registration fees and buses available
 On May 1, 2014, teams of high school and junior high school students will compete in the 20th annual Metro Area Envirothon, a problem-solving natural resources competition that test the students’ knowledge of aquatics, forestry, soils and wildlife. During the event, teams of five students complete hands-on activities and give presentations on current environmental issues. The top three teams from the metro competition advance to the state Envirothon.
Hennepin County has funding available to cover the registration fees for up to 10 teams and can also help cover the cost of buses if needed. Learn more about the Envirothon and how to register.
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 The Freshwater Society is accepting applications for a second class of volunteer Master Water Stewards. Stewards receive intensive training on how to solve environment problems and protect lakes, rivers and stream from pollution. They then volunteer to educate community members about protecting water and implement pollution prevention and water quality improvement projects. Tuition is free and is limited to 30 residents of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
For more information about becoming a Master Water Steward, attend an information session on January 7 or 9 and visit www.masterwaterstewards.org
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Events
Join us to find out what you can do to reduce even more waste at your organization, school and home! Our next quarterly networking meeting is Tuesday, January 28, 2014, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Southdale Library in Edina.
The meeting will be an opportunity to:
- Get tips for hosting low-waste events.
- Learn about the county's successful Fix-it Clinics.
- Learn about waste reduction educational resources available from the county and share your waste reduction ideas.
- Collaborate and network with fellow environmental educators and share project ideas.
Learn more and RSVP.
Fix-It Clinics, where residents with broken household goods or clothing in need of repair can get free, guided assistance on disassembling, troubleshooting and fixing their items are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
- Saturday, January 11, 2014, from noon - 4 p.m. at the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis
- Saturday, February 8, 2014, from noon - 4 p.m. at Arc's Value Village in New Hope
- Saturday, March 8, 2014, from noon to 4 p.m. at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis
Mend-It Clinic is January 25
 Get help repairing or altering your clothing and other soft goods from volunteers with sewing skills at the Mend-It Clinic on Saturday, January 25, 2014, from noon - 3 p.m. at the Northeast Library in Minneapolis.
Promote the Fix-It and Mend-It clinics
A newsletter article, social media posts and flyer are available to promote this program.
For more information, email Nancy Lo or call 612-348-9195.
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Hennepin County Environmental Services staff is available to attend events and give presentations on a variety of environmental topics, including waste reduction, recycling, protecting land and water, reducing toxicity and more.
To ensure we have staff available, especially during the busy springtime, we recommend that you submit your requests soon! Email Sarah Goodspeed or call 612-348-9850 to schedule your event or presentation.
Schoolyard gardens are an amazing resource for teachers and schools, but knowing how to use the garden and establishing connections to school curriculum and programming is critical to sustained success.
Minneapolis Public Schools teachers can spend a day experiencing ways to engage their students in schoolyard gardens and discover strategies to link gardens to classroom learning at a free, one-day workshop offered by Hennepin County, the Beez Kneez, Minneapolis Public Schools Culinary and Nutrition Services and the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardeners.
The workshop is scheduled for January 23 from 8:30 - 3:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Public Schools Culinary and Nutrition Services. Learn more.
Environmental education resources
The 2014 communication calendar is now available from Rethink Recycling. This calendar guides the newsletter articles, social media posts and other communication resources that will be available from Rethink Recycling throughout the year.
The latest newsletter articles and social media posts available from Rethink Recycling are:
Hennepin County’s Recycling Sorting Activity and Greening Your Celebrations Learning Trunk are now available to be picked up during evenings and on weekends from the Do It Green! Minnesota Resource Center at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. Call 612-348-4168 to reserve a learning trunk, and specify the pick-up location when making your reservation.
The following projects received funding and support through the Green Partners Environmental Education Program. If you have project updates or successes to share, email Patience Caso or call 612-348-9352.
Students lead recycling education effort at Minneapolis community center
 Youth from the Minnesota Internship Center High School provided information about recycling to hundreds of residents on Election Day at the Sabathani Community Center, a polling place in south Minneapolis. The students created a recycling game and labeled recycling containers throughout the building for the event. They will also be kicking off a student-led effort to improve recycling in the community center by distributing recycling bins to all tenants.
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New video showcases Three Rivers’ green camping initiative
 This summer, the Three Rivers Park District implemented a green camping program at Baker Campground that made recycling and composting available. The program achieved a waste diversion rate of 42 percent, exceeding program goals. Watch a new video to learn more about the green camping program.
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