Join fellow waste reduction enthusiasts and become an advocate for the three Rs in your community as a Hennepin County Master Recycler/Composter. Master Recyclers are trained volunteers who work to reduce waste generation and increase public awareness of opportunities to recycle and compost.

The spring course will be held on Wednesday evenings in April and May at the Crystal Community Center. Learn more and register now!

For more information, contact Carolyn Collopy at carolyn.collopy@hennepin.us or call 612-596-0993.

Hennepin County is looking for people with an interest in protecting our natural resources to help monitor wetlands this summer through the Wetland Health Evaluation Program (WHEP). No experience is needed – all the training and equipment is provided! Learn more and apply.

In 2014, 119 volunteers donated more than 1,500 hours of their time to collect valuable data about the health of area wetlands. See their results in the 2014 WHEP report.

Get your hands dirty and feet wet this spring with River Watch, a stream monitoring program for school classes and youth groups. The program provides a hands-on opportunity for students to learn about assessing water quality and how our actions influence the health of local lakes, rivers and streams.

More than 700 students from 16 schools monitored 20 stream stretches in 2014. See their results in the 2014 River Watch report.

For more information about getting involved in WHEP or River Watch, contact Mary Karius at mary.karius@hennepin.us or 612-596-9129.

Funding is available to businesses, organizations and institutions to start or improve recycling and organics recycling programs. Funding can help with the purchase of recycling containers, equipment and hauling services and minor improvements to loading docks and waste enclosures. Applications are due on March 15. Learn more and apply.

Hennepin County has funding available to property owners to cover a portion of the cost for sealing wells that are no longer in use and have potential to contaminate groundwater. Unused and unsealed wells can pose a threat to our drinking water by acting as a channel between the surface and the aquifer below. If you have a well on your property that is not in use, it will need to be sealed or put back into use at some point. Learn more.

Funding is available through the Community POWER program for projects that educate and actively engage residents in the Twin Cities to change their behavior to reduce waste. Non-profit organizations and schools are eligible to apply. Applications are due on March 27.

Hennepin County received a $200,000 grant from the State of Minnesota’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund in 2011 to start an environmental education project that would engage urban youth in hands-on, outdoor learning. Through the Urban Watch program, the county awarded five grants to community organizations in north Minneapolis. The projects engaged youth in a variety of activities covering a range of environmental topics, including beekeeping, gardening, aquaponics, service-learning and recycling. Over two years, these organizations engaged 550 youth, collaborated with 17 additional organizations, installed eight gardens and established two beehives.

The Urban Watch program also sponsored a Schoolyard Garden Project that provided training to 14 teachers from Minneapolis Public Schools who then engaged 300 students in outdoor learning in their schoolyard garden.

Learn more about these projects in the Urban Watch final report. For more information, contact Mary Karius at mary.karius@hennepin.us or 612-596-9129.

Hennepin County still has funding available to cover registration and transportation fees for teams of middle and high school students competing in the 2015 Metro Area Envirothon. The problem-solveing natural resources competition will be held on May 7 at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

For more information, contact Stacey Lijewski at stacey.lijewski@hennepin.us or 612-348-9938.

When a few inches of snow fell earlier this month, the concrete at Target Field Station stayed clear and dry without any shoveling or salt needed thanks to the station’s innovative snowmelt system — a key feature of the transit hub’s sustainable design.

During construction, 50 miles of plastic tubing was embedded into the concrete at the station. An antifreeze mixture circulates through the tubing and warms the concrete to melt snow and ice. The antifreeze mixture is warmed by excess heat from the production of energy at the adjacent Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC).

The snowmelt system produces cleaner and safer sidewalks, reducing maintenance costs and saving fuel. It also eliminates the use of salt and other chemicals, which reduces the amount of salt getting into the Mississippi River through runoff. Learn more on KSTP and WCCO.

Fix-It Clinics overcome the intimidation factor of opening up a household item and trying to fix it by matching up people who bring in broken household items with handy volunteers that guide them through the troubleshooting and repair process. In just over two years, more than 75 percent of items brought to the monthly Fix-It Clinics have been successfully repaired, preventing nearly 12,000 pounds of waste.

Saturday, March 14, 2015 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis
Gather resources and tools that you can use to share environmental information and motivate action at your work, school, neighborhood or spiritual community this Earth Day at the Spring Into Green Resources and Craft Fair. There will also be music, kids’ activities and local craft vendors.

Hennepin County will have examples of environmental education resources available to be checked out and bundles of information and activity materials you can take with you for your Earth Month events. Come early while supplies last!

The Northeast Minneapolis Tool Library is a new community organization opening in May 2015 to encourage sharing and reuse by providing Minneapolis residents low-cost access to home tools. Donate your used home improvement tools at their donation drive on February 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Thorp Building on Central Avenue. Learn more on Facebook or call 971-222-9118.

The average American household receives more than 60 pounds of unwanted mail each year. Although nearly all mail can be recycled, it takes raw materials to produce the mail and energy to send it around the country. It takes about 100 million trees and 38 billion gallons of water to produce one year’s worth of junk mail in the U.S., according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Junk mail is not only a waste of natural resources; it’s also a waste of time. People spend five minutes per day on average sorting through and getting rid of unwanted mail.