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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
Anita Urvina Davis
Kelly Wilder
Mary Karius
Patience Caso
Please forward this email to interested individuals and encourage them to sign up.
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 Funding, project support and free resources are available through the Green Partners Environmental Education Program for projects that empower residents to reduce waste, increase recycling, reduce toxicity, conserve energy and protect water quality.
The Green Partners Program consists of three groups - Seed, Root and Branch - with varying levels of support and requirements. Learn more about the program and get application advice at the information meeting on April 17.
Root and Branch proposals are due by 5 p.m. on May 17. Applications for the Seed group are accepted at any time.
For more information, email Patience Caso or call at 612-348-9352.
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Financial and technical assistance is available through the Natural Resource Incentives for Critical Habitats (NRICH) program to implement best management practices (BMPs) that protect and preserve natural resources in Hennepin County. Projects that reduce erosion and sedimentation, improve water quality, or protect, restore or establish critical habitat are eligible for funding. Local, state and regional governmental units, non-profit organizations and landowners may apply. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on April 15.
For more information, email James Kujawa or call 612-348-7338.
Recycling containers and low-waste event planning assistance available
The deadline to apply for Community POWER (Partners on Waste Education and Reduction) funding has been extended to April 15. Grants of up to $5,000 or $12,000 are available for new and innovative projects that educate and actively engage residents in changing their purchasing, reusing, and hazardous waste disposal behaviors.
Laurie Gustafson, the Community POWER Program Manager, is available to offer feedback and advice on project ideas and proposals. Contact CommunityPOWER@RethinkRecycling.com or 651-252-1487.
Events
Join us at the summer Green Partners Quarterly Networking Meeting on Wednesday, June 26 from 2 to 4 p.m. (additional optional networking from 4 to 5 p.m.) at the Hennepin County Eden Prairie Library.
The meeting will be an opportunity to:
Networking meeting are open to the public, so please share the meeting information with anyone that may be interested. We look forward to seeing you there!
Light refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP by June 24 to Patience Caso at patience.caso@co.hennepin.mn.us or 612-348-9352 (RSVP encouraged but not required to attend).
 Hennepin County residents can safely and properly dispose of unwanted garden and household hazardous wastes at upcoming community collection events.
Collection events will be held Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the following dates and locations:
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- May 2 - 4, City of Shorewood Public Works, 24200 Smithtown Road in Shorewood
- May 16 – 18, City of Minnetonka Public Works, 11522 Minnetonka Blvd. in Minnetonka
- June 13 – 15, St. Louis Park Junior High School, 2025 Texas Ave. S. in St. Louis Park
Materials accepted include household, lawn and garden products, electronics, mercury-containing items and auto wastes. Visit www.hennepin.us/collectionevents for a full list of materials accepted and maps to the event sites. A newsletter article and social media posts are available to promote these events.
This spring, Hennepin County environmental staff and Master Recycler/Composter volunteers will be at numerous community events to share information about our programs and answers questions.
If you’re out at any of the following events, be sure to stop by our table to say hi and get information about our programs!
Environmental Services staff and volunteers are available to staff tables at events and give presentations to groups of any size on a variety of environmental topics. To request an environmental expert attend your event or give a presentation to your group, email Anita Urvina Davis or call 612-348-6848.
North Hennepin Community College, a Green Partner Branch grantee, will celebrate Earth Week from April 20 – 27 with a program of events, workshops, speakers, live music and animal demonstrations that focus on Building Sustainable Communities. All Earth Week events are open to the public.
 At Fix-It Clinics, residents with broken household goods or clothing in need of repair get free, guided assistance on disassembling, troubleshooting and fixing their items.
Fix-It Clinics are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
- Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the South Minneapolis Housing Fair, inside the Minneapolis Sports Center at the YWCA
- Saturday, May 11, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Hennepin County Plymouth Library
- Saturday, June 15, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Bloomington Center for the Arts
- Saturday, July 20, from noon to 4 p.m. at the North Commons Community Rec Center in Minneapolis
A special Mend-It Clinic, in which volunteers with sewing skills will help repair or alter clothing and other soft goods, is scheduled for Saturday, June 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the East Lake Library in Minneapolis.
The Fix-It Clinics are a finalist for the 2013 Environmental Initiative Award in the Sustainable Communities category. During the seven Fix-It Clinics held monthly since September 2012, 74 percent of the items brought in were successfully fixed, diverting 2,400 pounds of materials from the waste stream.
Volunteer fixers who have skills in soldering, electronics repair, electrical repair, sewing, wood working, and general tinkering are needed to make this initiative a success.
For more information or to volunteer, email Nancy Lo or call 612-348-9195.
The Recycling Association of Minnesota is selling rain barrels for $69 and compost bins for $55. Sale events are scheduled for:
- April 19 in Minnetonka
- May 4 in St. Louis Park
- May 10 in Plymouth
- June 8 in Minneapolis
Rain barrels and compost bins must be pre-ordered on the Recycling Association of Minnesota website.
Residents can learn about simple changes they can make to help keep our lakes, rivers and streams clean at a Metro Blooms Healthy Yards, Clean Water workshop. The workshop will cover a variety of green yard care practices, including proper use of fertilizers, disposal and reuse of yard waste, keeping sidewalks ice free, and capturing and reusing rain water onsite. Participants are also eligible for a low-cost onsite consultation and design drawing from a landscape design professional.
The following workshops are scheduled for April:
- April 24 at 6 p.m. at the Brooklyn Park Community Center
- April 25 at 6 p.m. at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center
- April 27 at 10 a.m. at Audubon Park in Minneapolis
See the full schedule for additional workshops in May and June.
Factsheets & Articles
With the (eventual) arrival of spring weather comes spring cleaning. Hennepin County has numerous online and print resources available to promote proper disposal of household hazardous waste, electronics, batteries, medicines, yard waste and other household goods. Order copies of brochures and factsheets for free at www.hennepin.us/literatureorderform.
Rethink Recycling develops newsletter articles and social media posts monthly on residential recycling topics. New articles available include:
Also check out the RethinkRecycling.com blog for recaps and tips for reach step of the KARE 11 Great Green Challenge.
Check out the 2013 communications calendar to find out what articles will be available this year.
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