- Invitation to join Lake Pledge and invite your audiences to join to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species
- Invitation to encourage your community to join the Stop Food Waste Challenge
- Upcoming conferences and trainings on environmental education
- Update on Green Partners grantees ReUse MN and Altlawns
 Hennepin County is a unique urban area. With 200 lakes, 640 miles of streams, three major rivers, 45,000 acres of wetlands and 50 public water accesses, there are so many opportunities to enjoy being on and around water.
Consider using the Lake Pledge site and app to educate your audiences about aquatic invasive species (AIS) prevention. Lake Pledge could be a good post-class activity to challenge participants to use after they learn about AIS at your site. It could also be used as a group during water-based summer camps or longer water-focused activities.
Participants should join Lake Pledge to learn what they can do to help prevent the spread of AIS in Hennepin County lakes.
Join Lake Pledge
- On a computer: lakepledge.com
- On a mobile device: download the Lake Pledge app on Apple’s App Store or Google Play
When participants register, they should select the lake they use most often. When prompted to select the ways that they enjoy time on the water (sailing, fishing, kayaking, etc.) have them choose everything that applies to any lake in the county.
 We love food, which leaves us wondering: why do we let so much of it go to waste? About 40% of food is wasted somewhere along the supply chain, and you may be surprised to learn that much of that food waste happens at home.
Improve your food-waste-fighting skills
Learning skills like creating a meal plan, buying just what you need at the grocery store, cooking creatively, and properly storing food can have a big impact on reducing the amount of food in your home that goes to waste.
The online Stop Food Waste Challenge offers easy, practical tips and resources that will help you and your audience reduce food waste, save money, fight climate change, provide for your family, and improve your cooking skills.
Spread the word and encourage others to join
The challenge runs from August 1 through August 31. Participants can sign up now! Encourage audiences you work with by starting a team for your community or organization.
Then spread the word by downloading the newsletter and social posts, graphics, and posters from the Stop Food Waste Challenge resources page.
Attend a Project WET workshop
Tuesday, August 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Nine Mile Creek Discovery Point in Eden Prairie
Spend the day at a beautiful education center learning how to incorporate water education into your curriculum. Get trained on Project WET activities and become confident using them both indoors and out!
Project WET activities are designed to be easy to use to complement existing curricula rather than replace or add additional concepts. Activities fulfill objectives and educational standards in the sciences and other disciplines, from fine arts to health.
The training is hosted and sponsored by Nine Mile Creek Watershed District and Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District. There is no fee to attend, but registration is required.
Learn more and register.
Call for presentations and save the date: Minnesota Naturalists’ Association Conference
November 3 to 5 at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, Minnesota
Submit a presentation proposal
The Minnesota Naturalists’ Association is seeking compelling presentation proposals that fall into this year’s theme “Micro to Macro” and focus on connecting with nature at every level. There will also be categories about natural history, leadership, and miscellaneous topics. The deadline for presentation proposals is Tuesday, August 1.
Submit a proposal.
Save the date
Save the date for the 2023 Minnesota Naturalists’ Association conference in November. The conference will feature keynote speakers, field trips, and a silent auction and raffle.
Learn more about the conference. Registration will open September 1.
North American Association for Environmental Education virtual research symposium and conference
Research Symposium: Thursday, October 12
Conference: October 17 to 20
 Registration is open for the NAAEE 2023 Conference and Research Symposium, hosted virtually by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). Join NAAEE and environmental educators around the world in exploring how “Together We Thrive” using environmental education. This year, the focuses will be the importance of collaboration, creativity, and crossing boundaries to address the environmental and social issues we face both locally and globally. Participants will dig into vital topics in the field, such as climate change education and climate justice, the benefits of connecting to nature, building a green workforce, protecting biodiversity, and centering equity.
The Annual Conference and Research Symposium offer inspiring and thoughtful keynotes, a rich variety of workshops, presentations, symposium panels, discussions, bright spots, and posters, along with great opportunities for networking, growth, and change.
Learn more and register.
The following organizations received Hennepin County Green Partners grants. The grants provide training, support, and funding to organizations to implement projects that engage residents to learn about, protect, and improve the environment.
ReuseMN teaches students the importance of reuse
 Reuse Minnesota partnered with teachers at Brooklyn Center High School and Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis to teach students the importance of reuse. Reuse Minnesota staff provided a foundation for the class by discussing the lifecycle of items and the resources that go into making everyday items such as jeans, furniture, and smartphones.
Guest speakers joined the students for discussions on textile mending and upcycling, electronics refurbishment, and building material reuse. Students enjoyed the hands-on opportunity to try out mending with Kristen McCoy from Rethink Tailoring, and each of them was given a mending kit to take home or keep with them in a backpack for easy mending on the go.
Staff from AltaTech discussed electronics refurbishment, and students got to disassemble and look at the inside of Chromebooks. Birch Group and Hennepin County presented on deconstruction, which is taking apart structures with the intent of reusing the materials.
At the end of the semester, each group of students shared what they learned through community events. Students at Roosevelt hosted a reuse workshop as part of the school's annual May Day celebration, while Brooklyn Center shared their learnings during their spring STEAM night.
Altlawns repurposes food storage barrels into rain barrels at community workshop
 Photos by Ava Tamis
Altlawns of Richfield and Bloomington hosted a successful rain barrel construction event where residents, with the help of handy volunteers, learned to build their own rain barrels using repurposed food storage barrels. Rain barrels lower water bills and keep local ponds and streams clean by collecting rainwater from a gutter downspout to be used for watering a garden or flower bed.
Attendees learned to build their own rain barrels to take home, met their neighbors, and developed skills in construction. Several families participated in the event, and Altlawns offered scholarships to residents to assist with the cost of purchasing rain barrel supplies. Collectively, community members built 50 rain barrels and assembled an additional 25 rain barrels to sell as kits.
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