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ABOUT GREEN NOTES
GreenNotes covers environmental news, programs and events from Hennepin County.
Please take a few moments to read our stories. Share your feedback and ideas for protecting the environment.
Also check out archived issues.
WE'RE HIRING!
The Hennepin County Environmental Education and Outreach Unit is seeking two Information Writers to help with our communication and outreach efforts.
One position will manage the department's web content and social media sites, serve as a copy editor and develop communication plans.
The other position will coordinate the department's participation at community events, develop partnerships with multicultural organizations and develop communication plans.
Applications for both positions must be submitted by June 10.
See the job postings (scroll to Information Writer) for more information.
Please forward this email to interested individuals and encourage them to sign up.
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 Hennepin County is examining the potential to develop a district energy system that would provide an affordable and sustainable heating and cooling option for businesses and residents in the North Loop neighborhood of downtown Minneapolis. In this system, the heat currently lost when generating electricity at the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) would be captured and distributed for space heating, hot water and space cooling for customers in the North Loop.
Hennepin County already supplies steam for space heating and hot water to the downtown Minneapolis district energy system and Target Field, and construction is underway to use steam from HERC for snowmelt on the expanded plaza outside of Target Field as part of the Interchange project.
Hennepin County is in the development phase for the North Loop Community Energy System. The county and project partners will be meeting with community members and businesses in the North Loop neighborhood and analyzing the economic and environmental implications to ensure that the project meets the long-term needs of the users and the community.
For more information, email Andy Leith or call 612-348-8993.
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 During May, 14 schools that participate in Hennepin County’s organics recycling program “closed the loop” by planting gardens with compost made from kitchen and cafeteria waste collected from their own organics-recycling programs.
The compost was made from food scraps and non-recyclable papers that were collected in the fall and processed by The Mulch Store, which donated the compost. By using the compost in gardens, students learned first-hand how their organics recycling efforts can replenish soils with vital nutrients. Participating schools included schools from the Anoka-Hennepin, Edina, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Orono, Richfield and Wayzata public school districts as well as several private schools.
For more information, email Andre Xiong or call 612-543-1316.
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 Hennepin County has performed lake improvement work such as dredging, riprapping and placing navigational buoys on Lake Minnetonka since the late 1800s, but this year's late spring presented a unique challenge for buoy installation. This is only the fourth time since 1855 that ice has stayed on the lake into May, giving Environmental Services staff a short amount of time to install all 453 navigational buoys before the walleye fishing opener on May 11. Staff completed buoy installation just six hours before the midnight walleye opener, installing 120 buoys on the last work day with the help of an extra-large barge from the contractor, Minnetonka Portable Dredging.
For more information, email Tony Brough or call 612-348-4378.
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In 2012, Hennepin County continued a trend of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from county operations, and the county is on track to meet its Cool County Initiative goal of a 15 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2015.
To reduce energy use and emissions, the county increased the efficiency of county buildings by recommissioning, installing and upgrading building controls, and replacing incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient LED lamps. The county also uses a biodiesel fuel blend in trucks, snow plows and other county vehicles, and added two additional hybrid vehicles to the fleet. Activities planned for 2013 included additional recommissioning and lighting retrofits of county buildings, adding electric vehicles to the county fleet, and continuing to participate on regional teams focused on emissions reductions and climate adaptation.
Find out more about greenhouse gas emissions from county operations and the actions being taken to reduce emissions in the 2012 Cool County Report.
For more information, email Tony Hainault or call 612-348-3059.
High school students proved their natural resources expertise while competing in the Metro Area Envirothon on May 2 at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. During the event, teams of five students complete hands-on visit activities and give presentations on current environmental issues. Hennepin County staff helps with planning and judging at the event.
A team from Hopkins High School won the Metro Area Envirothon and placed third at the Minnesota State Envirothon on May 20. The winning team at the State Envirothon advances to the National Envirothon in July, where they compete for college scholarships.
For more information, email Dave Thill or call 612-348-0124.
In the News
In May, the St. Louis Park City Council approved starting curbside organics recycling in the fall. Organics, which includes food scraps and food-soiled paper products, makes up about 30 percent of the garbage generated in Hennepin County. In an organics recycling program, the materials collected are recycled into compost, a nutrient-rich soil amendment, at a commercial composting facility. With the addition of St. Louis Park, 12 cities in the county now offer curbside organics recycling. Several other cities have expressed interest in offering the service, but cost, logistics, capacity and participation can all be barriers. Read more in the Star Tribune.
In the past decade, projects implemented to reduce nutrients going into Lake Rebecca in Rockford have helped transform the lake from being so polluted with algae growth in the summer that fish died and swimming and boating was difficult or impossible to a lake that now meets water quality standards. The Zurah Shriner’s horse farm, located near the lake, was identified as one source of excess nutrients. The group, with assistance from Hennepin County, the Hennepin Conservation District and the University of Minnesota Extension Service, implemented several projects to improve manure management and divert or filter stormwater runoff.
The Shriner’s received funding from the Hennepin County Natural Resources Incentive for Critical Habitat program, the Non-Point Engineering Assistance Program and the state cost-share program, which were used to cover engineering design costs and about 75 percent of construction costs. The Three Rivers Park District implemented additional projects to improve the lake's water quality. Read more in the Star Tribune.
In an effort to reduce waste during peak student move in and move out times, the University of Minnesota ReUse Program is piloting a new program called Pack & Give Back. In May, the ReUse Program is partnering with The Salvation Army to offer pick-up and drop-off services of reusable items both on and off campus. The items collected will be available at the U of M ReUse Program free store from May 28 to June 1. The Pack & Give Back program is a partnership of the University of Minnesota, Hennepin County, City of Minneapolis, Southeast Como Improvement Association and The Salvation Army. Learn more in the Star Tribune and on KSTP.
Events
 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. Learn more about Fix-It Clinics work on Channel 12.
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Fix-It Clinics are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
- 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
- Saturday, August 10 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Eden Prairie Senior Center
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.
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.
 Hennepin County residents can safely and properly dispose of unwanted garden and household hazardous wastes at a collection event on Thursday, June 13 through Saturday, June 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the St. Louis Park Junior High School.
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.
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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:
- Hear from Green Partners Environmental Education Program grantees about how they are implementing environmental education and engagement projects to motivate behavior change and action with youth, community members and business owners.
- Collaborate and network with organizations and fellow environmental educators from across the county.
- Share ideas and stories about project successes and challenges.
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 or 612-348-9352 (RSVP encouraged but not required to attend).
Celebrate biking and walking and get connected to resources during Bike Walk Week from June 9 – 15. Stop by the Cool County table at the Bike Walk to Work Day celebration at the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza on June 13 to learn about energy efficiency and bike commuting. Additional events, including safe commuting classes and organized bike rides, are scheduled throughout the week.
Also check out Hennepin County’s bike commuting resources, including tips on getting your bike ready, route-planning maps and resources, links to bike safety videos and information on bike parking.
Green Tip
 With changes made to curbside recycling programs over the past year, you can now recycle your empty milk cartons, juice boxes, soup, broth and wine cartons along with your other recyclables. Cartons are made mainly from paper, and that paper can be recycled into new products.
Visit RethinkRecycling.com to learn more about carton recycling, and receive a reusable water bottle or Chinook Book when you commit to recycling more and sign up for the Rethink Recycling Green Tips e-newsletter.
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