Do you believe in the importance of environmental education? Do you think it should be taught in every school in Kentucky? If you do, you share the same core value as 96% of your fellow Kentuckians who feel the same.
However, if you do share this belief, you may be one of the 45% of Kentuckians who cannot answer basic questions about how our natural systems work.
Bridging the gap between the 55% of Kentuckians who have a basic understanding of how our natural systems work and the 96% who believe that environmental education should be taught in our schools requires a collective, community effort to reach both youth and adults as early and often as possible.
For 15 years, Bluegrass Greensource has bridged this gap in Central Kentucky communities by working to empower individuals who want to create a more sustainable environment. Each year we work in more than 4,000 classrooms to provide standards-based environmental education curricula on the science of water, waste, and energy. We work in communities throughout Central Kentucky to help adults and youth take the small steps in their daily lives that will add up to big impacts on our shared environment. But providing this service comes at a price.
You can help! FromNovember 29th through December 31st, Bluegrass Greensource will be actively participating in the 2016 GoodGiving Challenge. We will be raising funds to support our educational and community outreach, funds that will allow us to provide services throughout our 20-county service area. We have a lot of exciting activities and information to share, as well as some great events that you can participate in!
Help us celebrate our 15th anniversary and show your belief in the value of environmental education by making a donation during this year’s GoodGiving Challenge!
Working for Bluegrass Greensource is always full of surprises.
Sometimes I get to tour landfills or visit state parks as part of my work. And sometimes I’m working at 4am doing an audit of neighborhood recycling bins trying to beat the recycling trucks. Yep, the Live Green Lexington Recycle Challenge has officially kicked off and Arlington, Harrison, and William Wells Brown Elementary Schools are on their way success.
For anyone unfamiliar with the new program, the City of Lexington has been looking for innovative ways to increase recycling throughout their service area. After identifying key areas with the most room to improve, LFUCG developed a program to help three well-deserving schools each get $12,000 to use for their students. The goal: increasing the rate of recycling in each school district by 50%. LFUCG, working in tandem with Bluegrass Greensource and the STEM Lab teachers from each school, developed the Recycle Challenge curriculum to reach these important goals and secure some seriously great benefits for each participating school.
Recycle Challenge Kickoff:
The official kickoff event was at the Lyric Theater on October 4th where acclaimed children’s education performer Billy B came and sang about environmental impacts. Our Outreach Specialists have been working with businesses in the area to do waste audits and connect them to the Challenge. Meanwhile, the STEM lab teachers are finding unique ways to incorporate recycling into their lessons such as making instruments out of recycled materials!
How to Get Involved
The students are getting involved beyond the classroom by doing community walks through their neighborhoods. Kindergarten through 5th grade students marched through their community identifying who had a blue recycling bin, where there was litter, and sharing with passersby about why they thought recycling is important.
Beginning in January and ending the last day of March, LFUCG will begin recording data on how many more people in these three school districts are participating in the recycling program. If you live in the neighborhood or know someone that does, please remember to recycle! It’s great for the planet, but it also helps the schools and students in your backyard!