Keep Loup Basin Beautiful

• Children's Environmental Links and Educator web sites

www.kab.org/cleansweepusa
Help to Recycle, Play the Can-It Game

http://www.elmersgluecrew.com/
Save the bottles. Save the sticks. Save the planet
Elmer’s Glue Crew Recycling Program is a fun, hands-on way to teach about recycling. As a program member, you’ll have access to plenty of helpful recycling-related curriculum and fun projects to keep your kids excited about recycling.  Best of all, you and your students also have the opportunity to win hundreds of great prizes, including Elmer’s products and more!

Planet Pals: Friends for Earth	www.planetpals.com
Scholastic: Recycling Starts with You	www.teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/recycling/resources.htm
Help the Environment	www.lindabook.com/helptheenvironmentprinter.html

• Current Projects

You can help Your Schools Win Jackets and $1,000

“Return the Warmth” is a plastic bottle (PET) recycling contest that closes the loop on recycling during the Great American Cleanup March 31 through May 31. The plastic bottles can be made into fleece jackets for children across the country. You are invited to join us in the goal of removing 80 million plastic bottles nation-wide from the environment with this contest.

Some of the elementary schools enrolled in this contest are: Arcadia, Ansley, Arnold, Burwell, Broken Bow, Callaway, Greeley-Wolbach, both in Greeley and Wolbach, Ord, Sargent, Sandhills at Halsey, Spalding Academy, St. Paul and Loup County.

• The top 100 winning schools will each receive a minimum of 250 fleece jackets made from PET recycled material.

• The top 50 collecting schools will receive $1,000 SAM’S CLUB® gift card grants.

• Last year 3 schools in Nebraska won jackets and grants!

Just take your soda bottles to your local recycling trailer to help your local school win this contest.  The entire community can help collect bottles.

The sponsors are AQUAFINA®, PEPSI®, SAM’S CLUB®, KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL, and KEEP LOUP BASIN BEAUTIFUL!!!

call Keep Loup Basin Beautiful at 308-728-3393 for more information.

Keep Loup Basin Beautiful has again been awarded a Troy-Bilt Chipper Shredder to be used to promote the Great American Cleanup, March 1 through May 31, 2008.

This is a heavy duty 3 in 1 machine that will get rid of debris by chipping, shredding and vacuuming it up. It will make mulch from 1 ½ inch branches. It will be given away to any community, school, church, club organization, youth or adult group (large or small) that has the most successful documented beautification/ clean-up/improvement project during the Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup. Winners will be judged on documentation, volunteers’ effort, and total impact of the project.  

This project could be an individual school or church yard, park, abandon city block, river or lake shore, any public property or even a whole community.

The contest will held from March 1, 2007 through May 31, 2007.  Glad trash bags will be provided. We also have banners, and posters for advertising the event and recruiting volunteers. Supplies will be available after March 1.  If you live outside Valley County, arrangements can be made to deliver the supplies to you.  Stop by the office and take a look at the Troy Bilt.

If you are interested, contact Linda Studnicka at 308-728-3393 to sign up.

Help Us "Wipe Out Wireless Waste"

"Wipe Out Wireless Waste" is a campaign to recycle used wireless phones and generate proceeds for local community improvement and revitalization projects through Keep Loup Basin Beautiful.

With more than 200 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. today, the need to keep used wireless phones out of local landfills is more important than ever. The "Wipe Out Wireless Waste" campaign makes it easy for anyone to recycle their mobile phone equipment, and in turn provides funding that supports diverse hands-on stewardship activities such as cleanups of public lands, educational programs, and recycling activities.

Easy Instructions:

1.    Call 308-728-3393, leave a message for Linda.
2.    A postage free package for one phone or package label for more than one will be sent to you.  This includes your accessories such as chargers and batteries!

Thank You!

• Current News

  THE LOUP BASIN RC&D IS AWARDED $32,165.00 GRANT FROM NDEQ

  The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has announced that the Loup Basin RC&D will be awarded $32,165.00 for Public   Education for Litter Reduction for 2008.  Altogether, the state received requests for over $2.3 million.  A total of $1,600,000 was awarded to  68 projects throughout Nebraska.

  The grant program provides funds annually to Nebraska projects of environmental public education, cleanups and recycling.  The funds awarded to the Loup Basin RC&D will be used through the Keep Loup Basin Beautiful organization to promote litter reduction and recycling in the nine counties of Blaine, Custer, Garfield, Greeley, Howard, Loup, Sherman, Valley, and Wheeler.  

  The Keep Loup Basin Beautiful organization has educational programs available for both children and adults. You may call Linda at the Loup Basin RC&D at 308-728-3393 to schedule a presentation. Currently, the organization is also involved with used cell phone recycling, and cigarette butt litter reduction education. They will be promoting the Great American Cleanup through Keep America Beautiful in March. 

  “These grant funded projects provide innovative ways to educate the public about litter reduction and recycling and will reduce the amount of materials sent to Nebraska’s landfills,” said Mike Linder, Director of NDEQ.

  Call the Loup Basin RC&D 308-728-3393 for more information.

  ---

  News Release

  On January 16, 2008, the Loup Basin RC&D/Keep Loup Basin Beautiful presented the program “Reduce-Reuse-Recycle” (environmental education), and “Walter the Walleye” (how to avoid H2O pollution), to the pre-school through 4th grades at Greeley Wolbach Elementary School in Greeley. The younger students were read a story,” The Day the Trash Came Out To Play”, sang songs and played games.  The older students were shown environmental stewardship Power Points and played the “Walter” interactive CD game.

  This presentation is aimed at educating students to help them understand the importance of litter reduction and recycling, and the important of keeping Nebraska H2O unpolluted.  A packet outlining additional environmental projects, and the “Walter” interactive CD game were given to each teacher, so that they may continue this education during their regular classes. Most of the teachers’ material was supplied by Keep America Beautiful. The program staff is funded through the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. 

  A special thank you to the local Affiliated Foods Stores for the donations that made it possible to purchased the activity books that each student received during the presentation.  If you are interesting in having this program brought to your grade or middle school, or in volunteering to help us with this project, call Linda at Keep Loup Basin Beautiful, 308-728-3393.