Your monthly LPS Sustainability Update
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Recycling and composting reports – October 2019

Environmental impact reports are now available for October. As a result of recycling efforts last month, LPS saved:

  • 861 trees
  • 207,729 kWh of energy
  • 354,659 gallons of water
  • 167 cubic yards of local landfill space
  • 3,040 lbs of air pollution

Scrap Metal Drive to support LPS recycling

America Recycles Day, on November 15th, kicked off the LPS Scrap Metal Drive! From now until Earth Day 2020 (April 22nd) you can bring scrap metal to Sadoff Iron and Metal Company or Alter Metal Recycling to have it recycled.

All types of scrap metal will be accepted. When you arrive, tell them that you would like to donate all or part of the revenue from your metal to the LPS Recycling Program. At the end of the drive, the firms will match the amount that the public donates up to a specific dollar amount.

Funds raised for the LPS Recycling Program will be used toward replacing worn out steel recycling containers. The old containers will be recycled as scrap metal and will be replaced with new dumpsters manufactured from recycled steel - closing the recycling loop!

Examples of what to bring include aluminum and tin cans, applications, pots and pans, wiring, sinks, bathtubs, electric motors, and plumbing materials. 


Sustainability Spotlight: Southwest Hive Helpers

Students at Southwest have been busy cultivating and expanding learning opportunities for their outdoor areas. Recently, the Hive Helpers club built a native pollinator garden to support pollinators in the community. Charley Bittle, science teacher at Southwest, is the sponsor for this group and would describe himself as only being the facilitator and mentor, “the students come up with all the ideas and I just help them get the information and support they need.'' It has been a challenging process, but Bittle has secured grants in order for student ideas to come alive. For example, the pollinator garden was made possible by a grant from the Nebraska Wildlife Federation who also brought in experts to help plan and plant the garden [more].


Recycle your holiday lights

The 7th Annual Recycle Holiday Lights Drive benefiting Eastridge Elementary School PTO has begun!  Lights are collected from November 15th-January 5th at drop off sites all over Lincoln. You can drop off lights at Eastridge specifically until January 15th. Over 49,000 pounds of holiday lights have been recycled through this program in the last six years.

Lights will be collected from their stations and delivered to Scrap Central Inc. in Omaha. Lights can be in working or nonworking condition. The different components are separated and recycled. Eastridge PTO receives $0.30 per pound for the recycled lights. The proceeds benefit PTO initiatives like purchasing coding robots, ukuleles for the music rooms and special gym equipment. Ten percent of funds raised from recycled holiday lights will be donated to Lincoln Fire Fighters Operation Warm.

Click HERE for more information and a complete list of drop off sites.


Using geothermal heat to save energy

Did you know about 90% of the square footage throughout LPS is heated and cooled by geothermal energy? This method is more sustainable because an exchange mechanism uses the relatively constant temperature of the Earth to heat or cool the buildings! [more]


Join this year’s Green Apple Day of Service

Green Apple Day of Service is an opportunity to join schools across the world in celebrating the central role that schools play in preparing the next generation of leaders in sustainability. A school’s event improves the learning environment while strengthening student civic leadership, environmental literacy, and project management skills. Since it began in 2012, Green Apple Day of Service has inspired over 900,000 volunteers in 80 countries to act in support of sustainability at their schools. With one in eight people around the globe attending a school every day, there is more work to be done! Schools and the community leaders who support them can choose their own date for their project, and they have access to mini-grants and personalized guidance to help them make their projects a reality. Sign up and register your project by March 15, 2019 to participate at greenapple.org.


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