Thank You Lowe's...

Our AM Class
Our PM Class

We spend a lot of time talking about ways to "Go Green". We know that one way to help is by reducing the number of plastic bags we use when shopping. Our local Lowe's store donated reuseable bags to our Kindergarten classes to help get us started on the path to "green".

THANKS Lowe's for your continued support!

Going Green in Kindergarten...

As we continue learning about the ocean, we are taking time this week to learn about some of the many ways we can do our part to "go Green". We talked about ways to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. This video helped inspire us to do more. We found it amazing to see all the things that could be made from recycled materials. What do you think YOU could do to Go Green?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...

As we get closer to EARTH DAY (April 22, 2009) We are learning about all kinds of ways that we can take small steps and have a BIG impact on the environment. Recently, our P.T.O. sponsored a visit from SCARCE, an organization dedicated to educating us on the values of Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling. Miss Linda shared with us so many interesting facts about the amount of waste there is in communities all across America. We were fascinated by some of the information she shared. We learned it's important to REDUCE the amount of waste we create. One way to REDUCE is to find ways to REUSE old things. Other ways include RECYCLING some of our old things. She showed us that clothing can be made from plastic bottles and corn! AMAZING!! We learned that Nike has a special program where you can drop off old gym shoes and they are making playground surfaces, playground equipment and new shoes from the old gym shoes. Their program is called REUSE A SHOE. You might consider gathering and donating old shoes from kids at your school. We are planning to do it too. Miss Linda really got us inspired and thinking about ways to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. How about you? What can you do? Maybe our video will spark some thoughts:

Lowe's Helps Us Go Green...

Today we got a wonderful surprise from the folks at our local Lowe's Store. Josh Janovsky, the General Manager at the Lowe's in Bloomingdale, IL donated reusable shopping bags to our Kindergarten classes! We were so excited!

We are learning there are many things we can do to help the environment. One thing we can do is carry reusable bags when we shop. In doing a little research on plastic & paper bags vs. reusable we thought you might be interested to know:

• A plastic bag takes about 450 years to biodegrade (That's just ONE bag! How many does your family use in a year?)
• To make paper bags creates 70% more pollution than it does to make plastic bags.
• Reusable bags save water. (The recipe for paper bags uses 1 part pulp and 400 parts water...WOW!! That's a LOT of water!)
• Reusable bags saves sea animals (Plastic bags often end up in the oceans & lakes and many sea creatures mistake the plastic for food)
• According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic bags a year. It takes about 12 million barrels of oil to make that many plastic bags.

You can find many more reasons to go with Reusables over plastic & paper bags at ReuseThisBag.com.

We hope you will consider the option of the Reusable Bags when you shop at Lowe's or any other store you choose to do your shopping. Thanks again to the folks at Lowe's for their generous donation! Thanks to Annette's parents for helping make this happen for us!

For more information on Resuable bags, visit:

National Geographic Kids....

Today I came upon a web site that has lots of interesting videos and other fun stuff. It's National Geographic Kids. One of the videos I watched was on swarms of locusts that used to be in America and suddenly disappeared. Check out the video "Lots of Locusts" to learn why! Personally, I am not a big fan of bugs, but I found this bug page to have some fascinating photos of bugs.
Another interesting spot on their website offers Green Tips. Remember this past school year we made a list of things we can do to "Go Green". I have really cut down on the number of plastic/paper shopping bags I get when I am out and about. Hopefully you have too! Several stores now sell re-usable shopping bags like the ones we got from Jewel, one of our local grocery stores. I continue to replace my regular light bulbs with CFL bulbs, like the ones donated from Home Depot. We have to keep in mind that even a small step toward being green is still a positive step. Back to National Geographic Kids...they have a craft section where they show you how to make your own Re-Usable Grocery Bag. Maybe you can give it a try.
Go to the site and see what other fun things are waiting for you at National Geographic Kids! Maybe you can leave a comment to share your favorite parts of the site too.

Doing Our Part for the Environment...

Back in October we celebrated "Blog Action Day". As part of our commitment to "Going Green", we talked about many things that we can do to help save our environment. One of the things we felt we could do was reduce the number of plastic bags we carry away from the stores. To help us with this effort, Mr. Cygan, the manager at Jewel grocery store (located in Carol Stream, on Army Trail & County Farm Roads) generously donated one reusable shopping bag to every Spring Trail Kindergartner. We will encourage our parents to get more of these bags and use them regularly. Thanks so much!

Note: Sharon & Blake helped with the photos

Light Green...

About a month ago we participated in "BLOG ACTION DAY". With that we shared our thoughts to do more to help save the earth. In keeping with our desire to be more careful with our environment and what we can do to help, we are going "LIGHT GREEN". Over the Thanksgiving break, the kids were told to check out which light gets the most use at home. We spent time today learning about the effects of using a regular light bulb vs. the CFL light. We like to call it the "CURLY FRY LIGHT" because it reminds us of Curly Fries. ;-). We learned it takes a LOT of regular bulbs to do what the CFL light can do.
The Home Depot store on Rt. 59 & Stearns Rd. in Bartlett, donated a CFL light for every kindergarten student at Spring Trail. We hope to replace the old blub at home that gets the most use with the new CFL bulb. From our little home survey we found out that most people use the light in the kitchen the most.
We really appreciate the help of Home Depot in getting our families started on the road to GREEN. Please be sure to thank them the next time you go there to shop!
We watched a good video that explains it all. Please take time to watch it too.

Click To Play

If the video doesn't play, click here New Light Bulbs in Plain English.

Here are a few other links that may help you make the decision to go "LIGHT GREEN" with us.

Lights of America: Fluorescent Vs. Incandescent, Incandescent vs. CFL vs. LED Light Bulbs, One Billion Bulbs: Learn About CFL light bulbs.

ComEd Cares: Change A Light-Change The World, Energy Star Products, The Energy Dr.Answers Energy Questions, Recycling CFL bulbs.

Did You Know: If every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR® CFL, it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road.*

If you find other sites you think would be helpful and informative, please leave the link in our comments and we'll check it out. Thanks and THINK GREEN!!

(*from ComEd Cares)

Light Project...

Before our break for the Thanksgiving Holiday, the children were given an assignment to do at home. They were to try to notice which light/lamp gets the most use at home. They needed to write it on a form that came home with each child. We will be looking at those results in class later this week. Parents, if you need another copy of the note that came home, click on the link below:

Light Project Form

Please help your child find out which light/lamp is used most, fill out the form and return it by Wednesday, November 28th. Thanks for your help and support.