#259
Bama Environmental News - BEN
March 9, 2006
1) Legacy Gifts Top Over $1 Million Since 2000
2) Alabama Water Watch Conducts 1000th Workshop
3) Recycling in Montgomery - A Profile
4) Episcopal Diocese of Alabama's "Stewardship of Creation" Guide
5) BEN Notes: Ruffner Mountain Job Openings, ARA's Watershed Leadership Conference, Outdoor Alabama Expo, Alabama Power's Renew Our Rivers, Alabama Earthfest Calendar Announced
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Thanksgiving for the Beauty of the Earth
We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the beauty of earth and sky and sea; for the richness of mountains, plains and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. We praise you for these good gifts, and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue to grow in our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation, to the honor and glory of your Name, now and forever. Amen. - Prayer From the Book of Common Prayer, p. 840 #8
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1. Legacy Gifts Top Over $1 Million Since 2000 - Since 2000, Legacy - Partners in Environmental Education, the organization with the "Protect the Environment" car tag, has given away more than $1 million in grants, scholarships and sponsorships. Here is breakdown of their gifts.
Environmental Grants: 173 - $785,807
Environmental Scholarships: 109 -$143,950
Chemical Collection Day Sponsorships: 23 - $93,650
Earth Month Sponsorships: - $27,250
Along with these gifts and donations, Legacy has distributed 237,602 posters, guides, pamphlets and booklets. They have also trained 1,064 teachers at workshops and their Summer Institute.
For more information about Legacy, visit their website at http://www.legacyenved.org
2. Alabama Water Watch Conducts 1000th Workshop - Alabama Water Watch reached two milestones recently, when they conducted their 1000th training workshop and recorded their 40,000th data record from a citizen monitor.
A program like no other in the country, Alabama Water Watch since 1993 has worked with over 240 participating groups (about 70 groups are active), issued 4,100 certifications in water monitoring, collected water data from more than 1,800 sites on 700 waterbodies and actively uses their online database with 80% of the data entered via the Internet.
Through Alabama Water Watch, lake and stream conditions and trends for the past 10 years is now available. For more information about this program, go to https://aww.auburn.edu
3. Recycling in Montgomery - A Profile - This week, the Montgomery Advertiser did a feature story on recycling efforts in the Capitol City. Here are some of the statistics and figures that came out in the story.
Since the inception of Montgomery's Recycling Program in 1989, the city has collected:
834 tons of Aluminum
4,739 tons of Glass
27,487 tons of Paper
1,760 tons of Cardboard
50-60 ton of Phonebooks a year
1200 Christmas trees a year
Today, about 27,000 people, about 40% of the city's household residents participate in the program.
4. Episcopal Diocese of Alabama's "Stewardship of Creation" Guide - The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama's Diocesan Task Force for the Stewardship of Creation has released a 5 session Adult Christian Education Curriculum Leader's Guide on it's website http://www.stewardsforcreation.org .
In 2003, at the Diocesan Convention, the Episcopal Church in Alabama established the Stewardship of Creation Task Force. Along with the new curriculum, the task force has been promoting energy audits within the diocese and advocating for wise and just environmental policy.
5. BEN Notes: Ruffner Mountain Job Openings, ARA's Watershed Leadership Conference, Outdoor Alabama Expo, Alabama Power's Renew Our Rivers, Alabama Earthfest Calendar Announced
Ruffner Mountain Job Openings - Ruffner Mountain has two part-time positions open.
Part-time Maintenance Handyperson - 20-25 hrs per week, flexible, some Saturdays. Care for approx. 4 acres of nature preserve property and buildings. Must have experience in lawn and building maintenance and use and care of related equipment. Resumes can be faxed to 836-3960.
Part-time Teacher/Naturalists - 5-10 hours per week usually AM hours during weekday. Full job description at http://www.ruffnermountain.org . Resumes can be faxed to 836-3960.
ARA's Watershed Leadership Conference - The Alabama Rivers Alliance will be holding their 8th Annual Watershed Leadership Conference on March 24-26 at the 4-H Center in Columbiana, Alabama. To register, go to http://www.alabamarivers.org/WLConf06reg.htm .
Outdoor Alabama Expo - The Department of Conservation and the Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel will be holding the first of three Outdoor Alabama Expos on March 25th from 9:00 to 5:00 at the Madison County Public Fishing Lake in Huntsville, Alabama. The Expo is part of the state's year long 2006 Year of Outdoor Alabama celebration. To learn more about this event and all the activities honoring "Outdoor Alabama" go to - http://www.yearofoutdooralabama.com
Alabama Power's Renew Our Rivers - Renew Our Rivers, the Southeast's largest river cleanup campaign is entering its 7th year with 17 spring cleanups set for March 4 - June 17. Since it's inception Renew Our Rivers has removed more than 5.3 million pounds of trash. To access contact information and how you can volunteer, go to Renew Our Rivers.
Alabama Earthfest Calendar Announced - Do Earth Day right, celebrate it everyday. Check out the newly released Alabama Earthfest Calendar promoting an impressive month's worth of events. The calendar can be found at http://www.alabamaearthfest.org/calendar.shtml
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The Bama Environmental News is edited and published by Pat Byington. To receive back copies of BEN go to http://www.BamaNews.com . If you would like to be removed from this e-mail listserve contact BEN at pkbyington@aol.com .