Youth Take Action

Great Waters Group is a Sierra Club member group of the John Muir Chapter of Wisconsin. Our group serves Sierra Club members in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, & Waukesha counties. Sierra Club groups are run by member volunteers.

A+ Community of Youth is sponsored and supported by the Great Waters Group through its Education Committee volunteers, the Sierra Club Foundation and public donations.


A+ HOME	AWARENESS	APPRECIATION	ACTIVITIES	ACTION	ACTIVISM

ACTION

Actions Speak!

Join the A+ Community of Youth in exploring and enjoying the natural world, and also protecting it by becoming environmentally active in your own life!

There are lots of ways you can make the world a little greener. Whether it’s changing the light bulbs in your house to make them more efficient, getting involved in a local effort to pick up garbage, or making sure that your school recycles-- each and every step you take to make the world around you cleaner and greener helps!!

What Can I Do Today?

Little stuff:

	Avoid plastic containers; buy only recyclable plastics if you must. Buy drinks in aluminum cans which are readily recycled.
	Buy paper towels and toilet paper with recycled content. You are saving trees! Buy ice cream in a cone instead of in a plastic dish with a plastic spoon. Buy computer and writing paper with recycled content.
	Buy energy efficient light bulbs instead of incandescent. They use 70 – 75% less energy and save $36 - $59 dollars compared to traditional incandescent and last up to 10 times longer.
	Wash only full loads in your dishwasher using short cycles for all but the dirtiest dishes, then air-dry.
	Use vinegar and baking soda to clean kitchen drains.
	Bring your iPod back to any Apple store to get recycled. Your good, green deed will be rewarded with a discount on any Apple product bought in the store that day.
	Have a vegetarian day each week. This is a great way to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet while giving your body a break from continually digesting animal proteins.
	Plug your home electronics into power strips, and turn them off when not in use. Phantom loads (the electricity appliances draw when they’re plugged in and not used) can be big.

Big stuff:

	Buy a hybrid car. Get 40 – 50 miles per gallon. Traditional cars and SUV’s get only 15 – 30 mpg.
	Install a tank-less water heater. The water is heated by a burner as you use it, and you never run out. Save energy dollars and energy. Support alternative energy sources such as wind power by purchasing electricity produced by them at a slightly higher rate.
	Buy energy-efficient appliances. Look for the Energy Star label.

Blog It Up!

The A+ Community of Youth is one resource where you can get ideas and connect with other young people who want to improve and enjoy the environment in the Milwaukee area. One good way to connect with these people is to check out the A+ Community of Youth Blog!

Green Your School

Do you think your school is environmentally friendly??

There are probably lots of ways to make your school greener!!!

Do you recycle?

Do you have a garden outside?

Can you compost your food waste??

Do you carpool or take the bus??

Your school can use all the creative solutions that kids like you can imagine!!! One way to get the ball rolling is to check out a program by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources called Wisconsin Green and Healthy Schools. This is a great way to get ideas and raise money to help make your school a little greener!!

Live in a Green House

Want to help make your house as green as it can be?

You and your family can do a lot to help the environment within your own house!

There are many ways to improve the Ecological Footprint of your home by changing your light bulbs, making sure your house is well insulated, thinking carefully about what kinds of chemicals you use to clean and garden with, and much more!

This website can help you begin to get ideas!!! Energy Match!

Kids Make a Difference!

Want to find out what other kids are doing???

Lots of kids around the world are taking the environment into their own hands and helping make the world greener! Here are the stories!!

Florida Girl Says Pump Up!

When Savannah Walters of Odessa Florida found out that Americans waste millions of gallons of gas every day by not properly inflating their tires “…. I couldn't believe that! I said, 'Well then, why don't we just pump them up?' I got my Girl Scout troop to go to our local train station and put tire gauges, balloons, and flyers on everyone's car.”

For more of the story click here.

(link to http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200601/one_small_step.asp)

Julia "Butterfly" Hill talks to kids about sustainable living

Her middle name is Butterfly and she once lived in tree -- who better to teach a group of local school kids about living in harmony with nature?

Julia "Butterfly" Hill, who gained international attention in the late 1990s by camping out in a giant redwood for two years to save it from being chopped down, met with a select group of children from Valley Vista Elementary School last week for lunch, a talk about treading softly on the planet, and an explanation of how to make a big bus run on french fry oil.

Among the questions the inquisitive group of 30 fourth and fifth graders asked were why Hill named the giant redwood "Luna" after the moon and if she was afraid of heights.

"Not anymore," she answered.

In addition to speaking about her time in the tree, the environmental activist turned the talk toward encouraging the younger generation.

"Brilliant ideas come from young people. I'm old now," said Hill, who recently turned 31. "You're never too young, too anything to make a difference."

The encounter took place at Heritage Salvage Yard, a building materials recycling center located on the outskirts of town. Run by Michael "Bug" Deakin, at Heritage Salvage wood from old barns and chicken shacks is sold in bulk and creatively re-used. About 75 percent of the recycled wood is old-growth redwood, Deakin estimates.

And as Hill pointed out, "one way to protect trees is to reuse them once they come down."

The environmental activist who now runs a non-profit called "Circle of Life" rolled into town recently in a large Prevot tour bus that runs off recycled vegetable oil. She is gearing up for a national tour to spread the word about the non-polluting form of fuel.

Part of Petaluma's past will be going along for the ride, as the bus is currently being outfitted with a recycled wood interior at Heritage Salvage.

After the Valley Vista school kids got a tour of Deakin's workshop "that once held 4,000 chickens," they checked out the tour bus before sitting down to a lunch that included produce grown in their own school garden.

According to the school garden coordinator, Vanessa Passarelli, all of the kids present spend at least an hour a week learning about nutrition and recycling in Valley Vista's 5,000-square-foot garden plot.

In order to qualify for the trip out to Heritage Salvage, the students had to spend two school breaks learning the story -- a children's tale come to life -- of Hill's time in the tree.

"They were fascinated," said Passarelli. "One boy called her 'a real life hero."

Hit Counter