Water is Life! All the water we have is all the water we will ever have on this planet. We must protect and conserve this vital resource. Learn more about our local water systems with the following links.
SPLASH! Eugene's Water Systems
EWEB's 10 Year Water Protection Plan
And, for more on
Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Week
International Compost Awareness Week
For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food...compost!
One of the initiatives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), is Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. As part of the ICAW committee’s global discussion with our international partners around the world, we spoke the same language, and all wanted to promote a unified theme - aligning a topic important to each country while emphasizing our work with compost.
Here are some key facts regarding organics recycling and compost use highlighting why ICAW is such an important awareness-building program:
- The use of landfill space and incineration can be reduced by at least one-third when organics are recycled. Focused attention on recycling organic residuals is key to achieving high-waste diversion rates.
- Methane, a greenhouse twenty-five times as powerful as carbon dioxide, can be significantly reduced through the recycling of organics instead of their being landfilled.
- Soil health and productivity is dependent on organic matter – the essence of compost -- to provide the sustenance for the biological diversity in the soil. Plants depend on this to convert materials into plant-available nutrients and to keep the soil well-aerated. Additional benefits include the reduced need for pesticide usage to ward off soil-borne and other plant diseases.
- Compost offers a significant answer to climate change mitigation. Compost’s return to the soil serves as a “carbon bank,” helping to store carbon thereby removing it from the atmosphere.
- Compost is a huge benefit for both water conservation and quality. When used in water quality projects, compost bind pollutants to the organics material and prevents them from entering our lakes, wetlands, streams and rivers. Soil erosion is mitigated, and water-holding capacity improved through compost’s enhancement of soil structure, binding soil particles together.
Safe Routes to Schools Walk + Roll May Challenge
You are encouraged to promote and participate in this year's Walk + Roll to school day, May 8th. For more info about this year's challenge, check out Oregon Safe Routes to Schools site:
May is National Bike Month, promoted by the League of American Bicyclists and is celebrated in communities from coast to coast. Established in 1956, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling — and encourage more folks to giving biking a try.
National Ride A Bike Day: May 5, 2024
National Bike & Roll to School Day: May 8, 2024
Bike to Work Week 2024: May 13-19, 2024
Bike to Work Day: May 17, 2024
TURN A DUSTY BIKE INTO A SHINY SMILE
Free Bikes 4 Kidz Eugene-Springfield is a nonprofit organization geared toward helping all kids ride into a happier, healthier childhood by providing bikes to those most in need.
HELP GREASE THE WHEELS!
You can get involved by donating a bike or contributing financially. And we’re always looking for volunteers. Donate a bike, time, or money and help kids ‘go places.’
No Mow May...Don't mind us, we're helping the bees.
That's right, you lawn lovers, No Mow May is a thing. Remember the saying April showers bring May flowers? May is the most active pollinator months of the year, so let it grow...let it grow...The goal of No Mow May is to allow grass to grow unmown for the month of May, creating habitat and forage for early season pollinators. This is particularly important in urban areas where floral resources are often limited.
Introducing, Bee City USA -City of Eugene Chapter-check out this site for some local ways to get involved and help bees right here in our community. There are a host of activities and resources.
Bee City USA began in Asheville, NC, which kicked off the program in June 2013 with their eponymous declaration. Bee City “encourages city leaders to celebrate and raise awareness of the contribution bees and other pollinators make to our world.”
On July 23, 2018, Eugene City Council unanimously passed Resolution #5240 to become a Bee City USA, joining more than a hundred other cities and campuses across the country united in improving their landscapes for pollinators. The Council’s action is the culmination of months of effort by the Eugene Pollinator Protection Committee to accomplish this certification.
STEM Week is dedicated to igniting enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. By setting aside a week for celebrating STEM, we get to organize fun activities, workshops, and demos that everyone—students, parents, and the whole community—can enjoy and learn from. It's our way of showing how cool and exciting STEM can be!
So many fun activities...Shadow Saturday, Soaring Sunday, Make-It Monday, Take It Apart Tuesday, What are you wondering Wednesday, Think About it Thursday, and Field Trip Friday
Click here for activity links and more information.
May 11 Migratory Bird Day
Migratory Bird Day takes place on the second Saturday in May each year.
Insects and their importance to migratory birds is the focus of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day, a global campaign that aims to raise awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.
Insects are essential sources of energy for many migratory bird species, not only during the breeding seasons but also during their extensive journeys and greatly affect the timing, duration, and overall success of bird migrations.
The World Migratory Bird Day campaign in 2024 will stress the need for proactive conservation measures. This includes reducing the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and where possible, switching to organic farming. Other measures include maintaining and connecting areas of natural vegetation which provide food and shelter for birds and other species, in agricultural landscapes.
Audubon Bird Migration Explorer
The Environment for the Americas has many free resources available.
Read about Audubon's Lights Out Program. While we don't officially have a program in Eugene (Bend does)...you could engage your neighbors to participate...
More info in this NPR article:
North American birds are in decline. Here are 8 simple ways you can help
May 19 Endangered Species Day
Every year on the third Friday in May, thousands of people around the world participate in Endangered Species Day by celebrating, learning about, and taking action to protect threatened and endangered species. This global day of action and celebration was created and founded by David Robinson and the Endangered Species Coalition in 2006, and has continued ever since.
On Endangered Species Day 2024, wildlife refuges, gardens, schools, libraries, museums, community groups, nonprofits, and individuals will hold special programs or events. People around the world participate in these activities and others. Join us in celebrating Endangered Species Day on Friday, May 17th and throughout the month of May!
Check out the Endangered Species Coalition site.
Endangered Species Chalk Art event May 11-19
And, Kids Discover has a nice resource here. Sign up for the free membership and there are many other great resources, as well.
May 22 World Biodiversity Day
“Be part of the Plan”, the theme of International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) 2024, is a call to action for all stakeholders to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, also referred to as the Biodiversity Plan. Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
Biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges. From nature-based solutions to climate, health issues, food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity is the foundation upon which we can build back better.
Visit this site for more information.
American Museum of Natural History ology- What is biodiverstiy?
Global climate change is rapidly impacting all life on earth. But impacts of climate change are complex, uneven, and worsening, with people from poverty-impacted and BIPOC communities often experiencing impacts most sharply. We must be prepared to understand and respond to climate science. Education is a vital context for building capacity for just, community-driven adaptation and resilience efforts as well as for promoting the enactment of equitable mitigation efforts around the world.
Justice-centered climate change learning is complex, but urgent. To support educators to build capacity for this work, we are creating a suite of resources focused on different aspects of this work. Climate science learning has to happen across PK-12 classroom, in informal education and outdoor contexts, and in community-based learning settings.
To that end, we have created the following kinds of resources on this page:
- STEM Teaching Tools on Climate (professional learning resources)
- 3D Assessment Examples for Climate Science Learning (from the ClimeTime project)
- The Climate Teacher Education Collaborative
- Climate & Environmental Justice in Education Graduate-Level Course
- Climate and Environmental Education Articles for Educators
4J/EWEB Education Partnership
TOSA-Climate, Energy, Conservation
Grant Coordinator-EWEB, SPLASH!, Love Food Not Waste
Email: shepard_t@4j.lane.edu
Website: https://bit.ly/4J-eep
Phone: 541.790.5533