Ferguson GREEN Career Resources

The Library has just added a new series of books on "green" careers by Infobase Publishing. Their web site provides this summary of the series:

"High interest in energy conservation, environmental issues, and developing alternative and renewable energy sources has led to a boom in green careers, also called green-collar careers. The new Green Careers set covers job opportunities in the fields of conservation, environmental protection, environmental study, renewable energy, resource management, and other related fields, as well as traditional careers that have been adapted to deal with environmental issues. With comprehensive information on in-demand green careers in business and construction, law, science, communications, and more, these resources are invaluable for students interested in preserving the environment through work.


Each full-color volume includes 15 job profiles that describe the duties, requirements, and earnings for each job in a given field, plus interviews with green professionals and further resources."

If you are interested, the series is located on the second floor of the Library on the large cart with our other College and Career Resources with the call number 331.7 GRE.

Composting 101 Workshop

The GO Green Club hosted a wonderful program earlier this month called "Composting 101", which was presented by GO Green Club president, Angie Phares. If you missed the workshop, you can still learn all about getting your family started with composting by reading the handout that Angie put together and distributed to the audience that day. Please email me, and I will email you a copy of the handout as a pdf file.

Angie also referred me to an excellent slideshow, Backyard Composting in Pennsylvania, created by the Penn State University Crop and Soil Science Department, College of Agricultural Sciences . We are able to link to this presentation with the permission of Dr. Richard Stehouwer, Associate Professor, Environmental Soil Science, one of the authors of the presentation. Thank you to Angie and Dr. Stenhouwer!

Have You Tried Freecycle?

Do you have items in your home you'd like to give away to others who might use them? You may want to look into the Freecycle network. The description on their web site explains that it is a "grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free."

This group has been used by several GO Green Club members with very good results, myself included. Thank you to new member Pam for sending me the link as a reminder to post this information on the blog.

If you are interested, you would browse their site to find the Pittsburgh Network and apply to join. There are rules to follow to be a member. For example, your first post on the site must be an OFFER of something you have to give away. After that, you can search through other available items posted and contact the owner via email to make arrangements to pick up something you need or want. So far we have given away a large window air conditioner, a miter saw and a food processor with a broken part.

Visit the Freecycle web site to learn more about this organization!

Recycling at Best Buy

This link to Best Buy's recycling program was suggested by club member Jennifer, who also pointed out that "most stores have Recycling Kiosks that accept inkjet cartridges, rechargeable batteries, CD's, DVD's including the cases, and gift cards."
  
Their site says they'll "take just about anything electronic, including TVs, DVD players, computer monitors, audio and video cables, cell phones, and more" mostly for free with a few restrictions. The page has a drop down menu where you select your state and view program details.

GO Green Club Meeting Reminder

The Peters Township GO Green Club will be meeting tonight at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the library in the Conference Room. Please join us if you can!

Western Pennsylvania Buy Fresh Buy Local Monthy Newsletter

If you are interested in taking advantage of Western PA's bounty from our local farms this summer, consider subscribing to this monthly newsletter put together by the hard-working folks at Buy Fresh Buy Local© Chapters in Pennsylvania.

You can find out about local farmers is our area, special programs and events, and how you can support sustainable growing practices in Western PA. If you like what you read, visit the Southwestern PA - Buy Fresh Buy Local web site to learn more about this organization. You can sign up to receive their monthly newsletter at the bottom of their home page.

ENERGYHOG.org

GO Green Club members Ed and Phyllis brought this web site to our attention at our last meeting, so I thought I would post a link on our blog for everyone to take a look at ENERGYHOG.org.

The site is divided into two parts - one side for adults to learn about how to make your home more energy efficient and the other side for kids with some cute games with the goal to defeat the Energy Hogs. There is also a nice handbook online with suggestions how to save energy in various rooms of your house. Take a look!

FREE Weatherization Services for Washington & Greene County residents

This Weatherization Program is provided by the Washington-Green Counties Weatherization Program, operated by ACTION-Housing, Inc. There are eligibility requirements based on family size and income. Weatherization is a free program that may provide some of the following services: replaces cracked or broken glass in windows, caulking, weather-strip around doors, weather-strip around outside doors, etc...

For more details about this program, read this letter and brochure provided the Washington-Greene Counties Weatherization Program or call 1-800-841-6899.

NO TIME TO WASTE - The process of waste recycling has come a long way over the years - www.observer-reporter.com

Today's Observer-Reporter has an interesting article about the recycling process used by Peters Township, explaining how it works and answering some FAQ about what can be recycled.

NO TIME TO WASTE - The process of waste recycling has come a long way over the years - www.observer-reporter.com

Go Green Club member in the news!

The Post-Gazette has published an article in today's newspaper "Composting topic of free workshop" about Angie Phares, Go Green Club member, who will be offering a Composting 101 workshop here at the library on Saturday, June 12 at 10 a.m. If you'd like to learn more from Angie about her adventures with composting, email the library to register for the free workshop or call 724.941.9430.