Make A Difference, Get A Day

If you read this blog regularly, you know I like to educate and raise awareness of issues that are important to our community. Although I generally steer clear of things that are too political or may divide is, if I can.

You might also know that I am a Girl Scout leader.  I have a second year Daisy troop.  It is the volunteer organization which I commit to most regularly.

Yesterday's meeting was wonderful.  My first grade girls finished up their Journey "Between Earth and Sky".  To celebrate, we had a garden party, where we ate fruits and vegtables and talked about what part of the plant we were eating, and how they are grown. 

Then, we talked about World Water Day and what we could do about the water crisis in the world.  Each girl made the simple promise to turn off the water while they were brushing their teeth, rather than to let it run.  We could save a lot of water if we all did this.  We could make a difference with just a small act like that. And, it is something my 6 and 7 year olds can do personally.

In just a couple hours, I felt that I made the world a better place.  I educated and impacted the thoughts of 10 little girls who will change the world, and hopefully they will impact others.

While I choose Girl Scouts, you may choose any variety of activities that you support.  But, I hope you all pick something that is important to you, something you enjoy, and work to make a positive difference in the world around us and in the lives you touch every day.

While it pales in comparison to the natural reward, Disney has a great promotion going on.  In exchange for your volunteerism today, you get a "Free Day" at a Disney Park.  I got my free day, did you get yours?  Check out http://www.disneyparks.com/ for details.

Rust Manor House and Nature Sanctuary

Rust Manor House and Nature Sanctuary are tucked away in a small nook inside the town of Leesburg. Even long time locals sometimes forget about this wonderful hidden treasure right in our back yard.
With the help of my Daisy Girl Scout troop, I had a wonderful visit yesterday afternoon. We hiked through the trails, visited the pond, snacked on fresh watermelon, climbed on a fallen tree, enjoyed chatting at the empty amphitheatre, and made bird feeders with peanut butter and bird seed at the picnic area. Despite the heat and humidity, the trees provide lots of shade and the area remained cool and comfortable.

The park is 68 acres, and with only an hour and a half, we had very little time to explore, but there are so many more things still to do on future visits. Fishing is allowed at the stocked pond. The historic Manor house is available for tours. Audobon Natrualist Society has many special events there. Certain areas are available for weddings or other private events. And, there are much longer hiking trails throughout the park.
Although the sanctuary boasts tons of wildlife, if you bring a gaggle of 5 to 7 year old squealing girls with you, you’re not too likely to see many animals. You will, however, hear giggles, see infectious smiles and still have a wonderful time. Some elements of nature cannot or will not hide, even from these girls. So, we had lots of chances to talk about gnats, worms, ticks, lyme disease, and poison ivy. And my co leader managed to have a personal visit by a local dragonfly, who sat contently on her hand for quite some time. The lesson here: bring the insect repellent.
Our visit to the sanctuary was in support of our efforts to earn our last petal of the Daisy flower, Rose, which stands for “Make The World A Better Place”. Rust Manor House and Sanctuary were donated to the town, along with the land where Ida Lee Park is, by the Rust Family. We talked about what a great way that was for the Rust family to make the world a better place, by donating land for the use of the community; whichis one of the reasons we selected this location for our last meeting of the year.

We certainly had fun there, and hopefully the girls will return again many times to enjoy the gorgeous scenery, and will share their discovery of this great gift with many others.

Talkin' Trash in Loudoun

The Loudoun County Landfill offers tours each week for scout troops and other groups; and recently my Daisy Girl Scout troop took advantage of this opportunity.

The landfill opened in 1971 and should be able to continue to serve the community for another 60 years. We learned that the Loudoun County Landfill takes in only about a third of the trash from within the county, and the rest of the county's trash is taken to other landfills in Fairfax and throughout Northern Virginia.

Our guide, Tony Hayes, taught us a lot about recycling. Loudoun County is only recycling about 30% of our solid waste. Nationally, the goal is 25%, and Europe is recycling less than 20% of their trash; Sweden, on the other hand, recycles close to 40% of their trash. We can do better.

We learned how plastic bottles are turned into a cotton like material that can be made into clothing. Tony told us that the cost of recycling aluminum cans is cheaper for manufacturers than using raw materials; so the cans we leave there today will be back on the shelves in just a few months. We saw a ruler made from recycled yellow pages, with a bit of recycled plastic thrown in for good measure. We also saw that mulch (made from yard waste) is available free year round.

If you take your own trash to the dump, you probably knew that you pay according to the weight; but the good news is that you can bring in recyclables free of charge, and you can remove them from your truck before you're vehicle is weighed. Not all materials are recyclable at this location. They do take newspapers and magazines, cardboard, bottles and cans, among other things. Special items can be recycled, but you may need to search a little harder for the right collection spot.

On the day of our visit, the landfill had received over 500,000 pounds of trash; which is apparently a lot. My Daisies would tell you that the landfill stinks, although I will admit that the smell is not nearly as bad as I expected, nor as bad as I remember from when I was kid.

We learned about the storm water management efforts at the Landfill, which are taken very seriously here since our storm water eventually makes it to the Chesapeake, an area we're working hard to preserve. At the landfill, they place a plastic liner and an absorbent liner at the bottom of a big hole, and these liners act kind of like a diaper, soaking in the "garbage juice" so it does not leak into the ground. Trash is added, throughout the day, large machines drive over the trash and crush it. At the end of the day, it is covered with 6 inches of dirt. This is repeated several times over, until the area reaches capacity. Then a "raincoat" is placed over the mountain of dirt covered trash. All these efforts result in less contamination of the soil, and therefore support the efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Sadly, as we sat in the county van, my girls could each look into the non-recycled trash pile and see many items that could have been easily recycled. Again, we can do better.

We learned that the sagging economy does have a benefit. Tony "guesstimated" that collections were down about 20% compared to years where we had a more robust economy; and that demand for recycled materials is down, too. But, recycling remains more lucrative than "dumping" the trash in a regular landfill; and it is much better for our environment.

Our tour concluded with each girl promising to do her part, and to convince one more person to start recycling. This is my effort to convince you. Will you join me in my efforts to protect our earth? Start by abiding by my daughter's new motto: "Recycle a little every day!" Every little bit helps.

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Tell us if you see us in the news! http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=2703

Update: Just a few weeks after our visit, I know my family has an increased awareness and a renewed focus on recylcing. This week our overall trash output was reduced by about 25-30%; AND half of what we did produce was destined for a recycling center. Now, I am actively working with my office to see if we can get our office building recycling. Come on, you can do it, too.