Considering Crayons

One of my fantastic patrons has recommended a program to me that I believe I'll use this summer. The Crayon Bin is a unique crayon recycling company that accepts donations of stubby crayons the world over. You can read more about how they handle donations on their website, but it seems like a fun way to encourage recycling.

I believe I'll fashion a fun crayon collection tube and encourage parents and kids to bring in their crayon remnants. For every pound of crayons that are collected we can receive a set of the Recolor the World crayons to give away as a prize. I think it would be fun to see how much we can collect through the summer.

I think every parent I know has a bag or two of crayons floating around that you aren't quite sure what to do with. It seems a shame to throw them out, but you can only shave and melt so many of them for crafts. I've had several parents ask me if they can give me a bag to save, but sadly I wind up just storing bags of forlorn crayons. I think a second life for them sounds like a nice idea.

Reducing Lamination

We are now being very, very judicious in our use of the laminator. I think most librarians like their signage to look very nice, but I realized that we were laminating things that would really only be used for a very short term period.

A rule of thumb is simply a modest five years. Before I laminate something I determine if this item will have a clear and definite use through at least five years. Will this sign, prop story, or rhyme have a use through five years? Is it worth it? I’d like to hope for ten at least.

Many times the answer is no when you apply this rule. A sign for a door or a program direction will look nicer when it’s laminated, but unless it has a valid use through five years then I don’t think it’s worth the generations that it will take to degrade. A short term use is not worth the impact for generations.

I also have absolutely no idea if this type of plastic can be recycled.

On a side note, realize that the film also costs the Library about $225 plus shipping per roll. By reducing our output we are also saving money in the long run. I think I’ve probably reduced my lamination by about half the amount that I used to do.

Creating a Bibliography

We are currently evaluating all of our materials on fuels, alternate energy, green technology and environment. It's turning into a bigger project then I initially imagined as much of the information as we know it seems to have changed in the past few years. A book published on coal energy from 10 years ago may still have relevant information, but information on its use and impact has truly changed as more scientific information has come to light.

I don’t know about other folks, but I have had several science teachers approaching the Library for fresh books to use in the classroom.

My first wave was to get in new information on emerging technologies and clean energy solutions. The second wave (in process) is to go through all of our books, one by one, and evaluate them for content and timeliness. The third wave will be finding information on all the topics that need fleshing out to a greater extent.

We will be building a bibliography that we can use in our program, on our website and beyond as we link it to our Library catalog and to Amazon. It's going to be used by our patrons and also go to the Chicago Wilderness Society to be used for educational purposes. I've never linked a bib to Amazon, but it seems the thing to do in order to help others find book recommendations, reviews or ISBN information.

I'll be posting books I'm ordering to the right under "Wildly Reading." It may give others a few ideas of new and cool books I've found to add to our collection. Stay tuned; it's going to be a long ride on this project.

Why Ban Plastics in Programs?

We've all heard information to varying degrees on what plastics and plastic bags are doing to our environment. On a global scale you can see China and Australia have banned free bags, and there is a global movement to ban their use all together. You can click HERE for an interesting article on the topic.

I'm banning giving away plastic bags in my programs, and I think it's a good moment for Friends groups around the nation to sell or give away canvas bags to their patrons. I have about 20 plastic bags left that are a holdover from another program, and I'll use them up for "sick kid" bags I put together. After that I'm going to have to explore other options for bags, as I don't think it's really eco-responsible to keep giving them away.

But why ban plastics in toys? The Oregon Toxics Alliance has from very concise information to give you a few ideas on why we should ban them from toys.

The Center for Health, Environment and Justice also has specific information on PVC: The Poison Plastic and the use of it in toys.

One difficulty in selecting prizes for Summer Reading Programs is that most plastic toys are not labeled with their plastic code and few toys sales companies list the ingredients in their description. Compound the problem with international standards and the outsourcing of toy manufacturing and there may be little or no information for us to make a judgment call on.
It would be a conundrum too. If it's a "safe" plastic to use for play, it may not be a "safe" plastic for recycling.

I'm also completely noting that it isn't necessarily our job to deem what is "safe" for the general public. Our role is one of providing information for the public so they can make an informed choice in their lives. I do think that our role tremendously shifts when we are giving the items away. It transitions beyond our norms and standard mission, as we are responsible for making sure it’s worthy items to award.

This leaves us with an incomplete picture for health, safety and recycling. As a nosy Librarian that thrives on information, I'm uncomfortable with ordering any plastics for children at this point as I believe in a full diet of information prior to making a decision.
To quote Carla Morris from The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians, "That's just how librarians are."

ALA's Task Force for the Environment

I was intrigued to find that there is a Task Force for the Environment from the American Library Association. I'm linking them to the right for easy access. They are part of the Social Responsibilities Round Table and this unit was formed in 1989.

From their website:

TFOE Objectives

- Promote awareness for environmental issues within ALA
- Unite librarians and information professionals for mutual benefit and support
- Provide TFOE members with opportunities for career development, skills enhancement and leadership experiences
- Facilitate networking among peers and professional associates
- Provide services, programs, and publications that assist TFOE members and others in their careers, work places, homes, and in their communities.

I know I'm going to Anaheim this summer and it will be a good opportunity to check into what they have to offer. I'll be crossing my fingers for some new breakout programs on Green libraries and practices.

By the way, those traveling to ALA might want to check into TerraPass. Though it isn't a perfect plan by any means, you can purchase clean energy options to offset your flight. I'm going to offset my flight and donate about $10.00 to fly carbon neutral.

Compost vs. Recycle

Food seems to be an important part of several of my programs. I give away popcorn on Movie Mondays and drinks during special events. The tons of plastics or paper cups going out the door can rather astonish me, yet I don't have enough of dishwashing space to consider investing in a longer term product.

I'm currently weighing two food service options. 1) Recycling and only getting paper cups, plates and napkins a la Seventh Generation style that are made from recycled paper and will be recycled after we're through with them or 2)Biodegradable in trying something really funky like the new corn and sugar cane cups that are biodegradable and/or compostable.

Featured above is a picture from World Centric of a ten ounce biodegradable cup. The compostable does make me a bit nervous as the only commercial composting facility I've found is in Peoria, and I think it isn't too much of an environmental savings if they have to be shipped here, used, then shipped there to dispose of them. I'm building my own composting bin in the spring, but I don't think I could handle that much going in on the get go.

Maybe recycled products that I further recycle are the way to go. They also seem to be a bit more cost effective which would work with my budget better. Any thoughts?

Brainstorming

I'm considering ordering a couple of these style bags as a large draw-your-name bonus round prize. These are hand produced by seamstress MyShell from Color Your World Craft Crazy.


I do think that my community would appreciate a couple of these as a bonus prize. High quality handmade goods are always in demand, especially if they are funky enough for the tweenie group of readers.

I think the uniqueness of the book tote would make it attractive, and they'd probably use it so much longer then a Library-esque looking bookbag. I've awarded these, but never see them in action a later time.


I'm also in touch with a few folks that are producing handmade goods and featuring them on Etsy. I'd like to see if I could talk some of them into a lower cost or donation in order to highlight the cause of eco-friendly programs for children.


I'm not really a fashion maven, but I do see eco-fashion coming "in." I'd like to play on this trend for a few little items in our bonus rounds. Hum, maybe I could pick just a couple "hip" eco-products to give away just to showcase some of what is out there. Thinking........

Remembering 2007

Last year I gave away THIS PRIZE. I remember having a moment of "what the heck am I doing!" I was dressed as an astronaut to promote our SRP 2007, Mission Read: to the Library and Beyond! and as I spoke to hordes of kids it dawned on me that there is a direct connection between the prizes I give away and our contribution to the safety and well being of children. I had selected this theme in order to promote science and learning, but hadn’t quite learned the lesson myself as I used tons of plastics, blow-ups, and other trinkets to reward children for reading.

2007 also gave us a year of lead painted bendables and other toy recalls, reason enough to question what we do. Add in major concerns about our landfills, environment, and climate and I think we have more then a few reasons to adopt practices of conservation or at least better selection. Shouldn't I apply some of the same well thought out selection practices for a collection to our toy and prize offerings? I can honestly say that I got very lucky with the bendable issue in that I’ve never purchased them because I find them creepy in an odd sort of way.

I think that in order to promote a program of eco-friendly practices it must be just that, friendly. It can't be about what we "can't" do, or what we are "giving up." It has to transcend some of the gloom and doom and truly be about being "lighter" and about being a fresh start.

If you are jumping aboard and feeling not so eco-friendly, you aren't alone. This is a new adventure to me and every effort will count. Don't beat yourself up if you haven't been eco-friendly, just turn to a new chapter and move forward with what you can do.