Amanda, Maija and Tim Brandish find litter to collect and bag. Photo: Tyra Damm

By Tyra Damm

Have you noticed that Frisco looks a little cleaner, a little greener this week? You can thank the hundreds of volunteers who spread out across the city Saturday to “Clean It & Green It.”

If you were out and about Saturday morning, you couldn’t miss the green-shirted folks with their eyes to the ground, looking for litter to bag. About 1,700 residents registered with the city for the annual beautification project.

The Brandish family – dad Tim, mom Amanda, 5-year-old daughter Maija – gave up their usual Saturday morning routine around the house and yard to clean up fields near their Hunters Creek neighborhood.

They were part of a team organized by Carolyn Lis, who pulled together members of Cub Scout Pack 142 and Hunters Creek neighbors. Those volunteers gathered at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the Isbell Elementary School parking lot to pick up assignments, supplies and safety tips.

Carolyn warned everyone of the dangers of critters, especially snakes, under older debris; poison oak and poison ivy; ant mounds and broken glass. She armed the folks – who seemed not a bit intimidated by the wilds of suburban life – with gloves, garbage bags for trash and recycling, and neon green T-shirts.

Volunteers received neon green T-shirts to commemorate Clean It & Green It and the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Photo: Tyra Damm

“We’re a pretty clean neighborhood,” she said. “You might be fighting each other for trash.”

The Brandishes accepted their assignment – fields by West Rowlett Creek, just south of Rolater Road and east of Independence Parkway. They walked almost a mile to get there, stopping periodically to pick up debris, which Maija was eager to point out and equally eager to pick up.

“We’ve been doing everything we can to make the community better and to keep the Earth clean and natural,” Tim said on the way.

Carolyn was right – the neighborhood was pretty clean. But down by the creek itself, where tall grasses and reeds and weeds grow, there was plenty of trash. If you couldn’t see it, you could hear it crunch underfoot.

An empty soda bottle. Grocery bags. A blue lid to a giant plastic bin. Someone’s discarded dinner. Bits of Styrofoam.

“Why do people throw trash in the creek and then other people have to pick it up?” kindergartener Maija asked as she watched her daddy gingerly walk down a steep embankment to reach even more litter.

Maija’s attitude toward litter bugs is exactly what city officials are counting on.

“It’s teaching the children to respect their environment and show community pride,” said Pippa Couvillion, Frisco’s Environmental Services Manager.

The majority of the “Clean It & Green It” volunteers come through the Frisco Independent School District. Each campus has a green team, and those teams pull in huge numbers of students and parents who are willing to pick up the trash others have left behind.

They are rewarded for their work.

All volunteers were invited to a celebration later that morning at IKEA, which was also the site of the city’s quarterly “Chunk Your Junk” event. (About 650 cars passed through various stations collecting paper, hazardous waste, appliances, books and more.)

At the celebration, volunteers dined on a hot dog lunch, mingled with fellow trash busters and waited to win Earth-friendly raffle prizes. Children were free to explore the bounce houses and Frisco fire truck on site and pose for photos with Rufus, the renowned recycling dog.

Megan Wampold, a third-grader at Bledsoe Elementary, was part of the festive crowd, though it was hard to tear her away from her litter assignment.

“I didn’t want to stop,” the 9-year-old said. “I like to save the Earth.”

Myles Keyes, a fourth-grader at Allen Elementary, and his mom Sandra joined the celebration after cleaning land near their neighborhood. Photo: Tyra Damm

Sandra Keyes participated at her son’s urging.

“It’s something he wanted to do,” she said of her Allen Elementary fourth-grader, Myles. “For him to think about that without me encouraging him is great.”

They spent the morning braving muddy conditions to clean up fields around Legacy Drive and Cotton Gin Road.

There has been a citywide clean-up in Frisco since 1989, and it gets bigger every year – not surprising given Frisco’s off-the-charts growth and strong sense of community responsibility.

The volunteers’ work helps more than the city’s image, says Jeremy Starritt, Frisco’s Environmental Education Coordinator. When folks pick up trash, they are saving our groundwater from additional pollutants and saving the lives of small animals that can choke on debris.

They are also saving the city and its residents money, Pippa says. “It costs money, taxpayer money, to pick up litter.” When volunteers fan out and do the work, that adds up to huge savings.

Tami Johnson and her 6-year-old daughter Lexi are veterans of the event. This year they picked up trash near Warren Parkway and Preston Road.

“It’s an easy way to help kids serve,” said Tami, whose family has been helping clean Frisco for the past five years. “It helps the kids stay aware. People have to pick up when you litter.”

After picking up litter around the city, volunteers gathered at IKEA for a hot dog lunch. Photo: Tyra Damm

(L to R) Mary Valentine, President, Frisco Education Foundation (FEF); Allison Miller, Director, FEF; Raven Carey, 4th grader, Artwork Contest Winner; Pippa Couvillion, Environmental Services Manager; Bill Hayes, board member, FEF; Connie Yates, Public Affairs Director, Tom Thumb; Jeremy Starritt, Environmental Education Coordinator. Photo: City of Frisco

Fourth grader Raven Carey, of Frisco, is the winner of the Reusable Bag Artwork Contest, sponsored by City of Frisco Environmental Services. Carey was honored April 22 at the Frisco Tom Thumb, where his winning design and reusable bags featuring his artwork were unveiled to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

The new reusable bags, which sell for 99 cents each, are available at the Frisco Tom Thumb, 4848 Preston Road. All proceeds from bag sales, along with a $500 donation from Tom Thumb, benefit the Frisco Education Foundation. Proceeds will support a Tom Thumb & City of Frisco Environmental Services scholarship to be awarded to select FISD seniors who plan to pursue a degree in Environmental Science(s).

The City of Frisco’s Environmental Services Division and the Frisco Tom Thumb will announce the student winner of the Reusable Bag Artwork Contest on Thursday, April 22.

Beginning that day, the winning artwork will be featured on reusable bags available for sale at the Frisco Tom Thumb, 4848 Preston Road.

“This is a great way for folks to show their environmental pride every time they visit the store,” said Jeremy Starritt, Environmental Education Coordinator. “We appreciate Tom Thumb’s support on this project, which we believe is a great way to mark the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day.”

More than 75 students submitted artwork for the citywide contest which ended March 12.  Entries were judged on originality, simplicity, legibility and creativity. To see artwork from the five finalists, check out our story.

The winning artwork will appear on reusable shopping bags available for sale at Tom Thumb in Frisco. The new reusable bags will be sold for .99 cents each.  All proceeds from bag sales, along with a $500 donation from Tom Thumb, will benefit the Frisco Education Foundation and be used to create an environmental scholarship for a FISD high school senior.

“Tom Thumb is honored to partner with the City of Frisco Environmental Services for this Frisco Earth Day event,” said Connie Yates, Public Affairs Director for Tom Thumb.  “This partnership has provided an opportunity to recognize young artistic talent while educating our great community to be partners with us in maintaining a greener environment.”

Each participant in this weekend’s ‘Clean It and Green It’ and ‘Chunk Your Junk’ events will receive one, new reusable bag.  Both events will be held simultaneously this Saturday, April 24 from 8 a.m. – noon, in the IKEA parking lot.  For more event information, go to the story.

Image: earthday.org

Earth Day turns 40 on April 22. Frisco residents will be part of a celebration that has grown from local activism in most major U.S. cities to an event shared by hundreds of millions of concerned citizens around the globe.

In 1969, Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat from Wisconsin, developed the idea for Earth Day. Nelson envisioned a large-scale demonstration “to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda.”

Nelson unveiled the concept at a conference in Seattle in the fall of 1969.  On April 22, 1970, rallies were held in most major American cities.

In New York City, Mayor John Lindsay closed off a portion of Fifth Avenue to traffic for several hours. In Washington, D.C., thousands of people listened to speeches and performances by singer Pete Seeger and others. Congress recessed to allow members to address their constituents at Earth Day events.

In the 40 years since, Earth Day celebrations have continued to grow. In 1990, the event went worldwide, with 200 million people in over 140 nations participating, according to the Earth Day Network, a nonprofit organization that coordinates Earth Day activities. This year, the EDN expects more than one billion people to participate around the world.

In Frisco, the big Earth Day event is Saturday’s “Clean It & Green It,” the annual city-wide cleanup event at the IKEA parking lot, 7171 IKEA Dr. This year, CI&GI will be held in conjunction with the spring “Chunk Your Junk.”

Here’s the schedule for the day:

Registration/Check-In: 8:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.
Citywide Cleanup: 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Earth Day Celebration: 11:15 a.m.

For more information, and to find out how you can get involved, click here.

By Harriet Blake
Frisco Green Living

Along with Earth Day, EPA celebrates its 40th anniversary this month.

Although the environment has not been a priority for every administration, the EPA has brought about many positive accomplishments in its four decades (which the agency has charted on a timeline.)

The Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act of 1970 (which has been amended several times) was the first national action to set standards for air pollution in an effort to keep Americans healthy; it provided for enforceable regulations on industry and vehicles to reduce air pollution.

In its first 20 years, the EPA estimates that the Clean Air Act prevented:

• 205,000 premature death;
• 672,000 cases of chronic bronchitis;
• 21,000 cases of heart disease;
• 843,000 asthma attacks;
• 189,000 cardiovascular hospitalizations;
• 10.4 million lost IQ points in children (from lead reductions);
• 18 million child respiratory illnesses.

During the next 20 years, amendments to the Clean Air Act are estimated to have prevented:

• 23,000 premature deaths;
• 20,000 caes of chronic bronchitis;
• 7,200 cases of chronic asthma;
• 4,800 children’s ER visits for asthma;
• 64,000 cardiovascular hospitalizations;
• 4.1 million lost work days;
• 12 million restricted activity days due to poor air quality.

Water Quality

The 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, setting up similar standards for controlling the pollution of surface waters in the U.S.

Progress has been made. In 2008, 92 percent of the population served by community water systems received water that met all health-based standards, up from 79 percent in 1993, said EPA spokeswoman Latisha Petteway.

From 1950 to 2005, the U.S. population doubled while the demand place on our public water supply more than tripled, prompting a new approach by the EPA to foster water conservation.

WaterSense, a water-efficiency program launched by EPA in 2006, has given Americans the information they need to make smart choices by helping them save 9.3 billion gallons of water and 1 billion kWh annually through the use of WaterSense-labeled products, Petteway said. In 2008, she says, the program helped consumers save more than $55 million on their water and sewer bills.

Superfund Sites

The EPA sees the clean up of toxic waste sites as another of its major accomplishments.  By 2009, 1,080 of the more than 1,500 waste sites identified on the Superfund National Priority List — areas that had known or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants — had been cleaned up. In addition, 409 of the sites on the National Priority List have long term protections in place for anticipated reuse.

EPA has been joined by states in protecting the country’s groundwater from leaking underground storage tanks. Petteway says that even a small amount of petroleum released from an underground storage tank can contaminate groundwater – which is the drinking water source for almost half of the population. As of September 2009, she says, EPA and its partners have closed more than 1.7 million substandard USTs, cleaned up more than 388,000 releases and decreased the annual number of UST releases from 67,000 in 1990 to a little over 7,100 in 2009.

Natural Resources and Recycling

In regard to the country’s natural resources, the U.S. has increased its forestland and reduced its soil erosion rates. Petteway says that the U.S. averaged an annual gain in net forest area of 159,000 hectares per year between 2000 and 2005. The agency estimates that soil erosion rates have decreased by 43 percent between 1982 and 2003.

While much of the credit should go to the individual communities, the EPA reports that families and business have increased recycling rates from less than 10 percent in 1980 to more than 33 percent in 2008. Landfill disposals have decreased from 89 percent in 1980 to 54 percent in 2008, according to the EPA, which has supported and promoted these efforts.

Petteway says that as a country, Americans have recycled and composted 83 million tons of household trash and municipal solid waste resulting in a savings of 182 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. This is comparable to reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions from more than 33 million cars and trucks.

Similarly, EPA’s achievements with brownfields – properties whose reuse, expansion or redevelopment is complicated by the presence of hazardous substances – can be partly attributed to the communities where the brownfields are located. But the EPA provided the training and created jobs to support brownfield redevelopment.

The EPA’s Brownfields Job Training Program trained more than 5,200 people from 1998-2009, helping them land fulltime work in the environmental field with average wages of $14.26, Petteway said.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

The City of Frisco Environmental Services Division names five finalists in its Reusable Bag Artwork Contest. More than 75 students submitted artwork for the contest which ended March 12.

Entries were judged on originality, simplicity, legibility and creativity. The winning design will be announced on Thursday, April 22, which marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The winning artwork will appear on reusable shopping bags available for sale at Tom Thumb in Frisco. All proceeds from bag sales, along with a $500 donation from Tom Thumb, will benefit the Frisco Education Foundation and be used to create an environmental scholarship for a FISD high school senior.

Here are the finalists:

• Amanda, 3rd grade
• Phillip, 4th grade
• Machaela, 5th grade
• Tristyn, 5th grade
• Raven, 4th grade