Summer Opportunities and our final meeting of the year

There are many opportunities in the summertime to spend your days outdoors with nature, including camping, hiking, swimming at lakes, etc. But you can also find workshops, classes and activities in the area related to the environment and nature by following the newspaper calendars and looking online.

I found a few opportunities that might be interesting to club members. The first is one that I've recommended before: taking advantage of the classes Eric Nicholas, Pleasanton City Naturalist, teaches at the Alviso Adobe Community Park off Foothill Road (see Volunteering at the Alviso Adobe for more information about the park where Eric Nicholas works). You can browse through the classes he's offering here and register for them online here, send in a registration form (located within the activities guide), or visit the Parks and Community Services Department downtown to sign up in person. My sister at one of Eric Nicholas's classes about Native American tools. She is carving her own design into sandstone. The bowl has crushed berries with olive oil, to be used as paint.

Another opportunity I came across is through Las Positas College Community Education. You may have received their summer course brochure in the mail, but if not you can view it online here. The class that I found particularly interesting is one entitled Eco-Living For Teens. Here is the course description:

Overview of current environmental challenges and sustainability principles as related to modern day living. Learn how to calculate and reduce your personal carbon footprint and examine how regular, day-to-day actions and choices affect the larger community and planet. Tips and resources that will help you make an impact in your own life and community and de-mystify the "great green hype." Students will be asked to calculate their current ecological footprint and bring the results to class. Survey takes less than 10 minutes. Please contact the office for survey address when you have registered for the class.

Thursday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
1 session on August 5, 2010
Tuition: $39.00
Instructor: Turner (not our Mrs. Turner)
Location: Las Positas College

It is a little expensive, but it looks like a neat opportunity to learn more about environmental living.

Hopefully you find these and other opportunities worth-while this summer. If you come across any other interesting opportunites, please email our club so we can forward them along to everyone (avhsenvironmental@yahoo.com).

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We had our last Environmental Club meeting of the 2009-2010 school year on Wednesday, June 2. It was my last Environmental Club meeting at Amador ever (see my mention of it in this recent blog post), and I'm sad that I will no longer be an officer of this wonderful, inspirational club. However, I'm excited for someone else to fill my role as secretary/publicist and for Liana and Patricia to continue to do excellent work for the environment and for Amador's environmental consciousness. I've enjoyed every minute working with the club, and I wish you all the best of luck in your lives as students, environmental activists, friends, and awesome people. I will try to visit you guys before I go to UC Santa Cruz in September, and I will definitely come to any events you have next year. I'll stay on your email list and Facebook page, so my presence will not completely disappear, and I'll update Liana and Patricia on any cool environmental things I'm doing next year, as well as pass along new green tips I learn. Thank you all for helping make my senior year an awesome, fulfilling experience!

Here are some pictures from our last meeting. Patricia had us play a fun game where we drew nature scenes on paper that was on top of our heads. Very funny!

Everyone drawing pictures on their heads!

The best drawing

Club member Taylor with her drawing

Taylor with her organic Amy's lunch.

Happy Almost-Summer!

Melissa
Green Gal

Bulletin Green Tips #8 and #9

I've been a little neglectful of our Environmental Club blog lately and never got around to posting Green Tips eight and nine. So here they are for archival purposes--and to remind you of them :)

Environmental Club Green Tip #8: Water conservation
Turn the water off when you're brushing your teeth and shampooing your hair. Be water conscious! Some facts from Water.org:
- 3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.
- 84% of water-related deaths are in children ages 0 – 14.
- 884 million people, lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people. (5)
- The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
- At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.

- Less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human use.
- An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.
- About a third of people without access to an improved water source live on less than $1 a day.
- Poor people living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.
- Without food a person can live for weeks, but without water you can expect to live only a few days.
- The daily requirement for sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs, as well as for assuring survival, is about 13.2 gallons per person.

Want to learn more about water issues and ways to help? Visit Water.org!

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Environmental Club Green Tip #9: Celebrate Earth Day!
The 40th Annual Earth Day was last Thursday, April 22. Though officially Earth Week is over, celebrate our beautiful home planet everyday by simply going outside and enjoying what nature has to offer. There are so many opportunities to spend time outdoors either hiking or helping the land through conservation projects; just look online or go hike the ridge on sunny Saturday mornings! You can volunteer or hike with a number of organizations including:

- Sierra Club

- Save Mt. Diablo

- Alviso Adobe Community Park (sign up for programs in the Current Activities Guide for Pleasanton or contact Heather Haugen Rizzoli at Pleasanton’s Museum On Main to register to volunteer. (925) 462-2766; volunteers@museumonmain.org)

- East Bay Regional Parks

These are just a few of the many local organizations that you can work with to spend more time helping our Earth.

National Agriculture Day: March 20, 2010, the First Day of Spring

From the AgDay website about why we should celebrate Agriculture Day:

"Agriculture provides almost everything we eat, use and wear on a daily basis. But too few people truly understand this contribution. This is particularly the case in our schools, where students may only be exposed to agriculture if they enroll in related vocational training.

By building awareness, the Agriculture Council of America is encouraging young people to consider career opportunities in agriculture.

Each American farmer feeds more than 144 people ... a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s. Quite simply, American agriculture is doing more - and doing it better. As the world population soars, there is an even greater demand for the food and fiber produced in the United States."

We owe the basis for our society's knowledge about agriculture to the first farmers of ancient civilizations who settled down and began experimenting with plant foods. See the below image of the major agricultural regions of the ancient world. Here is some more information.

For more information on the origins of agriculture, watch this video:

Happy First Day of Spring!

Agriculture Facts: Green Greek Goddess

This week is National Agriculture Week. Each day, we will post a new set of agriculture facts. We got these awesome facts from AgDay.org.


- "The name asparagus comes from the Greek language and means 'sprout' or 'shoot.'
- Asparagus is a member of the Lily family.
- Asparagus is related to onions, leeks, and garlic.
- One of the most popular varieties of green asparagus is named after Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington.
- California grows about 70% of all the asparagus grown in the United States.
- More than 50,000 tons of asparagus are grown in California every year."

From the Pleasanton Farmers' Market site:
"Spring heralds the arrival of much-anticipated California Delta asparagus. From the fertile soils of the San Joaquin Delta region, the farmers' market has tasty bundles of fresh green spears in a variety of sizes, from fat jumbo to pencil-thin spears. Asparagus is here for only a few months so pick it up now for a real taste of spring!

Asparagus Tips!
♦ When buying asparagus, select firm, bright green stalks with little or no white, and tight, dry tips.
♦ Choose asparagus spears that are about the same thickness so they will all cook evenly.
♦ Thick stalks or thin stalks? It’s a matter of taste.

Visit the California Asparagus Commission website for more information."

Understanding seasonality for fruits and vegetables is an important part of being a "green" consumer. Grocery stores don't really have seasons anymore because we import food from all over the world. Recognizing the value of eating in season is a part of living according to nature. Just go to the Farmers' Market to see what fruits and veggies are in season for your location's climate.

40th Anniversary of the First Earth Day—April 22, 2010

“Earth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment…It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year... The first Earth Day had participants and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the United States. More importantly, it ‘brought 20 million Americans out into the spring sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform.’
“Senator Nelson stated that Earth Day ‘worked’ because of the response at the grassroots level. Twenty-million demonstrators and thousands of schools and local communities participated. He directly credited the first Earth Day with persuading U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial, lasting constituency. Many important laws were passed by Congress in the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, wild lands and the ocean, and the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

“It is now observed in 175 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day Network, according to whom Earth Day is now ‘the largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than a half billion people every year.’ Environmental groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.” (Wikipedia)

More on the history of Earth Day can be found here.



Events taking place in honor of the 40th Earth Day:
Note: Most of the following information has been pasted directly from other sources in order to advertise these events, so we do not claim credit for writing the information about each one.

- Monday, April 12 (Not really part of Earth Week...part of Earth Month!)

Green Event - Reuse/Recycle at the Discovery Shop
Location: American Cancer Society Discovery Shop
1987 A Santa Rita Rd. Pleasanton
Hours: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
(925) 462-7374
The Discovery Shop is a thrift store/consignment store on Santa Rita (next to Filigree Cakes & Pastries). They are having a "green" event, likely due to the proximity to Earth Week. You never know what neat things you'll find there!


- Saturday, April 17

Livermore Earth Day Celebration
8:30 AM – 11:30 AM (Volunteer community clean up)
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Earth Day Celebration)
Location: Robertson Park, 3200 Robertson Park Road, Livermore.
The goal of this volunteer community clean up, non-profit event is to recognize, celebrate and promote the region’s unique beauty and to educate the public regarding how to conserve, preserve and protect our local and global resources. Free event.

Earth Day at Forest Home Farms
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Forest Home Farms, 19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd., San Ramon.
(between the Bollinger and Alcosta exits off the 680 freeway)
Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day while helping to spruce up Forest Home Farms Historic Park for spring! There'll be projects in the vegetable garden, the wildlife garden and around the farm. Bring your own gloves and garden tools. Refreshments will be provided.
This is a FREE, volunteer event perfect for scout groups and service clubs.

Earth Day Santa Cruz 2010
Once again the County of Santa Cruz, the City of Santa Cruz, Ecology Action, Save Our Shores, local non-profits, and concerned citizens are working together to make Earth Day 2010 the premier environmental event for the greater Santa Cruz community, with educational information, activities for kids, live music and a focus on green businesses. Come join us for this fun-filled celebration!
Earth Day 2010 will take place on 11am to 4pm rain or shine in the San Lorenzo Park and Benchlands behind the County building.
For more information on the event contact:
Amy Gross, Environmental Programs Coordinator; County of Santa Cruz, Dept. of Public Works
(831-477-3988) amy.gross@co.santa-cruz.ca.us

Earth Day Celebration/Restoration Work Day at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center
9am-11pm.
Location: Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary, 376 Greenwood Beach Road, Tiburon, CA 94920
Celebrate Earth Day by bringing your family and friends for a morning of restoration and clean-up at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary. We may be removing trash, invasive plants, helping with restoration projects, or improving trails. Appropriate for young children. Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Please bring a re-useable water bottle, wear appropriate clothing and close-toe shoes. FREE program. RSVP: 388-2524.


- Sunday, April 18

Earth Day Celebration at the Headlands Institute
11am-4pm.
Location: 1033 Fort Cronkhite, Sausalito, CA 94965
Join us to learn new ways that you and your family can be environmental stewards!
- Enjoy naturalist-led hikes across the coastal hills.
- Take part in stewardship projects to support the park’s natural environment.
- Create your own Earth Day-inspired arts and crafts.
- A healthy snack will be provided. Please bring your own water bottles.
FREE, drop-in program; Registration appreciated, but not required: http://www.naturebridge.org/headlands/family-programs-registration


- Wednesday, April 21

AVHS Environmental Club presents Flow
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Location: AVHS multipurpose room
Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.
Free admission; popcorn, cookies and water will be sold.


- Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day!)

Pleasanton’s Museum On Main Street's "Sustainability: Then and Now" Lecture
Lecture begins at 7 p.m.
Location: Lynnewood United Methodist Church, 4444 Black Avenue, Pleasanton
The Museum On Main Street Ed Kinney Lecture Series presents "Sustainability: Then and Now" to celebrate Earth Day with Alviso Adobe Naturalist Eric Nichols, and Maria Lara, from the Office of Pleasanton's city manager, in a discussion of native, historical and current sustainability efforts. Admission is $5 members and seniors, $10 non-members, and $3 students and teachers with ID. Reservations are suggested; however, tickets may be purchased at the door.
For reservations and information call the museum on (925) 462-2766. The museum is located at 603 Main Street, Pleasanton. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Visit http://www.museumonmain.org/.

Bay Area Discovery Museum Earth Day celebration
Day-long event
Location: Bay Area Discovery Museum at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area at E. Fort Baker, 557 McReynolds Road, Sausalito 94965
Nature-themed art projects and walks, conservation-based workshops, environmental guest scientists and plenty more help teach children the importance of the environment at the annual Earth Week Celebration. Adults: $10. Children & seniors: $8. Under 1 year old is free.
More information: http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/


- Friday, April 23

Mohr Garden Work Day
Amador students will be field-tripped over to Mohr at lunchtime to visit with the kids and do some gardening. Details to be announced.


- Saturday, April 24

AVHS Jefferson Club’s “Environment Day”
10:30 AM
Location: Pleasanton Sports Park
Everyone is riding their bike there and the time spent cleaning up the park and picking up trash does count for graduation hours for you seniors who will still need hours by that point.
Talk to Mr. McCafferty (Jefferson Club advisor) for more information: mmccafferty@pleasanton.k12.ca.us

AVHS Leadership Environmental Commission Del Valle Cleanup
Location: Del Valle Reservoir.
(More information coming soon.)

Berkeley Earth Day
12 PM – 5 PM
Location: Civic Center Park, MLK & Allston in downtown Berkeley (near Berkeley BART)
Here's a tentative schedule of the day:
- Kid's Eco-art making area coordinated by the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse
- Over 150 booths representing businesses, craftspeople, community organizations, food vendors and government groups
- Demonstrations of alternative energy including electric cars, straw bale structures, hemp products, solar panels
- Berkeley Farmer's Market with mostly organic farmers

Night Hike with the Naturalist at Bernal Creek
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
All ages
Join the City Naturalist for an enchanting night hike as he introduces you to the trails and parks that make Pleasanton such a great place to live and explore. Learn about local wildlife, plants, habitats, tracking and much more. Dress with weather in mind. Children under the age of 15 must be accompanied by an adult during the entire hike.
1 class $8.00Resident/$11.00Non-Resident
Activity code: 48072
More information: http://www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us/pdf/AG-winterspring2009.pdf


- Ongoing activities

Garden chores volunteering at the Alviso Adobe.
January 2, 2010 – December 18, 2010. Times: 10:00 – 11:00 AM.
Location: Alviso Adobe Community Park
Call to schedule a time to volunteer: 925-931-3483
Free; open to all ages. Come up to the Alviso Adobe Community Park and lend a helping hand. It’s a new park, with new plants, and that means new chores. Be a steward of the land as we plant, water and weed the garden. Native plants help native animals find food and shelter, so stop by and sift the soil through your fingers . . . it’ll be good for your soul.

Welcome to Fresh Air, Biggest Noob Ever.

I hiked the ridge today, for the first time, might I add. I think with being environmental friendly comes being more friendly to my body as well. I am so used to dancing in an inside, air-conditioned, away-from-nature studio. This hike was a much needed welcome back into the natural world, and a great form of alternate exercise. Don't get me wrong, it was tough: I huffed, and puffed, and fell down many times. Yet, there is definitely something to be said for being outside, breathing in the surroundings and fresh air, everything seems so much more interconnected and meaningful, but I don't mean to sound cliche and dramatic. The trees surrounding the trails give off oxygen which takes a journey through my lungs, so I am able to keep going and enjoy the beauty of the trees; it's a beautiful circle that I now know I should take advantage of more often. It's nice to step away from my hectic life and cherish the peace hiking and nature bring. It has also inspired me to go back, and perhaps, take my camera to document the beauty and serenity.

adios. Taylor

This was originally posted at Confessions of an Environmental Noob on February 28, 2010.

HELP! Garden Project Needs Your Helping Hands - Let's Get Muddy!

A message from Science Specialist Mikki Conley at Mohr Elementary School:

Our top soil has arrived and we need some help getting it from the parking lot to the garden areas. If you can help out we will be working from 9:30 - 12:00 (12:30 if needed) on this coming Saturday, Feb 6th. Please bring a shovel, rake and a wheel barrow if you have one (we only have 2). Some volunteers have offered fertilizer which would be great to have on Sat. as well. If anyone has a small rototiller we could fire that up as well and get as much done as possible.
I am also looking for an expert on a drip irrigation system. It is currently in place but many pieces of the line are broken or missing. If you have special knowledge of this type of system and can help we would love to hear from you.....Thanks to those that offered more help on our last work day. I hope many of you can make it this coming Sat. Sorry for the last minute notice but we had to make sure the soil was in fact being delivered this week.

We hope to see you on Saturday!

Volunteering at the Alviso Adobe

If you've never been to the Alviso Adobe Community Park, you're missing out on a real nature opportunity! Located on the site of the old Meadowlark Dairy (where the actual dairy itself was located, not the drive-thru) and the restored Alviso Adobe building, this interpretive nature center is run by the City of Pleasanton's naturalist, Eric Nicholas. For more information about the park, visit the website here.

Eric Nicholas puts on day classes and presentations throughout the year, as well as present to elementary schools about the Ohlone Indians and the natural world. Most events at the Alviso cost money, somewhere around $10 each depending on the event. They're interesting and full of information about nature and history.

To find out more about activities offered at the park, check out the Winter/Spring 2010 Activities Guide. You should have receieved a copy in the mail, but if not, there's a digital copy found here. Hit Ctrl + F to search "Eric Nicholas." You can search through the classes he offers. Two that I am attending are "Prehistoric Art" on February 20 and "Tools from the Ancient World" on March 27. There's a registration page at the end of the guide that you can print, fill out and turn in with your fee to the Parks and Rec department. Additional information can be found in the guide. While many of the opportunities at the park cost money, there's one that certainly doesn't: volunteering! There's always opportunities to garden or help Eric with something for a class, etc. For example:

Garden Chores
All ages
Come up to the Alviso Adobe Community Park and lend a helping hand. It’s a new park, with new plants, and that means new chores. Be a steward of the land as we plant, water and weed the garden. Native plants help native animals find food and shelter, so stop by and sift the soil through your fingers . . . it’ll be good for your soul. Please call (925) 931-3483 to book a time to volunteer.
Saturdays Weekly, Year-round 10:00-11:00am Free!
Alviso Adobe Community Park Instructor: Eric Nicholas

And if you need service hours or want to help in other ways, you can email volunteers@museumonmain.org and let them know you're interested in helping out at the Alviso Adobe.

I was thinking it would be a great club project to plan a Saturday to go up there and volunteer in the garden. I will arrange with Eric when that would be best. Please email me if you're interested in attending so I can let him know how many people to plan for. Also let me know which Saturdays in the coming weeks you would not be able to attend. We would be volunteering from 10-11 A.M.

For more about the park and its events, check out these links:

- Alviso Adobe Community Park (Wikipedia)

- Autumn leaves and graveyard stories (a post from my blog in which I mention an activity I participated in at the park)

- Native plant uses class (a detailed account of a class I attended at the park)

- Observing Ridge Runners (a post about the summer camp Eric Nicholas runs and for which I wrote an article)

A historic dairy display inside the recreated dairy building.

A nature display of skins and tools that may be used during a presentation about the Ohlone Indians.

A feather and ink calligraphy activity at the grand opening of the Alviso Adobe Community Park on October 24, 2008. (Pictured on right: Kelsey, an 8th grader at HPMS. She will probably join E-Club next year as a freshman. Check out her animal blog here.)

Mohr Garden Project Work Day 1 - Pulling up old plants

At 9:30 this morning, students, parents and a creative science teacher gathered at a local elementary school to begin the process of getting some planter areas ready for a new garden. Task #1: Remove the old plants that have been there for many years.

One of the Environmental Club Co-Presidents (left), a club member, and a student obtaining her service hours working on the section of garden that will become a drought-resistant/native plant garden.

Today, we focused on three areas that will be converted into different types of gardens. The new garden club will be designing and maintaining the gardens with the help of adult volunteers and our club.

This area will become a flower garden.

The day was spent digging out and pulling up the old plants, searching for hidden roots, and saving worms, ladybugs and frogs that were disturbed by our activites. Most worms and ladybugs went into other areas that weren't going to be eradicated, but some worms found themselves in front of Betty, the science class turtle. Frogs were brought to quiet areas on the other side of the building.

The Environmental Club Secretary separating branches from dirt after all the plants had been pulled out.

Fortunately there was a great turn out; many high school students helped out to acquire their service hours necessary to graduate, and lots of parents showed up with their children, helping get some of the larger bushes and stubborn plants out. It was a very productive day, but there is still a lot that needs to be done before planting can begin.

A club member, a high-school student, and our other Co-President working to pull out a stubborn plant.

This area will become an edible vegetable garden.

The drought-resistant/native plant area free of bushes.Thanks to all the club members who came to help out!