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Service Events
Relevant effective practices for: Earth Day
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Click  next to each title below to view the abstract.
Click on a title link to read the effective practice in full.
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Cleaning up a creek bed for Earth Day
For people who work 9-5 jobs, it might not be that easy to attend an Earth Day event. At a small nonprofit in Scotts Valley, California, one of the staff members organized an Earth Day project that could be implemented during the lunch hour. Fifteen staff members cleaned up garbage in and around nearby Carbonero Creek. Approximately 250 pounds of trash were removed with this effort.
Read more.
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Recycling computers at an Earth Day event
People often don't know where to take their used or outdated computer equipment for recycling. AmeriCorps*VISTA members, serving with Teaming for Technology as part of the Philadelphia Digital Divide Network (PDDN) coordinated a computer recycling event to correspond with Earth Day 2002. Morgan Riffer with Teaming for Technology submitted this effective practice in May 2002.
Read more.
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Learning about the environment and building birdhouses on Earth Day
Corresponding with Earth Day, 2002, four AmeriCorps members from Habitat for Humanity, New York City held their community service project in Fort Tryon Park in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. The members partnered with approximately 30 sixth grade students and four AmeriCorps members from the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) to build birdhouses and learn about the environment through a nature walk in the park. Rebecca C. Hines, Program Manager of Habitat for Humanity, AmeriCorps, submitted this effective practice in April 2002.
Read more.
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Coordinating senior volunteers to offer a watershed learning event for elementary students
For Earth Day 2001, RSVP of the Capital Region of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, partnered with several governmental and non-profit agencies to hold a "Water Snapshot" at a nature center to correspond with other environmental activities across the state. Learning stations were set up to illustrate the link between watersheds and the activities within them to water quality. There were seven stations where a total of 80 students learned about macroinvertebrates, water flow, stream bank erosion, habitat assessment, various water testing techniques, and created a field sketchbook. Carol Orman, RSVP of the Capital Region, submitted this effective practice in April 2002. Read more.
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Establishing an outdoor-based mentoring program
Trekkers, Inc. is an outdoor-based mentoring program for youth in St. George, Thomaston and Cushing, Maine. By taking the traditional mentoring idea outdoors, Trekkers is able to connect caring adults with youth through travel, community service, and adventure-based education. The outdoor setting provides a neutral place for the mentor and mentee to have a shared experience and build an appreciation of the earth as "educator." This effective practice was shared by Nancy Anderson with Maine Interfaith Mentoring, at the AmeriCorps*VISTA Faith-Based and Community Organization Conference at the University of Indianapolis, August 20-22, 2001. Read more.
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Developing community gardening spaces for low-income families
In conjunction with Earth Day 2002, AmeriCorps team members in Lincoln, Nebraska coordinated efforts involving youth in the development of community gardening space. Making the most of donated land, AmeriCorps members with the Lincoln Action Program collaborated with other service organizations to transform unused parcels of land into a series of seventy-six 8'x8' gardens in which low-income families will be able to grow produce. Greg Donovan, Program Director of AmeriCorps Child and Family Support Team in Lincoln, Nebraska, submitted this effective practice in April 2002. Read more.
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Holding a poetry contest to educate youth about watershed ecology
Each year, in affiliation with the Library of Congress Center for the Book,
River of Words conducts a free international poetry and art contest for youth on the
theme of watersheds. Children in kindergarten through twelfth grade are invited to
explore their own local watershed, and its importance in their lives, by writing a
poem or producing a work of art on this theme. A book of the contest's winning
entries, River of Words: The Natural World as Viewed by Young People, is published annually, and the winners are announced at a national event held in Washington, D.C. This effective practice excerpts materials from, "A Personal History of River of Words," by Pamela Michael, one of the originators of the River of Words poetry contest. Read more.
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