Author: Sherri Broderick
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
The Gallatin County Extension Homemakers Environmental Project started off as a project for Extension Homemakers to collect and recycle plastic lids and caps into a park bench. Over the last two years this projects has transformed and grew from a small environmental project into an entire communitywide involved project. Students for Gallatin County Schools have become instrumental in the Homemaker Environmental Project. Members of the Community Cats Club, a club for 1st and 2nd grade studen
Author: Carmen Agouridis
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
Did you know that Kentucky is only one of five states without a Master Naturalist program? Well, that is about to change. Pulling together experts from UK’s Colleges of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, Arts & Sciences, and Public Health along with Kentucky State University and the Kentucky Geological Survey to for a core team, we are building the Kentucky Master Natural (KYMN) program. The goal of the program is to develop a community of well-informed citizen-volunteers to advance e
Author: Jennifer Bridge
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
In 1989, the county landfill had reached capacity and local waste was being transported to Louisville for disposal at a significant cost to the county. In an effort to reduce cost and volume, a local extension homemaker club worked with the County Solid Waste Department to pilot a curbside recycling pickup in their community. Their efforts were successful and quickly expanded into the first permanent county recycling facility in Kentucky. Since then the program has expanded wi
Author: Paul Andrew Rideout
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
Henderson Extension Office Plays Important Role with Curbside Recycling ProgramRecycling is an important part of government service but often, it comes at a cost. Many municipalities incur expenses above the income produced from sale of collected recycled products. Henderson County recycling program has struggled from its inception with financial feasibility of keeping curbside recycling service. Costs are anticipated to double in 2018 and several local officials were consideri
Author: Eugenia Wilson
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
Boyd County Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Advisory Council has been identifying issues that affect county residents while considering programs that will make a long term impact in the future. Boyd County Cooperative Extension Service partners with the local Public Library that has an active member on the FCS Advisory Council. In a time where we have many natural disasters and many people going hungry or homeless, our thoughts focus on what we are we
Author: Christy Ramey
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
This year the SOKY Earth Day Fair teamed up with the Cherry Blossom Festival to offer the public a combined event that would bring vendors and artists together on the square in Franklin. The events were planned to give southern Kentucky residents a total package of experiences that could not only provide valuable information about how to preserve ad protect our environment, but also enjoy the talents of artists who create and those who are musically gifted. The event, which was co-ch
Author: Jennifer Hubbard-Sanchez
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, over the last fifty years, the per person average of solid waste generated each day in the United States increased from 2.7 lbs. to 4.4 pounds. In Franklin County, Kentucky, we send an average of over 7,000 tons annually to the landfill. The county currently maintains a 22% landfill diversion rate, or the amount of the total waste stream that is recycled or composted rather than landfilled, with a goal of reaching 50% in the coming yea
Author: Lorilee Kunze
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
According to the NIH (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Kentucky has the third highest drug overdose mortality rate in the nation. Additionally, NIH states that since 1999 drug overdose deaths in Kentucky have quadrupled (2013). Drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation is essential to Kentucky. The SAP (Substance Abuse Program) at the Bullitt County Detention Center is one of the resources in Bullitt County working towards this goal. Partnering with the SAP program, Bullitt County Extension has