Author: Angie York
Major Program: Environmental Sustainability & Responsibility
Generated waste must be managed through reuse, recycling, storage, treatment, and/or disposal. In an effort to minimize the amount of waste put into landfills from home remodeling and redecoration, a lesson was taught to Homemakers in the nine Pennyrile Area counties addressing the issues of using sustainable materials, implementing a more environmentally friendly lifestyle as it relates to home décor, and sharing ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle while decorating the home. O
Author: Faye Kuosman
There has been a movement to “go green” in more ways than one in our society, and there has been a particular interest for citizens of Woodford County, Kentucky after the local recycling center announced that there would be certain limitations on the items they would be accepting. To help to educate the community on recycling as well as other green living areas, the Woodford County Extension Agent for Horticulture and the Woodford County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Scienc
Author: Tiffany Bolinger
It can take many modern textiles months to decades to decompose in a landfill once thrown away. Not only does this increase the mounds of waste discarded everyday but it also hurts our environment through the breakdown of dyes and gasses. One way to help lower this negative textile impact is through upcycling. Upcycling is taking a product that is no longer useful and converting it into a new product or material.Christian County’s Master Clothing Volunteer (MCV) organized several work days
Author: Carmen Agouridis
As part of their capstone and volunteer requirements with the Kentucky Master Naturalist Program (KYMN), trainees Angela Durbin Page and Tank Percentie lead the design and installation of a natural play space at the Louisville Nature Center. Ms. Page is the Advanced Ecology teacher at Make High School and Ms. Percentie is the Education Coordinator at the Louisville Nature Center. Under the guidance of Page and Percentie, the students design and constructed the play space. The space has many stat
Author: Audrey Myers
Zero Waste is the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning, and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health. There are five ways we can all make a difference in regards to waste, refusing what we don’t need, reducing what we do need, reusing things we have, recycling what we can and composing the rest. There are also many ze
Author: Matti Coffey
According to the University of California, Santa Barbara, 40 percent of plastic produced is made for packaging and is used just once then threw away. Other statistics from BYU- Idaho shows that if every subscriber for the single run of the Sunday New York Times would recycle, it would save 75,000 trees. Little differences can make a big difference in our planet’s livelihood. Educating our local citizens about our impact on the planet is how we can make a big difference.The Whitley County C
Author: Chadwick Conway
The Knott County Creeks and Streams Committee was established over 15 years ago to help with ecology education and outreach across Knott County, since its inception the Knott County Extension Agents have been heavily involved in supporting the committee and its endeavors.This fall during the National Recycling Week, the Knott County Creeks and Streams Committee sponsored a recycling challenge for all fourth-grade classrooms across the Knott County School System. The Committee partnered wit
Author: Lorilee Kunze
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
Author: Katherine Jury
There are many reasons that an individual may choose to feed birds. Feeding birds can be a fascinating educational activity for all ages. By changing feeder styles and food types individuals can learn more about the local avifauna and how birds change season by season. For many older adults, these “outdoor pets” can be very enjoyable, without the extra costs of extensive veterinary care, housing and training that more traditional pets will require. Also, while feedi
Author: Raymond Cox
Findings from the PRIDE campaign indicated students in Harlan County were unaware of the effects of pollution on the environment and ways of correcting the problem. Upon the recommendation of the 4-H and Extension Councils, the one day program with a couple of schools turned into a three day Environmental Camp targeting every 4th grader in Harlan County public and private schools. With the cooperation of the UK College of Agriculture-Forestry, Department of Water Quality, Kentucky Division of Fo
