How Reusing Can Help Build Aidan's Playground

While at my daughter's soccer practice a few weeks ago, a mom I know told me about a friend of hers who was raising money to rebuild the young children's section of a local playground in memory of her nephew, Aidan Mallio. Aidan was a loving, happy and very active little boy who was lost in a drowning accident in July of 2012 while his father was in the hospital being treated for leukemia.  My heart was breaking for this family.  

My friend went on to explain that one of the big fundraisers was huge yard sale. Yard Sale, reuse, then use the money for something good!  Right up my alley!  I offered to help out.  So, if I've seemed a little quiet lately, this is why.

This yard sale idea has been chosen by O, The Oprah Magazine for their De-Clutter for a Cause Contest.  Yes Oprah!  Some of you may recall that my light bulb moment for going green happened as I was watching The Oprah Show on Earth Day!  


Along with O Magazine, Peter Walsh, professional organizer from TLC's Clean Sweep, will be hosting the huge yard sale event.    De-Clutter for a Cause: Aidan’s Playground with O, The Oprah Magazine and Peter Walsh is shaping up to be an awesome event - entertainment, raffles, an auction, food and of course loads of treasures for purchase.  

They have been gathering donations for the yard sale for weeks.  At the Town Wide yard sale a few weeks ago, we had a truck there to take away anything left at the end of the day that people didn't want to bring home.  You should have seen the looks on some people's faces - like they had won the lottery.  "Once it's out of my house, I don't want it back!" said one woman.  I hear ya!

WANTED: GENTLY USED ITEMS
May 18 9am - 2pm at Little Storage Solutions 509 Great Rd Littleton, MA.

Items Accepted: Books, DVDs, CDs, Household Items, Kids and Adult Clothes, Linens, Toys, Sporting Goods, Tools, Jewelry and Furniture - all in good, saleable condition

Items Not Accepted: Mattresses, Cribs, Couches, Large Electronics and Car Seats

It's been amazing to see how many people are lending a hand, donating items for sale, raffle prizes, auctions, storage units (from Little Storage Solutions), printing, you name it! 

There is a whole group of people doing what they can and love to raise money on their own.     In the spirit of bringing the community together, the Together We Build project has been launched.   From bake sales to business donations, the site asks people to “do the thing you love best to make a difference….. It couldn’t be easier. Do something you already love and be part of this community project. Whether you make $5, $25, or $50, it’s all important. We can do this together!”

Several restaurants have donated including Papa Gino's and Littleton Sub Shoppe & Pub.  Not Your Average Joe's in Acton, MA will be donating a portion of your meal every WEDNESDAY IN JUNE.


Also just added:

An Evening With Peter Walsh to Benefit Aidan's Playground

This intimate meet and greet event will take place on May 31 7:30 - 9:30 at Mangia Mangia Italian Grille in Westford, MA.  Tickets are $50 and can be purchased online.

To date, over $16,000 has been raised toward the $50,000 goal.  We are still accepting raffle and auction prizes.   If you would like to donate on behalf of yourself or your business, contact us:  castleinthetrees@hotmail.com

For more information on all of these events, check out the main website at Castle In The Trees and our Facebook page.

Hope to see you on June 1!

What I Learned About the Environment From Elementary School Students

Speaking with Kindergartners

Nestled in a neighborhood in the Burncoat section of Worcester, MA sits a special  Elementary school – Thorndyke Road School.  It looks like an old mansion from the outside with its large entrance and beautiful columns.  What was going on inside, was even more amazing.

Being that Earth Day was last week,  this Kindergarten through 6th grade school had a very special week planned!  They did some spring cleaning and learned how to clean with vinegar, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade students participated in an Environmentally themed Science Fair, and  they asked me to be a guest speaker for the day.  I was thrilled!

TRS had only recently started recycling at their school this year.  Through the efforts of one teacher, Stephanie Syre-Hager, and almost 50 5^th and 6^th grade students they have made huge strides in “greening” their school.    They are focused on recycling right now, but I have no doubts they will be doing much more very soon.  The 5^th and 6^th grade students volunteer to become Recycling Leaders and give up one lunch and recess per week to work on recycling in their school!   They broke into groups to work on different areas – there were Recycling Educators, Recycling Cheerleaders, Recycling Artists, Recycling Performers, Recycling Managers and the Celebration Planners.

Stephanie explains

Since the start of school, recycling leaders have been busy learning about recycling and coming up with ways to share information with the whole school.  The artists made posters, and they hung signs by the recycling bins to remind everyone which items should be recycled.  They also decorated an educational bulletin board.  Other groups have been working diligently too. The recycling educators are working on presenting ideas to teach younger children about recycling.  The cheerleaders presented a cheer on America Recycles Day, and the performers wrote and performed a play for several grade levels.  Our recycling managers have taken on the responsibility of distributing and emptying the bins on a weekly basis under the direction of a parent volunteer. We also had a recycled art contest around Thanksgiving. Finally, the Celebration Planners came up with ways to celebrate America Recycles Day on November 15th.  We had over 100 students take the Green Team Pledge with their families.

I had the pleasure of speaking with each of the Kindergarten through 6^th grade classes throughout the day.  They were amazing!  For only starting to recycle this year, they knew a tremendous amount about the environment.  We talked about why we recycle, what we can recycle and of course I showed them my TerraCycle bags.  Kids (and adults)  just love these!  They were all so fascinated by the fact that trash could be turned into such cool tote bags, lunch bags and more.

With each grade level I was amazed at what they knew.  As I was discussing why we want to recycle, I asked how paper was made, what it was made from, of course they all knew – Trees.  I went on to explain that recycling saves trees – for every ton of paper recycled 17 trees are spared.  TRS will probably save about 20 trees this year through recycling, which doesn't sound like much, but we did some quick math and realized that if every Massachusetts Public school recycled like TRS, we could save over 65,000 trees per year!  That made an impression, on me too!

Then I went on to ask why we want to save trees – I mentioned that trees take a long time to grow and that if we cut them all down for paper we might not have any left at some point and that would be ugly!  One third grade boy also told me that, “trees help us live by giving us oxygen”. Right on!!  A  4^th grade girl explained that trees are homes to small animals and where would they go if all the trees were gone?!  Another boy said “We wouldn't be able to build more homes” since they are also made of wood.  I was speechless!   Each classroom I entered surprised me more and more.  Happily!  They get it!  I told each classroom that they could help their parents and grandparents.  They thought it was funny that they could teach their parents.  But it's so true!  We didn't learn this in school like they are now.  

Speaking with the Recycling Leaders

Toward the end of the day, I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with the Recycling Leaders.  The enthusiasm, knowledge and dedication blew me away.  We talked about what steps they could take next – maybe introduce recycling in the cafeteria or start their own TerraCycle program.  I wasn't even going to mention composting because I thought it might be too much, well a 5^th grade girl asked what they’d have to do to compost the food scraps from the cafeteria!

The day ended with parents and students back at school looking at the Science Fair projects, announcing the winners and honoring the Recycling Leaders.   Many students I had spoken to during the day smiled, waved and said "Hi Mrs. Greene!" I am tearing up just thinking about it.  So cute!   I wish I could have written down all of their names because I have the feeling that I will be hearing their names in the future, doing great things.

The intent of having me there was to show them that other people are doing what they are and more.  To help encourage and inspire them to keep going.    Well, they are the ones that inspired me.  I truly left there more inspired and encouraged to go further myself.  

Thank you TRS! 

YoKids sMOOthies on the MOO-ve at the MS Walk

I am always looking for healthy snacks that my kids find tasty.  Not an easy task at times.  I recently had the opportunity to try out Stonyfield's new YoKids sMOOthies.  We are huge Stonyfield fans, so I jumped at the chance.

They were a big hit!  My kids love the taste!  I like that they are organic, made with real fruits and vegetables, and easy to transport.  

The kids and I signed up for a 5 mile walk to benefit Multiple Sclerosis in Newburyport, MA a couple of weeks ago.  A close family friend and my cousin were both diagnosed a few years ago.  We brought the smoothies for a little extra energy before we started the walk.  It was a COLD, windy day as you can see by the looks on my children's faces and we needed all the energy we could get!  Once we started walking, all was good and our team raised over $5,000!

Would you like to try YoKids smoothies?

Stonyfield is offering a chance for one lucky The Greening Of Westford reader to win:

• Coupons for (4) FREE 6-packs of YoKids Smoothies
• (1) deck of "52 Fun Things to do in the Car" cards

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Stonyfield gave me coupons for 4 FREE 6-packs of YoKids Smoothies and a deck of "52 Fun Things to do in the car" to review for this post.   All opinions are my own.