Local Happenings
By: Jenifer Harris, Recycling Coordinator for Washington County


Recycling Education workshop to take place in March! 
The Recycling Coalition of Utah–Southern Chapter (RCU-SC) hosted the Third Annual Recycling Summit this past December 10, 2009. In attendance were persons representing different components to recycling:, Processors and Brokers, Curbside Businesses, County and City representatives, Home Builders, Landfills, National and State Parks Service and residents wanting to do more to expand recycling options. 

All in attendance were asked what issues should be addressed in regards to recycling throughout the state and especially southern Utah. The number one focus was recycling education and marketing. The Southern Chapter appreciated the feedback. In response, there will be an Education Workshop this March 18th in combination with the Recycling Coalition of Utah’s Spring Conference. 

The workshop will be held in Springdale in their Community Center on Lion’s Blvd by the Town Offices. You are needed at this workshop. The RCU-SC will be looking to you to help develop strategies to educate residents, business, and government officials. Your input, thoughts, energy and challenges in your own will allow the right to be asked and allow us to answer them collaboratively. 
Be a part of the solution! 

Location: 
Springdale CommunityCenter 

1:00pm – 2:30pm 
First Workshop: Introduction/ Goal Setting 
RCU-SC welcome 
Susan Hayward and RCU Education Committee 
3:00-5:00pm 
Second Workshop: (3 Breakout sessions to choose from) 
Design an outline for… 
Educating Public 
Educating Business 
Educating Government 

To R.S.V.P. for the Education Workshop, please contact JeniferHarris 
@ (435) 673-2813 or wcsw4@hi-speed.us 
To register for the RCU Spring Conference, go to www.utahrecycles.org 

Valentine’s Day Eco Gifts 
Green is the New Pink for this Valentine’s Day… 
Crown Your Eco Queen 
Still chilly in your neck of the woods? Crown your favorite queen with the chic cashmere cap by legendary eco couture designer Deborah Lindquist. This adorable, super soft hat is made in the USA from 100% recycled cashmere sweaters to keep those regal ladies in your life super toasty. And you know what’s even better than a cute couture hat that’s sustainably made? The fact that it’s majorly on sale. Happy lady, happy wallet, Happy Valentine’s Day! $55 (Down from $110) 
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Regift 

Who knew regifting for Valentine’s Day could be so cool? Art meets eco meets technology with these beautiful crimson and orange hearts by Heart Is Hot. Made in the US from 100% recycled glass, each HIH piece is etched with its own individual number, the epic flower of life symbol, and the Heart Is Hot web address. What makes these so cool is that everyone who gives or receives this heart logs on to HeartIsHot.com and tells their story of how it came into their life and what inspired them to pass it on to the next person. The physical journey of each traveling heart is tracked at HeartIsHot.com, using a custom Google map, and each piece has an archive of “heart stories“  associated with it that anyone can go to the site and read. These make the perfect gift for those people in your life who are huge romantics, big supporters of conscious commerce, need a deeply heartfelt gift, or just really love a good story. As Heart Is Hot founder Sahara Damore says, “Heart Is Hot represents re-gifting at its finest.” $24.99 ($2 of which is donated to the Unstoppable Giving Foundation…this gift really keeps on giving!) 
Find these and other eco aware gifts at … 

http://thegreenloopblog.com/category/ethical-style-watch/page/3 

Kids Corner… 
For this Valentine’s Day, think of ways to send a gift or a card to someone you care about while remembering the 3 R’s… 
1.Reduce… 
Think of what you can use around the house before going to the store and buying new. This saves fuel, time, and money. 
2.Reuse… 
Rinse out and use a margarine, cottage cheese, or sour cream container to create and decorate a personalized jewelry box for Mom or Grandma. 
3.Recycle… 
When you are done creating your gifts, make sure to put any scraps of paper or plastic in a recycling bin 

Small Things… 
“Change the way you look at things – the things you look at will change” 
http://www.valderbeebeshow.com/UserFiles/Living_Green/green_article1.pdf 
When it comes to taking care of the area in which we live, there are many little things that we can do that will make a big difference. 
Sometimes it is as simple as looking at an item that we consume in a different light. 
Remembering that as we,”…be the change we would like to see” (Ghandi), be kind to yourself, be creative and have fun. 
With all of the craziness in this world, think of all of little day-today things that go right. 
Thinking of the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), how can we find small ways in which to save us time, energy, and resources? 
We are all in this together and it will take all of us doing this together.