Green Forever Stamps

Earth Day made way to a new

Philatelic stamp set at the United

States Post Office. Their mission:

to show bite-sized ways each one of

us can make petite changes in his/her

daily routine. If we all do that, then

it amounts to some overall sizeable solutions to our global

environmental issues. Their 16 stamp “Go Green” series is

one of their many “forever” stamps, meaning, no matter how

much stamp prices change over time, you can stock up and

use them, literally, forever! With tips on the backing of the

stamp page, the series includes these green themes:

buy local produce; reuse bags,

fix water leaks,

share rides,

turn off lights not in use,

choose to walk,

compost

ride a bike

reduce our environmental footprint,

let nature do the work (sun-drying clothes)

recycle more

plant trees

insulate the home

use public transportation, use efficient light bulbs,

adjust the thermostat,

maintain tire pressure.

So just getting your mail can serve as mini-reminders which

can move us to major revisions to our daily habits!

To learn more, go to:

http://www.usps.com/green/gogreenstamps.htm

or http://beyondtheperf.com/stories/go-green

Do The Math

Now that you’re looking at things from the postal

perspective, take time to incorporate some math. Have

your students investigate the going rate of stamps these

days. (At current writing, USPS regular mail stamps are

44¢.) Then pose questions that involve multiplication or

repeated addition for your students to figure out such as:

How much will it cost you in stamps to send each of your

grandparents a thank you note for your birthday present?

If you write 5 letters to your local leaders about the

importance of recycling, how much will your stamp bill

cost?

The Green Team Gazette Volume 3, Issue 9, page 1 May 2011

Post-Earth Day May

In the month following Earth Day (&

with the blossoming & sounds of spring,)

it’s easy to have the environment, the

Earth, nature, and conservation on the

brain. This month we’re checking out the

Post Office’s “Green Forever Stamps.” Also, maybe it’s time

for you &/or your students to conduct your own audit--not

of your taxes, but your own home “aqua audit!”

Home Aqua Audit

Water, water, everywhere, but not a

drop to drink. We learned a little bit

about that on March 22nd (World

Water Day) where we discovered that

about 1 in 6 people worldwide do not

have access to clean water. (Go to the GTG webpage and

click “World Water Day” in the “GTG Cloud Label” section

to learn more). Take a look at what your personal impact is

by doing your own little “water footprint” scorecard.

Print a copy of GTG’s page 2 for each of your students.

Invite the kids to follow directions and make a map in the

box at the top of their home. Then invite students to take

their audit form home and work through it with their folks.

When the audit forms come pouring in, talk with them

about their water usage findings. Discuss ways to shave

down the numbers. Sequence the scores to see who your

“super saver” is. Follow up by having your students write an

essay on the findings…as well as their game plan! The sky

is the limit, but students will begin to see just how

limited (and wasted) water can be.

Do something like orange book page 28

Include a House map (or have kids map house in box above, labeling

rooms….direction following activity)

Follow up with a paragraph about findings

Hold contest in class?

My Water Scorecard

What’s your Water Score? The lower the better, but truth is what

counts!

The Green Team Gazette is a publication

co-sponsored by the founders of CynerGreen

CGKidz, and Eagle Cove School, a Green

School in Pasadena, Maryland. Our mission is

to educate and share ways to “go green”—

both big & small--and be environmentally-proactive at home,

in school, and beyond. It is written by Vicki Dabrowka, 3rd

grade teacher & co-Green Team Leader at Eagle Cove

School. To learn more visit www.cynergreen.com,

www.cgkidz.com, and www.eaglecoveschool.org. You can also

follow us at http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/ or find

us at “Green Team Gazette” on Facebook, or

“GreenTeamGazett” on Twitter.

Please print on recycled paper. Copyright © 2011 Vicki Dabrowka

Name ________________________ Date ______________________

My Home Aqua Audit

Directions: Draw a map or floor plan sketch of

your house in the box below. Show only the

outlines of the rooms and your door openings. Use

the back if you need to for extra floors in your

house. Label each floor and each room.

Answer the questions #1—10 below for your house to perform your Home Aqua Audit.

1. How many bathrooms do you have? ______ x 5 per room = ______

2. Do you…

take a full bath? (full bath = 25 gallons of water)

take a ½ filled bath?

12

take a sponge bath?

8

3. Are your showers…

extra long (more than 10 minutes)

15

average (average shower is 10 minutes)

10

medium (6-9 minutes)

5

super short (less than 5 minutes)

2

4. When showering, do you…

Leave the water on the

whole time

6

turn of the water when

soaping

4

collect water in a bucket to

water your plants later

2

5. Do you have….

A regular toilet (uses 5 gallons per flush)

10

A low flow toilet (uses 1 ½ to 3 ½ gallons per flush)

5

Don’t know (go home and find out!)

10

6. When you brush your teeth

or watch your face, do you….

let the water run and run (wasting about 2 gallons per time)

turn off the water while you brush or scrub

3

7. How do

you wash

your

dishes?

Dishwasher

every day (10 gallons per load)

10

Dishwasher

every other

day

6

With the water

running in the sink

the whole time (wasting tons of water!)

14

Fill a container with soapy

water, then run the water

only to rinse your dishes

4

Collect the “gray

water” to use to

water your plants

2

8. How many loads of laundry does your family do per week? _______ x 5 per load = _________

9. Do you have any leaky faucets or toilets? __________ x 20 each (this can waste 20,000 gallons of water per year) = _________

10. Now add up your points above to see how

low or how high your Water Score is! My Water Score =

Bonus: Give yourself an Electrical Audit! Take this map home and…

11. Color any room yellow that has a light on when you get to it.

12. Put a tally mark in each room for each electrical item that is on when you get there.

13. Total your tally marks and yellow room. What number did you get? Put it in this shape:

The Green Team Gazette Volume 3, Issue 9 , page 2 May 2011

Copyright ©

2011 Vicki

Dabrowka

Example: My room Bath Family

room

Brother’s

room

My

parents’

room

Kitchen Bath Garage

Dining rm

25

6