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