Posts filed under ‘Things people do…’
Changing Seasons
Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year! The scents of maple, cinnamon and outdoors… Crisp sunlight with a fresh coolness in the air… The beautiful array of colors that saturate the landscape and the “crunch” of leaves underfoot…
Too many people rush right past this season and go straight into panic holiday mode. I’m asking those people to slow down and enjoy fall with some of these ideas.
1. Plan a day to play outside.
Some ideas could be: Taking a walk in the woods, try your skills in corn maze, visit a pumpkin patch, an old fashion hay ride or simply rake a pile of leaves and jump, kick and roll!
2. Make your own fall centerpiece.
Gather these supplies:
- Small to medium pumpkin
- Buttons (about 12-15)
- Pearl head pins (about 25)
- Scraps of fabric (in fall colors)
- Green floral wire
- Wire cutters
- Elmer’s glue
- Paint brush
- Scissors Cut fabric into two sizes of squares. Use as many colors and designs as you want. Next, brush on Elmer’s glue to the back of one of your larger fabric squares and then press it down smoothly onto your pumpkin. Now glue a smaller square onto the larger square at an angle. Continue gluing on fabric squares until your pumpkin is nicely covered in a patchwork of fabric. Pin a button to the center of each square. For the top of your pumpkin cut out leave shapes. Use the size leaves that best fit your pumpkin. Cut out the leaf pattern on as many different green fabric designs as you like. Now fold the base of the leaf over a little and stick a pin through the folded fabric. Stick the leaf at the base of the pumpkin’s stem. Continue sticking leaves all around the stem. Now take the green wire and wrap a section of it around a pencil. Leave at least 1.5″ on the end of the wire straight, so you will have a portion to stick into the pumpkin. When you have curled a section that you think is long enough, take the pencil out and cut the rest of the wire off using the wire cutters. Make three of these, and then stick the straight end of each into the top of the pumpkin.
3. Make homemade ice-cream (below is a recipe for Pumpkin gingersnap ice cream).
1pt. whipping cream
1/2 cup milk 
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1tsp. each of ginger, cinnamon and vanilla extract
1/4tsp. salt
1/2 cup crushed gingersnaps
Whisk all ingredients except gingersnaps together in a bowl. Strain into an ice cream maker and freeze . Scrape ice cream into a bowl and stir in crushed gingersnap. Enjoy your taste of the season!
No matter which option you choose or even if it is an idea of your own, I do hope you slow down and take a moment to fully enjoy the sounds, tastes, colors, textures and scents of this autumn.
Love is in the Air…
… and CFK LOVES to help you recycle and earn money!
Here are some fun ideas to spread the love this Valentines Day:
High Schools and Jr. Highs – Use Valentine Grams as a recycling fundraiser! Allow students to ‘purchase’ Valentines (suckers, cards, carnations) with a recyclable item like a cell phone or inkjet cartridge. Have students deliver the ‘Valentine Grams‘ to their classmates on Valentines Day.
Elementary Schools – have students ‘buy’ special Valentines with recyclable items. Encourage them to decorate and dedicate their valentine to a classmate and display them on a classroom wall.
Feel the love! Do something fun and festive with your recycling fundraiser this February!
You could be our next Featured Recycler!
Check out our latest Featured Recycler story…HERE!
We’ve told you about Gull Lake Middle School once before, but we thought we’d tell you again because it’s just so great.
So you wanna be our next Featured Recycler? Tell us your story. Email us (contact [at] cfktoday [dot] com), call (800.420.0235) or fill out our online contact form. We want to hear about what YOU’RE doing. Then we’ll spread it around like hot gossip. Because everyone should know about recycling.
What Will You Do?
America Recycles Day is next week, and we want to know how you’ll be celebrating.
Visit the America Recycles Day / Keep America Beautiful website for updates on events around the country, to register your event, or to get valuable information on recycling. It’s a great resource.
Plus, did you know that if you sign up for a recycling drive or contest before Nov. 15, we’ll enter you in a drawing for a $50 gift card to Staples or the office supply store of your choice? That’s right. What a perfect way to celebrate recycling.
We want to hear about how you and your group is celebrating America Recycles Day, so call (800.420.0235) email (contact@cfktoday.com) or comment here.
Gull Lake Spreads the Green
When we heard about what Kimberly and her team at Gull Lake Middle School did to celebrate their recycling contest, we had to share it with you!
They held a six-week contest in April and May, and raised over $250! They collected ALL KINDS of items: cell phones, ink and laser cartridges, PDAs, video games, DVDs, digital cameras, iPods, and laptops. And how did they celebrate? Look here:
Yep! They used some of the proceeds from their contest to plant an evergreen forest!
This little guy is just one of the 138 evergreen trees that Gull Lake planted this spring. We can’t wait to see how they look all grown up!
Big kudos to Gull Lake for spreading the green–not only by recycling, but by planting trees as well. We love to see things like this! So, if you or your group wants to share your story with us, drop us a line (800.420.0235 or contact@cfktoday.com).
Let’s give Kimberly and everyone at Gull Lake Middle School a GREAT BIG PAT ON THE BACK!
Digital Wish and Pepsi Refresh: working together to give $250,000 to schools!
Digital Wish (the group that partners with us on the Recycle Forward campaign) needs your votes to help over 500 classrooms with technology grants!
THE LOW DOWN:
Digital Wish is participating in the Pepsi Refresh Project. If they generate the most votes in the month of September and finish as one of the top two $250,000 awardees (www.refresheverything.com/digitalwish), Digital Wish will use the proceeds to award over 500 classrooms with technology grants. The three teachers who garner the most votes throughout the month of September will receive $10,000 grants for their classrooms. The four teachers with the next highest amount of votes will receive $5,000 grants. After that, 100 teachers will receive $500 grants, and 400 more educators will receive $250. These grants can be used to purchase new technology from Digital Wish’s extensive online catalog.
HOW TO HELP:
Visit the Digital Wish homepage at www.digitalwish.org to find your favorite teacher and help them win a portion of the proceeds by clicking on the Pepsi Refresh button from their profile. One vote is allowed per day, so return often to help Digital Wish and your favorite classroom earn new technology!
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
According to Digital Wish’s Founder and Executive Director Heather Chirtea, “Every classroom teacher has a huge network of parents and students who care about technology. If even a handful of people from those networks vote, Digital Wish will be able to enhance learning for thousands of students nationwide. These grants will spark a wave of technological upgrades and inspire teachers to refresh their curriculum.”
Digital Wish hopes back-to-school excitement will fuel their campaign with fresh energy and propel them to victory. “We couldn’t have asked for a better time to be campaigning for this project than right now,” said Chirtea. “This could start the school year off right for many classrooms that suffer from a shortfall of new technology.”
At CFK, we like to hear about groups who are doing good things for education. We’re proud to work with Digital Wish on Recycle Forward, and we’re proud of their efforts with the Pepsi Refresh Project. Click here to turn recyclable electronics into new technology for your classroom.
So sentimental…Not sentimental, no!
This is the phenomenal PS22 Chorus from Public School 22 in Staten Island, singing Phoenix’s “Lisztomania.” They’ve performed with Passion Pit, Common, Matisyahu, and Lady Gaga, among others. We love them. And we want to be them.
Share with us the outstanding thing YOUR school is doing, and we’ll share it with the world right here in our own little corner of the internet.
This is how you do it…
Ok. Here at CFK we get asked all kinds of stuff,
but the question we get asked most is “How do I send my stuff in?”
In an attempt to answer the question once and for all,
we’ve put together this handy dandy guide.
THE PERFECT BOX
- The perfect box is between 17″ x 17″ and 24″ x 24″. Don’t worry about getting out a tape measure, just grab a box the size of a microwave, or a few cases of soda.
- The perfect box is sturdy, not damaged, and hopefully recycled! Reuse a box that you have sitting around, just make sure it’s not torn or broken. Need ideas of where to get a box? Click here.
- The perfect box has plenty of packing material and is taped up well. Remember, items that break during shipment usually have no value. Wrap those fragile items in scrap paper, newspaper, bubble wrap, anything you have. Make sure to use enough packing tape!
- The perfect box is full of items on our price list, and not items that are not (see below for items to never, ever send).
STUFF TO NEVER EVER SEND
- Never ever send toner tubes, toner bottles, or ribbons. EVER! These items cannot be recycled, and have no value.
- Never ever send landline phones, VHS tapes, or alkaline batteries. EVER! We can’t recycle these items, and they have no value.
THE DO’S AND DON’T'S OF LABELS
DO:
- Send as much per label as you can.
- Tell us if any of the information on your labels is incorrect. We need to know if you have changes to address, phone number, or contact information.
- Know where to find your account number on the label. We’ll tell you all about this later this week.
- Write down or keep track of your tracking numbers. This helps us be able to still pay you even if a box is lost or missing.
DON’T:
- Tape laser cartridge boxes together to send. Remove them from the original packaging and send together in a box.
- Send in one toner cartridge per label. Please wait until you have more items to send.
- Think that PRP and tracking numbers are the same. Your tracking number is the 8 digit number at the far right under the barcode. Click here for a diagram. Your PRP number is the confirmation number of your pickup. It can’t be used to track a box.
- Give labels to other people to send on your behalf, UNLESS you give them a run-down on how to ship. Print this page and give to them, or click here for our shipping guidelines.
Still need help with shipping? Call us (800.420.0235), email contact@cfktoday.com, or comment here.
No More Flying Solo…
Just like Rex says…you need someone watching your back at all times. CFK is here to help, and we want you to call on others to help as well. Now that the school year is getting underway, it is not only a great time to spread the word about your recycling, but a great time to get help as well. Your community can be a huge support system for you. Remember what John Heywood said in the 16th century: “Many hands make light work.”
Here’s some ideas of who can be involved. Let them help pack boxes, tally items, collect recyclables, and when they tell their friends about it, your program (and your earnings) GROW!
librarians
teachers
office staff
cafeteria staff
janitors
Before & After School groups
recycling/environmental club
individual classrooms or grade levels
PTA/PTO members
Booster Club
neighborhood scouting troops
So don’t try to go it alone, get as many people involved as you can. Together, we can make this school year your greenest yet.
Back to School Inspiration
Setting up a table at Back to School Night to announce your recycling is a wonderful way to get the word out to parents and staff! Here’s some pictures of Back to School tables, just to give you some inspiration. Click here or here for more info on Back to School with CFK.
