September 2022
Local Plant of the Month: Sunflower
Sunflowers come from a genus of plants that emerged over 5 million years ago. Common sunflowers that we see are likely descendants of plants that evolved in our area 1.5 to 2 million years ago. We have evidence that people living in what are now the US and Mexico began planting sunflowers 4000 years ago. Sunflowers provide good food for insects, birds, animals, and people. Insects like bees and butterflies are drawn to the flower’s nectar, while others (like grasshoppers) prefer the sunflowers’ leaves. Squirrels will pluck and munch the flower heads before they become seeds, while birds like the gold finch and chickadee enjoy sunflower seeds. People have been eating sunflowers for centuries. They eat the raw seeds, roast them, or grind them into paste (sun butter!) or flour that can be baked into bread. Sunflowers are composite flowers, which means their head holds many, many (like 1000-2000) little flowers surrounded by larger colorful petals. These become seeds after pollination. Sunflowers are natives to the prairie, and can thrive in dry conditions that cause stress for grasses and other plants.
Local Animal of the Month: Bee
Bees are descendants of hunting insects (ancient predatory wasps) that have been evolving for as long as 120 million years. Unlike their wasp cousins, bees became full vegetarians, enjoying both the nectar (for a short term sugar boost) and pollen (with its protein and nutrients). Today, more than 1/3 of food crops depend on pollinators like bees. Honeybees can work up to 12 hours a day. This highly social species uses different moves (like the “waggle dance” to point out flowers for food). Bees have roles to support the hive, including bringing pollen and nectar home to feed young (honey takes a lot of work to produce--it takes over 160,000 bees to produce 1 pound of honey).
Did you know that Colorado has 946 native bee species, besides the European honeybee (which is what we often think of when we hear “bee”)? That’s more native bees than all but 5 other US states! Native bees have evolved with native plants, and have special ways of pollinating plants like tomatoes. Bumble bees, for instance, use a special “sonic” pollination, where they grab the center of a tomato flower, vibrate or shake it, and buzz loose pollen that they can use for their food or the food of their young. Some native bees are specialists, meaning that they prefer one special species of flower—like the squash bee, which is who we can think for all of our cucumbers, melons, zucchini, and pumpkins! Not all bees have stingers, including the squash bee. For those bees with stingers, they are not likely to use them. A bee will die if it loses its stinger, so it will likely only sting if it or its nest is threatened.
The next time you’re enjoying some tomatoes, butternut squash, strawberries or blueberries, thank the bees for their hard work!
Zero Waste Snack Recipe of the Month: Homemade Granola Bars
With just a few ingredients, you can make your own granola bars at home and wrap em up in some recyclable aluminum foil or a reusable container! Google recipes, or check this one out for a tasty nut-free option appropriate to bring into most classrooms: https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/nut-free-granola-bars/
Vegetarian Dinner of the Month: Zucchini Ricotta Pasta with Fresh Herbs
Got a lot of zucchini growing this fall and are looking for what to do? We’ve got a tasty pasta recipe that will also put your herbs to work. Adaptable to cheese-lovers (with fresh ricotta), or vegan (make your own tofu or cashew ricotta following directions in the recipe). Let us know what you think!
https://simple-veganista.com/zucchini-mint-cashew-ricotta-pasta/
Recycling Tip of the Month: Stop and Sort!
For the last 3 school years, Green Team club members repeat the same thing when we ask them what’s the number one mistake they see at school—people just throw it all away. They dump their whole tray in the trash after lunch. They toss things in the trashcan in the classroom, or sometimes, even throw anything into the recycle bin because they don’t stop and sort.
The Green Team asks you to stop and count to 3 before you throw it all away. Recycling and composting are so important. They keep greenhouse gas emissions down, especially methane. Landfills produce 15% of all methane released into the US. They are the 3rd largest single source of methane, and methane is a key culprit in producing ground-level ozone and in trapping heat in the atmosphere better than CO2…so more methane means more environmental catastrophe. This is why composting is much better than throwing food into the landfill (though best of all is to eat food!).
When we recycle or compost, we regenerate valuable material rather than throw it away for good. Estimates show that we have wasted $600 million in the last year by throwing 36 billion aluminum cans into the trash rather than recycling. So if you throw quality materials like glass, aluminum and steel cans, or cardboard and paperboard away, you’re throwing money in the trash. Additionally, by not recycling, we’re wasting valuable resources. Did you know that people in the US throw away 1 billion trees worth of paper? Imagine how valuable it would be to have those trees growing.
So the next time you’re not sure what to do with your waste, ask someone nearby, google it, or just carry it with you until you can dispose of it the right way. Each time we STOP AND SORT we help the earth.
#BookItToTheCreek2022 Book Swap!
We're collecting gently used books for the Book Swap (which will be held on Friday 9.23.22 during extra recess as we celebrate #BookItToTheCreek2022!).
Please bring your books to the east or west entrances of school, 8:45-9:05am and 3:45-4:10pm on Tuesday 9.13, Thursday 9.15, Friday 9.16, and Tuesday 9.20. If you want to help collect books please reach out! greenteam@thewcepta.com
Green Team Events
September 6: Club Meeting 4:05-5:30pm Mr. Binder's Room
September 23: #BookItToTheCreek2022 Book Swap (9-3)
October 4: Club Meeting 4:05-5:30pm Mr. Binder's Room
October 12: #WalkBikeRollto SchoolDay 2022 (PLEDGE NOW on Beanstack to "WBR" to school and win cool free stuff!)
Volunteer with the Green Team!