Photo credit: Jeremy Brooks via Flickr
Where: Quality Bar in Champaign, 110 North Neil Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820
When: 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. We’ll order pizza and toast to clean water and healthy rivers!
The Illinois EPA will conduct a one-day household hazardous waste (HHW) collection event on September 29, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the News-Gazette Distribution Center at 3202 Apollo Drive, Champaign. Items accepted include:
| Oil-based paint (no latex paint, please) | Household batteries |
| Paint thinner | Used motor oil |
| Herbicides | Drain cleaners |
| Insecticides | Lawn chemicals |
| Pesticides | Solvents |
| Old gasoline | Antifreeze |
| Pool chemicals | Hobby chemicals |
| Cleaning products | Aerosol paint |
| Mercury-containing devices | Fluorescent lamp bulbs |
| Double-bagged & wetted asbestos | Old medicines and pharmaceuticals |
| Propane tanks* | Lead acid batteries* |
* Propane tanks will be collected by Hicks Gas, Urbana, and lead acid batteries collected by Interstate Batteries, Champaign.
Latex paint will not be accepted at this collection event. Visit http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/hazardous-waste/household-haz-waste/used-paint-disposal-alternatives.html for tips on what to do with leftover latex paint.
A large turnout is expected at this year’s event! Residents are encouraged to carpool, combine loads, use alternative transportation, and be prepared for wait times.
Please enter the event at the intersection of North Market and Olympian Drive in Champaign.
This Household Hazardous Waste Collection event is being sponsored by Illinois EPA and co-sponsored by City of Urbana, City of Champaign, Village of Savoy, Champaign County, Champaign County Probation and Court Services, Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, Prairie Rivers Network, Sierra Club Prairie Group and Champaign-Urbana MTD. The News-Gazette is hosting the event.
Spread the word about this event by printing and distributing the flyer. For more information, visit www.ccrpc.org (includes information on the next electronics recycling day also).
Thank you to everyone for making this event possible!
The Women, Food and Agriculture Network, with partners Prairie Rivers Network, American Farmland Trust, and Friends of the Big Bureau Creek Watershed, are sponsoring a conservation workshop for women land owners in Bureau, Lee and LaSalle Counties.
This event offers a peer-to-peer, informal discussion format which allows women landowners or managers to talk about their land stewardship and conservation goals. The afternoon will feature an optional tour of local conservation practices and water quality monitoring stations within subwatersheds of Big Bureau Creek.
Space is limited for this workshop, so RSVP by 5 p.m. August 23 to Teresa Bullock, American Farmland Trust, by email at tbullock@niu.edu or by phone at 815-753-6365.
More information can be found at the American Farmland Trust website.
The Bureau County Republican ran this story (PDF) with details about the workshop on August 8, 2012.
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Get the Inside Scoop: August 25
Please join Prairie Rivers Network staff and board, and invited special guests – legislators and other experts – for an opportunity to discuss upcoming environmental legislation and developments affecting Illinois’ water resources. There will be no official panel or discussion; just come with your questions and get a personal answer!
RSVP here and suggest your favorite flavor!
Please let us know if you are coming so we can order enough ice cream.
Everyone is welcome!
Image source: © CulinaryGeek.net
Scott Hays Accepting 2011 River Steward Award
It is time once again to celebrate the important work of an individual whose on the ground efforts to protect the state’s rivers and streams inspires us. There are many dedicated citizen volunteers around our state who spend countless hours working to protect Illinois’ rivers. They educate us; they do the legwork; they speak the unpopular truths; they go above and beyond. Too often, their outstanding achievements are not known outside of their local community.
The River Steward Award recognizes and celebrates the most exemplary river stewards; heroes with stories that we all need to hear. Prairie Rivers Network wants to recognize the people whose clean water victories inspire our staff and other river advocates around the state. The seventh annual River Steward Award will be announced October 5, 2012 at Prairie Rivers Network’s Annual Dinner. The honoree and a guest, as well as the nominator, will be invited to attend the dinner for the awards ceremony. The award recipient will also be announced to the river conservation community around the state, announced to the media in a press release, and posted on our website.
Past Winners: Scott Hays, 2011; Kathy Andria, 2010; Gary Mechanic, 2009; Joyce Blumenshine, 2008; Mary Pat Holtschlag, 2007; Fran Caffee, 2006; Jan Holder, 2005.
Nomination Procedure: If you know a citizen volunteer you would like to nominate as the next River Steward, please e-mail the following information to Steph Adams at sadams at prairierivers.org or call her at 217/344-2371 for more information.
1. Nominee’s contact information
2. Your contact information
3. Nominee’s qualifications (500 words)
a. General background information concerning the river/watershed of interest
b. Summary of their river conservation efforts
4. The specific achievements for which the nominee deserves recognition
Deadline: Nominations must be received by August 20, 2012.
