Spirit of the Sturgeon: Menominee Indian Tribe of WI & Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative

(Keshena, Wisconsin) - The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the second of several videos explaining the numerous MITW projects including teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture, cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art and making garbage monsters.

In part two, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the sturgeon education classes.

—

(Keshena, WI) - The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena held massive electronic and pharmaceutical waste collections during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge - involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great Lakes basin.

However, the tribe was creative as it added other facets to the challenge like teaching the children about its culture and the close relationship to the earth and its many lakes and streams.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage, said Joe Awanahopay, language arts instructor at the Menominee tribal school.

Joe Awanahopay, Menominee Tribal School language arts instructor

Called the protectors of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology, habitat, legends, current/past spawning grounds and the cultural and practical value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee people since the dawn of their tribe.

"The sturgeon are a historic importance to our people," Awanahopay said.

"Since the beginning of time, our people have relied upon the sturgeons for various reasons including for food and scraping hides." "In our legends, the sturgeon are the protectors of our wild rice," said Awanahopay of the slow growing giant fish known for its thick hide and rubbery snout whose uses and related regulations have sometimes pitted white fishermen against American Indians.

"We have been engaging the students in the culture, language, science and the social studies of what the sturgeon mean to our people."

"In the science department they have been studying the anatomy and the physiology of the sturgeon," Awanahopay said. "In the language arts department they are looking at the sturgeon habitats and what the effects of pollution are."

"In social studies they are looking at the different migrations, the geography, the path the sturgeon used to take to come to their home here - their traditional spawning grounds on the Menoninee Indian reservation," Awanahopay said. "Because of two dams that are here now south of our reservation, sturgeon are no longer able to come home here to their ancestral spawning grounds."

The tribal school students are immersed in Menominee culture and learn to speak the language and its meaning.

This was applied to the sturgeon lessons.

"In the language and culture room, I focus on the historic importance and the legends of the sturgeon and how these things were passed down from one generation to another generation and why its important for our youth to hang on to that," Awanahopay said.

The students learn "to look forward into the future with the knowledge of the sturgeon, but yet hang onto their spiritual and cultural heritage that is so rich."

The tribal school students have a vast reservoir of sturgeon knowledge that the elders are happy to pass on.

"We are so fortunate to have so many elders that we still work with that are able to give us this knowledge and pass it from one generation to the next, despite all of the forced assimilation and the changes in our youth, who are trying to make their way in modern society yet integrate the traditions with the technology in todays world Awanahopay said.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included a collection of unwanted medications and e-waste at the College of Menominee Nation and the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, the Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way - as the tribe's Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 - and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables were removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

"The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall," said teacher Beth Waukechon. "All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club."

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

"The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done," Waukechon said. "They are taking a moment each day to do that."

"We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment," she said. "We are the ones that need her, she doesn't need us."

"Clean up the Rez Day" was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe's Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who "need to learn healthy behaviors," Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe's Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college's Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

"One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things," Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created "Garbage Monsters" out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA's Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and "a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment," said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.

—

I'm Greg Peterson and you're watching Earth Healing TV

—

Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website - homepage:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

MITW Tribal School website:

http://mts.bia.edu

—

College of Menominee Nation:

http://www.menominee.edu

—

Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org

—

MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php

http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26

http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred

—

University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html

—

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php

—

Youth Development and Outreach

W3191 Fredenberg Drive

P.O. Box 910

Keshena, WI 54135

715-799-5137

715-799-5227 (Fax)

Director: Darwin Dick

—

Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council

http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html

—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community) of Interfaith Resources - Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

http://www.interfaithresources.com/subcategories.php?dir=leftMenuSub&template=default&id=10

http://www.interfaithresources.com/products.php?id=2469

—

Call Justice St. Rain at Interfaith resources:

1-800-326-1197

—

Interfaith Resources

P.O. Box 9

511 Diamond Rd.

Heltonville, Indiana

47436

—

"Bah'u'llh, the One who founded the Faithclaims to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Promised One of all religions. His life and teachings are worthy of further study to determine the goodness of His fruit, and the validity of His claim."

Quote from "Finding Common Ground"

How many beliefs do you share with members of the Bah'i Community?

You may be surprised!

By Justice St. Rain

(Bloomington, IN: Published by Special Ideas, 1997), p. 11

Interfaith graphics located with help from Bahai Media and Public Information specialist Ellen Price

wk: 847-733-3559

http://www.bahai.us

—

Samuels Recycling - Green Bay, WI:

http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm

—

Links to sites about Samuel's Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow - 1-920-494-3451)

http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400

http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500

–

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

—

>

Earth Healing Initiative & College of Menominee Nation: Great Lakes recycling

College of Menominee Nation: EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge and a lesson in Great Lakes recycling 101

Dr. William Van Lopik, College of Menominee Nation professor of the Implementing Sustainable Development classes

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin  contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the first of several vidoes explaining the tribes numerous projects that included cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art, teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture.

In part one, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the many recycling projects of the College of Menominee nation.
—

(Keshena, WI) - The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena is being praised for its massive cleanup projects during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge - involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great lakes basin.

The college of Menominee Nation held a pharmaceutical and electronic waste collection as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, The Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage.

Called the protector guardian of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way - as the tribe's Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 - and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe.

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of  e-waste and other recyclables  - plus litter - was removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

"The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall," said teacher Beth Waukechon. "All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club."

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

"The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done," Waukechon said. "They are taking a moment each day to do that."

"We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment," she said. "We are the ones that need her, she doesn't need us."

"Clean up the Rez Day" was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe's Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who "need to learn healthy behaviors," Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe's Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, pictured on the left above, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college's Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

"One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things," Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins that the college plans to share with the tribal school.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created "Garbage Monsters" out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA's Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and "a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment," said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
—

I'm Greg Peterson and you're watching Earth Healing TV
—
Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:
—
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website - homepage:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

—
MITW Tribal School website:
http://mts.bia.edu/

—
College of Menominee Nation
http://www.menominee.edu
—
Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
—
MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php
http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26
http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred
—
University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html
—
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php
—
Youth Development and Outreach
W3191 Fredenberg Drive
P.O. Box 910
Keshena, WI 54135
715-799-5137
715-799-5227 (Fax)
Director: Darwin Dick
—
Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council
http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html
—
Samuels Recycling - Green Bay, WI:
http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm
—
Links to sites about Samuel's Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow - 1-920-494-3451)
http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400
http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500
–
From Wikipedia:
The College of the Menominee Nation (abbreviated CMN) is one of 34 tribal based community colleges in the United States. The college's main campus is in Keshena, Wisconsin and has another campus in Oneida, Wisconsin. The college is one of two tribal based colleges in Wisconsin.
The tribal college was chartered in 1993. The college began offering classes in the 1993 Spring semester. The College of Menominee Nation was granted full accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission on August 7, 1998. The college is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/
http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

Recycle Mania:
http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/overview.htm
http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/university_detail08.asp?ID=4018

National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola:
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/bingrantrelease.aspx
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/coca-colanrcbingrantprogram.aspx
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-22-2008/0004797928&EDATE=

Earth Healing Initiative: EPA Great Lakes Program Manager Mary Gade tells wonders of the Great Lakes on Earth Day 2008

At the Metcalfe Federal Building, the unwanted medicines collection continues under the supervision of two plainclothes Chicago police officers. (Photo courtesy EPA Flow of the River Blog)

EPA Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade encourages public to participate in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge; lauds the wonder of the Great Lakes and reminds audience how much progress has been made since Earth Day started nearly 40 years ago

EPA Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade celebrates Earth Day 2008 in Chicago

 

At the Metcalfe Federal Building, the unwanted medicines collection continues under the supervision of two plainclothes Chicago police officers. (Photo courtesy EPA Flow of the River Blog) 

EPA Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade encourages public to participate in  EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge; lauds the wonder of the Great Lakes and reminds audience how much progress has been made since Earth Day started nearly 40 years ago

Earth Healing Initiative: EPA’s Bharat Mathur says challenge e-waste, pharmaceutical collections protect Great Lakes

EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently held a press conference with City of Milwaukee officials about the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge and the goal of collecting one million pounds of electronics to recycle and one million pills to properly dispose.

Those speaking the April 16, 20087 press conference included EPA deputy regional administrator Bharat Mathur (EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Ill.)

Bharat explained the importance of thje pharmaceutical and e-waste collections that are going on during Earth Week across eight states in the Great Lakes basin.

The EPA and the Earth Healing Initiative would like to thank those who provided this video including the city of Milwaukee "City Channel 25" and the Milwaukee Department of Public Works.
——-
Related information/websites:
——-
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois
Mary A. Gade, Regional Administrator, Great Lakes National Program Manager
The Regional Administrator reports directly to the EPA Administrator at EPA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

312-886-3000
gade.mary@epa.gov

http://www.epa.gov/region5/
—
EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Illinois
Bharat Mathur, EPA Deputy Regional Administrator

312-886-3000
mathur.bharat@epa.gov

http://www.epa.gov/region5/aboutr5/organization.htm
—-
EPA Press Release:
Ask Not What the Environment Can Do For You this Earth Day
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/dc57b08b5acd42bc852573c90044a9c4/bb279434e6f40c6e8525743200582794!OpenDocument
—
USA Today story on Lake Superior Climate Change:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-04-21-climatechange_N.htm
—

Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative page:
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
——-
City of Milwaukee "City Channel 25"
http://www.Milwaukee.gov
——-

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community) of Interfaith Resources - Special Ideas website:
http://www.interfaithresources.com
http://www.interfaithresources.com/subcategories.php?dir=leftMenuSub&template=default&id=10
http://www.interfaithresources.com/products.php?id=2469
—
Call Justice St. Rain at Interfaith resources:
1-800-326-1197
—
Interfaith Resources
416 W 4th St.
Bloomington IN
47404
—
Bah'u'llh, the One who founded the Faithclaims to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Promised One of all religions. His life and teachings are worthy of further study to determine the goodness of His fruit, and the validity of His claim.

Quote from Finding Common Ground
How many beliefs do you share with members of the Bah'i Community?
You may be surprised!
By Justice St. Rain
(Bloomington, IN: Published by Special Ideas, 1997), p. 11

Interfaith graphics located with help from Bahai Media and Public Information specialist Ellen Price

wk: 847-733-3559

http://www.bahai.us
——-

Project sites include locations in eight states:

Illinois:
Alton, Beecher, Bellwood, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Channahon, Chicago, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Glenview, Joliet, Lockport, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Romeoville, Shorewood, Villa Park, West Chicago, Wheaton, Woodstock

Indiana:
Columbia City, Hammond, Knox, LaPorte, Fort Wayne, Rushville, Valparaiso

Michigan:
Bay City (two events), Benton Harbor, Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn Heights, East Lansing, Farmington Hills, Goodells, Grand Rapids (two events) Harbor Springs, Lansing, Midland, Monroe, Royal Oaks, Sault Ste. Marie, Southfield, Traverse City

Minnesota:
Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Duluth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Madison, Maple Grove, New Ulm, Saint Cloud, Shakopee, St. Louis Park, St. Paul

New York:
Brockport, Buffalo, Fredonia, Rochester (two events), Syracuse (two events).

Ohio:
Cleveland, Grove City, Kent, Perrysburg, Sandusky, Springfield, Toledo, Warren

Pennsylvania:
Erie, Lancaster

Wisconsin:
Appleton, Brillion, Chilton, Crandon, Green Bay, Keshena (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and College of Menominee Nation), Manitowoc, Milwaukee, New Holstein, Oshkosh, Plover (two events), Racine, Superior, Waupaca.
—-

Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge & Earth Healing Initiative: City of Milwaukee DPW, EPA press conference on e-waste collection for city residents Sat. April 26

(Milwaukee, WI) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held a press conference with City of Milwaukee officials about the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

Milwaukees Earth Day Challenge event on Saturday, April 26 is a one-day electronic scrap collection hosted by the city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works.

Those speaking the April 16, 2008 press conference included EPA deputy regional administrator Bharat Mathur (EPA Region 5 Office in Chicago, Ill.), Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Rick Meyers, and others.

Event partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.

Event partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.
—

EPA Funds Electronic Scrap Event
City Residents get Opportunity to Recycle Televisions and Electronics

Milwaukees Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will offer City of Milwaukee residents an opportunity to recycle their old television sets.

The one-day electronic scrap collection event will be held on Saturday, April 26th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Italian Community Center South parking lot, located at 631 East Chicago.

Scrap electronics constitute the fastest growing segment of municipal solid waste stream.

Electronic waste or e-scrap may contain hazardous materials including lead, mercury and heavy metals that can pose a risk to human and environmental health through the release of toxics into the air and water. Proper disposal and recycling are needed to avoid unwanted pollution and divert waste from the landfills.

Televisions, computers and all computer accessories (monitors, printers, laptops, desktop PCs, keyboards, mice, and related cables) will be accepted.

Items will be processed for reuse or recycling in an environmentally responsible manner.

Any personal information left on the hard drives will be destroyed.

This event is free and open to City of Milwaukee residents, who must present an ID or copy of a bill with a Milwaukee address.

The event is for residents only.

For Additional Information Contact: Cecilia Gilbert, Permits & Communications Manager, 286-3261 or 708-2295 (cell)

The EPA, Milwaukee City officials hold a news conference on April 16, 2008 about the electronics collection scheduled on Saturday, April 26, 2008 (City of Milwaukee photo)

Mary A. Gade, EPA Great Lakes National Program Manager and Region 5 Administrator, stated, EPA is counting on thousands of people in the Great Lakes basin to do their part and find a nearby collection event where they can safely get rid of their old electronics."

"Its a win-win situation for the public and for the Great Lakes ecosystem. This is an easy was for everyone to take part in protecting the Great Lakes, Gade said.

Event partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.
—

—

News Story:

City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin holds e-waste collection in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

Milwaukee's Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge event on Saturday, April 26, 2008 is a one-day electronic scrap collection hosted by the city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works.

(Milwaukee, WI) - The EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is underway with about 100 projects in hundreds of communities across eight states including a second event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works is hosting an electronic waste collection for its residents on Saturday, April 26, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The e-Waste collection will be held in a parking lot just south of Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee.

Event partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.

City of Milwaukee residents are invited to bring their unwanted televisions and computer equipment to this event to get them recycled.

Material will be recycled at no charge to residents of Milwaukee. Officials added the event is not for business waste - just residents.

Milwaukee city officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held an April 16, 2008 news conference to explain details about the electronics collection.

The EPA has awarded grants to numerous cities participating in the challenge including the city of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said recycling televisions and computers reduces the risks of toxins contained in these products being released into our air and water.

The contact is Rick Meyers with the City of Milwaukee Dept of Public Works. Call Meyers at 414-286-2334

The Earth Healing Initiative has put our local interfaith liaison in touch with Milwaukee officials.
Hes Rev. Brad Brown, campus pastor at Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Milwaukee event is among about 100 projects involving hundreds of communities across eight states around the Great Lakes basin that are participating in an Earth Day 2008 challenge from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

On Saturday April 19, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD)held its third annual Medicine Collection Day.

Named A prescription for clean water and safe kids, the pharmaceutical collections was held in Milwaukee, Racine, Ozaukee, and Washington counties.

The MMSD distributed nearly 200,000 postcards promoting the event that has been widely publicized by area media.

The Earth Healing Initiative distributed the final 5,000 cards to interfaith contacts in the Milwaukee area.

The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is collecting and recycling one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) and the collection of one million pills for proper disposal.

Interfaith graphic (top left) by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community) of Interfaith Resources

The Earth Healing Initiative is assisting by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encouraging members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area.
—
City of Milwaukee DPW e-waste project:

April 26, 2008
From: 10 am to 2 pm
Type of event: e-Waste

Contact: City of Milwaukee Dept of Public Works Rick Meyers (414-286-2334)

Held in parking lot just south of Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee

City of Milwaukee residents are invited to bring their unwanted televisions and computer equipment to this event to get them recycled. Material will be recycled at no charge to residents of Milwaukee. No businesses please.

Milwaukee Dept. Of Public Works:
http://www.mpw.net
Milwaukee DPW e-Waste event page:
http://www.mpw.net/Pages/escrap.html

City of Milwaukee e-Waste event flyer:
http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_flyer.pdf

City of Milwaukee e-Waste advertisement
http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_ad.pdf

City of Milwaukee event map:
http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_map.pdf
—
Related Stories:

WISN News Milwaukee, WI:
http://www.wisn.com/news/15902308/detail.html
—
Related information/websites:
—
WISN News Channel 12 in Milwaukee is one of the sponsors:
http://www.wisn.com

Milwaukee: PSA highlights Milwaukee DPW e-waste event & EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

Milwaukee: 2008 Earth Day Challenge PSA by WISN-TV Ch. 12

Milwaukee television station - WISN-TV Channel 12 (ABC) created this 15 second Public Service Announcement - about Milwaukees Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge event on Saturday, April 26 - a one-day electronic scrap collection hosted by the city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works.

Event partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.
—

MEDIA ADVISORY

For Additional Information Contact: Cecilia Gilbert, Permits & Communications Manager, 286-3261 or 708-2295 (cell)

EPA Funds Electronic Scrap Event
City Residents get Opportunity to Recycle Televisions and Electronics

Milwaukees Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will offer City of Milwaukee residents an opportunity to recycle their old television sets.

The one-day electronic scrap collection event will be held on Saturday, April 26th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Italian Community Center South parking lot, located at 631 East Chicago.

Scrap electronics constitute the fastest growing segment of municipal solid waste stream.

Electronic waste or e-scrap may contain hazardous materials including lead, mercury and heavy metals that can pose a risk to human and environmental health through the release of toxics into the air and water. Proper disposal and recycling are needed to avoid unwanted pollution and divert waste from the landfills.

Televisions, computers and all computer accessories (monitors, printers, laptops, desktop PCs, keyboards, mice, and related cables) will be accepted.

Items will be processed for reuse or recycling in an environmentally responsible manner.

Any personal information left on the hard drives will be destroyed.

This event is free and open to City of Milwaukee residents, who must present an ID or copy of a bill with a Milwaukee address.

The event is for residents only.

The EPA, Milwaukee City officials hold a news conference on April 16, 2008 about the electronics collection scheduled on Saturday, April 26, 2008 (City of Milwaukee photo)

Mary A. Gade, EPA Great Lakes National Program Manager and Region 5 Administrator, stated, EPA is counting on thousands of people in the Great Lakes basin to do their part and find a nearby collection event where they can safely get rid of their old electronics."

"Its a win-win situation for the public and for the Great Lakes ecosystem. This is an easy was for everyone to take part in protecting the Great Lakes, Glade said.

Event partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.
—

—

News Story:

City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin holds e-waste collection in EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

Milwaukee's Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge event on Saturday, April 26, 2008 is a one-day electronic scrap collection hosted by the city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works.

(Milwaukee, WI) - The EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is underway with about 100 projects in hundreds of communities across eight states including a second event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works is hosting an electronic waste collection for its residents on Saturday, April 26, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The e-Waste collection will be held in a parking lot just south of Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee.

Event partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the Italian Community Center, Midwest Computer Recyclers and WISN TV.

City of Milwaukee residents are invited to bring their unwanted televisions and computer equipment to this event to get them recycled.

Material will be recycled at no charge to residents of Milwaukee. Officials added the event is not for business waste - just residents.

Milwaukee city officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held an April 16, 2008 news conference to explain details about the electronics collection.

The EPA has awarded grants to numerous cities participating in the challenge including the city of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said recycling televisions and computers reduces the risks of toxins contained in these products being released into our air and water.

The contact is Rick Meyers with the City of Milwaukee Dept of Public Works. Call Meyers at 414-286-2334

The Earth Healing Initiative has put our local interfaith liaison in touch with Milwaukee officials.
Hes Rev. Brad Brown, campus pastor at Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Milwaukee event is among about 100 projects involving hundreds of communities across eight states around the Great Lakes basin that are participating in an Earth Day 2008 challenge from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

On Saturday April 19, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD)held its third annual Medicine Collection Day.

Named A prescription for clean water and safe kids, the pharmaceutical collections was held in Milwaukee, Racine, Ozaukee, and Washington counties.

The MMSD distributed nearly 200,000 postcards promoting the event that has been widely publicized by area media.

The Earth Healing Initiative distributed the final 5,000 cards to interfaith contacts in the Milwaukee area.

The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is collecting and recycling one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) and the collection of one million pills for proper disposal.

Interfaith graphic (top left) by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community) of Interfaith Resources

The Earth Healing Initiative is assisting by offering interfaith liaisons to volunteer and encouraging members of local churches and temples to participate in the Earth Day related events in their area.
—
City of Milwaukee DPW e-waste project:

April 26, 2008
From: 10 am to 2 pm
Type of event: e-Waste

Contact: City of Milwaukee Dept of Public Works Rick Meyers (414-286-2334)

Held in parking lot just south of Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee

City of Milwaukee residents are invited to bring their unwanted televisions and computer equipment to this event to get them recycled. Material will be recycled at no charge to residents of Milwaukee. No businesses please.

Milwaukee Dept. Of Public Works:
http://www.mpw.net
Milwaukee DPW e-Waste event page:
http://www.mpw.net/Pages/escrap.html

City of Milwaukee e-Waste event flyer:
http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_flyer.pdf

City of Milwaukee e-Waste advertisement
http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_ad.pdf

City of Milwaukee event map:
http://www.mpw.net/docs/escrap_map.pdf
—
Related Stories:

WISN News Milwaukee, WI:
http://www.wisn.com/news/15902308/detail.html
—
Related information/websites:
—
WISN News Channel 12 in Milwaukee is one of the sponsors:
http://www.wisn.com
http://www.wisn.com/news/15902308/detail.html
WISN produced a 15 second PSA about the event
——-
Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful
Joe Wilson, executive director
414-272-5462, ext. 103

website:
http://www.kgmb.org/

KGMB is coordinating volunteers for event on Sat., April 26, 2008

KGMB has numerous events scheduled in near future and would like volunteers.
http://www.kgmb.org/volunteer.html

Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, Inc. (KGMB) is an award winning, private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. Established in 1983, it has been affiliated with Keep America Beautiful, Inc. since 1985.

KGMB has a strong history of responsiveness, renewal and innovation. KGMB uses a unique combination of community improvement programs like Great American Cleanup and education to accomplish its goals.

KGMB Goals
KGMB works in partnership with its communities to address:
neighborhood cleanup and beautification
waste reduction, reuse, and recycling
environmental education for children
environmental forums
renewable and efficient energy use
resource conservation
—
KGMB Conact info:
http://www.kgmb.org/contact.html

KGMB facility features an in-house waste reduction education center.
Educational tours can be arranged by phone:
414-272-5462

email:
education@kgmb.org

KGMB links:
http://www.greeningmilwaukee.org
http://www.everydrop.org
——-
Milwaukee Earth Healing Initiative page:
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/milwaukee.html
—
Earth Healing Initiative Milwaukee interfaith liaison:
Rev. Brad Brown, campus pastor
Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
414-288-3691

email:
bradley.brown@mu.edu

Pastor Browns blog:
http://www.mulutherans.com/index.php

Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) website:
http://www.mulutherans.com
—
Marquette University Ministry
AMU 236
1442 W. Wisconsin Ave. P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee, WI
53201-1881

922 South 29th Street
Milwaukee, WI
53215
—
website:
http://www.marquette.edu/um
http://www.marquette.edu/um/staff/
http://www.marquette.edu/um/worship/documents/1018107web.pdf

Phone: 414-288-6873 Fax: 414-288-3696
—

Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community) of Interfaith Resources - Special Ideas website:
http://www.interfaithresources.com
http://www.interfaithresources.com/subcategories.php?dir=leftMenuSub&template=default&id=10
http://www.interfaithresources.com/products.php?id=2469
—
Call Justice St. Rain at Interfaith resources:
1-800-326-1197
—
Interfaith Resources
P.O. Box 9
511 Diamond Rd
Heltonville, Indiana
47436
—
Bah'u'llh, the One who founded the Faithclaims to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Promised One of all religions. His life and teachings are worthy of further study to determine the goodness of His fruit, and the validity of His claim.

Quote from Finding Common Ground
How many beliefs do you share with members of the Bah'i Community?
You may be surprised!
By Justice St. Rain
(Bloomington, IN: Published by Special Ideas, 1997), p. 11

Interfaith graphics located with help from Bahai Media and Public Information specialist Ellen Price

wk: 847-733-3559

http://www.bahai.us
—

Project sites include locations in eight states:

Illinois:
Alton, Beecher, Bellwood, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Channahon, Chicago, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Glenview, Joliet, Lockport, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Romeoville, Shorewood, Villa Park, West Chicago, Wheaton, Woodstock

Indiana:
Columbia City, Hammond, Knox, LaPorte, Fort Wayne, Rushville, Valparaiso

Michigan:
Bay City (two events), Benton Harbor, Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn Heights, East Lansing, Farmington Hills, Goodells, Grand Rapids (two events) Harbor Springs, Lansing, Midland, Monroe, Royal Oaks, Sault Ste. Marie, Southfield, Traverse City

Minnesota:
Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Duluth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Madison, Maple Grove, New Ulm, Saint Cloud, Shakopee, St. Louis Park, St. Paul

New York:
Brockport, Buffalo, Fredonia, Rochester (two events), Syracuse (two events).

Ohio:
Cleveland, Grove City, Kent, Perrysburg, Sandusky, Springfield, Toledo, Warren

Pennsylvania:
Erie, Lancaster

Wisconsin:
Appleton, Brillion, Chilton, Crandon, Green Bay, Keshena (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and College of Menominee Nation), Manitowoc, Milwaukee, New Holstein, Oshkosh, Plover (two events), Racine, Superior, Waupaca.
—

Earth Healing Initiative: Faith groups, Native Americans vital part of EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

"Garbage Monsters" teach lessons to tribal students in Wisconsin; Native Americans and interfaith groups help collect a million pounds of e-waste, and a million pills to reach goal of EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

(Kesenha, Wisconsin) - Tribal school students and their parents recently learned a creative lesson about the environment and the human capability to waste as they rummaged through their trash to find discarded items that were used to make the heads, legs, arms, eyes and bodies of "Garbage Monsters."

The students even named their multi-colored Garbage Monsters.

These same students will be cleaning up a town on their Wisconsin reservation this week as part of a Great Lakes environment project involving hundreds of cities in eight states.

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has three projects underway to honor Earth Day 2008.

More on that in a moment.

Faith leaders across eight Great Lakes states are urging their members to participate in an Earth Day 2008 challenge to collect one million pounds of electronics and more than one million pills because trust is needed between all people to stop an environmental crisis.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has moved into high gear with more than 100 projects involving literally hundreds of communities collecting pharmaceuticals, electronics and household poisons.

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) is holding a curbside pickup of electronics for members during Earth Week, April 21-24.

Over 1,000 pounds of electronics have been turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1 and the total weigh of circuit boards to be recycled is expected to reach several tons by the end of the month.

The College of Menominee Nation is hosting pharmaceutical and electronics collections on April 22.

An EPA grant to the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative (EHI) is mobilizing religious communities in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.

A Lutheran Bishop who has participated in interfaith Earth Day recycling projects for three years in a row encourages people of all faiths to get involved and help protect the environment.

We are in an environmental crisis in many ways, said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod (NGLS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The Great Lakes watershed is really kind of a mother to all of us here in the populated areas of the upper Midwest, he said.

Interfaith environment projects like the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge will help ensure a better future for all humans, Skrenes said, adding sometimes its relationships and trusting each other that really count in environmental work.

The culture, the society and the environment are now connecting in some fantastic new ways to build relationships between people, said Skrenes, who has recorded several videos on interfaith environment action with help from the EHI.

We are building trust along and across denominational lines, in the Christian communities and into the wider faith communities of the whole country, Skrenes said.

The colorful interfaith graphic in this image (above, top left) is used courtesy of Justice St. Rain and his Interfaith Resources Special Ideas website. St. Rain is an author and a member of the Baha'i Community

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and "a coalition and partnership of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together and sharing their projects and resources to heal, protect and defend the environment," said founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.

Magnuson said that Michigan Native Americans have been working with the Cedar Tree Institute for five years and the EHI is hoping to expandi that relationship to tribes across the Great Lakes Basin.

Progressive Christians and other faith traditions can learn a lot about respecting the planet and wildlife from the heritage and culture of American Indian tribes, Magnuson said.

On Friday, April 25, students at the tribal K-8 school are picking up litter and cleaning up the a reservation community.

The students and their parents recently created "Garbage Monsters" out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator.

After naming their monsters, the students gave a presentation on other uses for the garbage they used to make the creatures.

Photos show "garbage monsters" created by tribal school students who are learning about protecting the environment at the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena. One photo (above, bottom right)shows electronics being recycled by the tribe that members are dropping off at the transfer station.

Interfaith and Native American participation in environment projects like the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge will help ensure a better future for all humans, said Skrenes, adding "sometimes its relationships and trusting each other that really count in environmental work."

Bishop Skrenes hopes everyone across the Great Lakes Basin will participate in their local project.

Saying its not your grandfathers environment movement anymore, Skrenes said that environmental work is now more mainstream and no longer an obscure thing for a certain group of people unlike 40 years ago when he was in high school and I dare say some of my relatives said it was kind of a hippie movement.

The church is called to bring people together to be part of the healing, Skrenes said.

This interfaith earth healing effort is really a great gift that has been given to all of us, Skrenes said. It is our calling and our responsibility to assist in renewal and rebuilding - its Gods work and its the work of Gods people.

Examples of established interfaith organizations that are assisting the EHI include the University of Minnesota Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Arrowhead Interfaith Council in Duluth, the Marquette University Ministry outlets in Milwaukee, several Catholic interfaith groups and the office of Ecumenical Formation and Inter-Religious Relations at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Residents of Duluth, Minnesota will clean out their medicine cabinets on April 26 as part of the challenge.

Two previous Duluth area pharmaceutical collections held in 2007 garnered nearly 600 pounds of unwanted medications from about 400 families.

The Earth Healing Initiative interfaith liaison in Duluth is Rev. Doug Paulson, a campus pastor for Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Minnesota.

Paulson said he has spread the information to dozens of churches and temples with help from the Arrowhead Interfaith Council.

The drive-thru event is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 26 at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 2626 Courtland Street in Duluth.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Earth Healing Initiative is helping with two challenge events.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District held its successful "prescription for clean water and safe kids" pharmaceutical collection on Saturday, April 19 in Milwaukee, Racine, Ozaukee, and Washington counties.

Meanwhile, the city of Milwaukee is hosting an electronic waste collection for its residents on Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in a parking lot just south of Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee

The Earth Healing Initiative Milwaukee interfaith liaison is Rev. Brad Brown, campus pastor at Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry.

Brown said interfaith contacts at the university have helped distribute 5,000 of the 200,000 postcards promoting the pharmaceutical collection.

Clergy in local churches and temples have promoted both events, Brown said.

EPA grants to some of the organizers help fund projects aimed at recycling computers, cell phones and other electronics commonly known as "e-waste plus collecting out-of-date and unwanted pharmaceuticals for proper disposal in high tech incinerators.

To comply with federal drug laws, police officers and pharmacists are accepting the medications. While some of the projects have been running all month or during Earth Week, the bulk of the remaining events will be held Saturday, April 26. Collections, rules, times and dates vary from city to city.

The interfaith EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan including the Earth Keepers, known for removing more than 370 tons of e-Waste, pharmaceuticals and household hazardous waste (HHW) during three Earth Day clean sweeps across the Upper Peninsula.

The northern Michigan Earth Keepers have alliances with ten faith traditions across the Upper Peninsula, and the EHI is coordinating the same relationships with religious communities across the Great Lakes and beyond.

Bishop Skrenes is among the faith leaders who have signed the northern Michigan Earth Keeper Covenant pledging to actively participate in environment projects, build bridges with others faiths, and reach out to Native American communities.

Bishop Skrenes said the interfaith clean sweep is an example for other communities in the world because it shows like-minded people with good hearts can make a real impact in their communities when tackling environmental problem that seem daunting or too big for the average person to really make a difference.

The ongoing Earth Keeper project involves the congregations of over 150 churches and temples representing ten faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Bahá'í, Jewish, Zen Buddhist and the Religious Society of Friends commonly known as the Quakers.

The Upper Peninsula Earth Keepers set up collection sites across a 400-mile area of northern Michigan on Earth Day 2005-2007. About 15,000 residents turned in over 320 tons of e-Waste, 45 tons of HHW including car batteries, oil-based paint, pesticides, liquid mercury, and other common poisons and over one ton of pharmaceuticals including $500,000 in narcotics.

People of many spiritual dimensions resonate to this work, Skrenes said. This is a good effort for all of us to be involved with.

This is about the environment, this is about cleaning up and making things new again and restoring things to the ways they once were and can be, Skrenes said.

People who are spiritual reflect upon and think about creation, Skrenes said. We think about the lakes and the streams and the forest and all of the rest that God has produced.

The 2008 EPA challenge collection sites in large cities and surrounding areas like Chicago, Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Illinois: Alton, Beecher, Bellwood, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Channahon, Chicago, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Glenview, Joliet, Lockport, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Romeoville, Shorewood, Villa Park, West Chicago, Wheaton, Woodstock

Indiana: Columbia City, Hammond, Knox, LaPorte, Fort Wayne, Rushville, Valparaiso

Michigan: Bay City (two events), Benton Harbor, Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn Heights, East Lansing, Farmington Hills, Goodells, Grand Rapids (two events) Harbor Springs, Lansing, Midland, Monroe, Royal Oaks, Sault Ste. Marie, Southfield, Traverse City

Minnesota: Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Duluth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Madison, Maple Grove, New Ulm, Saint Cloud, Shakopee, St. Louis Park, St. Paul
New York: Brockport, Buffalo, Fredonia, Rochester (two events), Syracuse (two events).

Ohio: Cleveland, Grove City, Kent, Perrysburg, Sandusky, Springfield, Toledo, Warren

Pennsylvania: Erie, Lancaster

Wisconsin: Appleton, Brillion, Chilton, Crandon, Green Bay, Keshena (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and College of Menominee Nation), Manitowoc, Milwaukee (two events), New Holstein, Oshkosh, Plover (two events), Racine, Superior, Waupaca.

The EHI works in collaboration with the EPA and other government and non-government organizations, said Magnuson, executive director of the Cedar Tree Institute

The EHI is organizing faith community volunteers and participants plus providing free media assistance to the Earth Day projects including press releases, press contacts, internet videos, podcasts and postings.

For more information on the EHI project call 906-401-0109.
—
Related websites:
—
EPA:
Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008
Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge event list:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/events.html
EPA Press Release on challenge:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/D48F2AD96EC624E38525740B003AEE57
—
Earth Healing Initiative:
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org

——
Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community) of Interfaith Resources - Special Ideas website:

http://www.interfaithresources.com

http://www.interfaithresources.com/subcategories.php?dir=leftMenuSub&template=default&id=10

http://www.interfaithresources.com/products.php?id=2469

—
Call Justice St. Rain at Interfaith resources:
1-800-326-1197
—
Interfaith Resources
416 W 4th St.
Bloomington IN
47404
—
Bah'u'llh, the One who founded the Faithclaims to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Promised One of all religions. His life and teachings are worthy of further study to determine the goodness of His fruit, and the validity of His claim.

Quote from Finding Common Ground
How many beliefs do you share with members of the Bah'i Community?
You may be surprised!
By Justice St. Rain
(Bloomington, IN: Published by Special Ideas, 1997), p. 11

Interfaith graphics located with help from Bahai Media and Public Information specialist Ellen Price

wk: 847-733-3559

http://www.bahai.us

——-

Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:

http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin homepage

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

College of Menominee Nation:

http://www.menominee.edu

Earth Week Flyer - Call: Diana 715-799-5189 or Jeremy 715-799-5710:

http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/earthWeekFlyer.pdf

—
Duluth, Minnesota:

University of Minnesota Lutheran Campus Ministry
P.O. Box 3649
Duluth, MN
55803-3649

UM LCM Website:
http://www.d.umn.edu/lcm/index.html

Pastor Doug Paulson page: Anchored in Christ's love, Lutheran Campus Ministry is an open, welcoming and caring Community:
http://www.d.umn.edu/lcm/doug.html
——-
Arrowhead Interfaith Council (AIC)
102 W. 2nd Street
Duluth, MN
55802

Arrowhead Interfaith Council (AIC) website
http://www.arrowheadinterfaith.org/home.html

AIC members page:
http://www.arrowheadinterfaith.org/members.html
—
AIC President
Erik Nordgren, AIC President
218-525-3136
president@arrowheadinterfaith.org
—
AIC Interfaith Committee
"The Interfaith Committee plans events which foster interfaith dialogue and learning"

AIC Interfaith Committee Chair
JoAnn Chesser
218-728-1516
—
Milwaukee, WI:

Rev. Brad Brown
Lutheran Campus Pastor Marquette University

email:
bradley.brown@mu.edu

414-288-3691 (Pastor Brown vm)
414-305-2349 (cell)
—
Pastor Brad Brown's blog:
http://www.mulutherans.com/index.php

Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry website:
http://www.mulutherans.com
—
Marquette University Ministry
AMU 236
1442 W. Wisconsin Ave.
P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee., WI
53201-1881
—
Phone: 414-288-6873
Fax: 414-288-3696
—
website:
http://www.marquette.edu/um
staff:
http://www.marquette.edu/um/staff/
Campus faith list:
http://www.marquette.edu/um/worship/documents/1018107web.pdf

Find me on MySpace and be my friend!

Top Stories

Interfaith trust needed to protect environment: EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

Challenging an interfaith stake in the world’s environmental future: Million pounds e-waste, Million pills goal of EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

(Chicago, Illinois) - Faith leaders across eight Great Lakes states are urging their members to participate in an Earth Day 2008 challenge to collect one million pounds of electronics and more than one million pills because trust is needed between all people to stop an environmental crisis.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has moved into high gear more than 100 projects involving hundreds of communities are collecting pharmaceuticals, electronics and household poisons.

An EPA grant to the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative (EHI) is mobilizing religious communities in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.

A Lutheran Bishop who has participated in interfaith Earth Day recycling projects for three years in a row encourages people of all faiths to get involved and help protect the environment.

We are in an environmental crisis in many ways, said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod (NGLS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The Great Lakes watershed is really kind of a mother to all of us here in the populated areas of the upper Midwest.

Interfaith environment projects like the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge will help ensure a better future for all humans, Skrenes said, adding sometimes its relationships and trusting each other that really count in environmental work.

The culture, the society and the environment are now connecting in some fantastic new ways to build relationships between people, Skrenes said. We are building trust along and across denominational lines, in the Christian communities and into the wider faith communities of the whole country.

The EHI is a coalition and partnership of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together and sharing their projects and resources to heal, protect and defend the environment, said founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.

Bishop Skrenes hopes everyone across the Great Lakes Basin will participate in their local project.

Saying its not your grandfathers environment movement anymore, Skrenes said that environmental work is now more mainstream and no longer an obscure thing for a certain group of people unlike 40 years ago when he was in high school and I dare say some of my relatives said it was kind of a hippie movement.

The church is called to bring people together to be part of the healing, Skrenes said.

This interfaith earth healing effort is really a great gift that has been given to all of us, Skrenes said. It is our calling and our responsibility to assist in renewal and rebuilding - its Gods work and its the work of Gods people.

Examples of established interfaith organizations that are assisting the EHI include the University of Minnesota Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Arrowhead Interfaith Council in Duluth, the Marquette University Ministry outlets in Milwaukee, several Catholic interfaith groups and the office of Ecumenical Formation and Inter-Religious Relations at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

EPA grants to some of the organizers help fund projects aimed at recycling computers, cell phones and other electronics commonly known as “e-waste plus collecting out-of-date and unwanted pharmaceuticals for proper disposal in high tech incinerators.

To comply with federal drug laws, police officers and pharmacists are accepting the medications. While some of the projects have been running all month or during Earth Week, the bulk of the events will be held either this Saturday, April 19 or next Saturday, April 26. Collections, rules, times and dates vary from city to city.

The interfaith EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan including the Earth Keepers, known for removing more than 370 tons of e-Waste, pharmaceuticals and household hazardous waste (HHW) during three Earth Day clean sweeps across the Upper Peninsula.

The northern Michigan Earth Keepers have alliances with ten faith traditions across the Upper Peninsula, and the EHI is coordinating the same relationships with religious communities across the Great Lakes and beyond.

Bishop Skrenes is among the faith leaders who have signed the northern Michigan Earth Keeper Covenant pledging to actively participate in environment projects, build bridges with others faiths, and reach out to Native American communities.

Bishop Skrenes said the interfaith clean sweep is an example for other communities in the world because it shows like-minded people with good hearts can make a real impact in their communities when tackling environmental problem that seem daunting or too big for the average person to really make a difference.

The ongoing Earth Keeper project involves the congregations of over 150 churches and temples representing ten faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Bahá’í, Jewish, Zen Buddhist and the Religious Society of Friends commonly known as the Quakers.

The Upper Peninsula Earth Keepers set up collection sites across a 400-mile area of northern Michigan on Earth Day 2005-2007. About 15,000 residents turned in over 320 tons of e-Waste, 45 tons of HHW including car batteries, oil-based paint, pesticides, liquid mercury, and other common poisons and over one ton of pharmaceuticals including $500,000 in narcotics.

People of many spiritual dimensions resonate to this work, Skrenes said. This is a good effort for all of us to be involved with.

This is about the environment, this is about cleaning up and making things new again and restoring things to the ways they once were and can be, Skrenes said.

People who are spiritual reflect upon and think about creation, Skrenes said. We think about the lakes and the streams and the forest and all of the rest that God has produced.

The 2008 EPA challenge collection sites in large cities and surrounding areas like Chicago, Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Illinois: Alton, Beecher, Bellwood, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Channahon, Chicago, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Glenview, Joliet, Lockport, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Romeoville, Shorewood, Villa Park, West Chicago, Wheaton, Woodstock

Indiana: Columbia City, Hammond, Knox, LaPorte, Fort Wayne, Rushville, Valparaiso

Michigan: Bay City (two events), Benton Harbor, Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn Heights, East Lansing, Farmington Hills, Goodells, Grand Rapids (two events) Harbor Springs, Lansing, Midland, Monroe, Royal Oaks, Sault Ste. Marie, Southfield, Traverse City

Minnesota: Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Duluth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Madison, Maple Grove, New Ulm, Saint Cloud, Shakopee, St. Louis Park, St. Paul
New York: Brockport, Buffalo, Fredonia, Rochester (two events), Syracuse (two events).

Ohio: Cleveland, Grove City, Kent, Perrysburg, Sandusky, Springfield, Toledo, Warren

Pennsylvania: Erie, Lancaster

Wisconsin: Appleton, Brillion, Chilton, Crandon, Green Bay, Keshena (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and College of Menominee Nation), Manitowoc, Milwaukee (two events), New Holstein, Oshkosh, Plover (two events), Racine, Superior, Waupaca.

The EHI works in collaboration with the EPA and other government and non-government organizations, said Magnuson, executive director of the Cedar Tree Institute

The EHI is organizing faith community volunteers and participants plus providing free media assistance to the Earth Day projects including press releases, press contacts, internet videos, podcasts and postings.

For more information on the EHI project call 906-401-0109.
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Related websites:
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EPA:
Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008
Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge event list:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/events.html
EPA Press Release on challenge:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/D48F2AD96EC624E38525740B003AEE57
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Earth Healing Initiative:
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
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Duluth, Minnesota:

University of Minnesota Lutheran Campus Ministry
P.O. Box 3649
Duluth, MN
55803-3649

UM LCM Website:
http://www.d.umn.edu/lcm/index.html

Pastor Doug Paulson page: Anchored in Christ’s love, Lutheran Campus Ministry is an open, welcoming and caring Community:
http://www.d.umn.edu/lcm/doug.html
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Arrowhead Interfaith Council (AIC)
102 W. 2nd Street
Duluth, MN
55802

Arrowhead Interfaith Council (AIC) website
http://www.arrowheadinterfaith.org/home.html

AIC members page:
http://www.arrowheadinterfaith.org/members.html
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AIC President
Erik Nordgren, AIC President
218-525-3136
president@arrowheadinterfaith.org
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AIC Interfaith Committee
“The Interfaith Committee plans events which foster interfaith dialogue and learning”

AIC Interfaith Committee Chair
JoAnn Chesser
218-728-1516
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Milwaukee, WI:

Rev. Brad Brown
Lutheran Campus Pastor Marquette University

email:
bradley.brown@mu.edu

414-288-3691 (Pastor Brown vm)
414-305-2349 (cell)
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Pastor Brad Brown’s blog:
http://www.mulutherans.com/index.php

Marquette University Lutheran Campus Ministry website:
http://www.mulutherans.com/
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Marquette University Ministry
AMU 236
1442 W. Wisconsin Ave.
P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee., WI
53201-1881
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Phone: 414-288-6873
Fax: 414-288-3696
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website:
http://www.marquette.edu/um
staff:
http://www.marquette.edu/um/staff/
Campus faith list:
http://www.marquette.edu/um/worship/documents/1018107web.pdf
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Select challenge cities:

Chicago, Illinois:
IEPA:
http://www.epa.state.il.us

IEPA Spring HHW collections:
http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/hazardous-waste/household-haz-waste/hhwc-schedule.html

AGL website:
http://www.greatlakes.org
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Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District:
www.mmsd.com

Milwaukee Journal articles:
http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/16462496.html
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=726592
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Keshena, Wisconsin:

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

College of Menominee Nation
http://www.menominee.edu
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Greater Cleveland, Ohio area:

Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District:
http://www.cuyahogaswd.org
http://www.cuyahogaswd.org/residents/comprec.asp
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Duluth:

Western Lake Superior Sanitary District:
http://www.wlssd.com
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Fort Wayne, Indiana:

Allen County TRIAD:
http://www.allencountytriad.4t.com/

Volunteer Center @ RSVP:
http://www.volunteercenterfw.org/

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