RECYCLING GRANT COMMITTEE
This group has written a grant request for about $7000.00 to expand the in-school recycling systems in Carbondale's District 95 and to create a recycling system at Murphysboro Middle School. The grant was accepted, and we are now facing the implementation of this complicated proposal. The proposal stipulated that the Cats would teach the other schools how to run a successful recycling system and would present to the teachers and administrators how to keep the students interested in recycling for their future. This group will make numerous presentations, purchase the recycling containers, perform regular check-ups on the new systems, and will end the year by writing another grant request to start an efficient recycling system at Carbondale High School.
CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE
The construction committee is the group which builds things for the Cats. We have built recycling containers for Carbondale's parks, and have many other items on the drawing board for this year. Each year we will build bird feeders and houses to sell at Makandafest, and will tackle at least one special project. The special projects include building cages for the wildlife rehabilitation center, building recycling bins, building trailers for the Lights Fantastic Parade, building display cases for the Cats to use at Lincoln etc.. What this group builds is wide open, but one thing is certain, all the things they build add to the conservation effort.
CLOSING THE LOOP GROUP
This group has a single, well-defined goal: to spark area-wide purchases of products made from post-consumer recycled materials. During the first year of its existence, this group secured bids for recycled paper, performed tests on the paper and presented its findings to the District 95 School Board. We found a distributor who could provide recycled paper for only $35.00 over what the District was currently paying, but unfortunately, the following year the District found a supplier who was able to provide virgin paper at an even lower price. Our focus of late has been a similar approach, securing letters of intent from over 60 Southern Illinois School Districts stating that they would be willing to look at our supplier of recycled paper if it is a cost-effective alternative for them. These letters would then be presented to a supplier as a virtually "guaranteed market" if the price were right.
THE CARBONDALE RECYCLING COMMITTEE
This group is charged with the modification and improvement of Carbondale's Curbside recycling system. After collecting a great deal of original data through city-wide opinionaires, garbage collection and sorting, and numerous interviews, this group put together an outstanding proposal which was presented to the City Council in the Spring of 1994. The presentation was well received and the data were actually used by the City of Carbondale. This group has continued to work with the Energy Council, and is currently in the process of writing pamphlets designed to answer questions which were raised by our 1994 proposal, getting local businesses to sell post-consumer recycled items, and expanding the recycling system to the businesses, dorms, and apartments in Carbondale.
PUBLICITY COMMITTEE
This group is responsible for three related duties: the publicity of the club's endeavors and accomplishments, the planning and organization of our annual end-of-the-year Awards Dinner, and the writing of our bi-weekly Southern Illinoisan column ENVIROMINUTE. This feature, published every other Tuesday, gives readers advice on Earth-friendly living. This group is also in charge of organizing and labeling all of the slides of the various activities performed each year by the entire group.
PUPPET SHOW COMMITTEE
This group has constructed an outstanding puppet show stage which features realistic fiberglass trees, a pleated skirt with our logo for the front, and a three-dimensional backdrop which disassembles easily for transport. Several scripts have been written for our forest critter puppets -- each with a strong environmental message for elementary school audiences. Starting in the Fall of each year this committee begins "booking" engagements to perform all over Southern Illinois. These scripts include original songs, and some very creative dramatic ideas including sound effects, special lighting, and fogs rolling through the forest -- should be quite a show. In addition, this group was written into a recycling grant, and is responsible for informing students, at the schools which received grant moneys, just how to make recycling work in their school.
The Art group is currently working on two projects. The first project involves designing, building and painting aluminum recycling bins for all of Carbondale's Parks. We have secured permission from the Park District, and have an agreement with Southern Recycling to empty the bins once they are in place. The second project is to paint the side of a privately-owned building with a conservation theme. Our plan then involves inviting City representatives to view the building with hopes of securing a city-owned building-side to paint. Future plans also include numerous painting jobs on the walls here at Lincoln.
This group is in charge of writing environmental commercials to air on local radio stations. Each year the Cats write, script, and actually go to the radio station to record, a series of interesting and informative public service announcements. We are in a cooperative agreement with WCIL and with Z-100 to record and play these PSA's. In addition to the conservation commercials, the members of this group actually put together a radio program which airs on the local community radio station on a bi-weekly basis.
This energetic group of Cats works for hundreds of hours every year to produce an exceptional entry in the December Lights Fantastic Parade. An eight-foot round, two-sided planet Earth; a hand-built trailer; several 3 foot by 8 foot lighted signs with conservation slogans; and 8 life-size lighted outlines of endangered species (some with movable parts) managed to win us a first place trophy each year the competition has run. Our entry had approximately 15,000 lights; getting 15,000 Christmas lights to work for the parade requires a great deal of patience and at least as many aspirin! Each year the Cats design and build an addition to our parade entry; we have added so many lights lately that the Cats had to buy a second generator!
FIELD TRIP COMMITTEE
This small committee is charged with managing the logistical nightmares which accompany each of our field trips. This group is kept quite busy writing letters, securing rides and chaperones, designing equipment lists, collecting money, investigating new trips, and making all the scheduling contacts. Part of this group's responsibilities includes the cleaning and maintenance of all of the Cat's equipment and the equipment room at Lincoln. The Field Trip Committee makes sure we take trips -- without tripping up!
NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE
This group produces a bi-monthly environmental newsletter called the CONSERVATION COURIER. In this newsletter (printed on 20% post-consumer recycled paper) current environmental issues are addressed; reaction to The Courier has been overwhelming.
PHOTOGRAPHY and YEARBOOK COMMITTEE
This group is responsible for taking pictures of all of the other groups in action and all of the Conservation Cats' field trips. The Cats have their own camera and the school has a camcorder. Once all the events and antics are recorded, this group will put together a yearbook, complete with captions, jokes, and special theme pages. This year the group will also put together a video yearbook along with the traditional bound version.
CALENDAR COMMITTEE
This group was charged with the production of an environmental calendar which would be given to area school children on Earth Day. A grant was written by Keep Carbondale Beautiful, a local organization who also sponsors the citywide Clean-up Day, and the rest was up to us. We Wrote to cartoon publishers, and secured permission to print environmental cartoons for the display pages, and also held a District-wide art contest with the hopes of printing some local talent. The calendar's day slots were filled with environmental information; information collected from all over which we felt would benefit our readers. Our calendars were definitely filled producing this calendar, but we made our deadline, and the finished product was excellent.
COMPUTER COMMITTEE
The Computer Committee is in charge of creating and maintaining the official Cats web page. This group also checks the Cats' e-mail and does any other computer related stuff that the Cats need done. We are also responsible for making people aware of the danger to our precious environment and how they can help make this world a better place.
