KEARNEY SUSTAINABILITY SNIPPETS

Encourage. Develop. Lead. KSM Volume 2, Issue 2

What is the Kearney Sustainability Movement?

We are a group of individuals who all have a passion for using the limited resources available to us in a wise manner. The goal of the group is to help spread the word about sustainable activities, influence sustainable change in our community, and to continue to grow our knowledge about sustainable practices. We will be having workshops on ways we can help influence and create sustainable practices in the community.

What have we done so far?

KSM had helped make EcoBricks for the Students 4 Sustainability via CCC for their State Fair Project. It was a success with hundreds of EcoBricks being made. Some members of KSM attended UNK’s Blue and Gold days, getting the word out about the group.

We will be having workshop type meetings where we will explore hands-on sustainable activities. We will have a planting seeds and transplanting workshop on March 23, 2024 at 4:00pm at Pioneer Park. We will also have meetings where we will teach about things people can do in their everyday lives to be sustainable.If you have any sustainable topics you’ve been curious about, let us know and we can work it into one of the meetings. Email us at kearneysustainabilitymovement@gmail.com

With the warmer weather we've been having, some of us might start spring cleaning early this year. One of the most sustainable things to do for spring cleaning is to use what you already have. There is no need to go buy a new sustainable cleaning product when you still have some supplies in your possession. If your supplies are running low you can start looking into more sustainable alternatives.

A beginner tidbit: Most of us have used a sponge to clean in our households at least once in our lives. Unfortunately, most sponges are made of plastics, and once you use them a couple of times, they go straight into the trash. This is unsustainable even if the sponges are made from recycled materials. Luckily, all natural wood scrub brushes are an excellent alternative. Once these brushes reach the end of their life cycle, they can be composted or added to your garden. This allows the natural components to be broken down and reintroduced back into the ecosystem.

An intermediate tidbit: The majority of the cleaners out there have harsh chemicals in them. Not only are these chemicals bad for the environment, but also your family’s health can be affected by them. A simple way to get around this is to create your own cleaners. At first, this seems like a big task, but it’s actually quite simple. One of my favorites is taking some orange or lemon peels. Put them in a container with vinegar. Let them soak for two weeks. Strain out the peels. Then fill a spray bottle with half water and half of your strained vinegar. Not only is this very simple to do, but it also has none of the harsh chemicals in other cleaners and you give your orange/lemon peels a second use before you compost them.

An advanced tidbit: One of the big steps of spring cleaning is getting rid of unwanted items. The easiest way to do this is by donating them to thrift stores. This does provide some good, but there is a catch. Thrift stores receive so many donations that they can’t go through them all before running out of space. This leads to items being thrown in the trash instead of being repurposed. You may ask yourself, is there a more sustainable way to get rid of my unwanted items? There is. The best way is to find someone directly that can use it. This seems like a little extra work, but it doesn’t have to be. You can see if any friends or family would want them, put them in your yard with a free sign, or post them on social media. Doing so guarantees that the items will get reused before being discarded or repurposed. I know that this doesn’t work all the time. I still recommend donating items to thrift stores, but only if you are unable to find a new home for it first.

Planting seeds and transplanting workshop on March 23, 2024 at 4:00pm at Pioneer Park.

Our mission is to encourage the spread of knowledge, the development of practices, and to lead our community towards a sustainable and prosperous future.