All posts by Reinstein Woods

Congratulations to the 2022 Great Lakes Data Jam Winners!

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Congratulations to the 2022 Great Lakes Data Jam Winners! This year’s competition was made possible through a New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grant awarded by the New York Sea Grant in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Students participating in the Great Lakes Data Jam will analyze local data to identify trends and patterns. Students will share their findings in a scientific report, but also communicate their findings in a creative way that engages and informs a larger audience. The data communication projects can take many forms, from posters and infographics to songs, poems, and short movies.

2022 Winning Projects:

Grand Prize: “The Bird Population Trend” from 5th Grade students at South Seneca Central School.

View full video here.

High School Honorable Mention: “Which WNY Water? A Phone App For Differential Water Location“ from West Seneca Christian School.

4th-8th grade Honorable Mention: “DDT Song“ from South Seneca Central School.

I’m Interested in the 2022-2023 Data Jam

Friends of Reinstein Seeking Environmental Educator

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Friends of Reinstein Woods is seeking an Environmental Educator to implement environmental education programs during the school year and to administer Kids in the Woods Summer Day Camp at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve. This is a full-time, year-round position.

Click here for full job description.

Env Ed Position description 2022rev

“Reimagined” Fall Festival 2021

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More than 250 people attended our “Reimagined Fall Festival.” To provide a safe experience we offered five days of nature activities and hikes instead of our large one-day festival. The event highlighted old favorites such as pond exploration and Forest Ranger demonstrations while adding new guided walks and a “build your own terrarium workshop.” Thank you to our exhibitors and presenters from the Buffalo Botanical Gardens, NYS Parks, Erie County Soil and Water Conservation District, NYSDEC Forest Rangers, Niagara Frontier Koi & Pond Club, Cheektowaga Historical Association, Erie County Park Rangers, WNY PRISM, and our volunteers! We look forward to seeing you at a bigger event next year.

 

fallfest 2021 - welcome table
fallfest 2021 - terrarium workshop
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fallfest 2021 - soils2
fallfest 2021 - soils
fallfest 2021 - rain gauge
fallfest 2021 - terrarium workshop3
fallfest 2021 - forest ranger drone
fallfest 2021 - birdwalk
Fall Fest 2021 Morning Bird Walk
Fall Fest 2021 Pond Exploration 2
Fall Fest 2021 Pond Exploration 1
Fallfest - pond scooping
Fall Fest 2021 Pond Exploration 5
Fall Fest 2021 Pond Exploration 4
fallfest 2021 - terrarium workshop4
Fallfest - pond scooping2

2021 Christmas Bird Count for Kids

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Educators from Reinstein Woods and State Parks led our 4th Christmas Bird Count for kids family viewing birds with binocularsjust hours before the Buffalo Bills first playoff win in 25 years. Following our social distance guidelines we had 23 new birders in 5 different groups search roughly 7 miles of trails for as many birds as they could find. These groups found 17 different bird species and a total of 174 birds. The black – capped chickadee was a favorite bird that excited the young birders.

Enjoy this video highlighting our birding experience:

Apply Today for the Environmental Education Intern Program

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The application deadline for the Winter-Summer 2021 session of our Environmental intern tour guide with studentsEducation Intern program is coming soon! This paid internship provides hands-on experience in the field of Environmental Education. Visit here for more information about the program. If you are interested in this opportunity, fill out the application form here and submit it to us (by mail or email) by Monday, November 30!

 

intern tour guide with students

Animals Preparing for Winter

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Animals Preparing for Winter

Autumn brings shorter hours of daylight, cooler temperatures, and falling leaves. These changes are a signal to animals. Animals have different strategies and adaptations to prepare for the coming winter. Some animals will migrate, some sleep or hibernate, while others stay active. Enjoy this video created by Mike Adriaansen that reveals how local animals prepare for winter.

Friends of Reinstein Seeking Development Manager

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Friends of Reinstein Woods is seeking an energetic Development Manager to work closely with staff and volunteers to promote the long-term financial well-being of Friends of Reinstein Woods.

This  is a full-time position. Occasional weekend and evening hours related to special events required. Resumes are being accepted until November 4, 2020. For more details and how to apply, see the job description here.

Sustainability Challenge Day 5

News, 20-Day Sustainability Challenge

Cozy up to Sustainability

You may have heard of the “Story of Stuff,” a popular 2007 video that attempts to explain how our linear system of producing and consuming things is wrecking our planet. (You can still watch it – the iPod and Radio Shack makes it feel dated, the stats are off slightly for today, and it is definitely depressing, but the main ideas still hold true).

 

“Stuff” is one area of sustainability that most of us struggle with: we are surrounded with messages telling us to buy, buy, buy, without any explanation of its consequences. Some messages even tell us how “good” our purchases are for the planet, as if consuming more of the Earth’s resources makes it healthier.

 

To help address this conundrum, author and artist Sarah Lazarovic came up with the idea of the sustainability sweater (read more about it here).Photo of sweater with text underneath

The Buyerarchy of Needs:

Lazarovic suggests one way we as individuals can be more “thoughtful and informed” is to follow the Buyerarchy of Needs pyramid (a play on Maslo’s  hierarchy of needs, as well as the USDA’s old food pyramid). If you look at buying new as the lastPyramid labeled bottom to top: Use What you have, borrow, swap, thrift, make, buy option, you may find other ways to fulfill your needs that have financial benefits for you, and also are better for the planet and your community.

 

But in an era that tells us all our needs can be purchased on the internet and will arrive in two days or less, how do we avoid the tip of the pyramid?

Pledge to try:

The idea of borrow, swap, thrift and “make” may seem quaint and old-fashioned, but there’s a surprisingly large number of people and organizations succeeding at it! Pledge to explore at least one of the following, and then take the Big Step below.

 
Use What You Have: This can be hard to do if an item is broken. In non-COVID times, you could go to a Dare to Repair Cafe, but there are other options. Online services like Angies List and Yelp suggest local repair shops for everything from shoes to clothing to bicycles. (My mom recently had new soles put on her favorite pair of boat shoes, which brought her  much joy.) You can also search the all-knowing internet for directions or videos on how to repair things. My husband successfully repaired our microwave handle by following an online video!

Borrow: You probably know you can get books from a library, but your local branch may offer other things to borrow, from a do-it-yourself bike repair station to a 3-D printer, or even loans of art. And if it’s books you are looking for, Little Free Libraries offer access to books without having to go indoors. Speaking of bikes, Buffalo has a bike share service. And members of The Tool Library in Buffalo can borrow tools instead of buying them.
Swap: Groups like freecycle help people trade instead of throwing out and buying new. There are internet sites for swapping paperbacks, video games, and even sharing gardens by swapping land, tools and labor!
Thrift: Oddly, the best list of Buffalo-area thrift stores is in the right-hand column of the Buffalo Department of Streets webpage. If you are anxious about shopping indoors, checkout online companies like E-Bay, ThredUp and Rent the Runway. Fun fact: AMVETS even offers personal shopping, where they’ll search for a used item for you!
Make: Pinterest. Enter “How to make _____.” Enough said.
Buy… On those occasions when you can’t avoid the red triangle, there are things you can do to buy better. We’ll explore some of those on other Challenge days.

Big Step: Pledge to Buy Thoughtfully:

“Never let yourself buy anything right away. If you walk away from your computer for even a few minutes that impulsiveness often dissipates. You can also write down or draw what you want on a piece of paper. Basically, any action that allows you a pause to let emotion fall aside and logic take over. The internet is brilliant at convincing us that we must purchase immediately…the key is to remember that this is rarely the case.” –Sarah Lazarovic

Day 5 Check-in:

Today marks one-quarter of the 20-Day Challenge! Does this Challenge seem harder & more complicated than you had expected? Remember, you don’t have to complete everything in 20 days, but you can start to make a plan. We’re going to continue to ask you to do to what you can, and then ask you to do a little more. Let us know how you are doing!

A Look Ahead:

Tomorrow we put our money where our mouth is…

Sustainability Challenge Day 4

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We the People…

Today is National Voter Registration Day! As we mentioned on Day 1, this challenge is going to be about more than just small actions like giving up plastic straws, which won’t be enough to keep the planet livable. The larger actions have to happen at the government and corporate levels. And as you’ve probably realized, we need representatives who will make those changes a priority.

You may be thinking: “I always vote, but my vote doesn’t matter much because of where I live.” You may also be aware that climate change rarely makes the list of issues that voters cite as their reason to vote. There is hope: research shows that a lot of people care about climate change, but they often don’t vote. However, there are ways to motivate them, and that’s where you come in.

To Do Right Now: Register

Before we worry about other people voting, we need to make sure we ourselves are registered to vote. As long as you have a NYS driver license, permit or non-driver ID, you can register to vote online. If you prefer the mail, you have until October 9 to postmark a mail-in application or you can apply in-person by October 14, 2020. This is also the deadline to change your address.

Not a New York State resident? You can find how to register in other states here.

I’m Registered, Now What?

If you are worried about COVID or want to ensure your vote is counted on November 3, you can request an absentee ballot or participate in early voting.

To decide who to vote for, you can explore the presidential candidates’ energy and environmental platforms. The League of Conservation Voters provides a scorecard where you can look up how your members of Congress voted on environmental proposals. What about local races? You can find out who will be on your ballot (note- you can skip giving your email address), and then click on those candidates to find out more, including how to contact their office. If they haven’t taken positions on environmental policies, call their office and ask what they are doing/plan to do to make climate change a policy priority.

Big Step: Get Others to Vote

Pledge to ask at least one person today if they are registered to vote.

You probably have a friend on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram (or if you’re like me, in your old-fashioned address book) who lives in a swing state. Once you’ve explored the national platforms, share your views (and information on how to register to vote) with them.

Studies show that receiving a personal letter makes it more likely that a person will vote, so dust off that stationery in your desk drawer and send a few notes! With everyone craving connections right now, your old friends will probably appreciate it!

One Last Important Step…

If you haven’t already, please take a minute to fill out the 2020 Census! The census impacts how much our communities receive for everything from public transportation to wildlife conservation.

“We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” – Thomas Jefferson

A Look Ahead:

Tomorrow we cozy up to sustainability…

Sustainability Challenge Day 3

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Rev up (or down) your engine for Day 3!

Welcome to Climate Week; well, Climate Week NYC anyway. While the UN postponed what would normally be a world-wide week of climate events due to the pandemic, climate change effects (including in New York State) aren’t taking a year off. And neither are you!

When you took the ecological footprint quiz, you may have discovered that transportation is the biggest part of your personal carbon emissions. It’s also the biggest source of NYS greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for more than electricity generation, waste, refrigerants, and agriculture combined.

Go Car Free For Climate!

Today, make a pledge not to drive your car at least one day between 9/21 and 9/27 as part of the Car Free for Climate event. Social media junkies can take a selfie and post it to social media using #NYSCarFree to let everyone know about your experience.

Big Step: Change WHAT You Drive

Like most people in WNY, you probably need a car at least some of the time. In a perfect world we’d all toss our cars and rely on bikes, public transport, ride-sharing or services like ZipCar. If you can do that, please do! If you can’t, ask yourself: Am I driving the most efficient vehicle I possibly can?
Challenge yourself to buy or lease an electric vehicle or a hybrid plug-in vehicle. New York State rebates and federal tax credits make purchasing affordable. And whether purchased new or used, an electric vehicle will cost a lot less to operate, while performing as well or even better than a gas-powered vehicle. Sounds too good to be true? You can compare the savings yourself.

Already Doing This? Take a Small Step: Change HOW You Drive

So you’re already driving a plug-in hybrid, and thanks to COVID you rarely go anywhere. What then? Even electric car drivers can take steps to operate a vehicle in the most efficient manner possible. And that will save you money! Pledge to make at least 3 changes to your driving and maintenance habits. You can track your fuel economy to chart your savings!
While you’re at it, you can advocate for transportation policies that move us away from fossil fuels… but we’ll explore that more later in the 20-Day Challenge.

A Look Ahead:

Tomorrow we’ll raise our voices… but don’t worry, we aren’t mad at you.