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Green Your Office for the Holidays with a Dish Library!
As the holidays approach, here’s a great idea to make your office parties more sustainable: establish a Dish Library! Ask office mates to donate reusable plates, bowls, cups, forks, knives, and spoons that can be stored in a central office location (a file cabinet or kitchenette cupboard works well). The dishes can be borrowed for meetings, birthdays, lunches etc. that otherwise might involve buying disposable products. You can have a formal sign-out system, or opt to let people use them as needed.
It’s a great way to reduce waste and save money! So put that old “I Love My Dog” mug sitting in your cupboard to use, get rid of the giant “I Love Vegas” stein that your buddy gave you after his last trip, and add your grown daughter’s My Little Pony dish set to the library!
Thanks to the DEC Sustainability Committee for this idea. For more ideas to make your holidays sustainable, visit DEC’s Sustainable Holidays webpage.
Students Experience “Day in the Life”
By Jill Zerkowski, Naturalist Intern
On September 29, more than 300 students, teachers and volunteers arrived on the shores of the Buffalo River and its tributaries. Equipped with tools such as nets, tubes, clipboards and data sheets, students from six schools from across western New York were ready to explore the complex relationships that are found in the Buffalo River. The fourth annual Day in the Life of the Buffalo River found students ankle deep in water, giving them a unique hands-on experience.
In addition to the students, teachers and volunteers, several partner organizations were on-site to help with the event. Representatives from the Erie County Park Rangers, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Great Lakes Program, and US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Lower Great Lakes Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office worked with students at ten different sites to collect data about water quality, biodiversity, create maps, as well as to share the history of the Buffalo River.
All of the data collected by the students will be posted on the web and shared between the participating classes.
Reinstein Woods gave students and educators a day they most likely won’t forget. 
Learning to do real science, like measuring turbidity (the cloudiness in the water), is one benefit of the program. “The turbidity tube was awesome! We poured the water in (the tube), and the secchi disk actually disappeared! It was so cool when we let the water out and could see the disk again,” said one student.
Brittany Rowan, Friends of Reinstein Woods environmental educator, said, “This event is a great opportunity for students to investigate this local water resource and take real-world data. It’s exciting for them to become scientists for a day.”
Special thanks to the local offices of Ingram Micro and Northrop Grumman for providing 
funding to support this STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program. The Julia B. Reinstein Trust also provides financial support that makes this program possible.
Junior League Grant Provides Summer Experience
“This week was the highlight of my summer.”
So proclaimed one of the campers who attended Camp Rushford, an environmental education summer camp in Allegany County. The camper was one of more than a dozen kids who attended camp through NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s campership program, offered in partnership with Friends of Reinstein Woods. The program recruits kids from urban, underserved areas and enables them to go to camp for free. Friends of Reinstein Woods also pays to sponsor a child to attend camp through the Peter Losi Memorial Campership.
The children spent a week immersed in hands-on learning and fun, discovering the wonders of field, forest, and pond, as well as studying the impact of humans on the environment. A grant from the Junior League of Buffalo provided bus transportation for the children attending camp this summer.
The students had a life-affirming experience, as expressed here:
“This week was the best week of the summer… My favorite part of camp was to make new friends and to play games that I never played before.”
“I had a great time meeting new friends, bonding with counselors, and seeing things I have never sought to see. I would for sure love to come back and have another great time!”
Four of the campers in this program received “Outstanding Camper of the Week” awards. Some of them will have the opportunity to return to camp next year, furthering their development as the next generation of environmental stewards.