Dear LREI Community,
I hope this note finds you well and enjoying the harbingers of spring—slowly warming days, a high school baseball or softball game, and the ever-present ice cream man. What else happens in April? Earth Day! Actually, this year LREI is celebrating Earth MONTH! The Parents Association’s “Sustainable LREI” committee has a month of events and observances planned. These include:
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Opportunities at morning drop off, in the Sixth Avenue Lobby, to learn about how to live a more sustainable life. (Don’t use straws, use a reusable bag, and more.)
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Join Sustainable LREI to clean the beach in the Rockaways, Saturday, April 21, 10:30am-2:00pm. Transportation details TBD
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Tom Szaky, Visionary and Founder of Terracycle, will speak on Monday, April 23 at 7:00 pm, PAC, 40 Charlton Street. Join us to hear how Terracycle is changing the way society views garbage. $20 for adults. Students, faculty/staff admitted for free.
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Electronics Drive, April 23- 27, sponsored by the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Bring old phones, cords, laptops, etc. to LREI throughout the week and larger items on Saturday, April 28. The Ecology Center will clean data from all devices before recycling.
In addition, LREI will be observing “Meatless Mondays” at lunch throughout April. In addition to health benefits, meatless Mondays:
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will reduce our carbon footprint – the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions;
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reduce water usage – the water needs of livestock are huge: An estimated 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water are required to produce a single pound of beef;
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reduce the use of fossil fuels – approximately 40 calories of fossil fuel energy go into every calorie of beef in the U.S. (compared to just 2.2 calories of fossil fuel for plant-based protein).
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If this works out in April, we may continue “Meatless Mondays” throughout the year.
I want to thank the members of Sustainable LREI for their work this month and for all that they do throughout the year to keep sustainability, climate change, global warming, etc. squarely in front of us as our attention is among the greatest tools we have to bring about change.
I also want to thank the fourth grade CAFÉ (Cultural Awareness For Everyone) group for creating a system for collecting compostables from the Fours, Kindergarten, and first grade classrooms, and snack waste from all lower school classrooms. We are now composting all food waste in both buildings. Finally, thank you to Mark Silberberg, Director of Learning and Innovation, to tenth grade parent Bruce Gifford, and to our new high school apiarists… beekeepers! Our beehives will arrive at 40 Charlton on Friday. While likely we won’t have our first honey harvest for a while, we are excited about this new program.
Questions? Please contact sustainable@lrei.org
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I invite you to join me for the High School Visual Arts Showcase on Tuesday, April 17th, from 6:30p.m.-8:00p.m. at 40 Charlton Street. This event offers a terrific opportunity to see the artwork created by our high school artists throughout the school year. I can’t recommend this highly enough. Not to be missed!
Need more art? See you at the 40th Art Auction on Thursday, April 26th at the Pace Gallery. Beautiful art, free admission, and a fun party.
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