NDOW’s wildlife education newsletter(PDF), second edition, is now available.

Students in grades 7-9 are invited to celebrate American Wetlands Month by creating a children’s book, extolling the value and natural history of wetlands.  After the winning manuscript is chosen students in grades K-6 will enter a contest to illustrate the story.

Physicians at Heart Clinic Arkansas in Little Rock have enlisted the medical and health insurance communities to provide private dollars for construction of a specific section of the 24-mile Arkansas River Trail.  Called "America's First Outdoor Linear Health Museum," the Medical Mile provides the public with information that will support healthier lives and disease prevention.  It offers a unique combination of health education and physical activity, using a variety of artistic and architectural elements that collectively underscore the importance of diet, exercise and healthy lifestyle choices.  

Students at the Lafayette Street School in Newark, New Jersey are protecting rainforests around the globe.  Integrated into their school-wide themes of good global citizenship and diversity, the teachers at Lafayette Street School have used the educational resources available on the Rainforest Alliance Learning Site to teach their students about the environment, biodiversity and cultures in Latin America.

What will the US save if 100,000,000 households replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a fluorescent bulb?  One calculation (making a few assumptions):
Assume:  incandescent = 75 W and fluorescent = 25 W.
Savings = 50 W per household
Total Savings (50W x 100,000,000 households) = 5 billion Watts
= 5 million kW
= 5,000 MW
If a coal fired plant is rated at about 250 MW, then the overall savings is equivalent to 20 power plants. 
(This “back of the envelope calculation” doesn’t take into account how many hours the lamp is used vs. the hours the power plant runs, but still provides an interesting comparison)

Planet Slayer is an irreverent environmental website that addresses how our actions and choices affect the environment.