Week Eight - Promoting Recycling

Our little city FINALLY got curbside recycling about a year ago and we LOVE it!  I was never a recycling-nazi, but once you start, there is NO going back.  I have a really hard time throwing things away now!  And I couldn't believe that in a city with a population of over 31,000, they couldn't even get 1500 households to sign up.   Come on!  It's only $6/month and you don't even have to sort it!  So we set out to change that.  I believe that teaching children social responsibility goes hand in hand with service, so here's our Week 8 Summer of Service project:

Pioneer Day Parade (it's big in Utah), 300 fliers (we probably could have done many more), 3 energetic kids, and one wagon with multiple recyclables attached...

Our mission: spread the word.  Let people know how easy it is and what they could be recycling. 

Funny little side note - The wagon had a sign on it that said "What could you be recycling?" and then it had things attached and dangling off the back; and a couple people said "You can recycle kids?"  haha.  Actually I thought that was funny.

So the flier had a catchy phrase and some stats on it along with Spanish Fork's website where they could go sign up, and then on the back it had the long list of things you can recycle .  The kids had a great time handing out the fliers and we gave people high fives when they said they already recycled.  We did some walking, got to talk to people, and we may never know if it made a difference, but it sure felt good!

And, we made it back to our seats just in time to enjoy the parade.

Week Seven - Playground Clean-up

We went to this park a month or so before, traveling 30+ minutes and passing numerous parks along the way, because we wanted to go to this specific park.  My kids call it the "fort park", I think you can see why, and it really is quite cool.

 

But last time, after we had eaten our little picnic, we were very disappointed to discover there was garbage everywhere.  Such a nice park, lots of kids enjoying it, but really too bad that no one was taking care of it.  We decided then, that the next time we came, it would be to clean up, at least some the trash. 

So when my niece and nephew were visiting, I thought it would be perfect (mostly because I thought it was one project I knew I could manage with two extra hooligans).  So after enjoying our nice, store-bought picnic, it was on.  For children, I concede that sometimes a little competition or a little reward helps the motivation factor, but I do like to keep it simple.  For this occasion:

Every time they brought me, the bag holder, a piece of trash, they got a Jelly Belly.  One caveat:  it only took me a minute or two to realize that I actually was not a fan of putting the jelly bean in the same hands that had just brought me someone else's old, yucky trash, so I turned to either popping it in their mouth for them or I put it in their pocket for later, after hands had been washed.  Call me OCD, but in the end, it worked out just fine and the task was made a bit sweeter.

The kids did a great job and were very satified with their accomplishment.   We had a great time and got something done at the same time. 

Why I like this project:

very low cost

the kids got it and could do it themselves

we could see the fruits of our labor immediately

lots of people saw us cleaning up and maybe now they will think about doing the same :)

and of course, we got to play while we were working.

Week Six - The Great Outdoors

Since we were going to be camping in Colorado for most of week 6, our plan was to use our creativity and find something while we were there.  I had some thoughts in mind, but since I failed to do my homework ahead of time, we became total slackers and have nothing to report for this week.  As it turns out, the campsite was relatively new and very well kept.  The whole area was absolutely gorgeous and I honestly couldn't think of anything to improve upon God's handiwork.

That said, with a little more effort and energy on my part, I'm sure we could have come up with something.  Here are some ideas if you are looking for a service project to do while enjoying the great outdoors:

• Plant a tree.  (Make sure you find out what is allowed and where.)  Offer to replace trees that have died.
• Set up a recycling system for a campground.
• Pick up a trail during National Trail Day in June (or anytime).  Or assist in clearing trails.
• Make bird feeders for others to enjoy.
• Clean up trash along a river, in a park or along the beach.
• Create a habitat for wildlife.
• Find out how to test the health of the water in your local lakes, rivers or streams.
• Make conservation posters for commonly visited outdoor recreation areas.
• Create a children's nature garden, labeling plants and trees.
• If you see a tree that's in trouble, try to save it. Pamper it, water it, or don't water it as the case may be. Find our what's wrong with it and how to make it better.

Week Five - The Flower Fairies

The hand-written (by a 7 yr old) note read, "Happy 4th of July from the Flower Fairies."  And with mom driving the getaway car, we did a ring and run, placing the pot of red, white and blue flowers on their doorstep on the day of Independence.  I let the boys each choose someone to give one to and we ended up doing their church teachers and our bishop (shhh, don't tell them!).  They LOVED it!

 

Here's the Basic "How-To":

Fill the pots with dirt. We used dirt from our garden because I forgot to buy some.  :)  (And, yes, I am in my pajamas, because we did this at like 7:15 in the morning on the 4th so we could deliver them before going to church.)

Put one of each color flower in the pot.  Red, White and Blue for this holiday.  And since I know pretty much nothing about flowers, I looked for the color and the size, read the labels, and just hoped they all worked together.  (We had to move inside because it started raining on us, otherwise I would recommend this as an outside project.)

The boys were very happy about their final product and couldn't wait for the drop off.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures, because that was definitely the best part!  My boys smiled and laughed and hopefully we brought a smile to others' faces as well.














Total Cost of Project:
Flowers:  $9 (and I had some extra to plant in my front flower pot)
white pots from Ikea: $1.99 each x 4 = about $8
Dirt: free!

The original flower fairy idea (which I read somewhere and will definitely give credit when I remember where) was to actually plant flowers in someone's flower bed at night so they would have a wonderous surprise when they got up in the morning.  This didn't work for us, one, because my children rarely get to stay up until dark in the summer, and two, I didn't really know how someone would feel about that - maybe they had other plans.  So you decide for yourself.  The pots worked great for us and we had a fun, successful service project.  Godd luck with yours!