EcoChallenge #3

#3 - How long can you go without driving or riding in a gas-powered vehicle? One day? Two days? A week?

Send your response with your name and Elmhurst Public Library Card number to: ecochallenges@gmail.com. For participating, you will get another entry into our summer reading prize drawings (for one of 5 iPod Shuffles and other prizes). We’ll post some of the best responses on this blog. We’ll take responses for EcoChallenge #3 through the end of the day on Monday, August 4, 2008.

EcoChallenge # 2 - Saving Energy

#2 - What appliances can you turn off, and even unplug, when you are not using them?

There are many so-called "vampire appliances" that consume energy as long as they are plugged in--even when they are turned off.

Send your response with your name and Elmhurst Public Library Card number to: ecochallenges@gmail.com. For participating, you will get another entry into our summer reading prize drawings (for one of 5 iPod Shuffles and other prizes). We’ll post some of the best responses on this blog. We’ll take responses for EcoChallenge #2 through the end of the day on Monday, July 21, 2008.

Summer Programs

We have 3 programs coming up this month. To register for programs, stop by the 2nd Floor Information Desk, or email (reference@elmhurst.org), or call (630-279-8696). You will need to give us your Elmhurst Public Library card number.

Triathlons and Marathons - Xtreme Athlete!
Wednesday, July 16 • 7 p.m. • Meeting Room 2
Triathlon: A 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, then a marathon (26.2 mile run). Come and hear three-time Ironman triathlon finisher and marathon runner Marianne Fidishin. She will discuss how her lifelong love of fitness led her to these challenges. You will find out what it’s like to train and participate in these endurance events.

Xtreme Biking!
Thursday, July 24 • 7 p.m. • Meeting Room 1
Have you ever thought about biking across the country? Find out what it’s like to make a 3,163 mile bike trip over 51 days through eight states. Join York High School alumni David (Class of 2006) and Matthew (Class of 2004) Montgomery as they tell us about their bike trip from Elmhurst to Seattle, Washington, in the summer of 2006. Their accommodations were old school—a tent and sleeping bags -- but their documenting of the trip was strictly 21st century--blogging as they traveled.
Click here for their blog.

Naturally Artsy
Wednesday, July 30 • 2-4 p.m. • Elmhurst Art Museum
Take part in a workshop at the Elmhurst Art Museum which explores how nature can be used to inspire and create art. Learn how to use natural products to make your own paper. Also, create an interesting collage using the natural resources around the Museum. This workshop will give you the opportunity to learn how professional artists have used nature in their work and see what your peers are creating with what nature has given them! Co-sponsored with the Elmhurst Art Museum.
Maximum: 20 teens.

Plastic

We had one response to our EcoChallenge No. 1 on plastic. Two hours was the longest this person went without buying something made of plastic or something packaged in plastic. It's hard--it seems like if something isn't made of plastic, there's plastic in the packaging.

Did you hear about the high school student in Canada who has isolated microorganisms that make plastic bags degrade in about 3 months? Read the article.

EcoChallenge #1

#1 - How long can you go without buying something made of plastic or something packaged in plastic? How many days? How many hours?

Send your response with your name and Elmhurst Public Library Card number to: ecochallenges@gmail.com
For participating, you will get another entry into our summer reading prize drawings (for one of 5 iPod Shuffles and other prizes). We’ll post some of the best responses on this blog. We’ll take responses for EcoChallenge #1 through the end of the day on Monday, June 30, 2008.

Participate in our Xtreme EcoChallenges for additional chances to win one of 5 iPod Shuffles or other prizes. We'll post one challenge every other week of the 10-week summer reading program. That's a total of 4 EcoChallenges, and 4 more entries into our prize drawings. Why EcoChallenges? Elmhurst is part of the Cool Cities initiative sponsored by the Sierra Club. There will be a Greenfest in Elmhurst on Saturday, August 9, 2008, where we can all learn how to reduce our carbon footprint.

To participate in an EcoChallenge, email us at ecochallenges@gmail.com. Tell us what you did in response to that challenge, and include your name and Elmhurst Public Library Card number. Only serious entries that respond to each specific EcoChallenge will receive an additional entry for the drawings. We'll post some of the best responses on this blog.

Teen Summer Reading Program

Read or listen to just 4 books and receive coupons for free stuff plus an entry into the drawing for one of 5 iPod Shuffles and other prizes.

Read or listen to 4 more books and receive another set of coupons and another entry into the drawing. Keep reading! For every 4 books you read, you'll receive an additional entry in the drawing for an iPod Shuffle and other prizes.

Pick up a booklog, fill it out and turn it in to the Information Desk on the 2nd floor of the library. Check out our Xtreme Booklists available on the 2nd floor and on the website.