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.

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.