There are 2 print stations now located on the 2nd floor of the library, along the pillars near the computers. Login, using your MyHarper login, and upload your document from a USB drive, or save it to the desktop from your email. Then, all you need is your ID to use to swipe at the print stations, and voila! We hope this will allow you print quickly

The Nature Conservancy is asking everyone to picnic on Earth Day, Monday April 22nd. It will be the world's largest picnic celebration, and there are plenty of spots around Palatine where you can participate.

Why picnic? Why NOT?! Enjoy the outdoors where your food has come from! (at least, hopefully it has). Pack local, in-season foods in tupperware (skip the napkins), and make sure to clean up after yourself! Here are some great picnic-friendly recipes to bring with: http://earthday.nature.org/picnic-recipes/

There is also a sponsored event through The Nature Conservancy in Chicago at Millenium Park, where you can join Food Network's The Hearty Boys as they demonstrate how to cook sustainably. 

                                                                          Enjoy lunch with the Earth on Earth Day!

While the weather outside was nasty, the cakes inside were delicious. Check out some pictures from this year's Edible Books Contest!

Stacy Vega's cake, depicting a scene from the book Fifty Shades of Grey.

Melissa Goeppinger and Kristin Allen's cake, depicting a scene from A Game of Thrones.

Here are some basic things you can do to help the environment:

1.) Can't have a green list without having the word recycle. Use those blue bins at Harper for your old papers, notecards, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. If your community has bins to go out to the curb alongside the trash, remember to throw boxes, cans and paper in them. It's so simple, and can do so much.
2.) Bring cloth bags to use when grocery shopping. You may pay upfront for them, but it will be worth it in the long run to reuse them over and over. They are a few bucks at Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's, but you can also look for them at garage sales, flea markets, or online.
3.) Change out your lightbulbs for environmentally-friendly, electricty-saving CFL bulbs. These bulbs can save you money on your electricity bill, lasts longer than traditional lightbulbs, produces less heat so its safer to operate, and uses less energy.
4.) Instead of driving, use public transit. A train ride downtown can cost less than the gas money you will waste sitting in Chicago traffic. Also, they are usually reliable and on-time. Instead of concentrating on the road, you can put your mind towards other activities while riding the train or bus.
5.) Ride your bike! Not only is it great FOR you, you can avoid traffic, construction, an accident scene, or traffic light-outages. You can enjoy the fresh air on a nice sunny day and save money on gas. Win, win.
6.) Drink tap water instead of bottled. Not only is it expensive, according to some, it is not any better for you than tap water. Save our wild life by not buying plastic bottles; instead use a filter system at home. 
7.) Support local farmers and businesses. Buying local saves the transportation cost of products traveling from around the country, or world. Most places come together in your town's center, (downtown), so it saves the cost of traveling from place to place. It's great to support your own community- a lot of the time, what you put in comes back to you!
8.) Buy organic food instead of the type that is mass produced. We're basically being fed hormones, pesticides, antibiodics with a side of vegetables, according to some sources. Not only is organic healthier, small farms use a smaller amount of resources than factory farms, help protect the ground water by not using pesticides, help prevent erosion with their farming techniques, and use less energy all-together.
9.) Make your own fertilizer- compost. Food scraps and yard waste that otherwise goes into the trash can actually make your soil in your yard healthier. Instead of these materials ending up in landfills, they can be used to grow vegetables and plants. Some of the typical materials used are dead leaves, branches & twigs, grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, and coffee grounds.
10.) Email instead of sending letters through the mail- or at least, cut down. It's always nice to receive a letter in the mail from family and friends, but if you think about it, what about things like bills? Save yourself the postage cost, along with using paper, and go paperless. Set up an account online to pay bills, and it will not only be more enviromentally-friendly, it will be faster and more convenient.

Sources:

http://www.onemillionactsofgreen.com/
http://voices.yahoo.com/top-5-reasons-ride-bike-instead-driving-1603469.html
http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-reasons-not-to-drink-bottled-water
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/why-buy-organic-dairy-meat.html
http://epa.gov/recycle/composting.html
Picture: http://mywallpapersinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Green-Landscape-5.jpg

The library will be hosting a crafting table in Avante building Z next Monday and Tuesday.

Come join us to make decopage candle votives out of an old encyclopedia!



A cute way to decorate your bookshelf, coffee table, etc!

Check out the flyer below for more info. on how to participate!

Enjoy this event which was inspired by the book, The Help, happening this Wednesday at the J Theater!  

Many of us have old cell phones. Busted printers and computers. Radios, or old CD or DVD players. Often times when we simply discard these things, they end up in landfills or are incinerated, which causes major problems for the environment.

They can leak into the soil, damaging plants and the animals that eat them. They can also damage the air we breathe, and the water we drink.

If you have any of these items, you can simply ship them, or drop them off at a site that properly and safely disposes of eWaste. A great site for this is http://e-stewards.org/; all you need to do is type in your zip code, and it will show the nearest location that will accept eWaste. Pretty great way to help out Mother Earth!


Source: "E-Waste." EARTH DAY NETWORK. Earthday.org, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2013.

These 3 women have compelling stories that are changing the world we live in right now. Check out their their inspiring stories:

Kyle Smitley
Majoring in Environmental Science in college, Kyle Smitley created barley & birch in 2009 to offer organic, environmentally safe clothing for children, made without toxic dye. Every single facet of production is carbon neutral, (zero carbon footprint) and 15% of the company's profits go towards various charitible organizations. Kyle's company only sells clothing made from organic cotton which is grown, milled and dyed in the US.

By nature, Juliette Gordon Low was adventurous and eccentric. She prefered learning about Native American culture rather than painting, drawing, and playing music. Instead of pursuing these "lady-like" activities, she created and headed the most widely recognized educational group for girls in the early 20th century- the Girl Scouts. Because of her, girls who have been Girl Scouts have higher self esteem, tend to volunteer regularly, and attain a college degrees.