The average American throws away 70 pounds of textiles each year. Apart from buying second hand and reducing how much we purchase in general, what can be done to mitigate our massive problem of trashed textiles?

Join SCARCE on October 2nd for our Textile Transformation workshop. Learn how to make a memory quilt from old t-shirts, get ideas to transform old or shrunken sweaters, hear about prom dress swapping, and more! Register here.

Beginning September 12, Target is offering customers the opportunity to recycle an old, expired or damaged car seat and redeem a coupon on their Target app or Target.com/circle for 20% off one car seat, stroller or select baby gear. Materials from the old car seats will be recycled. This collection will end September 25th. If you wish to participate, please visit your local store.

Plan ahead for Wednesday, September 22 - it's World Car Free Day! Think of how you can avoid your car all day - it may be more difficult than you'd think. If you can't get to work on foot, perhaps biking, a Pace bus, or the train are options? Are you able to make it to the grocery store with a cart on foot, or perhaps a bike with a basket?

Avoiding cars to reduce emissions on World Car Free Day is important, but use the experience to think of how you can lessen the use of your personal vehicle year-round. Small actions by lots of people will make a big difference in our global emissions.

Storm Drain Medallions are small markers that are adhered to storm drains to let people know not to dump anything down them. Many individuals do not realize that the water from the storm drains goes directly into our local waterways without being filtered or treated first. It is imperative that we educate the public of this to protect our water.

If you're interested in starting a project, now is the time! Get these installed in your area ASAP before people dump their yard waste from fall cleanups down the storm drains and before the snow covers them. If you've done storm drain medallions before, check up on them. Sometimes snowplows or roadwork can remove them. Anyone - individuals, scout groups, schools, churches, clubs, etc. - can start a storm drain medallion project. It's one of the quickest and easiest projects you can do to engage your community in environmental education. Storm Drain Medallions can be installed anywhere in DuPage County. Check out our blog post for full details of how to complete a project.