Zoo School Can Teach Us All

Building structures using environmentally responsible methods and materials is starting to catch on. The Lee H. Brown Family Conservation Learning Center, located at the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Ariz., was built with, well, conservation of resources in mind.

Photo by Jennifer Tramm

The center, also known as the “zoo school,” opened to the public just a few days ago, though it is not fully completed. According to Jed Dodd, an educational coordinator at the zoo, the street entrance, built with rammed earth, zoo-grown bamboo and recycled awnings from Tucson General Hospital, will not be open for perhaps another two years, though it was designed to receive young students from school buses, while the public uses the entrance inside the zoo. The exhibits for the zoo school should be ready much sooner.

The zoo hopes the center will receive a “Platinum” LEED certification – the highest rating possible under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system. Receiving a LEED rating indicates “that a building is environmentally responsible, profitable and a healthy place to live and work,” according to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED ratings Web site.

Also from the LEED site, to get these ratings, the building must send less waste to landfills, must conserve energy, must conserve water, have lower greenhouse gas emissions and also be a healthy place for people to be.

Dodd took me on a tour of the facility yesterday and showed me its features before it opened for the day. Inside the main room, he showed me the floor, covered with a recycled material. Pointing to the ceiling, which is made of rafters with small-link chicken wire strung between them. Behind the wire was a fuzzy, blue insulation. Dodd said this was made out of denim, famous for making into blue jeans, that has outlived its purpose as clothing or was cast off during the jeans manufacturing process. As I looked up, I noticed some bright lights. They were brighter than the fluorescent lights mounted right next to them. Dodd told me that those were solar tubes and required no electricity.

The Truth Window inside the zoo school. Photos by Jennifer Tramm

Dodd then brought me over to a plexi-covered hole in the wall. “This is our ‘Truth Window,’” he said. It shows the insulation over a special foam block insulation that he said goes together “like Legos.” Underneath it all was concrete for stability.

Then he brought me over to the side of the room, where the zoo had installed smooth bamboo cabinets and recycled glass countertops, which looked remarkably like those fancy countertops installed on home building shows, around a sink. Then he took me over to the partially completed macaque exhibit. Through huge panes of glass, I could see the exhibit taking shape. People visiting the zoo school will be able to look into the lives of the zoo’s macaque monkeys.
Photo by Jennifer Tramm

Behind the scenes, in the zoo school’s offices, employees live up to the building’s reputation. They use disposable forks, plates and napkins made from recycled cornhusks. Their break room also includes recycle containers for cans, plastic bottles and other recyclable items. In their meeting area, there is a bamboo-topped conference table made from the same smooth bamboo wood as the cabinets mentioned above, and office chairs made from recycled plastic bottles. These chairs look and feel like any other state-of-the-art office chairs. Even the cleaning products are made from environmentally responsible materials. The zoo school also uses “green” craft paper and crayons for kids’ crafts and the play area right outside the doors is made from a soft imitation grass.

Also outside are cisterns designed to catch and reserve rainwater. The large cistern outside the entrance helps to fill the millpond right next to the building. Several ducks and many fish live on and in the pond.
Photo by Jennifer Tramm

Later that morning, after going into the zoo with my kids, I took them to see the zoo school. My youngest got to touch a bearded lizard, which hails from Australia, according to a docent named Simon. Other kids crowded around the gentle animal to touch it lightly and learn about it. Already, kids are learning there.

Dodd said the building is getting international attention, with visitors coming from all over the world to see what the zoo has put together. He said that their site is a sort of “guinea pig” for green building.

From ensuring that materials came from within a 500 mile radius to using a special paint that does not emit the harmful chemicals that regular paint does, this building uses a great deal of innovations designed to be in greater harmony with the Earth.

You might be a tree-hugger if...

Being good to the planet doesn't always require extensive changes to your life. Sometimes, you're already doing some of your part.

You might be a tree-hugger if…

You use the library
Library is green – people re-use the books, instead of buying them, which creates more demand for them. According to the American Library Association, Americans each check out an average of a little over seven books per year. Using the most recent U.S. Census estimates on population, that would mean that more than two billion books are lent from American libraries each year. That’s two million books that weren’t purchased, so it follows that this number lowers the demand for new book printing, thus saving trees.
Photo courtesy freefoto.com.

You go to a park
Parks are green in more ways than one – kids share the same playground equipment, which reduces demand for the plastics that go into today’s equipment. Parks are multi-use environments, unlike movie theaters or office buildings. Plus - using a park doesn’t usually mean using electricity.

You use a dishwasher
Yes, you read correctly!
Washing dishes by hand is green – no or low electricity use, but a new study shows that using any dishwasher is better than by hand. Dishwashers use less soap and less water! Energy Star washers have the bonus of using less energy, which is the icing on the cake: less energy production and lower energy bills

You buy organic food
Organic food, aside from its pricey reputation and possible health benefits, is actually better for the planet. When farmers use pesticides on their crops and then it rains, the pesticides get into the soil, but it doesn’t stop there. It can end up in the water supply.

Shut off the water when you brush your teeth

Running the water while you scrub your choppers is just plain wasteful. All you have to do is wet your brush, shut off the water, put on the toothpaste and brush. When you need to rinse, fill a glass with enough water to hose ‘em down and then shut the faucet off again. This method conserves water. You could save up to 20 gallons of water per day! According to another site, shutting off the water while brushing your teeth saves four gallons per minute.
Photo courtesy freefoto.com.

You go to the farmer’s market
Locally grown food doesn’t have as far to travel, so less fuel is used to get it to your pantry. Plus, a lot of the food at farmer’s markets is organic.

Camp Cooper: Hands-on Learning

I had an opportunity to go on a hike on Thursday that really turned out great. I even got to touch a saguaro cactus.

I went out to the Cooper Environmental Science Campus, affectionately known as Camp Cooper by the teachers and students, to interview one of the environmental teachers for an upcoming story. The site is on the west side of Tucson, Ariz., just north of where Gates Pass Road takes over for West Speedway Boulevard, in the midst of burgeoning residential development. To the east and west are expensive houses surrounded by natural desert landscaping.

Inside Camp Cooper, however, is where the real desert lives.


Kathy Lloyd teaches kids about desert resources five days a week at Camp Cooper. Photo by Jennifer Tramm. All rights reserved.

Kathy Lloyd, Resource Teacher, took me on a tour of the facilities while we waited for a busload of Utterback Magnet Middle School students. The facility has cabins for overnight guests, a kitchen, learning stations and modern restrooms.
As we talked, I noticed the intense quiet of the 10-acre plot of land. When I noticed an odd sound coming from the bushes behind us, Lloyd told me it was a Gambel’s Quail – a female, to be exact. We spoke about the different animals to be found on-site before going on with the tour, which she said was not unlike the orientation that teachers get before bringing their students to the camp.

The main teaching room is in its own little building – complete with solar panels on the roof and snakes and tarantulas inside. Lloyd says she uses the animals to teach kids about desert wildlife.
While she was showing me this eco-friendly building, a dozen little birds, including more quail, doves and others, landed on nearby bushes and on the ground in between. They all looked at Lloyd expectantly.

She laughed when I mentioned them and said she often feeds them roasted peanuts, which keeps them coming back. She picked up a can of nuts and gently tossed several handfuls in the birds’ direction. They pounced. Lloyd explained that she does not give them birdseed because she is concerned that the seeds could sprout non-native plants, potentially putting the natural environment in danger. A desert bunny showed up shortly after she tossed the nuts and helped herself to a nut, undisturbed by pigeons pushing each other out of the way to get at the remaining nuts.

After the kids showed up and they’d gone through an orientation and Q&A session, we set out on the “medium” trail, which means it goes up slightly in elevation. All three of their trails are about a mile long.

Not long after we went down a set of timber and earth stairs to get to the trail proper, Lloyd spotted wildcat scat. Now, that’s not a University of Arizona basketball player running away, but the poo of the university mascot’s namesake. She gathered the kids around and told them about what they could learn from the scat, including what it ate and how long ago it may have been there.


Rough-and-tumble javelinas at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, another desert resource on the west side of Tucson, Ariz. Photo by James Tramm. All rights reserved.


A few feet from that pile lay another, this time from a javelina, that desert peccary often mistaken for a wild pig. Lloyd was able to tell the students that the animal had made his deposit about a day to a day and a half before and that it had eaten cactus spines, which could be seen throughout the sample. I heard a variety of responses to this information, but the loudest and most common was “ew!”

Lloyd led us in single file up a mild slope that was covered in different sized rocks – from pebbles to small boulders. As she stopped us every so often to discuss different features of the desert habitat for animals, the kids would alternate looking around and listening intently. The students asked insightful questions and answered more from Lloyd, which she said were designed to make them think. Even the parents got into the discussions.

At one stop, the hike got interactive. Lloyd asked the students to go up to a bush and touch it, then scratch a leaf lightly with a fingernail. Then she asked students why they thought the color of the leaf changed. At another stop, we learned that the saguaro cactus isn’t a uniform plant. For the first five feet or so, it has large, rigid spines. After that, the spines are smaller and not as dangerous. Such a design is a defense mechanism, to ward off animals that might like a snack. The kids got to touch again – in the fold between the rows of spines. This time, I joined in. It was cool to the touch.

Young hands reach out to discover the texture of a saguaro cactus at Camp Cooper Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008. Photo by Jennifer Tramm. All rights reserved.


Near the end of the looped trail we stopped to learn about nurse plants, or plants that grow with others nestled underneath their branches. One such plant is the creosote bush, one of which was “nursing” a small barrel cactus. Lloyd got the kids involved again, asking them to cup their hands around some creosote leaves and sort of huff in between their hands. I joined in again, completely captivated by the environment. Pew! Creosote is a strong odor! Lloyd said that smell is what permeates the air when it rains. I love that smell…but apparently not when it’s dry.
The hike ended with a walk along a ridge that gave a spectacular view of Tucson.

Sadly, the view included a thick layer of yellow-brown pollution hovering above this beautiful desert city.


Utterback Magnet Middle School science teacher Russ Kendricks looks over the desert landscape toward Tucson from Camp Cooper. Photo by Jennifer Tramm. All rights reserved.

Arizona Environmental Education License Plates Generate Revenue

Anyone would be hard pressed to suggest that environmental education wasn’t good for all of us. Educating kids is a priority in the fight to save our planet. Just look at one Web site that has enviro-activities for kids.One way the Arizona government has made sure education about ecology gets out is through the Environmental Education specialty auto license plate, introduced in 1990, according to a Lewis and Clark College report.
This environmental education license plate funds educational programs through the Arizona State Land Department. Image courtesy Arizona Motor Vehicle Department. Used with permission.

People who request the plate pay an extra $25 dollars per year for it, of which $17 is allocate for the Arizona Land Department, which in turn maintains several National Resource Conservation District Education Centers around the state. According to the Arizona Motor Vehicle Department, 172,823 of these plates were issued between 1998 and 2007, adding up year-end numbers as far back as the MVD had records.

The 21 NRCD Education Centers exist “to promote a balanced appreciation and awareness of Arizona’s environment,” according to the Arizona Land Department programs Web site.One of these centers, the Redington NRCD, offered field trips last year to kids to learn about food production and had bat house building workshops, as well.

Now, these centers were not the first beneficiaries of these monies. Originally, the money went to Arizona schools. In 1995, the Arizona legislature changed the legal mandate that went with the plate, that schools would be required to provide environmental education, and gave the money to the Arizona Land Department. So, Arizona’s schools don’t have to educate kids on the environment. Many do, regardless.

The amount of money provided by this plate makes its existence less and less important, since year-end issue counts have dropped about 51 percent since 1998, the oldest date for which the MVD had data on it. While personalized environmental education plates are on the rise, the standard plate has dropped about 66 percent since 1998.

The Arizona Land Department and its NRCD Education Centers are feeling the impact. From financial year 2003 to 2005, the amount of money from the plates dropped by $280,700, or about 47 percent, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee’s 2005 budget.

So, while there exists a state mechanism to promote environmental education, it seems to be waning a bit. Perhaps one bright light in it all is that people who want to contribute to environmental education and like to personalize their license plates are doing so more often. Maybe the plate will make a comeback.

Farmer’s Markets - not just for food anymore

Local farmer's markets are a treasure trove to those who love fresh, locally grown food. At a typical market, you can find fresh veggies and fruits, artisan breads and sometimes homemade salsas. Along with these makings for a feast comes education.

Yep, you heard me right: education!

Employees, students and visitors peruse the multitude of offerings at the Sept. 14, 2007, farmer's market at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. Many of the tables offered brochures and general green living information to all for free, alongside their produce, honey, salsas or baked goods. Photo by Jennifer Tramm. All rights reserved.

Ask anyone holding down their little tent and table fort about where the food comes from and you're likely to get an earful about the benefits of locally grown food. A few months ago, I met some folks who run a fresh produce table at the University of Arizona Market on the Mall farmer's market. They told me that one of the benefits of eating locally grown food, aside from the obvious flavor bonus of something just dug up or plucked, is that it takes a lot less fuel to move local food.

Think about it: If several flats of tomatoes have to go from a farm in Le Grand Calif., to Tucson, Ariz., that's about 750 miles those delicious juicy fruits have to travel to get to your supermarket. What figures in to the equation for you? Road impact: Tax dollars pay to fix roads covered by large, heavy tractor-trailer rigs. Cost to consumer: The truck drivers get paid to drive and the trucks require lots of fuel. The cost of both is passed on to you, the tomato lover. Even more important to this blog is the cost to the environment: Such a trip will result in a great deal of carbon being emitted into the air.

Now, imagine that trip happening a few times a month, every month of the year. That's a lot of carbon to spend for people to enjoy the delightful tomato. Worth it? Perhaps not.Now, imagine the same tomato lover at a farmer's market. The tomatoes came from a farm, say about an hour away. The vehicle wasn't a massive tractor-trailer, but was a pickup truck. Not only are the tomatoes traveling less, they probably haven't been off the vine for long, so smell and taste better. The best part: Not as much carbon emitted into the air, which makes these tomatoes of the guilt-free variety. Very nice!

So, go to a farmer's market and ask about the food. Where did it come from? How was the growing season this year? Do they use pesticides? I'd be willing to bet the produce guy at the supermarket won't know any of these things about those Le Grand tomatoes.

Oh, and ask the sellers whether they grew the plants themselves - oftentimes the farmers own the stand. They're usually friendly and you'll find they know your community as well as you - they live there, too! So they care about it as much as you do.

A quick search online can produce a list of the nearest farmer's markets and what days they're held. These markets are a great opportunity for you to learn more about the environment and food and maybe take home some of the freshest veggies around.

Welcome to Green Ed!

This blog will showcase how schools, colleges and communities teach each other about environmental issues. The hope is that readers will learn something or be inspired to teach others what they’ve learned.

A key feature of this blog is a list of eco-activities that schools or anyone can use to teach groups about the environment and related issues. This will fill out as the blog goes on.

Thanks for checking out Green Ed and keep watch for weekly posts on educating green!