Environment

The next Master Composter training will be held April 12-14, 2012. The training – which includes both classroom and "hands-on" instruction – will take place at city facilities and the Kirby Creek Nature Center’s Exhibition Garden. You may reserve a place by signing up online.

Spring 2012 Master Composter Class Schedule:
6-9 p.m. Thursday, April 12
6-9 p.m. Friday, April 13
8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 14

The $25 Grand Prairie resident registration fee and $40 non-Grand Prairie resident registration fee includes a compost thermometer, the Rodale Book of Composting, excerpts from the Green Guide to YardCare booklet, and lunch on Saturday, April 14.

Grand Prairie is one of the few cities in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area that offers the course. Anyone interested in achieving a sustainable backyard lifestyle will benefit from composter training – whether they choose to certify or not.

Certification Requirements 

Come and join us for a different type of Canoe Tour in the evening hours. This program will present new opportunities like hearing beavers slap the water with their tails and seeing other wildlife like deer and raccoon. Canoes, paddles and lifejackets are provided.

Children must be 5 years or older. Parents must sign a liability waiver for minor children. Some previous experience recommended. Registration ends preceding Tuesday or when filled.

Maximum - 12 participants.

Meet at Back Gate.

Pre-registration required.

$20 (includes admission fee)/MEMBERS $15.

 The Great Plains are located on the westernmost portion of the vast North American Interior Plains.

They were covered by a shallow inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway. However, the seaway had begun to recede; leaving behind thick  marine deposits and a relatively flat terrain where the seaway had once flowed.

We will see how this set the stage for what became the Nature Center.

Short slide presentation and walk. Part 2 of the Life on the Prairie series.

$5 (with paid admission)/MEMBERS FREE.

Prairies are part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome in which grasses, herbs,
and shrubs, rather than trees, are the dominant vegetation type.

Come with us as we explore, photograph and/or sketch this unique habitat.

Photo presentation followed by a walk.

Part 1 of the Life on the Prairie series.

$5 (with paid admission)/MEMBERS FREE.

The management of the prairie is critically important for the survival of the prairie ecosystem today.

Vast landscape and ecological changes and cessation of natural processes have made it necessary for humans to apply, to the best of their knowledge, management practices that may have occurred naturally.

It is speculated that humankind has been managing the prairie for thousands of years. Native Americans would routinely burn the prairie for easy nomadic passage and to bring bison to the newly greening
prairie.

Part 3 of the Life on the Prairie series.

$5 (with paid admission)/MEMBERS FREE.

Enjoy a bit of canoeing/kayaking on your own on the quiet waters around Greer Island.

Canoes/kayaks, paddles and lifejackets provided.

Children in canoes must be 5 years or older and accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Kayakers must be at least 14 years old and accompanied by their guardian, otherwise at least 18 years old. Parents must sign a liability waiver for minor children. No registration needed.

First come-first served. Greer Island gate will open at 11 a.m.

Meet at Greer Island. $5 (with paid admission)/MEMBERS $3.

http://www.fwnaturecenter.org/

Community Electronics Collection Event In Plano

Come visit us this Saturday! Drop off your electronic items, household, office, or personal. We recycle it all!

There is a $.15 per pound convenience fee for all recycled electronics & a disposal fee of $5.00 per CRT monitor and $10.00 per glass TV. 

These fees are pre-arranged and agreed to by the City Of Plano.

Feel free to call us if you have any questions 972-487-6800, or go to www.erecycler.net for a list of all accepted items.

1st Saturday of every month:

First United Methodist Church

3160 East spring Creek Parkway

Plano, TX 75074

9:00am-12:00pm

2nd Saturday of every month:

St. Andrew Methodist Church

5801 West Plano Parkway

Environmental Issues Associated with Oil and Gas Development in North Texas
Michael Overbay, the EPA Region 6 Ground Water Center Coordinator, and Ruben Casso,
the EPA Region 6 Air Toxics Coordinator, will present information on how large scale
development of the shale gas resources in the Fort Worth Basin have been perceived as
impacting environmental issues, such as water quantity, water quality, air quality, wastewater
disposal, and induced seismicity. The presentation will also include a discussion of the status of
EPA's proposed rules on air emissions related to oil and gas development and production.

Free. 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 10, Dallas Sierra Club at REI Dallas

Mountain View College will host a variety of on campus activities open to the community including aa College Earth Day celebration on Tuesday, April 24, 2012.  

Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Activity:  Games, information booths, food and fun!

Location: Mountain View College –Student Courtyard

Mountain View College is located at 4849 West Illinois Ave. Dallas, TX 75211

http://www.mvc.dcccd.edu/Lists/Events/EventDisplay.aspx?ID=2001

Irving is hosting an Eco-Movie Fest in honor of Earth Day on Saturday!

Saturday, April 21 | 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. | at two of our libraries – Central and West.

This event is FREE to the public!

Below are the movies that will be shown by location:

Central Library Movie Lineup | 801 W. Irving Blvd.