Protecting Our Children: Protecting Their Future
4/9/2008
The Wake County Board of Commissioners proclaimed the week of April 7-11, 2008, “National County Government and Wake County Government Employee Appreciation Week” in Wake County. The proclamation was made in conjunction with the National Association of Counties (NACo) National County Government Week, which is observed each April. This year, the theme for County Government Week is Protecting Our Children.
Wake County works to Protect Our Children each day by protecting their future. Two of the key ways this is done are through the Feed the Bin (FTB) program and open space preservation.
Feed the Bin
Feed the Bin is a school-based recycling program sponsored by the Wake County Solid Waste Management Division. Several days a week, Environmental Services staff members visit schools to educate students and teachers about a variety of solid waste topics including recycling, landfills, and compost. Today, Wednesday, April 19, 2008, staff are making presentations at:
Enloe High School
128 Clarendon Crescent in Raleigh
9:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 11:50 a.m to 2:15 p.m.
Aversboro Elementary School
1605 Aversboro Road in Garner
2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Feed the Bin offers not only comprehensive recycling services to schools, but also couples the recycling operations with strong educational resources that promote environmental stewardship initiatives and endows young citizens with the knowledge needed to make responsible environmental decisions in the future.
“Promoting environmental stewardship is a great way to Protect our Children, and help them grow and develop into responsible citizens” said Craig Wittig, Recycling and Education Manager. “In just three school years Feed the Bin has recycled over 2.8 million pounds of paper, diverting that material from the Wake County landfill, preserving that resource for the future.”
FTB funds mixed paper-recycling services at 150 Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) school sites, and provides complimentary educational resources for students and teachers. The program partners with the WCPSS and local businesses which fosters sustainability of the program. Last school year, FTB staff conducted over 250 presentations to more than 35,000 WCPSS students.
For more information about Feed the Bin, contact Kerry Christian at 919-856-6776, or visit www.wakegov.com/recycling/schools.
Open Space
Wake County's Open Space Program, the first of its kind in North Carolina, is working in partnership with local NGOs, muncipalities, and state/federal agencies to protect remaining open space in the county. The program's overarching objective is to protect 30% of Wake County’s land area (or roughly 165,000 acres) as permanent open space.
Open space is natural land that has not been converted to residential, suburban, or commercial development. Open Space includes forests, greenways, parks, meadows, fields, wetlands, floodplains and farms.
Wake County's Open Space Program defines Open Space as protected land that is owned and managed in the public interest for the following purposes:
- Protection of good water quality
- Preservation of natural resources
- Managed production of resources (forest and farmland)
- Preservation of historic and cultural property
- Protection of scenic landscapes and outdoor recreation opportunities
- Protection of public health, safety, and welfare
The Open Space Program began in earnest when, in 2000, 78% of Wake County voters authorized an open space bond for $15 million. Due to skyrocketing land costs, voters approved a second bond for $26 million in 2004.
Wake County first used this funding to support each of the county's municipalities in creating their own open space plans. Wake County then weaved together a regional open space vision by combining key attributes from individual municipal plans with County-level priorities to create an integrated, countywide Consolidated Open Space Plan.
For more information, including Open Space near you, contact Chris Snow at 919-856-6677 or visit www.wakegov.com/parks/openspace.
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