Canton Public Library

Acceptable items for recycling are newspapers, magazines, catalogs, school and office paper, shredded paper (in bags) and mail. Please, no cardboard, phonebooks, glass, metal, plastics or trash. Look for the recycling bin in the far southwestern corner of our staff parking lot. For more information, call 734-397-0999

Local

Canton Computers — will recycle or repurpose unwanted computer equipment (excluding CRT monitors).

Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich is another ‘how I did it’ book about living a DIY sustainable lifestyle. The book covers a wide variety of activities (a number of which may not even occur to you as particularly unusual): keeping chickens, bees, working dogs, and rabbits; growing food; baking bread; thrifting; sewing and knitting, and playing music on traditional instruments like dulcimer and banjo.

Save $, Energy, and More

• Alliance to Save Energy — offers information to help you save money, increase comfort, and reduce pollution through energy efficiency
• Canton Farmers Market — a variety of home-grown foods and hand-made goods
• Eco-Wise Living — a local company that provides residential RESNET-accredited Home Energy Ratings, plus Thermal Imaging Weatherization Assessments and Home Performance Audits
• GreenerThinking — environmental articles and tips on how to save the environment and some cash along the way
• RideShare — free carpool and vanpool matching service that links commut

The Second Annual Green Street Fair will return to the streets of Downtown Plymouth on May 1, 2 and 3, 2009. The City of Plymouth has approved the extension of the event from a two-day event in 2008 to a three-day event in 2009 beginning Friday, May 1 and ending on Sunday, May 3. Admission is FREE.

Here's a fresh idea: Stimulate the local economy--and your taste buds--at Canton Farmers Market! Now open every Sunday (rain or shine) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. until Oct. 25, the market is at historic Bartlett-Travis House, 500 N. Ridge Rd. (1/4 mile north of Cherry Hill Rd. in Cherry Hill Village). Shop for local produce, plants, baked goods, honey and more. New this year: Farmers Market Cook-off Series. For more details, check out the Canton Farmers Market website.

Thank you for sharing your green ideas with other library users on the CPL Green Board and helping to make CPL's Earth Week events such a success. For those of you who missed the board or are just curious about what others in the community are doing to become more green (like teaching their kids to be green and carpooling to work), read on...

Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living is Doug Fine's autobiographical account of his radical lifestyle change from nomadic journalist to sustainable desert rancher. Fine leaves behind a life of convenience, instead choosing to raise a couple of temperamental milk goats and make his newly acquired New Mexico property (lovingly christened the Funky Butte Ranch) into a self-sufficient, solar-powered homestead.

Join journalist Greg Melville and his college buddy Iggy as they set out to be the first people to drive from Vermont to California in a "french fry car" - a beat-up 1985 Mercedes diesel station wagon powered on vegetable oil collected from restaurant grease dumpsters along the way.  Greasy Rider : Two Dudes, One Fry-Oil-Powered Car, and a Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future is the story of two adventurers determined to take on the last great driving challenge and join our nation's fight against petroleum addiction.

Just in time for Earth Day, the first release from the Disneynature series opens today.

Saturday, April 25, 10am - 2p.m.To wrap up Earth Week the library is joining up with Canton Leisure Services to help clean up the Lower Rouge River Recreation Trail. Teens and adults are invited to join the effort. Meet at the trail head at Morton Taylor Rd. north of Michigan Avenue anytime between 10 and 2 pm to help with the efforts. Please wear appropriate outdoor clothing, shoes and bring work gloves. Please bring your own reusable water bottle. If you would like you can bring/donate contractor garbage bags. Clean up will take place rain or shine unless there is severe weather. For more information call Canton Leisure Service at 394-5460.

Got some eco-friendly ideas you'd like to share? Write them on our community "Green Board" in the lobby during Earth Week (April 18-25). Then check out some of our "green" Earth Week programming, or get some environment-friendly tips from the Brightboard digital signs behind Checkout and in the Children's Library.

Celebrate Earth Week by getting outdoors with family and friends.  Visit The Nature Conservancy web site to find nature trails near you, get outdoor tips, and share your photos.

Wednesday, April 22, 7-8:30 p.m. Learn how to enrich your soil and reduce waste through easy, inexpensive composting methods.

We're celebrating Earth Day all week (April 18 - 25) and want you to join us! There will be events for adults, teens, tweens and children, including:

• Deep Blue: the movie - Saturday, April 18, 2-4pm
• Home Recycling in Canton - Monday, April 20, 7-8pm
• Teen Recycled Jewelry - Tuesday, April 21, 4-5pm
• Water-Wise Solutions for Your Yard - Tuesday, April 21, 7-8pm
• Yard Scraps to Garden Treasure - Wednesday, April 22, 7-8:30pm
• Lower Rouge River Recreation Trail Clean Up - Saturday, April 25, 10-2pm

Have you ever noticed the current state of the world and wondered...WHY?  Visit Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonist Index for a different view of today's events.

Tuesday, April 21, 7-8 p.m. Looking for ways to save at the (water) pump and still maintain a lush lawn and landscape? Beth Rowley, Landscape Designer and owner of Landscape Beauty by Design, will offer practical, water-saving advice on mowing, fertilizing and watering your lawn.

Now that the sun is shining more and more, why not learn about how you can use the sun's energy to generate electricity and power. Here is a nifty website with more on solar power and below are some books to help you learn more:

Energy from the sun by Allan Fowler

Harnessing power from the sun by Niki Walker

Solar power: a true book by Christine Petersen

Even children's television is getting their green on.   Familiar characters like Handy Manny,  Elmo, and the Schoolhouse Rock gang are helping kids learn to be environmentally conscious.  Check one out today!

Monday, April 20, 7-8 p.m. You will have the opportunity to question Paul Denski, owner of Canton Waste Recycling, about the improved recycling program and general recycling questions.

Saturday, April 18, 2-4 p.m. The library will kick off its Earth Week celebration with a presentation of the compelling BBC documentary Deep Blue. Cutting-edge submarine technology was used to explore the deepest reaches of the sea, resulting in a breathtaking and awe-inspiring film. Refreshments will be served. Please call 734-397-0999 or inquire at the reception desk to register.