Crete Community Gardens began as a lofty goal last spring, but has slowly blossomed into a beautiful reality. Over the past year, members met with locals to garner support for the idea, volunteered at other gardens in Nebraska, and built connections. These connections led to a grant partnership with CROPS community gardens in Lincoln, a garden committee to be formed, and the acquisition of land within Crete. Next week, work will begin on preparing the land for the 2011 season.

The garden encompasses all three missions of Roots and Shoots Doane Chapter, it impacts the human community, animals and the environment.

The childhood obesity rate for low-income preschool students in Saline County is 23.6%, almost double the state average. For these families, the cheaper option is usually the only option and, without access to cheap produce, fast food wins out. Our garden plots will cost only $50 for the whole growing season (Apr.-Nov.). For those are unable to garden, a portion of the garden's produce will be donated to local food charities or sold at an affordable price in farmers markets.

The gardens will also provide a source of education and community involvement. We have partnered with Crete Public Schools to use the gardens as a tool to help teach English to adult immigrants. We also plan to reserve a plot for elementary students to educate them on where their food comes from and the basics of growing it.

Produce in the gardens is grown in Crete and consumed in surrounding areas, so there is very little greenhouse gas emissions in transport. In order to keep humans and animals safe, there will be no pesticide use in the gardens. Eating locally also reduces consumption of ingredients such as palm oil, the production of which has caused mass deforestation and biodiversity loss in places like Borneo. In the future, we plan to expand the gardens into a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program which would allow gardeners to expand their growing into a business. Individuals would be allowed to grow on much larger plots, and produce enough to supplement local restaurants, Doane's cafeteria, and the public schools.

Community Garden Trash Bags to Handbags

Roots and Shoots student presenting

Wangari Maathai with a handbag made

from plastic bags in L.A.

Working with Upward Bound last year.

Doane fashion.

One of many handbag days.

Making bags in Kenya.

Plastic pick up day in Kenya.

Our stall at the market where we demonstrated the technique. We saw more than 500 people this day alone.

The bag she is holding, is the bag in front of you.

Doane fashion.

Former Presidents Liz Doane and

Mitch Burn.

Almost 5,000 people have watched our “How To” Video. You can find it by searching for “Doane plastic bag” on YouTube.

Doane fashion.

Kids making bags on New Year’s Eve.

Chalkboards, Tiles and more from Plastic Bags

Drilling Wells in Kenya

Community members talk about the possibilities.

Tile molds. The tiles represent the best

opportunity to remove plastic from the

environment as they can use even the smallest

scraps of plastic.

A knife handle fixed. Because plastic

shrinks when heated, we were able to

wrap this handle with plastic and by

heating it, secure the handle.

Rev. Karla Cooper challenged us to try and find a way to make a chalkboard out of the plastics. All of our attempts failed until a child happened by with a piece of chalk on the day we were making tiles.

A new shower. The white is an ironed sheet of plastic made from many bags. It funnels the water out the back to be reused in the garden. It is being covered with plastic tiles. The tiles are the real money maker so far.

The first wooden molds for making tiles. With the income from selling tiles, the group has purchased the steel molds seen above.

Two business men arrive from other villages to see and learn about the tiles.

Making a solar shower using bags and water bottle tops.

This was the most loved item we made. Besides making hot

water, no firewood is gathered for it. When you rinse, you

are rinsing with clean water, and it uses significantly less

water then a foot tub.

Teaching about the tiles in the market.

Forming a self-help group to address environmental issues in Karandi

In 2009 Doane students were traveling through Kenya at the peak of the drought. To help alleviate the immediate suffering, money was raised to deliver corn to families we were working with.

To help in the long term, Roots and Shoots is heading up an effort to drill water wells in the village of Karandi, Kenya.

We have raised just over $1,000. The system in the lower right is about $300 and drilled by hand. Surveys are underway at the moment to determine locations for the wells. We plan to drill this summer.

Making the first piece of netting.

Started 2007Mosquito Netting from Plastic Bags

The problems with donated bed nets:1. They last 5 years at best.

This means that a donor must donate about 15 nets over a 75- year period to help protect just one person.

This also means that once an organization such as Nothing But Net reaches five years worth of donating, it is now basically just replacing nets it has already handed out. That is, no new people are being served.

2. Nets can be impregnated with insecticide but that only lasts a year.After the first year all nets need to be sprayed again with insecticide.3. Bed nets are only useful while in bed.Bed nets offer no protection when you're not in bed. That is, every

morning and every evening when the family is up and around bed nets are useless.

4. Bed nets rip easily and are difficult to repair.5. Bed nets are expensive.At $10 apiece and with about 1.5 billion people in high-risk areas, we

will need $15 billion every five years just to give people bed nets.6. Making bed nets develops industry in another country.7. Bed nets require an infrastructure to deliver them.We have nowhere near the capacity to deliver 1.5 billion nets.8. Bed nets actually pollute the environment as they are made of

plastic and are rarely disposed of properly.9. Worst of all, donated nets maintain the cycle of dependence on

donors.

If we teach people to make their own nets, they will have mosquito netting for the rest of their lives.

The benefit of self-made nets:1. If we teach people to make their own nets, they will have mosquito

netting for the rest of their lives. The plastic in these nets will last thousands of years.

2. If pesticide treatment is desirable, these nets can be treated just like older bed nets.

3. While these nets can be used as bed nets, the material is much more durable and thus suitable for screening in windows and doors, thus making the entire house safe from mosquitoes.

4. While self-made nets are just as fragile as bed nets, these self-made nets are easily repaired. In fact, the technique that can be used to repair torn self-made nets can also be used to repair donated bed nets.

5. Self-made nets are basically free as the plastic is picked up off the ground though coal is required to melt them.

6. People without an iron and without a sewing machine can collect plastic bags and sell them to person with an iron. The person with the iron can sell their finished product to person with a sewing machine. The person with the sewing machine can sell their product to the end user. That is, the system will generate business locally.

7. No infrastructure is required to create self-made nets. The whole world could be doing it today if they were just educated. This product/idea can be delivered today.

8. This process cleans the environment as it removes plastic trash.9. This breaks the cycle of dependence and frees people from donors.

Once this technology is learned it will be passed from generation to generation.

See the videos on YouTube

Showing Wangari Maathai and the Consulate

General of Kenya the mosquito netting.

School kids making the base material.

One of the early nets.

Traveling to another market to

teach.

Making the needle by hand.

Early attempts to make a needle.

Prepping the sewing machine on our first day.

The bags are everywhere.

Combing sheets for our first net.

Net made in the U.S. vs. a net made in Kenya.

Patching a bed net with ironed plastic.

Sewing holes in plastic.

Doane College and Student Council provided more than $7,000 to purchase blue recycling containers.

“You have to get the town to recycle before we will send a truck out. It is just too expensive to come from Lincoln for one pick up.” (recycling co.)

So that is what we did.

Roots and Shoots worked with the city counsel and seven recycling companies. We now have single stream recycling in the city at $2.00/home and at the College.

Recycling

When we started it was paper and cardboard only and it all had to be moved by hand. Our first contribution in 2006.

When we started it was

paper and cardboard

only and it all had to be

moved by hand. Our

first contribution in

2006.

Doane Student at City Hall answering questions. This would be one of several trips made to City Hall. Originally bid at $16/house, we were able to keep all competitors involved and get the price down to $2.00/house.

The first dumpster

converted to recycling.

We put a recycle bin next to every trash can.

Other Projects

Monarch Butterfly GardenGreen Fund Doane CampusHome Weatherization Algae Bio-fuels for everyonePlant SaleRelay for Life$200 to start a Roots and

Shoots group in Krundi, Kenya