Summer Reading

Welcome to our virtual reading program! Starting July 9th, we'll be posting a new virtual reading program each Friday in July. All the programs will be available indefinitely so you can watch multiple times, share with friends, or view at a more convenient time. This program is sponsored by the Benton County Landfill, Iowa County Landfill, Jones County Transfer Station, and Tama County Landfill. Thank you for your continued support!

Our third virtual reading program features the book The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell. Aster will read you a story about Mooch, the cat, wanting to give Earl, the dog, a gift on a special day. Earl seems to have everything a dog needs so Mooch decides to give him nothing! Is nothing actually nothing, though? Aster will teach you about different ways to show people you care that don’t require buying a gift. If you want to be ready for the program activity, have paper and markers, pencils, or crayons on hand so you can draw along with Aster!

Our second virtual reading program features the book Sophie's Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf. Alyssa will read you a story about Sophie and how she makes an unlikely friend: a butternut squash named Bernice! You'll learn about growing food, gardens, and ways to find fresh food in your community. Alyssa will teach you about the life cycle of a squash and show you the garden at Matthew 25 in Cedar Rapids. Have paper and markers, pencils, or crayons on hand so you can draw along with Alyssa!

Our first virtual reading program features the book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. Aster will read you a story about Joseph and how he finds creative ways to reuse an overcoat until it’s completely gone! You’ll learn about clothing waste and how to reduce it by sharing, donating, and reusing your old clothes. Aster will even teach you how to make a pillowcase out of an old t-shirt.

2020 Virtual Summer Reading Program

Welcome to our first virtual reading program! We've made this big change to our program in light of COVID-19 to prevent further community spread and prioritize the health and safety of everyone who's normally involved in the in-person program format. Starting July 9th, we'll be posting a new virtual reading program each Thursday in July. All the programs will be available indefinitely so you can watch multiple times, share with friends, or view at a more convenient time. This program is sponsored by the Benton County Landfill, Iowa County Landfill, Jones County Transfer Station, and Tama County Landfill. Thank you for your continued support!

Our final reading program features the book Bag in the Wind by Ted Kooser. Nathan will read you a story about a plastic shopping bag that goes on a journey from the landfill to a store. You'll learn how plastic shopping bags can be useful to humans but harmful to the environment. Nathan will give you ideas for reducing, reusing, recycling, and properly disposing of plastic shopping bags. He'll even teach you how to make your own reusable bag from an old t-shirt.

Reducing the amount of plastic shopping bags you use by taking reusable bags to the store is the most effective way of reducing the negative impacts of plastic bags in the environment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, make sure to check with the store about whether they allow reusable bags at this time.

If you do have plastic shopping bags, don't forget to reuse them around the house in trash cans, picking up pet waste, or some other way. If you can't reuse it, consider up cycling! Here is a great Pinterest page from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources with up cycling ideas for plastic shopping bags and other household items.

Another option for extra plastic shopping bags is recycling. Do not put them in you curbside or drop-off recycling bins that are meant for cardboard, paper, plastics, cans, etc. The bags will get wrapped in the machinery at the recycling center! There are special plastic bag recycling bins at a lot of grocery stores and other retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. You can search for a drop-off in your area at this website. If you're curious, search online for images of "plastic bags tangled in recycling equipment." The bags cause delays, damage, and dangerous conditions for people who work at recycling centers.

Disposing of plastic shopping bags in your garbage should be avoided, if possible. Plastic shopping bags cause issues at landfills, too! The bags can blow away if it's windy (just like the book!) or they get tangled in landfill equipment.

Our third virtual reading program features the book The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Robert will you read a story about a tiny snail with any itchy foot who rides around the world on the tail of a huge humpback whale. You'll learn that tiny creatures can have a big impact, which means that you can have a big impact too! Robert will teach you about seemingly small choices you can make everyday to have a big impact on the environment.

To learn more about all the different R's - Reduce, Reuse, Repair, and Recycle - here are some ideas for you to try at home.

Can you sit and think about items that you could reduce or reuse in your daily life? Some things to think about are plastic grocery bags, straws, disposable food storage bags and containers, etc. Is there leftover food in the refrigerator that should be eaten before it goes bad? Could clothing or household items be used by another person? This is also a great thing to discuss with a parent or a trusted adult in your home. You can work together as a team to reduce and reuse at home!

It's important to understand the requirements for residential recycling programs in your area so do some research! Search online, contact your local government, or contact your local landfill. The requirements might be a little bit different for one community compared to another because of the trucks used for collection or the facility, called a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), that's sorts all your recyclable materials before they're baled and sold. Click here to watch a video of a real MRF in Iowa in action. Please note, most facilities in Iowa do no allow you to mix glass with other recyclable materials so check your local requirements.

Similar to the activity at home with Robert, National Geographic has an online game here where you can learn about items that are typically recycled, composted, or disposed of in the landfill. It seems like a small choice, but it makes a big impact on the environment!

When thinking about the remaining R, repair, make sure you talk to your parent or a trusted adult in your home before trying to repair an item. Tools, glue, or something else that's potentially dangerous could be involved so you should be careful and supervised!

Our second virtual reading program features the book What's Going on in There? by Geoffrey Grahn. Gianna will read you a story about how things are not always as they seem in the town of Grahnville. This is an important lesson because things are not always as they seem, even in our homes. Gianna will teach you about common household cleaners and chemicals, also called household hazardous materials, and how it's important to store, use, and dispose of them properly. These items in your home might seem perfectly safe but they're actually dangerous for your body and the environment.

To learn more about household hazardous materials safety, there are online videos, guides, and games!

For this program, we do not want you to mess around with the household hazardous materials in your home. Remember, they can be dangerous for your body and the environment! If you find a cleaner or chemical in your home that you learned about in this program, always check with a parent or trusted adult in your home before opening, spraying, etc. Don't forget, you can always call Iowa Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 if someone ingests a cleaner, chemical, medication, or other potentially harmful substance.

If you want to learn more online, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources created a video about why it's important to dispose of household hazardous materials properly. Click here to watch the video. They also created computer games for different age levels to learn about household hazardous materials. The games are available for download here. Check with your parent or a trusted adult in your home before downloading something on a computer.

If you want to become more prepared in your home, Iowa Poison Control will send a free packet of information, including stickers and magnets with the phone number, to anyone in Iowa if they sign-up online. The sign-up form is available here. I highly encourage you to talk to a parent or trusted adult in your home about ordering a packet so you can put the stickers or magnets on places like the refrigerator, medicine cabinet, or near where cleaners, paints, or other household hazardous materials are stored in your home.

Our first virtual reading program features the book Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss. Marin will read you a story about worms and teach you all the reasons why worms are important for our world. Marin even digs around in a bin of real worms to show you how they move, eat, and live in the soil! If you want to prepare ahead of time, find an old sock and your craft bin to follow along with the worm puppet tutorial.

If you'd like to learn more about worms, here are some ideas for you to try at home.

There's no better way to learn than to get outside and dig around for worms in your garden. Adult supervision is always advised, especially if you're using a shovel. Or, on the next rainy day, go on a walk and look for worms on the sidewalk. Don't forget to be kind to the worms! Try not to squish them and maybe even move them to a place where they can dig in the dirt.

If you like the book Diary of a Worm and learning about insects, there are other books by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss. They wrote a book about a spider and a fly, and they're important creatures for our world, too. The Bug Diary books and additional activities are available at this link. Your local library might have these books for you to check out!

If you have access to the Amazon Prime streaming service, you can watch the show Bug Diaries for fun adventures with the worm, spider, fly, and their families from the books.

If you liked the song during the virtual program and want to play on repeat, Worms, Worms, Worms by Banana Soup available at this link. There's also lots of other songs and videos about worms and insects online.