A Good Day to be Thankful for a Warm Beverage…Sleeve?

Brrrrr!  It’s bad enough that the holiday decorations started going up the day after Halloween, did Mother Nature really need to jump on the wintery bandwagon as well?  Sheesh!  Could we eeeeease into the cold weather please?  Well, at least I can warm my icy fingers with a nice cuppa joe from Starbucks.  I bet I’m not the only Anderson parent who did that today.

I actually don’t do the take out coffee shop coffee-thing very often, but I did today.  I was meeting with our PTA President to talk about an awesome recycled art project for next week’s Art Night.  We’re going to construct a Tree of Thanks – entirely out of TRASH!!!  {c’mon! do the happy dance with me!}  I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “WOW! That’s amazing!  But it has nothing to do with coffee, crazy lady!”  Wrong!  It has everything to do with coffee.  OK, maybe not everything, but it does have something to do with coffee.  See that little brown sleeve hugging the Starbucks cup?  You know, the one that keeps your frozen fingers from getting too hot?  Well, we need those.  We also need your old brown paper shopping bags, paper towel and wrapping paper tubes, and cereal boxes.  You’ll be getting some communication very soon on how to get it to me.  In the meantime enjoy a nice warm cup of coffee…and save that sleeve!

Going for Zero

We’ve been hearing a lot about the Gary Burns Fun Run that’s happening this weekend.  Well, I for one am hoping that we score a nice big zero.  WHAT?!?!  A ZERO?  Yes!  A zero.  A goose egg.  This is one of those rare times in life when scoring nothing is a HUGE win.  I know, I know.  You’re confused.  Stay with me.

The Gary Burns Fun Run is a great event.  It raises money for scholarships and grants within Frisco ISD, and it’s a fun way it is to get your weekend workout out of the way.  But did you know that the Gary Burns Fun Run is striving to be a “Zero Waste” event?  What’s that?  You didn’t?  And come to think of it, you have no idea what “Zero Waste” even means?  Well let me explain.  The sponsors and operators of the run have set a very lofty and very green goal of producing no trash at the event.  OK, not NO trash, but less than 10% trash.  What this means is that 90% of the waste produced before, during and after the run will be either recyclable or compostable.  So keep that in mind if you’re participating in the run, or just going out to watch.  Finished with that bottle of water?  Find the recycle bin.  Don’t want the rest of that snack?  Chunk it in the compost container – along with that napkin.  Everything purchased from vendors at the event will be either compostable or recyclable – right down to the plastic wear and the napkins.   There will be plenty of recycle and compost bins throughout the venue, as well as friendly volunteers to help you figure out what goes where.  It’s really incredible when you think about it – over 5,000 participants and no trash.   So help spread the word, and if you’re going to the event, make sure you do your part to get us a nice big ZERO.

Tricks for Treats

No, that’s not a typo.  Tricks for treats.  That’s what all the homeless animals at the Frisco Humane Society are hoping for anyway.  They’ll do all the tricks you can handle in return for your gently used pet items.  So gather up your old towels and blankets, that extra litter box you have hanging around in the garage, the crate you don’t use anymore because Fido is perfectly trained now and bring it all up to school, and how about all that canned cat food you bought for fluffy only to have her turn her nose up at it.  Load it all up and bring it to school.  Between now and Friday, October 25 we’ll be collecting donations just inside the vestibule at Anderson.  Look for the big orange box with the picture of Rufus on it.

Oh!  And if you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend with your favorite furry family member, check out the 8th Annual Barktoberfest from noon to 4:00 PM this Saturday at Frisco Commons Park.