Little Brown Bat
We love bats here at Sound View, and teach kids not to be afraid of them. They are a joy to watch flying around at dusk, and they help keep the insect population under control.
We found a special friend sleeping in the A-frame Chapel today....a tiny bat! We think it is from the species called "little brown bat," but we're not sure, so let us know if you're a bat expert and think it's something else. The scientific name for the little brown bat is Myotis lucifugus. "Myotis" means "mouse ear" in Latin, which makes sense when you look at the bat's ears in the picture! "Lucifugus" comes from the Latin "lux" (light) and "fugere" (flee). This species is nocturnal, so it flees from the light!
We love bats here at Sound View, and teach kids not to be afraid of them. They are a joy to watch flying around at dusk, and they help keep the insect population under control. A study done in a mosquito-filled room found that little brown bats can eat up to 300 mosquitoes per hour! This is probably not typical in the wild, however, since mosquito populations are usually (hopefully!) not that dense.
Idea 5
Reduce your food waste and compost the rest!
Now through September 27, we will be sharing ways that Sound View has been working to reduce our carbon footprint, and ideas for what we can all do at home.
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Idea #5: Reduce your food waste and compost the rest! We worked on educating campers about food waste this summer by implementing a system at mealtime called ORT. "Ort" is an Old English word meaning "a scrap or remainder of food after a meal." Before eating meals, we talk to campers about how between 30-40% of our food supply in the United States goes to waste. Much of this is wasted between the farm and retail stages and at supermarkets and restaurants, but 150,000 tons of food are also tossed out in US households each day. We encourage kids to think about how much food they take from the buffet line and how much they're throwing away by weighing our ORT after each meal. Campers are excited to waste less and less food each day, a lesson that we hope they'll take home with them after camp!
For those banana peels, apple cores, and veggie scraps that we don't eat, Sound View has a compost pile and worm bins. Composting food is better than throwing it in the trash because food in the landfill lets out methane (a greenhouse gas) as it breaks down, due to the anaerobic conditions of landfills. Plus, composting provides fertilizer for your garden!
Check out some of our worms and the beautiful soil they're creating for us out of food scraps. Amazing! Worm bins are great for people who live in apartments, don't have enough room for a compost bin, or don't have curbside composting. They don't smell at all, and they're easy to make out of household items! The worm bin in the picture in the comments was made out of a simple plastic tub with holes drilled into the top and bottom. Make sure to put something underneath to catch the nutritious "compost tea" that you can use as a natural fertilizer on your plants.
Idea 4
Drive less! It means slowing down a little bit, like this banana slug here, but using public transportation, biking, walking, and carpooling can also be tons of fun.
Happy first day of fall from Sound View Camp! Now through September 27, we will be sharing ways that Sound View has been working to reduce our carbon footprint, and ideas for what we can all do at home.
Idea #4: Drive less! It means slowing down a little bit, like this banana slug here, but using public transportation, biking, walking, and carpooling can also be tons of fun.
This summer, Sound View implemented an option to sign up for van transportation to camp. This option was chosen by many families because of the convenience, especially for those campers who come from farther away. Having the van option also helps reduce the emissions that come from so many cars driving to and from camp twice in one week. Make sure to consider the van option next year!
Idea 3
Food picked and eaten straight out of the garden is also delicious, as any of our campers this summer could tell you
Now through September 27, we will be sharing ways that Sound View has been working to reduce our carbon footprint, and ideas for what we can do at home. We still have a long way to go as an organization, but we are trying to improve every day!
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Idea #3: Grow your own food! Eating food grown locally is beneficial to the planet: it reduces emissions from transporting food long distances to get to our plates. Plus if it's done organically, it cuts down on pesticide, herbicide, and synthetic fertilizer use, which also produce a lot of emissions. Food picked and eaten straight out of the garden is also delicious, as any of our campers this summer could tell you :) We hope our camp garden will encourage youth to get interested in growing food from a young age!
Idea 2
Sound View staff cleaned up our beach and found all the trash that is pictured here.
Now through September 27, we will be sharing ways that Sound View has been working to reduce our carbon footprint, and ideas for what we can do at home. We still have a long way to go as an organization, but we are trying to improve every day!
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Idea #2: Today is International Coastal Cleanup Day. Sound View staff cleaned up our beach and found all the trash that is pictured here... Let's go beyond not littering and think about what we're putting into landfills in the first place. We can look for alternatives to plastic and Styrofoam, such as using reusable water bottles and grocery bags, bringing our own takeout containers to restaurants, and buying in bulk!
Sound View reduced our use of disposable plates, cups, and utensils over the summer during our waterfront barbecue day. It is definitely more work to transport the washable plates and utensils up the hill to wash, but we're stoked to be stewards of Creation!
Idea 1
Outdoor Environmental Education Director Nancyrose is in Seattle supporting the Global Climate Strike! Now through September 27, we will be sharing ways that Sound View has been working to reduce our carbon footprint, and ideas for what people can do at home. We still have a long way to go as an organization, but we are trying to improve every day!
Idea #1: Make your voice heard! Let leaders know that you care about climate change and our planet's future.
Looking Back
We tend to take pictures of the water at our amazing waterfront. However, the other day after putting away the boats on the dock, I was “drawn” to the view looking back.
Looking back from the end of the pier. One can either go off to the right back to the paddle shed and the waterfront field - or they can venture straight up the stairs to shaded, quiet places. Sometimes, the gulls perch along the rail daring you to disturb their resting time.
When you choose to go straight, you encounter these stairs. Every now and then, we try to control the moss and foliage growing on the steps - not too much however, they are pretty in a rugged, semi-neglected way.
I love this cedar tree. You encounter it after climbing the stairs. Of all the trees at Sound View, I believe this one deserves an Entish name. It is a good tree to sit under to enjoy the breezes which waft up from the Sound.
And the road (trail) goes ever on and on. This one continues up to the ropes course taking a dark, scenic, wooded way. One can imagine natives using this path to portage their canoes to the other side of the Peninsula to avoid the stormy Devil’s Head.