how to organize a planet recapture meeting

8/2/2019 How to Organize a Planet Recapture Meeting

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Suggestions for PlanetRecapture Organizational Teams

Remember: these are recommendations.

Each Independent PlanetRecapture Organizational Team can modify as needed.

Be creative and share ideas!

1. Form a PlanetRecapture Organizational Teama. Elect an Organizer to keep people organized. This position could last

for a year, or maybe even better, change from meeting to meeting so

more people get to learn how to be a good organizer and manager

b. Form an Organizing Team with the Committee Headsi. School Representative one representative who can serve on

the PlanetRecapture Executive Committee which helps to

coordinate work between schools

ii. Safety who will be trained and who will train others? (Seebelow for more safety info.)

iii. Marketing elect PlanetRecapture representatives for everyclass, or at least every grade, who can make announcements in

class. (See Section 6 below for much more information on ways

that a marketing campaign can work.)

iv. Sponsors/Food choose a few people who can call localbusinesses and organizations to provide support, from

cleaning equipment to food for parties. Insures that the food

and supplies are at the meetings. Try to find sponsoring

businesses as close to the school as possible and try not to

overburdon any one business or sponsor with more than one

PlanetRecapture school group. Some sponsors can be shared

with other area PR groups (Linder Tire in Iowa City, for

example, committed to recycling all tires retrieved from Iowa

City area parks and wilderness areas by ICCSD

PlanetRecapture groups. Rick at the Iowa City store, and the

CEO, Mr. Linder, know about the program. The Iowa City Bike

Library committed to taking any abandoned bikes in ponds or

streams for reusing parts or disassembly and recycling. Email

[email protected] details on sponsors who can

be shared.)

v. Recycling This committee works to insure that the school hascleanup supplies (buckets, bags, gloves, etc.) provided by theCity Government or sponsors like MidAmerican Energy.

Coordinates who will sort of recyclables and transport to

recycling center? Who has cars to transport larger items tires(to Linder Tire), bikes (to Iowa City Bike Library), etc. to local

businesses, organizations or landfills to be reused or recycled?

vi. Water Quality Testing in Iowa, we have the outstandingIOWATER program. A committee should learn how the tests
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work, collaborate with IOWATER program staff or IOWATER

testers who have test kits to learn the process, and teach

others. Everyone gets a turn to test something: Let everyone

get their hands wet, but keep their feet dry. Committee is

responsible for recording all testing data on the IOWATER

testing forms (clipboards help). After all data are collected,they should enter data on IOWATER website (email

[email protected] set up testing site in the park

which the school or group will adopt, and Login information

for the IOWATER website). Committee should also keep

inventoryof all items in testing kit, and notify Lynette Seigley

or Mary Skopec at the IOWATER program to send more

supplies when needed.

vii. Recording committee is responsible for taking pictures andvideos of all meetings, writing short Success Stories to report

what each meeting accomplished (how many bags of

recyclables removed, how many people participated, etc.)which can be used for school newsletter or website, or posted

on the Facebook page, etc.

viii. Equipment organizes cleanup supplies (see below),borrowing boots and/or waders from the Oakdale Research

Center (on the UI Oakdale Campus) where IOWATER is based,

and returning them after the meeting. If sponsors can buy the

equipment for each school, they can be kept in the building,

making logistics easier.

2. Decide on the location, date and timea. Location

i. Find a park or wild area that has a stream or pond, and ifpossible, a wooded area thats big enough to play Capture theFlag in

ii. (see below for more info on how to play Capture the Flag, andsee Planet Recapture Commitments document for some rules

and guidelines for the game)

iii. Try to find a location as close as possible to most families. Savetime and gas. Try to bike or walk if possible. Carpool if needed.

PlanetRecapture is a local, neighborhood-based, grassroots

organization. We can keep our carbon-footprint neutral.

b. Datei. Weekend afternoons work well if parents and kids organize

transportation

ii. After-school is great, especially if schools or social groupscoordinate transportation. (If you find a site within walking

distance of school, thats way cool.)

iii. Most PlanetRecapture meetings are in Spring, Summer, andFall. Winter is for spreading the movement and planning

ahead. But if your winter is without snow and ice, get out there.
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And if you want to be the first PR group to play Capture the

Flag in white camoflague, and pretend youre on the ice planetHoth, go for it, and be sure post your pictures on the Facebook

page.

c. Timei. Most PlanetRecapture meetings last 3-4 hours.ii. Allow for 30 minutes or so for cleanup, up to 30 minutes for

water quality testing, at least an hour for Capture the Flag, and

at least 30 minutes for a party. See the Agenda document for

more details on planning the meeting.

3. Develop and Follow a Safety Plana. Sometimes for cleanups, unsafe materials could be found (hazardous,

poisonous items, sharp metal or glass, even syringes). Lots of things

get thrown into underbrush in parks or washed down riverbanks.

ALL KIDS SHOULD BE TOLD NOT TO TOUCH ANY POTENTIALLY

UNSAFE ITEMS, NOTIFY SAFETY TEAM IMMEDIATELY (WEARING

SAFETY VESTS), AND FIND A PARENT, TEACHER, OR ADULT TOPROPERLY DISPOSE OF THEM. ALL PLANETRECAPTURE MEETINGS

SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON SAFETY FIRST. IF YOU ARE SAFE, IT WILL

BE FUN.

b. An adult should be responsible for safetyc. Kids can serve as team leaders and help oversee safetyd. Orange vests or bright bandanas can be worn by safety teame. Buckets (some items are pointy or sharp and are hard to carry for

recycling or disposal in bags), latex gloves, and thick bags are

essential. Your local city government (In Iowa City, its the Public

Works Deparement), local utility (Mid-American in Iowa provides free

high-quality bags and gloves for cleanup), or other businesses ororganizations can provide cleanup equipment and other support.

Take initiative, ask them, build partnerships, and share responsibility.

(See the document on how to find sponsors and partners for more

information.)

4. Contact local government (or collaborate with local PlanetRecapture group ifthey are already coordinating with local authorities)

a. Parks and Recreation Departmenti. Can provide safety training and cleaning equipment (buckets,

bags, gloves, vests, etc.)

ii. Can help select a siteiii. Can help remove or recycle heavy items (heavy tires, pipes,

fallen trees acting as strainers blocking water flow, etc.)b. Department of Public Works or Volunteer Management

i. If city government has a water quality program, or volunteermanagement program, they can help get the word out, provide

training, and other assistance

ii. Be sure to get permission and notify responsible authorities.


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c. If you intend to work on private land, be sure to get permission beforedoing so. The owner may be concerned about liability (being

responsible if anyone gets hurt), so PLEASE DO NOT TRESPASS.

Rather, try to make the landowner a partner. The landowner will

likely want their land cleaned and improved, as it helps them, and

helps the wider community. We all are stewards of the land, andstreams flow across public and private land, so lets be partners. In

geek-speak, its called a Public-Private Partnership. At

PlanetRecapture, we just call it common sense: sharing our resources

and sharing responsibility. We all live downstream. Were all

neighbors. So we work together. Thats what neighbors do.

5. Contact other PlanetRecapture groups in the area, or PlanetRecapturemembers for advice. Everyone is learning from everyone else. Collaborate.

a. Find the nearest PlanetRecapture group, and if this is your firstmeeting, ask someone whos been in a PlanetRecapture meeting to

come to yours, or just give advice beforehand

b. Find out how to share resources between PlanetRecapture groupssafety training, equipment, publicity, sponsorsc. PlanetRecapture spreads from friend to friend, neighborhood to

neighborhood

6. Marketing: Make announcements beginning at least two weeks in advancea. Make brief announcements in each classroom and at each group

meeting The best way to spread the word is person to person, friendto friend.

i. Appoint or elect a PlanetRecapture representative for eachgrade or class to make announcements

ii. Make a one-minute announcement (ask teachers permissionor get onto meeting agenda)

iii. Pass out sign-up sheets Name, phone, email, parent name(see Sign-up Sheet document below and print them out for

yourself, or change it to suit your needs).

iv. Enter names from sign-up sheets (name, email, phone number,parents name and encourage everyone to PRINT so it is easy

to read) onto an Excel spreadsheet or Google Doc spreadsheet

(even better, since with a gmail account, you could give all

PlanetRecapture organizers access to that document to

coordinate activity). THE CONTACT LIST DOCUMENTS ARE

REALLY CRITICAL. EMAILS CAN BE SENT OUT TO EVERYONE

FOR UPDATES.v. Send email announcements

vi. Send Facebook or Google Plus invitationsvii. Pass out flyers (but paper is wasteful, so if you use paper,

maybe use quarter sheets or half sheets, and try to use

recycled paper)

viii. Use any and every way to reach people


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ix. Make a few phone calls a couple days before the meeting toremind kids and get parents permission. This improvesturnout.

b. School newsletterc. School website or Facebook paged. Outdoor school signe. Virtual Backpackcontact school principal or superintendants office

for district-wide announcements

f. Listserves

how to organize a planet recapture meeting

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