Dear Awi family,

       As you know, AWI is run by a team of Muslim Women. In Islam, we believe that being green is part of the religion. God commanded us to take care of the earth and TO NOT BE WASTEFUL.

Now, as we delve into Ramadan Iftars party mode, please remember that one of the points of fasting is to learn mindfulness and awareness. As we go to iftar potlucks, etc, here is something we can all do to make it a green one:

1. DESIGNATE a REUSABLE BAG as your SERVINGWARE PARTY BAG
2. INCLUDE Picnic servingware for the entire family and one extra for a friend who may have forgotten to bring their own plate or mug.
3. Label the bottom of all of your servingware with sharpies so that they are easy to recover afterwards.
4. Train your family members as to what this bag looks like and let them know where at the potluck they can find the servingware.
5. Train them that when they are finished, that dirty dishes be returned to this bag.
6. Pack an extra tupperware for those leftovers that people offer you afterwards.
7. When you get home, take all the servingware, wash it and put it back into the same bag. Place that bag in a closet by the door or in the trunk of your car so you are all ready to go for the next event.

SURE, being GREEN can be a bit inconvenient at times... One more dish to wash, one extra step to go through to find your plates instead of just grabbing another plate thats already situated near the food.

However, I have already been to 3 Potluck iftars and Im proud to say that we all brought our own servingware. There was hardly any waste thrown into the trashcans thereafter.  

Our LANDFILLS are overflowing.

Our Ecosystems are in PERIL.

WE MUST DO OUR PART.

Its not an earthday thing... Its an everyday type of thing.

- Sama
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By: Adam Chaudhry  Age 8

Many birds are known for their beautiful musical chirping, and humans can even use these distinct sounds to identify a specific bird species. There is one such bird which makes exquisite music but is also very dangerous. This bird is known as the European Starling. Starlings have black plumage and a gorgeous metallic sheen.They were first introduced to America in large numbers by a man named Eugene Schieffelin who was inspired to bring these birds to America because he was so impressed by William Shakespeare’s work. He wanted to release every single bird Shakespeare mentioned in his plays and poems to the United States. In 1890 Schieffelin released 60 European Starlings into Central Park in New York. He released 40 more in 1891. Once the birds were brought over they began multiplying and now there are over 200 million Starlings in the United States alone.

Although these birds are magnificent to look at, they are not as nice as they look. Starlings are notorious for kicking out other birds’ eggs and laying their own in the same nest. When male starlings encounter another birds nest, they might peck holes in the eggs, throw out nesting material, throw out an egg from the nest or even kill young birds. Female starlings are even known to lay their own eggs in another birds nest.

Starlings can cause damage and are one type of bird that acts as a pest.

A fungus called Histoplasma can grow beneath roosting starlings and can become airborne which can cause blindness or death. Starlings also cause millions of dollars in damage yearly. Starlings can devastate the crops of American farmers and can transmit diseases to humans and animals.

They cause problems at livestock facilities by contaminating feed and water with their droppings.

Starlings can even cause physical harm to humans. Starlings roost near airports and can get ingested into jet engines which can then cause the aircraft to crash. Starlings can consume whole fields of wheat and cultivating fruits such as grapes, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, figs and cherries.

People soon realized these birds are pests and in Connecticut people tied teddy bears to trees and fired rockets through tree branches to scare them away. The White House tried using speakers that played owl calls, people tried shooting, poisoning, repelling, trapping and frightening the birds but all to no avail.

As you can see, birds that were brought to America with good intentions presented unintended problems even Shakespeare would not appreciate. As with anything in life, there is no such thing as too much of a good thing. These avian beauties were not all they seemed. Despite efforts to curb their numbers Starlings are survivors and that is why there numbers are so large today.

​By: Aiza Qureshi  Age 11

Why do Western Fence Lizards do push-ups?

To mark dusk and dawn or to show physical condition.

Hamza Sidky  Age 11    Video: Sama Wareh

Stinging nettle is a yummy wild edible plant. Have you ever tried it? If you like edamame, then you should try this plant. It taste like edamame. You only eat the leaf though, and I will tell you how to eat it right now.

Stinging nettle has little hairs, some are stinging hairs, and some are non-stinging hairs that appear mostly on the stem and top part of the leaf. To eat the leaf, you pick it by pinching the bottom of the leaf and folding it into a taco shape. Then, you fold the leaf into a little packet and put it in your mouth. Your saliva breaks down the hairs so it doesn’t sting you when you chew it. And that’s how you eat stinging nettle. Now that you know how to eat it, here are some things you can learn about stinging nettle.

Stinging nettle is found in riparian habitats. A riparian habitat is an area next to water. Stinging nettle grows 3-7 ft tall, and the leaves are usually between 1-5 inches long. It has small greenish flowers that are really pretty, and jagged edges that look like teeth. Now, I hope you learned something about stinging nettle today, and I hope you will come back for more!

​By: Asiya Rizvi  Age 12
Photo: Sama Wareh

By: Aiza Qureshi  Age 10

Dear Reader,

I know you must be wondering why I am talking about bearded dragons, of all things to talk about. Well, I think Bearded Dragons are super cool. Did you know that an average Bearded Dragon grows 16 to 22 inches in length?! And their tails are HALF the size of their body?? Pretty cool, right? Now, how much do you like Bearded Dragons? Well if you like them now you’re going to like them a lot more by the time this article is done. Well, I bet you didn’t know that they are able to enlarge their throats and flatten their body when being threatened or attacked. They can also live up to 10 years and usually reach maturity between 8 to 12 months of age.

Now, how much do you like Bearded Dragons? Did you know that Bearded dragons are omnivores? Which means that it has both a plant and animal based diet. It will usually eat insects, small rodents, lizards, and leafy plants. Oh, and you would probably like to know where they are native to as well. I’ll tell you right now, Bearded Dragons are native to…….. drum roll please… AUSTRALIA. Ta-da! Well, that’s all I got for you right now, see ya soon.
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p.s. I’ve heard that they make great pets!!

By: Sumaya Zayed   Age 11