Author Archives: Chloe Sprecker

The Energizer Bunny Recycles Too

2018, Berthoud Colorado, USA

Colorado Battery Collection Student Action

Tori Dellwardt, Tyler Adams, Samantha Mulder, Everett Baskall, Berthoud High School

The team of Tori, Tyler, Samantha and Everett researched battery recycling and found that over 180,000 tons of batteries are tossed into landfills every year.

CO Cheque student group

To offset this problem, they placed battery recycling stations in local schools, library and grocery store. Along with the recycling stations, they hung and distributed posters to advertise the recycling sights. Within the first month, a total of 410 batteries were recycled. At Turner Middle school, they collected over 300 batteries. Interestingly, the Berthoud Library only collected 4 batteries.

The total cost of the project was only $150 which makes it a simple reproducible idea throughout Colorado.

Earth, We are the Last Straw

Earth Last Straw Student Action Colorado

2018, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Grace Patrick, Greeley Central High School

After reading an article from the “Last Plastic Straw”, Grace decided to be the change she wanted to see.

Her first step was to collect data on the number of plastic straws that were thrown out by popular restaurants in Greeley. On several Friday nights, she collected the used straws from all of the restaurants. On subsequent Fridays, she asked the restaurants to only serve straws upon request and collected those used straws. From this data, when was able to determine straw savings and convinced each restaurant to offer straws upon request only.

Grace Patrick Last Straw Grace then printed a table tent that explained the rationale for changing straw usage for the customers to read. In addition, Grace donated paper straws with the Caring for Our Watersheds logo to replace the plastic straws. Finally, Grace used the plastic straws she collected to create a piece of artwork for each establishment. The artwork now hangs in each restaurant.

Bee Gardens to Promote the Growth of Our Watershed

2018, Berthoud, Colorado, USA

Bee Gardens CO Student Action

Meghan Lucero, Riley Lundgreen, Kelden Cook, Berthoud High School

Erosion and invasive species can be harmful to a watershed because it can destroy soil and use large amounts of water.

In Colorado, Canadian Thistle and Russian Olive can completely replace a natural species. Bees can help these problems as they help pollinate native species which decreases the invasive species in the area.

CO Bee Gardens Student Action

Their project was to create a bee garden that would help increase the population of bees near their school. Meghan, Riley and Kelden created a 20×8 foot garden behind their school in Berthoud that contained perennial bee friendly plants. The resulting garden should increase the bee population in the area while increasing native plants.

Path Found & Something More than a Mural

2018 San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EES N°5, San Antonio de Areco. Students: Yamile, Ayelén, Jimena, Rocío

This Project is a prolongation of last year’s project “Music of Nature” proposed by 1st year students, of this school, at the Caring for Our Watersheds program 2018, and which was embodied in the form of a mural in which the four seasons of the year and nature come together with music and different pictorial styles.

mural student action On this basis, the new Project adds two new initiatives aimed at creating a space of convergence between art and the care of nature within the institution. To achieve this, students proposed, with the help of artists, to create an external classroom around the “Music of Nature” mural, and also, create an art intervention, in part of the school’s main playground, with recycled parts. Both spaces suggest a modern dynamic in its contents, updated throughout the year with pupils’ ideas.

AQUAPONICS SYSTEM AT MIRA LOMA HIGH SCHOOL

2017, Sacramento, California, USA

Aquaponics at Mira Loma

Ravina Sidhu took 4^th place in the Caring for Our Watersheds finals for her excellent proposal to build an aquaponics system on her school’s campus to demonstrate this water and resource efficient growing system. After Ravina proposed this project, her sister Jasleen (pictured above w/ teacher C. Kelly) helped to build and install the aquaponics system at school in order to cultivate native plants for an ongoing riparian restoration project. Aquaponics, a system that combines the raising of fish with the growing of plants, uses substantially less water than traditional growing as water and nutrients are recycled in a closed-loop fashion.

WATER FILTER PROJECT AT MIRA LOMA

2017, Sacramento, California, USA

Water Filter Mira Loma

Mira Loma High School students Savannah Bosley and Jesus Gonzalez were concerned about the amount of disposable plastic bottles used by students on their campus. Savannah, as President of the Recycling club, saw bins and trash cans overloaded with these bottles everyday. Many students said they brought these single-use water bottles to school because of the poor tasting water at fountains, or because the fountains were old and did not work well and because there was not a place to fit water bottles under to fill up.

Savannah and Jesus decided that a water filtration system on campus would help alleviate some of these issues by providing a convenient source of filtered water for students and staff. When looking into options, there were some restrictions with both plumbing and security issues that did not allow for the installation of the popular Elkay water filling station at a central location on campus. After discussing alternatives with school staff, Savannah and Jesus installed filter units on the sink faucets in multiple classrooms at school, allowing easy access to filtered water for all students on campus throughout the day.

BAN THE BAG

2016, Fairfax, VA, USA

Students at Lanier Middle School uncovered a large amount of plastic bags waste in the Accotink Creek Watershed. They learned that plastic bags could kill plants and animals that call the watershed home. Realizing that encouraging recycling was not the answer, as often, recycled materials are repurposed but then eventually end up in a landfill, the students developed a canvas bag program that is part educational program, part conservation. Each Eco-sack comes with information about the health of the watershed and the impact of pollution on water quality.

The proceeds from the Eco-sack sales, which will be sold for $5.00- $8.00 per bag, will be used to purchase Dogwood trees on the Lanier campus to promote biodiversity and improve air quality. Through this solution, residents reduce the amount of waste they generate, learn about the watershed, and promote the environmental quality of their community. Approximately $450 in Nutrien funding will cover the cost of the 300 canvas bags.

GREEN ROOF

2016, Fairfax, VA, USA

Fairfax, VA, where Lanier Middle School is located, is the site of many new housing developments. After learning about the adverse effects of stormwater runoff on the Potomac River, students became concerned with the increase in impervious surfaces in their community, which inevitably will lead to more urban runoff. Through their research, the students came across the redevelopment of Kamp Washington, which proposes putting gardens or lawns atop high-rise buildings in Fairfax.

The group wanted to incorporate this kind of green infrastructure at their school and received approval to build a model green roof on a shed in their school garden. The green roof will serve as a teaching tool for students and a model for community members. Developers of the Kamp Washington redevelopment project were invited to view the roof upon completion, in hopes that they will implement some of the designs in their project. The students also created a model of the Kamp Washington redevelopment and included suggestions around how it could be more ‘green,’ including solar panels, green roofs, and pervious surfaces. They will present the model to City Council on June 6 and talk through the project and how what they learned can be applied to Kamp Washington. The project will receive about $700 in funding from Nutrien to purchase reinforcement materials for the roof and plants.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2016, Arlington, VA, USA

The students from Meridian Homeschool Club at St. Michael’s Church in Arlington, VA are literally changing the landscape of their community by educating their congregation about the benefits of native plants. Through their research, the students learned about the benefits of native plants and trees to the intricate ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the harm caused by invasive plants such as English Ivy.

Anxious to use their new knowledge, the students connected with their church, which was planning a landscaping project, and became involved in the process. They learned how to identify invasive plants and did a removal project on site. They recommended and purchased $250 of native plants, funded by Nutrien. The church matched this amount to double the plants purchased. After assisting with the community planting, the students did a presentation for the congregation to introduce the new garden and talk about the importance of native plants.

After their presentation, several congregation members requested their assistance to create native gardens at their homes. The students plan to make their first home visit in early June

ALGAL BLOOMS

2016, Reston, VA, USA

Students at Dogwood Elementary School are concerned about the rise of algal blooms in the Sugarland Run Headwaters watershed in Reston, VA and want to lead the charge in cleaning up existing blooms and preventing future blooms from occurring. For two years the Dogwood Eco-Club has been monitoring the growth of algal blooms in Stratton Woods pond. Through their research, they learned that one of the causes of algal blooms is when humans add nutrients to their lawns. When it rains, the water run off moves these nutrients into lakes and ponds, causing algal blooms. The students want to start doing routine water quality monitoring of their local watershed, with the aid of the Reston Association Watershed Management team and the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation team.

Their goal is to determine whether or not these are harmful algal blooms (HAB’s) and to prevent them from growing in their local watershed community. They also believe nutrient pollution and algal bloom awareness is key, and created a brochure to distribute to homeowners associations, apartment and condominium owners, and office and Industrial businesses in the Reston area. They raised over $1,200 for this project from a local foundation and will receive $200 from Nutrien to fund monitoring equipment. The first water monitoring session will take place in June 2016.