Author Archives: Chloe Sprecker

Peace and Plenty Garden

2016, Bruxelles, Manitoba, Canada

Manon Ketsman from Nelly McClung Collegiate wanted to help with the restoration of a local community park.

“Bruxelles sits within the Pembina Valley Conservation District and is also within the Cypress River Watershed, which drains into the Assiniboine River. The region around Bruxelles is considered to Peace and Plenty Garden group photo student implementation have poor agricultural capabilities and much of the Southern portion of the Cypress River Watershed is considered moderately to severely at risk of soil and bank erosion.

The Peace and Plenty Garden will be a welcome addition and after much discussion it was decided that a water catchment would be a great addition to the park as it would add a learning area for students and it would be beneficial towards their education. This water catchment will teach the students about water conservation and how important water actually is as a resource when it comes to agriculture. They will use the water collected in the catchment to water the butterfly gardens as well as their vegetable gardens.”

No Fly Zone

2016, Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Taylor Bean was concerned with the amount of insecticides Farms were using to control fly populations. She knew there were more environmentally sustainable options available.

“Insecticides have shown to disrupt the balance of the ecosystem and many cannot be broken down by an organism’s body resulting in bioaccumulation”

With a three-pronged approach of fans, ecofriendly spray and fly sheets for the horses, she felt the need for insecticides would be removed.

To involve the community, Taylor purchased horse blankets that she would loan to other farmers to try them out in hopes they would switch over to this method.

“These blankets have helped so much in reducing the horses being irritated by the flies. The use of insecticides (fly spray) by horse owners is drastically reduced therefore reducing the effects on our watershed. The horses and the owners are much happier with the changes that the Caring For Our Watersheds project has allowed me to implement.”

Green Cleaners

2016, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Madeline Mann from Miles Macdonell Collegiate in Winnipeg decided to improve the water quality in her community by convincing her school to change to more environmentally friendly cleaners.

“I live in the Cooks – Devils Creek watershed and I think the biggest problem this watershed faces right now is the fact that community that I live in has been on a boil water advisory since 2002.

The idea of switching out one of the school cleaning products with an environmentally friendly one is a simple way to reduce the amount of chemicals that our school is putting into our watershed. I have found the product I would want to switch it Green cleaners Manitoba student project with, I have done the necessary research and I have determined the cost and quantity that my school would need for cleaning. By changing into an eco-friendly product our watershed will benefit and the water quality will improve because there is less chemicals flowing into the watershed.”

Not only was Madeline successful, this was implemented in the whole school board and required no financial support from the contest.

Floating Away Eutrophication

2016, Virden, Manitoba, Canada

Laura Wallace noticed that her local lake, Oak Lake, “is a sad sight due to eutrophication. It has been coated with green sludge called algae- which has sent residents and vacationers running for the hills. Hiding among the green goop is blue green algae, which can be toxic to humans. Oak Lake, from time to time, has had to close the beach due to health concerns.”

Clearly, it was time for a change, and Laura had an innovative idea: to build a floating cattail pond called a bio-platform to absorb phosphorus and other nutrients in the water, leading to less algae and safer water. In partnership with her local Conservation District and thanks to a contribution from Nutrien, Laura has been hard at work building her bio-platform, which will be launched at the local beach. As Laura shared, “the small changes I hope to achieve could lead to long term success, and I think many Oak Lake residents and animals will be thankful and supportive of my effort to clean up their home.”

Underwater Cleanup

2016, Falcon Lake, Manitoba, Canada

Because Delaney Rosentreter from Westwood Collegiate is passionate about both diving and clean water for the environment, she organized an underwater cleanup at the Falcon Lake Marina. This implementation was done in partnership with Diver City Scuba and the Falcon Lake Marina.

“There are many environmental benefits to my
underwater cleanup project. Benefits include cleaner water for the lake, marine life, and the ecosystem in general. This simple yet environmentally changing project is easy for anyone to get involved around the underwater cleanup project implemented in manitoba community. The marine life will have more areas to lay eggs, less debris on the lake floor, and have more plant life for the fish to feed on.”

Close to 20 divers participated in the cleanup. Although the water was murky, several objects were found including a drone! Following the dive, the divers were provided with a BBQ lunch and hot beverages to warm up.

Circle Garden

2016, Little Black River First Nation, Manitoba, Canada

Students at Black River Adult Education Centre wanted to go back to the land to learn. They wanted to use their traditional teachings to create a circle garden for the school to use and the community to learn from. “The benefits of sustainable garden are plenty. Gardening is an environmentally friendly way of using resources provided by nature, such as soil and rain water.”

Thanks to a contribution from Nutrien, students got to work, planting corn, beans, squash, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. The garden is a team-effort that brings the students to an outdoor classroom where they can learn about growing their own organic food.

Cigarette Disposal

2016, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

“The number one most littered item in Canada and worldwide are cigarette butts,” wrote Garden
City student Sheree. “People are simply unaware of the environmental impacts cigarettes have, or believe that because there is already litter on the ground, it would not make a difference if they followed suit. “ These cigarette butts end up in our water where they leach out chemicals and pose a hazard to wildlife mistaking the trash for food. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, Sheree discovered “cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate, a non- biodegradable plastic, which can take up to 25 years to decompose.”
Her solution was simple- to purchase cigarette receptacles to place at two hot spots on school property so that cigarette butts could be disposed of properly. Thanks to a contribution from Nutrien Sheree was able to do just that!

School Garden and Outdoor Classroom

2016, Carman, Manitoba, Canada

“Agriculture plays a large role in the Boyne River Watershed,” so Bailey felt it was important for School Garden and Outdoor Classroom Student Implementation Manitoba
“the students of Carman Collegiate to have a basic understanding and knowledge of how agricultural practices impact their water and watershed.” As Bailey wrote, “Farm run-off is a main concern to the water quality of the Boyne River Watershed. If more people are educated on the topic, more people will have the watershed in mind and will voice their concerns.”

Bailey proposed an outdoor learning environment at Carman Collegiate, consisting of an outdoor garden and classroom. Thanks to Nutrien, Bailey and her fellow students have created a place where students can learn “the basics of gardening, and farming and also concerns involving agriculture and the watershed.” This outdoor space ties in nicely to the school’s Agriculture class and is helping to create a new generation of “better informed future farmers.”

Zapping the Zebras

2016, Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Although zebra mussels “are a Zapping Zebras Manitoba Student Project relatively new problem to Lake Winnipeg, as they were only confirmed in 2013” Brownyn felt it was important to raise awareness- and fast. “They reproduce extremely quickly and can rapidly invade new areas; the female zebra mussel lays approximately one million eggs in a year!” Zebra mussels create plenty of problems for water bodies, causing “millions of dollars of damage to the Great Lakes area alone.”

Since “the main way to prevent invasive species from invading Manitoba’s waters to clean any watercraft or water-related equipment that enters Manitoba waters,” Browyn decided to focus on an awareness campaign and boat wash at a popular dock in her community. Thanks to a contribution from Nutrien, she was able to do just that- her awareness campaign focused on preventing the spread of zebra mussels, along with water reduction tips and environmentally friendly boat wash, all for the sake of a healthy lake.

“Ecoclub” at Schools

2016, San Andres de Giles, Buenos Aires, Argentina

– Colegio Sagrada Familia –Students: Camilo Fernandez, Candela Mighetto, Valeria Manion, Fabrizio Saul Encinas Pinto

“Ecoclubs” are organizations constituted by children and young people who are committed to improving the quality of life of the population by promoting awareness of environmental care. This group of students proposes to start creating these institutions throughout the school basin, and they will be in charge of promoting.