2014 Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
Janelle Klainchar wanted to make a difference in the health of the Lake Winnipeg watershed by installing a dilution tank in her school, Selkirk Regional Comprehensive School. The old system was not functioning properly and Janelle felt she needed to step in and make a change for the better. The dilution tank has now been successfully installed thanks to Nutrien through the “Caring for our Watersheds” contest!
2014 Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
In 2014, the second-place winner of The Caring For Our Watersheds competition, Lethbridge High School student Kelsey Armstrong, decided to tackle the issue of debris build-up around l
ocal storm drains in her community. Kelsey was concerned that debris entering our watershed through storm drains was impacting the quality of the Oldman River. As a solution, Kelsey designed the “Storm Drain Survival Kit”.
The Storm Drain Survival Kit is made up of: garbage bags, doggie bags, a trowel, gloves, a Prairie Urban Garden plant book and an information brochure, all contained within a reusable shopping bag.
Over six hundred Storm Drain Survival Kits were distributed to the community at events such as: the Lethbridge Green List Celebration, the Annual Knapweed Pull, Prairie Garden Urban Tours, local farmer’s markets and home and garden shows. Through Kelsey’s hard work and commitment to sharing information on storm water awareness, this project was far-reaching and has had an on-going impact in her community.
Along with support from the Caring For Our Watersheds program, Kelsey’s project received funding from The Community Foundation Lethbridge—Youth In Action, the Oldman Watershed Council and the City of Lethbridge.
2014 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Justen Saini from Greystone Heights School in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, proposed the idea of using informational brochures to educate Saskatonians on the proper ways and appropriate locations to dispose of household hazardous waste products. In his proposal, Justen made the connection between improper dumping of pollutants into Saskatoon’s storm drains to the lack of convenient hazardous drop off locations in the city. He emphasized that the current drop off location at the Sasktel Centre in the north-end of the city and its changing drop off times made it difficult for many citizens to access its services. This, therefore, increased the likelihood that citizens would look for alternate ways to dispose of wastes such as used oil, household chemical products, unused fertilizers, pesticides and other types of wastes. These
alternative ways often meant right into Saskatoon storm drains! Justen advocated for there to be another hazardous waste drop of location in the east-end of the city in order to reduce the cases of hazardous waste disposal into storm drains. Justen also proposed that his informational pamphlets be included in the City of Saskatoon’s utility bills and in the City of Saskatoon’s educational programs and informational booths. These brochures would make Saskatonians aware that any wastes that enter storm sewers proceed directly into the South Saskatchewan River. His brochures also outlined the operating hours of the Sasktel Centre drop off times and location.
Following his verbal presentation at the 2014 Caring for our Watersheds final competition, Justen Saini was invited by City Councilor Charlie Clark to make a presentation in front of City Council. On May 4, 2014 Justen Saini made a presentation to the City of Saskatoon Council advocating the recommendation to establish a new hazardous waste disposal location for the east-side of the city and to include his educational brochures in the utility bill and in City of Saskatoon educational programming. Following his presentation the City Councilors made a recommendation for another drop off location to be considered for the 2015 season. Currently, the City of Saskatoon is working with Justen to include his STOP pamphlets into the City of Saskatoon educational material and utility bill.
2014 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Erik Rogalka from Garden City Collegiate wanted to do something to conserve water in the community. He proposed installing water bottle filling stations at the new hockey rink.
“By all the teams and parents filling their bottles using one of these stations the amount of water that would be saved would be huge. Another great thing about these stations is that it lowers the amount of disposable bottles being used. Instead of buying disposable bottles, spectators and players can use this bottle filling station. This would decrease the amount of disposable bottles that are thrown out at hockey rinks.”
“This project would be a really good way to help preserve our watershed, even if it is just in a small way. Everyday people are wasting water and using plastic bottles in hockey rinks without giving it a second thought. People rarely think about the consequences of their actions and these bottle filling stations would help save our watershed from carelessness. This project is one hundred percent approved by the community centre and is relativity low in cost. For these reasons I think this would be an excellent plan to implement.”
Erik can now proudly say that through the Caring for Watersheds contest, he was able to make this happen!
2014 Wainwright, Alberta, Canada
Ben Brunen of Wainwright Alberta wanted to help protect wetlands and the aquatic life that depend on them in his home town. After discussions with local biologists and the Town of Wainwrights’ Park and Recreation department, he decided that the best way to do that was install an aeration system in one of the main waterbodies in town.
The wetland Ben focused on was in Wallace park, in the heart of Wainwright. A popular place for residents and visitors alike, the wetland water quality and aquatic life had been suffering with increased algae, due to lack of oxygen in the pond. Because of the pond’s condition, fish were not able to survive, taking away a popular summer-time activity for Wainwright’s residents: recreational
fishing. Having an aeration system would help the wetland as the fish and other aquatic life depend on oxygen, often depleted by high algae levels.
Ben, the youth representative of the town’s Parks and Recreation board, had the Town of Wainwright help support half of the project costs to buy an aeration system. The Parks and Recreation board emphasize supporting local companies, so they naturally turned to Art Matthews of Wainwright Plumbing and Heating to design and install the aeration system. The system was installed in early summer of last year.
The system has been very successful in increasing oxygen in the water, supporting an increase in aquatic life and decreasing algae, while adding to the pleasing aesthetics of Wallace park. An article in Wainwright’s newspaper in May of 2014 reported that the system is still functioning perfectly, and trout populations are healthy, allowing for recreational fishing to begin at the start of summer.
2014 Trenton, Ontario, Canada
Chantal, a grade 8 student from Murray Centennial Public School won fourth place for her “Red Maple Seedling fundraiser” proposal. Chantal’s idea was to hold a fundraiser at her school to sell Red Maple Seedlings and use the profits to purchase a water bottle filling station for her school. Chantal’s goal was to increase awareness about the importance of planting trees in our watershed and educate her school community about the negative impacts of disposable water bottles to the environment.
Chantal purchased 320 Red Maple Seedlings for $175.00 with the guidance of Tree’s Ontario and financial assistance from Murray Centennial Public School. The fundraiser was held in April 2014 and each seedling was sold for $5.00 generating a revenue of $1475.00. The profits from the fundraiser cover the cost of purchasing one water bottle filling station for the school.
With an additional $1305.00 from Caring for Our Watershed Implementation Funds, Murray Centennial Public School will be receiving a second water bottle filling station to meet the needs of the school with population of 600 staff and students.
The two water bottle filling stations were installed March 2015.
2014 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Batteries need to be disposed of in a proper manner. Orit Gluskin wanted to make sure her fellow students knew more about battery disposal, and the dangers of batteries in the landfill.
“The elements that are put in batteries range from common acids to toxic metals. The reason we shouldn’t just dispose of batteries in the regular garbage is because under high temperature, pressure or even when untouched, they can leak toxins. If they leak into the soil they will simply follow underground water into the closest water supply. These toxins are harmful to both organisms and the environment.”
Thanks to a contribution from Nutrien, Orit was able to start a school-wide battery recycling awareness campaign. Orit created posters and student surveys to learn more about her classmate’s knowledge around battery disposal. She also held a recycling drive where students could bring in their batteries, which were taken to a reputable e-waste facility in Winnipeg. Students were rewarded for their participation with entries for gift cards.
2014 Gimli, Manitoba, Canada
Students at Gimli High School have taken an environmental interest in their school cafeteria. They’ve monitored the amount of waste produced by their cafeteria and decided they wanted to look for better options to reduce that waste. Carly, Tristin, and Hayden proposed testing compostable and paper plates to see if they would hold up in their cafeteria and if they will break down in their school’s compost bins. Once their testing is complete, they plan to work with the school to see what kind of changes can be made to make their cafeteria greener.
“The materials that these various plates, cups, and cutlery are currently made of will either never decompose, or will sit in our landfills for a minimum of 50-80 years. According to environmentalhealthnews.org, plastic in landfills can leach harmful chemicals that spread into groundwater. This means that not only are we littering our earth and filling our landfills, but we are infecting our groundwater, drinking water quality, and eventually our beautiful Lake Winnipeg.”
With a donation from Nutrien, the trio was able to purchase various brands and types of plates to experiment with. This is a great first step in their journey to a greener cafeteria!
2014 Landmark, Manitoba, Canada
Trevor, Cole, Jaxon, and Andrew wanted their school to use less plastic water bottles. They also saw the refill stations as a way to reduce water use. They proposed faucet refill water stations to encourage students to refill their own bottles.
“We did an experiment to see how much water we will waste from drinking from a fountain. We squirted water from the fountain into a cup for three seconds and marked the cup, and then we timed someone drinking and got the spilled water in a cup and marked it. By comparing the lines we discovered that 66% (2/3) of the water dispensed goes down the drain.”
Thanks to Nutrien, the school now has a new drinking fountain with a sensor so that no more drinking water goes down the drain!
2014 Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada
Maria Bunk wants children to connect with nature. “Keeping good care of our watershed and environment is very important because there is not much fresh drinking water left which means we need to learn to respect and care for our fragile mother nature in a more responsible way.”
Maria proposed an environmental education program for her school’s nursery school that includes an activity book that she created; an in-class aquarium for children to learn about water as habitat; seeds to plant to learn about how things grow; and a watershed model the class will create from clay. Using this model, the nursery school students will learn about pollution and get to experiment with how water moves through their watershed.
“I think that eduating young children is a great benefit because it will create a ripple effect. Children enjoy sharing their knowledge with others which means the message will be passed on to a bigger scheme of people!”