Colorado

Seed Bombs and Pots for Seniors

Greeley Central High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Leighann Silvernail from Greeley Central High School was aware that pollinator habitats have been declining and wanted to do something about it. Leighann worked with their environmental club to give peers the opportunity to build seed bombs and paint terracotta pots during earth week. This event was strategically organized to give students the opportunity to socialize with one another after a difficult year with COVID-19. The seed bombs contained native wildflower seeds encased in pulverized paper. When the seed bombs were complete, students took them home along with an informational flyer describing how to plant and maintain the seed bombs so they would hopefully bloom –benefitting pollinators. The painted terracotta plants, that were to include basil plants grown in upcycled plastic containers, were donated to seniors at a local senior home. This project allowed students to artistically express themselves through the painting of terracotta pots, create seed bombs that would benefit pollinators, enjoy an opportunity to socialize with peers, and gift seniors a decoration piece for their room that would further benefit pollinators by contributing to better air quality. Leighann’s project addressed Targets 12.5 and 15.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Round seed bombs sitting on newspaper, terracotta painted pots sitting on table

Saving Our Watershed and Decreasing Inequality, One Fork at a Time

Rocky Mountain High School, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

In the United States, over 100 million plastic utensils are used and tossed every day and can take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose. If these plastic utensils get into the Cache La Poudre, they can break down into microplastics that can harm the organisms who consume them. This can result in an imbalance in the ecosystem, such as an overproduction of algae or other organisms, that can then affect the overall water quality of our watershed. To combat this issue, Rylan Nicholson from Rocky Mountain High School decided to donate biodegradable utensils to the Fort Collins Rescue Mission organization. The utensils were handed out with the meals in place of the nondegradable, plastic utensils. This solution addressed Targets 6.3 and 14.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals and will ensure that less non-recyclable utensils will find its way into our watershed and improve the water quality overall.

Man signing clipboard with student watching, students loading boxes into vehicle, student checking clipboard in office

Protecting the Sherwood Straight

Fort Collins High School, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Jack Devincenzi from Fort Collins High School through his research found that ditch systems can fall victim to pollution. With that, he decided to educate residents who live in and around the Sherwood Straight about the impact that pet waste, pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals can have on water quality if not properly managed. By keeping the water in the ditch systems clean, it would also improve the water quality of Lake Sherwood, the Fort Collins High School, and Stew Case Park fields, and ultimately the Poudre River downstream as it’s all connected back to the ditch systems. Jack reached out to 300 households during the week of Earth Day. His goal was to collect pledges from at least 30% of the households on three different actions they could take in and around their homes to reduce pollution and improve water quality of the Sherwood Straight. Ultimately, he reached a 50% response rate and heard a lot of enthusiasm for this solution. This project contributes to Target 6.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Student going door to door to get pledges, pamphlet that was made on information of the pollution that occurs in ditches

Pollinator Planters

Greeley West High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Through their environmental class, Joselly Vazquez and Gabriella Lam from Greeley West High School learned about the impacts housing development has had on pollinators. Pollinators play a vital role creating and maintaining ecosystems that many animals depend on whether it’s for food and/or shelter. Almost 80% of our food and plant-based industrial products require pollination by animals. Flowering plants also play a crucial role in watersheds as they help purify water, prevent erosion, and return moisture to the atmosphere. The population of pollinators, especially bees, are decreasing due to habitat loss from increased development –and development in Greeley is continuing to grow rapidly. If local pollinators are affected, the food chain along with water quality will be compromised. To address this concern, Joselly and Gabriella upcycled filing cabinets from their school and turned them into pollinator planters which were then installed around their new school building. Joselly and Gabriella provided habitat and food source for pollinators while also preventing some filing cabinets from being thrown into the landfill. Their project contributed to Targets 6.3, 12.5, and 15.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Recycled filing cabinet with pollinator plants in them, planters positioned outside of school, students posing

Mama Otter Saves The Day

Rocky Mountain High School, Fort Collins, Colorado

Person holding Mama Otter Saves the Day book up with page open

Wilson Caradoc and Joshua Lark from Rocky Mountain High School wanted to address the persistent issue of littering, especially its impact on watersheds and wildlife. They learned that plastic can be consumed by animals and in worst cases lead to their death, sometimes damaging large populations. This is called bioaccumulation, when an animal ingests something like mercury or plastic and cannot digest it. It then accumulates inside the animal’s tissue and predators that consume them. Wilson and Joshua addressed their concern by bringing awareness to this topic. They wrote and illustrated a children’s book about a mother otter whose watershed becomes heavily polluted by trash, and she cannot feed her babies. Their motivation was to inspire youth to take action for their environment as soon as possible—they do not have to wait until they are older to do great things. Nonetheless, they illustrated diverse children so that every child could see someone like themselves doing the right thing. Sometimes that’s all it takes to change the world. They read the book in person to six elementary schools: roughly adding up to 20 classes total. Wilson and Joshua donated three copies of their book to three different Poudre River Library locations, one copy to the Rocky Media Center, the Poudre Learning Center, and Nutrien. With their efforts, Wilson and Joshua contributed to Targets 4.7 and 6.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Download PDF of Book

Two students presenting a book on screen to young children

Implemented project Educating Peers on Environmentally Responsible Vehicle Maintenance

Dayspring Christian Academy, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Oil being poured into a funnel into a vehicle

Austin Cecil, Talon Fusco, Edward Race, and Arthur Race from Dayspring Christian Academy were concerned about the negative effects our vehicles can have on our watershed. That’s why they decided to educate their peers on proper vehicle maintenance and how to properly dispose of certain materials. This team educated sophomores through classroom presentations at their school on how to appropriately perform an oil change on their vehicles, change consumable items, and dispose of the byproduct with minimal effects to their watershed. An educational video was created along with handouts summarizing the information they reviewed. This team’s efforts contribute to Target 12.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Man under car catching oil into a pan Students standing in front of class educating

Educate the People!

Greeley West High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Nihit Panth from Greeley West High School learned about the numerous ways humans influence their watersheds through his environmental course –both about the good and the bad. Most importantly, Nihit learned how he can live more sustainably to improve the health and quality of his watershed. He wanted to share some of the knowledge he acquired with his peers and with community members. To do this, he developed and printed twenty educational posters to inform and encourage individuals to take steps to improve their watersheds through everyday tasks and have been displayed at outdoor centers, in his school’s hallways, and classrooms from several different schools. These posters contain information on what a watershed is, the importance of a watershed, a detailed description about Nihit’s watershed, and ideas for living more sustainably to improve water quality. With his project, Nihit was able to contribute to Targets 4.7 and 6.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Educational poster on wall, student posing in front of camera

Dreaming in Purple

Greeley West High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Anayeli Martinez from Greeley West High School was concerned about the trash she was finding in public parks. Anayeli understood that trash from one watershed can end up in another watershed –even as far down to the ocean– affecting both land and aquatic organisms and vital resources they depend on. To address her concern, Anayeli produced a piece of artwork to illustrate the beauty of the natural world to encourage her peers and community to look after it. She painted a round canvas with illustrations of sea life –seahorses, jellyfish, and sea turtles– in a purple color scheme that included yellow, blue, and pink colors. The canvas is bordered by tissue paper and buttons -representing trash that can surround and infiltrate our watersheds. Anayeli’s artwork illustrates one of her dreams: thriving watersheds across the world contributing to healthy oceanic ecosystems. The artwork has been displayed at the Poudre Learning Center (an outdoor center), a retirement home, and will continue to circulate throughout other locations like Anayeli’s school. Her project contributes to Target 6.3 and 12.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Painted round convas with illustrations of sea life, student posing, canvas hanging on wall

Can Soil Really Damage Our Economy?

Rocky Mountain HS, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

As of 2022, the Cameron Peak Fire has been the largest wildfire in Colorado history. It is suspected to be human caused. After remaining under 25,000 acres for three weeks, dry conditions and high winds fed the fire allowing it to burn 208,913 acres in total. The fire started on August 13, 2020, and wildlife, humans, and other organisms in this watershed are continuing to feel the impacts of this fire more and more – and will continue to be a trend. Miles Willard from Rocky Mountain High School had firsthand experience seeing the effects from the fire and wanted to take action. The destruction from the fire left behind very little vegetation increasing erosion. This in turn contaminates runoff water with ash, soil, and debris and is exacerbated during flooding events. To address his concern, Miles worked with the City of Greeley and the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed to plan 300 ponderosa pines in the Sheep Creek area of the Cache La Poudre Watershed. These trees are instrumental in forming natural barriers and holding soil in place and out from the river, with their roots spanning over a mile deep, while also providing habitats for wildlife. Miles contributed to Targets 6.6 and 15.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Fire remnants in snow, burned forest in winter, student posing

Art the Smart Way

Rocky Mountain High School, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Chloe Pettit from Rocky Mountain High School found that paint has solid pigments that increase the opacity of water and its particles clogs up the gills of fish and cause other harmful effects on them. She also found that solvent based paints such as paint thinners contain mercury, zinc, lead, and chromium –which can cause tumors on fish and other organisms in the water. To address this, Chloe dedicated her time developing an informal website containing video tutorials on how to make paints from scratch using vegetables and fruits. This website was provided to kindergarten and first grade classes in Fort Collins to get students started with their homemade paint kits. Many of these classes created their DIY paints on Earth Day! Chloe’s eco-friendly paints and tutorials helped contribute to Targets 6.3 and 12.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

children painting, paints and paint brushes on tables, student posing with white dog