Ohio

Vapes of Wrath

2023, Ohio, USA
Vape and E-Cigarette disposal bin
Vapes of Wrath was a project done by Cullen and Ethan that was focused on fixing the problems that vaping creates for health and the environment.

As high school students, they found evidence of vaping as an issue from firsthand experience. Many of their classmates were engaging in the behavior and it was an obvious issue. After doing research, they too realized that vaping was an environmental concern,
considering discarded e-cigarettes are hazardous waste and can contaminate local watersheds and ecosystems. E-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals and lithium batteries which are considered toxic and hazardous waste and pollute water systems and soil. They wanted to address this issue first on a local level, in their communities. They implemented a two-fold program, including an educational and collection component. First, they educated people about the health issues and lesser-known environmental issues associated with vaping. They accomplished this through posters and through their website and referred to the FDA, NIH, and Truth Initiative.
Then they established several vape collection containers, locking sharp containers, and placed them in strategic and popular places in their community. This was a cost effective method that could be easily replicated throughout the state and nation. There are no public vaping disposal services available, so they were filling a complete void. Their project addressed several sustainable development goals as set forth by the United Nations: Good Health and Well-Being, Responsible Consumption and Production, and Climate Action.

This project was interesting for them because it was an opportunity to tackle something that is not often talked about. Because of the stigma that surrounds vaping, it is a topic that is often ignored. But Cullen and Ethan believe that ignoring a problem will only make it worse and that something needs to be done to solve the impacts of vaping.

Students standing beside disposal bins

Students standing beside disposal bins and signs

The Impact of Styrofoam

2023, Loveland, Ohio, USA
Sign of the impacts of styrofoam
“The Impact of Styrofoam” was created by students, Olivia, Wyatt, Sophia, and Jake, at Loveland High School. The project focuses on the switch from
styrofoam lunch trays to all paper products in the school’s cafeteria as well as the process of educating the students and staff on the harmful effects of styrofoam.

Styrofoam is estimated to take over 500 years to decompose and is known to leach chemicals into the environment, while on the other hand, paper only takes 2-6 weeks to fully decompose. While the paper trays have a much better impact on the environment, their project illuminated some interesting problems when used in a cafeteria setting. For example, on days where the
cafeteria serves spaghetti, the sauce tends to seep into the material and make the meal less appealing for the student; the styrofoam does not have this behavior. The styrofoam trays,
however, are less sturdy than the paper trays. This switch, while there are pros and cons to both sides, is important for the sake of the Little Miami River Watershed.

Their biggest takeaway from doing this project was the amount of thought and consideration that goes into making decisions, such as, the kind of tray students’ bought lunches come on.

Sustainable Development Goals this project hits:

6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.

12.6: Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to
adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.

14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution.

Caring for our watersheds logo on food freezer Paper packaging replacing styrofoam

Fast Fashion

2023, Ohio, USA
Clothes drive sign

Margot, Callie, and Hollis focused on the negative impacts that are caused by fast fashion. The problem was identified in their watershed, with the vast environmental impact that fast fashion poses. Fast fashion produces extensive air and water pollution, with extremely negative environmental impacts. Margot, Callie, and Hollis knew this was something that needed to be fixed, and fast.

The group narrowed their focus by reviewing the UN’s Sustainable development goals. Goal 11, to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, with a focus on waste management and implementation. Goal 12, to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns with a focus on reducing waste generation, procurement, and information. Their final goal was Goal 13 to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts specifically to improve education and awareness.
Donate here sign with bags of clothes in front of it bag in box
In order to combat this problem they decided to organize a clothing drive through their school. Their two-day event consisted of a donation day on Saturday and a thrift event hosted on Sunday. Over 1,050 items of clothing were donated on Saturday and for every item donated participants received 1 credit to shop with the next day. In order to increase turnout, they allowed community members to donate canned goods and toiletries as another opportunity to receive credits.

There was great turnout on Sunday with people coming from all over Wyoming and surrounding communities. The bathrooms were open, so that way everyone had the option to try on each item before purchasing. This lowered the chance that items would immediately be taken to places like goodwill following the drive. Majority of the donations received were taken, but they then took the few remaining items, as well as the donated canned goods and toiletries to Matthew 25 Ministries. This made the impact of their drive global, with Matthew 25 shipping the donations to countries in need.

With such a successful drive, the group received countless compliments from community members. Several were shocked and impressed that they collected so many donation items in only one day. Others requested that the project continues down the line. With all of the positive feedback, Margot, Callie and Hollis decided to implement the project as a yearly tradition. They took it up with Project Lead, a volunteer group at their school. Project lead agreed to host the drive every year, meaning that the impact of the drive can continue for years to come.
Students sorting clothes into categories on tables
With fast fashion being such a prevalent issue resulting from the rise of social media, the trend of fast fashion is not projected to slow down any time soon. The group hung up posters at the drive with several links of sustainable online businesses to shop at, as well as nearby environmentally friendly thrift stores. The ability of this drive to start a cycle of clean shopping will be increasingly beneficial for the community of Wyoming, Ohio as well as surrounding communities. A major takeaway from the experience that Margot, Callie, and Hollis got was how such a small project can end up making such a big impact. Wyoming is a very small community, but they were able to make a global impact that will continue to serve as a way to help the environment for as long as the drive continues. It makes them wonder, if such a tight knit small community can make such a drastic impact, what even bigger impact can the surrounding big communities do?

On one of the final days in class before summer break, the students gave a presentation to their class using the same slideshow used to present at the Ohio Caring for Our Watersheds competition where they placed 3rd in the state.

Community-Based Clean-Up Station in Polluted Parks

2023, Loveland, Ohio, USA
trash pickup station outside
Zachary and Ryan are both students at Loveland High School working to protect the Little Miami Watershed. For their project they conceptualized, planned, built, and installed 3 trash pickup stations at key locations of popular local parks with a lot of trash pollution. At these stations, members of the local community who spend time at the park will grab a container from inside as they enter, fill it with trash as they walk around the parks, and throw the bag away as they are leaving to remove this trash from the park on a regular basis. Additionally, by using repurposed coffee bags that would have otherwise been thrown out by local coffee shops as these containers, the group was able to simultaneously reduce the trash in their watershed and give these non-recyclable items another chance. Through the commitment of their school’s Green Team to maintain the project by checking in on the boxes and resupplying them with coffee bags as they are used up, even as the students move forward, the project will
continue serving their community far into the future.

The project addressed sustainable development targets 6.3 to “improve water quality by reducing pollution”, 14.1 to “prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds”, and 15.1 to “ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems” by removing trash (and the dangerous toxins/microplastics associated with it) from the park that otherwise would pose a threat to the water quality, underwater life, and terrestrial life both in the park itself and downstream. Additionally, their project involved the “participation of local communities” as stated in target 6B. Every bit of trash removed by those attending the park, according to the students, is a small but important step towards reaching these development goals, and inspiring others to take the similar steps in their own backyard.

Throughout the last 6 months, Zachary and Ryan took the opportunity to help their watershed and created a solution that is simple, easy to maintain, and most importantly, effective. By coming up with a strong plan before moving forward, receiving the necessary support and permission from their local government for the project was not an issue. They learned about protecting our environment and its importance, developing and proposing realistic solutions, and collaborating with one’s own community to help work toward a future for everyone.

trash pickup station outside with other bins around

BEE THE CHANGE

2023, LOVELAND, OHIO, USA
Beeswax wrapping on food
The Bee The Change project was run by four 9th grade students from Loveland High School, Erin, Ian, Keira, and Melia. Their idea was to give out beeswax wraps to people in their community, so that they could be used in lunches and homes instead of plastic lunch bags or cling wrap. They chose beeswax wraps because, unlike plastic, they are made of natural materials and can be used for up to a year before quickly, and completely, biodegrading.

With their budget they bought packs of beeswax wraps, paper bags, bee keychains, and printed pamphlets that they designed and instructional sheets. Then, they put together 250 kits, which were a paper bag, each containing a small beeswax wrap, a medium or large wrap, a pamphlet, and an instruction sheet.

One weekend, Ian and Melia went to downtown Loveland with a sign to hand out kits. They used bee keychains to excite younger kids and gave out almost 100 kits in total. Then their teacher sent an email to all the staff at their school. They got almost 50 requests for their kits. The next week, in their school, it was environmental week, so on “bee day” they went around the lunchroom and gave out kits. They also gave the remaining bee keychains to students wearing black and yellow. Finally, they gave out their remaining 30 or so kits after their presentation at the zoo.
Students package beeswax wrappers
The group planned to affect Sustainable development goals 3 and 6. Goal 3 intended to help clean water and sanitation, while 6 promotes human health and wellbeing, both of which their project will impact because it reduces the amount of microplastics in the watershed. More specifically, they wanted to aim for sub-goal 14.1, which will prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds by 2025.

On their pamphlets was a QR Code to an optional survey. From the survey the students were able to see that 85% of people had never used beeswax wraps, but 78% planned to use them in the future.

Their project is meant to help others be more sustainable in their daily lives. They hope that the recipients of the wraps will continue to give other sustainable products a chance, as well as share new products with others around them. They also hope their project will inspire other people to do similar projects promoting sustainability in new and different ways. Overall, their goal is to be(e) the change and help others be the change in sustainability.

Student receiving bees wax wrap

Reducing Paper Towel Waste

2023, CINCINNATI, OH, USA

Lloyd, a junior at Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Students, originally proposed replacing the Paper towel dispensers around his school with cloth roll towel dispensers in order to reduce the paper towel waste directly. However, the school board did not approve the project due to health and maintenance concerns. Lloyd pivoted his project to instead focused on the educational portion of his original proposal. He reworked the entire project and his budget in order to focus on his new vision.

First, Lloyd researched and created a survey to have data about the student and staff’s paper towel Students in classroom use habits. He then created a presentation and posters to shed light on the issues of paper towel waste. He even created a Jingle PSA (check it out below!) to go along with the presentation and to be showcased in the halls for community engagement. He also created a quiz at the end of every presentation, giving out stickers for prizes to ensure that students were engaged in the lesson and really driving home the impact of paper towel waste. All of this served to inform the students and staff on more sustainable paper towel use at school (ex. using one paper towel or using the hand dryers).

Reducing and Removing Litter at School

2023, CINCINNATI, OH, USA
Student standing beside waste bin
Gwendolyn, a senior at Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Students, noticed that there was lots of trash around her school campus and wanted to do something about it. She decided to conduct a project in which she reduced and removed litter at her school through clean up events and strategic placement of waste receptacles.

Gwen organized events to clean waste outside, around the school’s campus in order to accomplish her goal. She has already planned and hosted two events since the start of this project. These events will continue after she graduates, with the help of the faculty and utilizing the time already put aside for advisory. Additionally, Gwen had a recycling bin and trash bin installed in a high traffic area to hopefully reduce the litter left on the ground in the first place. She has partnered with the school custodial staff and the recycling club to maintain these two bins throughout the school year. The trash and recycling bins are being regularly used by students each day. Students and staff have already commented on the improvement in litter reduction around the school campus. Gwen hopes that this will inspire them to help maintain it. She also hopes that it will influence their actions in their own neighborhoods, furthering her impact.

This project benefits the local aquatic ecosystem by reducing the amount of potentially harmful litter that reaches waterways via storm drains. Because of that impact, this project aligns with SDG 14, which aims to protect life below the water. Gwen learned from this project that everybody can have a positive impact on their environment and hopes that she has inspired others to take their own environmental actions and further protect the watershed.

Native Prairie Species Garden

2023, CINCINNATI, OH, USA

Student standing beside sign
Ladasia, a junior at Spencer Center, planted a native prairie species garden on her school’s campus. She did this because the campus had very low biodiversity, clay-like soil, and few deep root systems. These caused runoff whenever it rained, which then eroded the land and polluted the watershed. She, along with many volunteers, built both an education garden and a wild restoration area on the hillside between the bus pickup area and the staff parking lot. She has fully planted the restoration area and will be starting the plants for the education garden inside this winter to be transplanted in the spring. She also created educational books to pair with the educational garden so that students and staff can learn about each plant individually before looking for them in the wild restoration area. By using many volunteers, Ladasia gained many community connections that will be able to partner her and the school in maintaining the garden and expanding the impact. She provided seed packets to many of these volunteers who were interested in creating their own prairie restoration gardens.
green yard by house
Through her efforts, Ladasia was able to target many of the UN’s sustainable development goals but she felt that her work addressed #15, life on land, the most. She is restoring the school’s biodiversity loss with the addition of 21 new native plant species. This addition will continue to increase the biodiversity by attracting other native animal species, including many critical pollinator species, such as the endangered Monarch butterflies.

One big take away Ladasia has learned from this experience is that with the power of community, anything is possible. Many volunteers, including Ladasia herself, had never gardened before and learned a lot about setting up, planting, and maintaining a garden along with the amazing ecological benefits that come with it. Hopefully this project has inspired hundreds of new gardeners that can further protect our watershed. Ladasia was able to achieve her goals and make an impact that will better the watershed for many years to come.

Community Thrift Event

2021, Cincinnati, OH, USA

From the beginning, Stefanie and Caitlin knew the harmful effects of fast fashion on
the Millcreek watershed were what they wanted to address. From clothing waste in landfills,
dyes polluting our waterways, and water waste, this is a very important issue to tackle. Their
initial plan was to put on a “Community Thrifting Event.” They had planned on going to
collect clothes, repair old ones, rent out space, and hold an in-person event. However, Covid
numbers in their area just weren’t low enough where they felt comfortable putting on this
event.

Instead of putting on one event for people to thrift, they decided to focus on teaching people the importance of thrifting continuously. They presented a video to six science classes in our school, as well as sharing it with their local community through youtube. They also created a Kahoot to quiz the classes after the video, fostering a class discussion around the effects of fast fashion and thrifting. The winners of the kahoot each won a reusable tote bag to hopefully take with them on their future thrifting endeavors!

They also created a thrifting guide, for secondhand spots in the Cincinnati area, with information regarding prices and available items. Using a QR code, we passed out these thrifting guides in the form of a business card, making it an accessible and easy
way to get into thrifting.

Go To Bat For Our Watershed

2021, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Located in Southwestern Ohio, the Mill Creek Watershed has suffered greatly due to pollution over the past 100 years. Named “the most endangered urban river in North America” and “one of the most severely polluted and physically degraded urban streams in the United States,” primarily caused by non-point source (NPS) pollution (including lawn chemicals and pesticides), the Mill Creek needs help.

Mark Keller and Owen Vickers, students at Wyoming High School put together a proposal to help save the Mill Creek Watershed. In their proposal, they made an argument that creating habitats where bats can thrive may be the answer to enhancing the health of the watershed. With a flourishing bat population that can eat thousands of insects a night, they suggest that pesticide use and pollution caused by runoff into the watershed can be greatly reduced.

Their proposal, Go 2 Bat for Our Watershed, included developing an educational program that will help improve the reputation of bats as an important and useful member of our ecosystem, education of people about the benefits bats provide, and providing resources for people to encourage bat habitats in their yards and gardens. The campaign included creating a website (go2bat.org), development of promotional materials, including posters and flyers which were distributed at the Wyoming schools, social media (Twitter and Facebook) and school blog posts. They also raffled off 10 bat houses among those who registered on their website with their email addresses, to further promote the use of bat houses and increase traffic to their website. The website received 182 unique visitors within the first 20 days of the campaign, with 26 users signing up for the bat house promotion. Although their campaign primarily targeted the community of Wyoming, Ohio, they made recommendations for additional promotional opportunities to raise awareness among a larger audience and other communities, making an even bigger impact to help save the Mill Creek Watershed.