Ohio

IMPROVING THE MILL CREEK WATERSHED BY LAWN FERTILIZATION EDUCATION

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Lawn Fertilization Education
Over the past several years, the Mill Creek Watershed Council created the program called Healthy Lawns, Healthy Waters to help educate residents in Cincinnati about the impacts of over fertilization of lawns in the area. Gabriela Okhuysen and Nora Davis from Wyoming High School want to broaden the horizons of participation in this program. The girls want to enhance training aids, enlist volunteers, and overall engage with educating their local community. After conducting soil tests of their own lawns, they discovered that there were at double the optimum levels of phosphorus and magnesium. It was clear to Gabriela and Nora that if residents knew of the resources available to them, they would be able to help improve their watershed.

For their project, they group proposed to hold a community meeting to demonstrate the soil sample process and invite local experts to explain the harmful effects of over fertilization. They would encourage high school volunteers to support soil sampling efforts and follow up with residents as their test results come in. By asking local volunteers and enlisting support from the Mill Creek Council and the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District, they expect residents would be more willing and determined to obtain the results and change their fertilization regimens.

Gabriela and Nora believe that starting with local residents and changing their fertilization lawn habits will lead to a cleaner and healthier community and watershed. They aim to inspire their community by showing how minor adjustments can make a huge impact on their local environment.

GREEN “GUTTERS”

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Green Gutters
Sycamore High School suffers from a poor drainage system, with runoff from the roofs falling down onto the school grounds without the help of gutters, and Nate Halstead, Jessica Wei, and Dani Abramovitz wanted to change that. They proposed the implementation of a green wall, which would prevent excess water collection on the school grounds as there are many unutilized exterior walls which do not have adequate gutters.

The runoff from the school goes into the Little Miami watershed, which is notorious for flooding during the excessive amounts of rain the region receives. To lessen the impact of the excess water damage on the western wall of the school building, the group implemented a system of greenery on the brick walls. The plants were selected to best benefit the watershed, as the redirection of the roof’s drainage through the plants will act as the gutter, filtering the runoff while also adding a modern touch to the traditional school building. By providing a natural buffer for Stormwater from directly entering storm drains, the wall will serve to improve the general health of the watershed while increasing the natural beauty to the school that the community can enjoy.

WETLAND FLORA CONSTRUCTION

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Wetland Flora Construction
Jared Bulla, Josh Rademacher, Logan Bush, and Justin Zhou of the Summit Country Day School wanted to help alleviate the problem of overabundant chemicals in the Little Miami River. This local river feeds into East Fork Lake, which in recent years has shown an increase in nitrogen and phosphate levels, resulting in algal blooms. The Valley View Foundation is working to create an area of wetlands that would serve as a natural drainage system for wastewater before it went into the Little Miami. The group’s project was then to ensure that the proper floras were planted in the wetlands to maximize the uptake of chemicals by plants.

The boys selected reeds, iris, and cattails as the primary plants due to their winter hardiness and affordability. They are effective in removing excess phosphorus and do well on their own after planting. The implementation of this program would be significant, as it would reduce the number of algal blooms in East Fork Lake. By choosing plants for the wetland that would do the most good, Jared, Josh, Logan, and Justin hope that they will be able to create a noticeable impact in their area.

AUTOMATIC FLUSHERS: TIME TO SAVE WATER

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Automatic Flushers
Bennett Heyn was concerned by how much water Sycamore High School’s automatic flush toilets and urinals were wasting. Looking at the men’s restrooms specifically, with each “phantom flush” of a toilet 1.5 gallons of water were wasted alongside an additional 0.5 gallon per urinal. To create a solution to this problem, Bennett decided he would need to purchase additional sensors for the bathroom. These mirror devices attach to the automatic sensors, but require the user to hold their hands in front of it for a few seconds in order to activate the flush.

Installing four new sensors would save around 5,830 gallons of water per year, and a small start could lead to more being installed down the road. This project would benefit the environment by preserving the amount of natural water in it. Bennett’s high school would be reducing their water bill while also keeping the Little Miami Watershed clean. This project would be a great start for larger changes Sycamore could make down the road.

A RAIN GARDEN A DAY KEEPS THE DIRT AWAY

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
A rain garden a day keeps the dirt away
The Mill Creek, one of Cincinnati’s main waterways, has a water quality that is often defined as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ due to the large amounts of contaminants that runoff into it. Aleeyah Nurredin’s high school, Mount Notre Dame, is next door to a convent with a stream that runs into the Mill Creek. To prevent the problem of damaging runoff, she proposed to create a rain garden. This garden would increase the water quality and reduce the flooding potential into the stream by the convent too.

This project would engage the larger MND community, collaborating with students to create the garden itself while educating residents of the convent next door. A rain barrel would first be installed after a group digs up a space for the garden, diverting water from the gutters. The underground basin would then be lined with stones to prevent erosion before being filled with soil and appropriate native plants. These plants would be arranged based on their water tolerance in order to promote the most success. Finally, once the plants are in place, the rain garden would be covered with a layer of mulch to keep the soil most. The rain garden would create a space of community enjoyment while also making positive changes to the environment due to the cleaner water going into the watershed.

CLEAN WOMEN, CLEAN WATER

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Clean Women, Clean Water
Abigail Aubrey, Taylor Schmidt, and Alex Herbert attend Mount Notre Dame High School, whose student body is entirely female. They learned that a major problem for watersheds is that girls are flushing their menstrual products down toilets, impacting plumbing and creating waste that sits in landfills. To combat this problem, the group wanted to educate their peers and encourage them to try reusable pads and menstrual cups.

Women throw away and flush hundreds of disposable products and their packaging every month, driven by an industry that promotes the mindset of “out of sight, out of mind”. Disposable pads or tampons aren’t out of sight or mind, however, they are everywhere. To avoid toxins and the waste from traditional products, there are reusable alternatives. One menstrual cup or reusable pad will prevent waste and the cost of disposable products each month.

To educate the women of their school, Abigail, Taylor, and Alex created a week-long event called “Pad Wars”. During this week each grade is challenged to raise the most feminine hygiene products to send to Uganda so that young girls can continue to go to school. If someone brings in reusable products, they will receive extra points. Then after school, students would be able to attend a workshop about the importance of the watershed and receive a reusable menstrual cup. Through education, the group’s hope is that their peers are called to change their habits. In that way, they will be helping their watershed while taking care of their bodies!

AUTOMATIC RAINWATER TERRACE SYSTEM

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Automatic Rainwater Terrace System
Creating a solution to the blindness of water usage and supply is imperative to saving the watershed and protecting the environment of the future. Molly Bonino of Mount Notre Dame High School focused on utilizing stored rainwater to make a difference in the Little Miami Watershed. To do this, she planned to put her attention to the issue of Ohioans dumping and overusing water and polluting storm drains.

To address this problem, Molly wanted to create an automatic rainwater terrace garden. This structure would be created with a boxed chamber, made of biodegradable plastic, with a soil moisture sensor. The sensor will send an electrical signal through the relays, allowing the box to open and release water for plants.

Conserving rain water and using it for tasks like watering a garden will not only prevent pollution of storm drains, but also positively maintain the growth of vegetation and soil richness. This sort of garden could be implemented at a home or school, starting small then growing in order to create awareness and contribute to the global push for change.

SAND OVER SALT

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Sand over salt image
In the winter, Oak Hills High School uses a lot of road salt to de-ice the surrounding pavement surfaces. Bridget Kallmeyer, Erin Kallmeyer, and Lindsey Lawrence found this unnecessary, as more salt than needed was being used, and was running off into the Stormwater collection system that flowed into nearby waterways. To combat some of the excess salt use, the group came up with a plan to replace the salt used in the student parking lot with sand.

The project would first only cover ¼ of the student lot due to concerns from the building manager, but if it goes well, more of the space can begin to use sand. Additionally, the custodial staff will be educated on the use of sand and why using too much salt can be detrimental to the waterways.

Sand would potentially decrease the amount of money that is spent on salt annually, and provides traction and works in all temperatures. However, since sand does not melt snow, it would require more applications in order to keep students safe. If the implementation is successful, Oak Hills would be saving money and protecting their nearby waterways!

FIELD WORK

2015, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Field Work Image
Students from The Summit Country Day School took on a nice-sized project last year. With the help of their mentor, Sue Metheney, and their teacher Kat Roedig, they partnered with the Children’s Home of Cincinnati located on Madison Road to plant a meadow area with native plants. Summit students, Ellie Schwietering, Adelaide Tsueda, and Jenny Zhang first proposed creating a more eco-friendly plant area to improve the watershed quality. They first envisioned completely eliminating a lawn and replacing it with native trees or fruit and vegetable gardens. After teaming up with the Children’s Home they modified their idea and decided to plant a meadow, which is both aesthetically pleasing and more efficient in capturing storm water than turf grass. The meadow area will help to filter rainwater, slow runoff and attract native animals and insects to the site. It will also reduce maintenance time and costs for the Children’s Home, a win-win for everyone.

The mission of the Children’s Home is to transform the lives of vulnerable children through individualized treatment and education services that build the skills and confidence to succeed in life. Their programs help children overcome social, behavioral and learning challenges every year. Ellie, Adelaide, and Jenny worked with Tim Daugherty, the Facilities and Landscape Manager and several students and teachers at the Children’s Home to plant the meadow area. All of the students worked together to help transform an area on their campus to become a much more beautiful space.

“We’re happy that we got to work with the Children’s Home to finish our project and we are excited to see the meadow in full bloom this summer” said Jenny Zhang. It was such a beautiful day to plant and everyone enjoyed working together and helping to improve their watershed.

TREE WELLS TO PROTECT TREES

2015, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
TREE WELLS TO PROTECT TREES-1

There is a hillside on the east side of Withrow High School’s campus, just above the parking lot that has had several trees struggling to grow. This hillside had many erosion problems in the past and one student decided enough was enough. Chadwick George was close to graduation, but wanted to improve his school before leaving for college. Chadwick proposed to build very small retaining walls on the slope below each tree. These walls, which he called tree wells, would help to slow the rainwater and runoff from above so that it can more naturally soak into the ground and help the trees grow.

After placing third at the Caring For Our Watersheds final competition, Chadwick worked with his teacher, Jody McOsker, over the summer to level out and place tree wells on over 20 trees on the hillside. This project has certainly helped to not only improve water quality and runoff at Withrow High School, but Chadwick has completed his mission of improving his alma mater and leaving a great legacy.

Tree Wells to Protect Trees