USA

Bat Boxes at Del Paso Park

2016 Sacramento, California, USA

In his Caring for Our Watersheds proposal, Ryan Kizer explained that building and installing bat boxes in a local park would not only provide habitat for bats to expand their population, but would also help to create natural control of pests, especially mosquitoes. This natural pest control would reduce the need for use of pesticides, which can be costly and may have negative effects on the environment, wildlife, and/or human health. With project funding from Nutrien, Ryan constructed 4 bat boxes. After he painted the boxes and put asphalt shingles on the roof areas, he mounted them on poles in 2 different areas of Del Paso Park. In the next few years, bats will move into the safe environment of the boxes. These bats will also provide natural pest control to the area, as well as a cool show for visitors as they exit the box at dusk to feed!

Riperian Restoration

2016 Berthoud, Colorado, USA

Emily’s proposal was to repair a section of the damaged riparian zone (the river bank) of the Big Thompson River by planting grass seeds to promote a healthier river.
In 2013, one of the biggest floods in Colorado history occurred. This flood not only destroyed many homes and businesses, but also changed the course of the river and took out a multitude of trees, grasses, and shrubs in the riparian zone. Without this vegetation, an excess of sediment can run into the river, and a number of unwanted problems can result from this. For example, the depth of the river decreases which increases the temperature of the water. An increase in temperature can decrease the amount of fish and other macroinvertebrates that are able to live there, and therefore decreasing the amount of biodiversity in the river. Replenishing the vegetation will help to prevent future flood damage and maintain the health of the river. Emily’s solution for these problems was to gather volunteers and plant seeds and a variety of plants along a highly damaged stretch of the river bank.

Timeline and Budget:

Feb. 2016- End of March: Multiple correspondents/ conversations with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers in order to join forces in a project they had already begun.
March 2016: Hung flyers and spread word about the project in order to gather volunteers. Budget of $10.
April 2nd: Planted native grasses along a 1 mile stretch of the Lower North Fork of the Big Thompson. Total cost was $3,338. Caring for Our Watersheds contributed $800.

Of Gardens and Guys

2016 Greeley, Colorado, USA

J.C. Arco decided it would be a good idea to plant rain gardens in some of the public schools in the area to reduce water pollution and to help educate kids in caring for our watershed (killing two birds with one garden). The project plan is a local project, but with hope that it will encourage people to share what they’ve learned with others in the future. The targeted group is kids between grades 5-8, as they are still young enough that they are open to new ideas, easily influenced, but old enough that they can understand the reason for the project.

Timeline and Budget
In order to implement the project, J.C. called teachers at various local schools and scheduled meetings with them to explain his proposal. He met with Dos Rios Elementary School and planted the garden. Rain gardens are relatively inexpensive compared to some other projects averaging at about $100 per garden, depending on the types of seed and soil that is used.

No More Trash Talking

2016 Berthoud, Colorado, USA

This proposal focuses on the overall aesthetic and practical appeal of trash cans. In order to reduce the amount of trash around the school, the students decided to take large trash cans, modify them to make throwing trash away easier, and paint creative designs on them to make people want to throw their trash where it belongs.

The aim is that having eye-catching trash cans in an obvious area will decrease the amount of litter around. Since litter can be washed into rivers and lakes, it creates many problems by polluting the water, and also potentially to harming marine animals as well. For example, the green-way through Colorado Springs was recently lined with trash after high water levels. Wildlife is directly affected by these types polluting plastics making their way into the animals’ habitat.

Timeline and Budget:

March 1, 2016- Received trash cans, trash bags, clamps, bolts, washers, locks, and nuts from Home Depot (Total= $754.17)
March 4, 2016- Started contest at school for students to paint the trash cans
March 13, 2016- Modified trash cans by cutting holes in the sides to make throwing trash away easier
March 29, 2016- Received paint from Larimer County Landfill’s Drop & Swap
April 22, 2016- Painted and decorated trash cans
April 29, 2016- Created infomercial video
May 2, 2016 – Modified trash cans by adding touch ups and clamps for the trash bags

Hazardous Households: Is Yours One?

2016 Greeley, Colorado, USA

This project focused on raising awareness around the community, and collection of household hazardous waste. This small scale collection took place through battery drives, and the establishment of long term battery collection to further spread awareness over the next several years.

Timeline and Budget

February 15 – April 29, 2016: Informative Posters in School ($57.13)
February 24, 2016: Parent Teacher Conferences,-Passed out flyers and had display board ($46.47)
February 29 – March 4, 2016: School Battery Drive ($44.85)
March 9, 2016: Pizza Party for Drive Winning Class ($29.48,)
March 9,2016: Pizza Donated by Domino’s Pizza ($0, Saved $60 in Pizza Party)
April 21, 2016: Interview with Cracker Barrel ($0)
April 23 – April 30, 2016: Local Battery Drive, paper bags donated by King Soopers ($0)
April 25 – May 1, 2016: Reached out to district schools ($0)

Electric Hand Dryers and Waste Management

2016 Greeley, Colorado, USA

Hundreds of rolls paper towels are wasted in schools all over Colorado – sitting in landfills when they are not recycled. Students at Northridge High school decided to do something about it. First, they compared the waste of paper towels without the option using of an electric hand dryer, and with the option of using an electric hand dryer for two weeks each. After comparison, the students found that adding the hand dryers reduced the use of paper towels by 3 rolls for the first 11 days; lowering the waste of paper towels by 20% in less than 2 weeks! Knowing that the school is used nearly 47 weeks per year, that’s 90 rolls of paper a year saved by only 2 hand dryers.

Timeline and Budget

March 10, 2016 Meeting with Mr. Hand; figuring out best ways to install electric hand dryers in restroom
March 15, 2016 Electric hand dryers ordered (2 for $410 each)
March 22, 2016 Electric hand dryers’ arrival at Poudre Learning Center
April 6, 2016 Electric Hand dryers installed at Northridge (estimation was $600)
April 2016 Start of collecting data
April 30, 2016 End of collecting data.
May 1, 2016 Analyze data and start of presentation and poster

Destination: Conservation

2016 Greeley, Colorado, USA

destination-conservation

Madeline, Reina, and Lindy took 3rd place in the Caring for Our Watersheds competition with their proposal Destination: Conservation. The goal of the project was to educate elementary students about their watershed and how to preserve water. The trio thought this was important for two main reasons. First, “The water we have now is the only water we have, and it is our responsibility to protect it.” and second, “youth is the key to our future of sustainability.”

This project was implemented by providing third and fourth grade students the knowledge necessary to create a water-wise world. For example, the students received water efficient faucet heads to help them conserve water in their own homes. These faucets will help families not only save water, but also money, especially helping low-income homes.

Timeline and Budget:

Arranged classroom visits and attendance at Greeley Water Festival ($0)
Made interactive games and a model of what a watershed is two weekends before. Candy was donated as in-kind contribution ($15)
Coordinated water conservation items and water efficient faucet heads with the City of Greeley ($0)
Ordered water bottles as a giveaway ($369)

Collecting Clothes For a Cause

2016 Greeley, Colorado, USA

This proposal involves is having a clothing drive for kids from kindergarten all the way up to seniors in high school. The reason behind this idea, is that when clothes are in a landfill, the dyes used to color the clothes can pollute the groundwater. On top of this, making clothes consumes numerous amounts of water and pollutes the air. Essentially the goal behind this project is to reduce the number of clothes in the landfill by collecting them and also reduce the amount of clothes being produced by donating them.

Timeline and Budget:

March 13th, 2016: Purchased Bins from Home Depot (16) $112
April 6th, 2016: Ordered flyers, handouts, and stickers from fastsigns $297
April 25th, 2016: Set up bins, flyers and sent out handouts. Collected clothes and donated them to charity

Bees: Small but Mighty

2016 Greeley, Colorado, USA

Bees provide up to 1/3 of our diet, which may seem small, but includes a variety of foods such as: fruits, vegetables, grains, and even meat. Kendra’s proposal was to plant gardens with bee-friendly flowers in the community to help these small workers.

By planting these gardens, bees are offered a constant source of nutrients and a healthy habitat that uses no harmful chemicals on the plants. The implementation plan was fairly simple, and included buying the supplies, finding locations, setting up gardens, and planting flowers and plants. “It is easy and anyone can do it.” States Kendra. “The smallest effort can make a huge difference.”

Timeline and Budget:

February 29, 2016 – Figured out location for project and contacted beekeeper Debbie Moors
March 1, 2016 – Brought home donated tires for gardens ($0)
March 31, 2016 – Shopped for garden beds and soil at Home Depot with Susan Payne ($360)
April 28, 2016 – Shopped for plants at Home Depot with Susan Payne ($330)
May 7, 2016- Set up multiple recycled tire gardens around the community
May 8, 2016 – Set up gardens ($0)

Aeration Conservation

2016 Greeley, Colorado, USA

Aeration Conservation is an important way and also a very overlooked way to care for our watersheds. This proposal was to simply install numerous aerators on select faucets at my school, Greeley Central High School. Installing low-flow aerators on faucets will help contribute to water conservation and limit our anthropogenic unsustainable ecological practices. Practices that have degraded, polluted, and thrown us above our present carrying capacity on Earth. Implementation for this project was very simple and can be replicated easily throughout the world.

Timeline and Budget:

February 10, 2016 Contact Ana Gonzalez @ Chicago Faucets
April 27, 2016 Contact Charles Muller @ Parks Supply of America
May 2, 2016 Ordered faucet aerators through Susan Payne @ Poudre Learning Center (x25)($24)

Budget: $1,000
Project Cost: $600