Native Plant Stormwater Garden

2019, Timonium, Maryland, USA

The Green Club of Ridgely Middle School’s plan for improving the quality of the Chesapeake watershed is growing a stormwater garden that contains plants native to Maryland. The people involved in this proposal are Riya Mahale and Sunny Shen. The garden’s purpose is to absorb some of the runoff that eventually ends up in the Chesapeake Bay. According to National Geographic, runoff is an overflow of water. It occurs when the land is unable to absorb any more water and the excess water runs across the land, eventually ending up in a body of water, like a bay or river. In this case, it is the Chesapeake Bay.

Stormwater Garden Chesapeake Bay student action Unfortunately, whatever pollutants the runoff contained also ends up in the Chesapeake Bay. This damages the Chesapeake watershed and the ecosystems that rely on it.

This proposal aims to improve the quality of our watershed by reducing the amount of runoff that feeds into the Bay. The garden would be at the base of a hill at Ridgely Middle School where excess water would collect after rain. There, the plants in the garden would be able to efficiently soak up some of the runoff and the pollutants in it before it reaches the Chesapeake.

Stormwater Garden Chesapeake Bay student action

The garden is going to be completely made up of plants native to Maryland. Having a garden completely compiled of native plants means that there won’t be a risk of invasive plants spreading and harming the native ecosystem. The garden would be able to support those ecosystems native to Maryland. Students at Ridgely Middle would also have exposure to native wildlife. The garden will be quite large, as it will have an area of 100 ft2 and a perimeter of 20 feet.

For a project so beneficial to the watershed and its ecosystems, it is relatively uncostly if one already has a basic set of gardening tools. Because all the plants are native, there is no risk of invasion and native ecosystems are supported. Native stormwater gardens are not only an environmentally conscious and simple way of reducing watershed pollution, but they are also practical, making them a good choice for helping watersheds and the species that rely on them.

Project Nature

2019, Berlin, Maryland, USA

Ten students from Berlin Intermediate School (BIS) (Heydein, Makai, Amber, Shane, Brandon, Brooklyn, Sage, Domnic, Lilah, Declan) created Project Nature in the Spring of 2019. The goal of Project Nature was to assess BIS’ school grounds and implement best management practices to improve their local Coastal Bays’ watershed. After weeks of research, democratically voting, and schoolground surveys, the students decided to undertake a three-part plan.

Plant a pollinator garden to promote native plants and encourage bees, birds, bats, and bugs to use the space.
Revitalize a neglected school trail through pine forest. This trail will be used as an outdoor learning space for teachers to bring their classes. The Project Nature students will clear the trails of common green briar, mulch the pathway, and plant native plants at the entrance.
Plant native trees around the otherwise open school grounds. These trees will provide needed shade and work as absorbers of stormwater runoff from the surrounding impervious surfaces.

Following the completion of their three-part project, students will create flyers to inform their student body and teachers of Project Nature. Their project video is also available for years to come on YouTube, so teachers and parents can view what the 2019 Project Nature students implemented to make their school grounds more environmentally friendly.

OILaway

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Nicholas Kiesman from West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba noticed that there was a lack of awareness in how everyday products such as used motor oil should be safely disposed of. He reached out to a local oil change facility to see what he could do to help.

OILaway student action Manitoba He partnered with his local Great Canadian Oil Change to put on an event so that people could bring in their used oil and other household products for proper and environmentally safe disposal. He was able to educate community members about disposing of these products any time at drop-off sites such as the Great Canadian Oil Change that he hosted his event at.

“We [will] be able to educate the community on how to properly dispose of used motor oil, and explain to them why taking care of our watershed is so important. While doing this, we have the ability of making sure that the hazardous substances in used oil are not unloaded carelessly into our environment by those who think it’s not a big deal. Because honestly, it is. It’s time that careless thinking stops. It’s time to inspire the community and take action.”

Boyne River Cirriculum

2019, Carman, Manitoba, Canada

Hannah Petrie was a high school student at Carman Collegiate in Carman, Manitoba. She has always had a passion for education, so when she was thinking about ways she could improve her watershed, of course teachers came to mind. What better way to spread the word about healthy watersheds than giving the resources to those who teach our youth!

Hannah held a Professional Development day for teachers within the Boyne River Watershed to learn how to properly educate their students on their watershed and what they can do to keep it healthy.

“In the end, helping someone understand how they can positively affect the environment is a challenge, but can have personal, as well as global impacts. I believe teaching the young students will promote a lifestyle that contributes to a healthy environment, since they are the future.”

Hockey SokStraps

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Alex and Tyler are high school students at Garden City Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. While coming up with an idea on what they could do to improve their watershed, they considered things they did every day. Both of them play hockey, and they noticed that after just one game or practice, there was a large amount of plastic waste from sock tape. They came across a local company that had a solution: reusable hockey sock straps!

They provided their hockey team members with SokStraps to use instead of plastic hockey tape. Many of the students liked the way they worked and made the full-time transition to SokStraps.

“The high use of sock tape is a problem in our world that has gone under the radar for far too long. We have never known what sock tape really does to our watershed, but now we do. It’s time that we become the solution, and work to fix our past mistakes and the damage that we have caused.”

Making Beauty Sustainable

2019, Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Jenna Kowerko, a grade 12 student at Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School, was concerned about the effects that the waste her school’s Cosmetology Department could be having on her local watershed. She did some searching and found a company called Green Circle Salons that would take some of that waste and dispose of it in a more environmentally friendly way. Green Circle Salons [is] North America’s only sustainable salon solution to recover and repurpose beauty waste (greencirclesalons.com).

According to their website, this program allows salons to repurpose and recover up to 95% of the resources that were once considered waste! You can actually watch the weight of “waste diverted” climb in real time on their home page!

“This would be a great deal of change at a small price and it is shameful to still think that our salon and other salons have not progressed to this eco-friendly level. It is probably because most salons do not know about this affordable idea. It is our job as the future generation to spread awareness to help save our environment.”

Green Salons Logo

Reducing the Amount of Styrofoam

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

John and Roy are students at Holy Cross School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When asked the question, “What could you do to improve your watershed?”, they came up with the idea of reducing the amount of Styrofoam used at their school. The chemicals used to make Styrofoam get into the food we eat off of them, and later can leach into our watershed. Although there is often a recycling symbol on the bottom of Styrofoam products, most recycling depots won’t actually take them.

The boys found a Canadian company called Greenmunch that specializes in environmentally friendly disposable products. Since it wasn’t feasible to have reusable products in their school without a way to wash them, this was the next best thing! Compostable products that will break down in a landfill much more quickly and without leaching chemicals into the soil that can end up in our water.

The Ecological Impact of Batteries

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Westwood Collegiate student Lhili Kolbauer addressed the issue that improper disposal of batteries was having a negative effect on her watershed by involving her community in a battery recycling initiative. Before she came up with her solution, Lhili did some research of her own to see what kind of effects batteries could have on her watershed if they made their way there due to breakdown in landfills or other areas that they should not be found. This was what she saw:

Batteries over time comparison Manitoba project

She found that in less than two weeks, the batteries degraded quickly and affected the quality of water greatly. This degradation can occur in landfills when water passes over improperly disposed of batteries. This water then enters our watersheds, creating a problem. Lhili’s solution was to deliver recycling boxes to members of her community that would come with information on where they could take their old batteries to be properly recycled. Rather than have an event where people can drop off their batteries a single time, this is a long-term solution that educates people to get into a new habit of continued proper disposal.

“Every action, no matter how grand in scale, matters when taking care of our watershed.”

Alternate Acrylic Field Marking Paint Campaign

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Keanna Bailey and Jenna Myskiw are students at Garden City Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They noticed that the field marking paint that their school division used on school sports fields was made of a material that could leach into their watershed and cause problems. They found an alternative that was much more eco-friendly. They approached their school division to see if they would support a change in the paints they were using, and the division agreed to change all their paint over to eco-friendly options! The division made the change on their own without any additional funding, and they plan to continue to use it in the future. Sometimes, all it takes is letting someone know there is a better way!

“Encouraging more youth to take precautions and rethink how their lifestyle is impacting our watershed. By creating this conversation, along with educating each other on Lake Winnipeg watersheds current situation allows the topic to be exposed to more people. Ultimately try to get everyone switching their ways to ecofriendly products. At last, we are concerned for our watershed and want to help fix the chemical flow into Lake Winnipeg. Because it is devastating to see, our lake portrayed as a harmful body of water, mainly due to human activities that can be fixed. We want to be able to enjoy Lake Winnipeg for years to come, and that starts with recognizing our actions, and revising to more sustainable options that will benefit our watershed and overall environment.”

ROBBIE’S RIVER RESCUE

2019, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Renee and Odessa of St. George School in Saskatoon created a children’s book that shows a rubber duck named Robbie accidentally getting lost down the bathtub drain. Robbie then experiences going through the water treatment plant. Along his journey he makes a connection with a girl rubber duck named Penny. His owner, Jack, and little sister, Emily, are searching and doing anything they can to find him, and in the end they rescue both Robbie and Penny from the River.

They want to print off 15 books for their school library and classrooms grades 1-3. The girls also want to put one book in each Catholic school in Saskatoon and surrounding areas of Warman, Martensville, and Humboldt. Eventually they would like to put a book in every Public school in Saskatoon as well.

Renee and Odessa are excited to share their knowledge gained through the Caring For Our Watersheds program, especially to the younger classes, as they were not educated on where the water goes after entering the storm drain system when they were younger. They are proud to spread awareness of the water treatment and sanitary sewer drain systems and how they affect the health of our watershed. The girls are already thinking of writing a sequel focusing on storm drains.