Litter Clean-up along the American River

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Students walking along river cleaning up

George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences students Will and Edgar live close to the American River and enjoy spending time there to relax and swim, especially during the hot summers. They have noticed an increasing amount of litter along the riverbanks, some left from recreational visitors and some from the increasing amount of homeless encampments along the river. They decided to do a straightforward riverbank clean-up along a stretch of the American river that gets high use and is heavily impacted. In this way, they could not only help to clean the area and prevent the trash from entering the water and being washed downstream, but also demonstrate to others that we can all be better stewards of this beloved resource.

Students posing in front of building

Pollinator and Drought-tolerant Garden

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Girl planting drought tolerant plants
Georgia and Rory, students at George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences, are concerned about the decline of pollinators. Through their research, they learned that loss of habitat, as well as pesticide drift are some of the threats to pollinator populations. They wanted to create a pollinator friendly habitat free of pesticides to support native bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. Georgia and Rory, well aware of the multi-year drought in California knew they wanted to create their garden with water conservation in mind. Their garden plan included the use drought tolerant plants and drip irrigation to efficiently water them to help them get established. The pair also used their artistic creativity to create an enticing, beautiful space. The team utilized social media to share their project, plan, and progress and to educate others in their community on how to help pollinators thrive.

Student painting fence Students posing in front of drougtht-tolerant garden

Promoting Eco-friendly Art

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA

Arana, Bella, Jaiden, Bernie, student from George Washington Carver High School, are creative students with a unique project. This team addressed an issue that has never seen before in the Caring for Our Watersheds-California contest, but was very relevant to them as Resin artists. Their project aimed to promote the use of an eco-friendly art material, Ecopoxy, as an alternative to synthetic resins currently used by many artists. Some synthetic resin products can be harmful to the environment and have adverse effects on human/ animal health. The team created a website and blog and hosted a booth at the Sacramento Earth Day Festival to display their art made of Ecopoxy and educate the public.

Students sitting behind promotion table for eco-friendly art Students measuring our substances for eco-friendly materials

Composting on Campus

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA

Students setting up composing materials
Alice and Nicholas, student at George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences, were concerned about the food waste being generated on their school’s campus. Through their research, they learned that when this food waste ends up buried in a landfill, it undergoes anaerobic decomposition, which releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In their proposal, they enthusiastically declared “we believe that we can create a compost system that will help make our school green and educate others on the power of composting.” Alice and Nic reached out to the local community compost collective, ReSoil Sacramento, to get advice and learn about different techniques and options to compost at school. They bought collection bins and created signage to collect food waste at lunch. They also bought tools they needed to transport the food waste to the garden area, as well as materials such as straw to aid in the composting process. As traditional compost bins can fill quickly, ReSoil suggested composting some of the food scraps directly into existing garden beds, which proved successful. Alice and Nic were grateful for funding from Nutrien, which allowed them to learn from community experts, implement their project, and engage fellow students in the process.

Students standing behind composting bins

Campus Pollinator Garden

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Girl sitting beside created habitat for native pollinators
Josephine Rios and Natalie Durling, students at George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences, took on a project that both beautified their school’s campus and created habitat for native pollinators. The duo, aiming to attract a variety of pollinators to the school garden, did their research (or “beesearch” as they called it) on specific species to plant and bee hotel to install. They also installed drip irrigation in their plot, which will serve as a demonstration garden highlighting water-wise, and pollinator friendly landscaping practices.

Girls working in garden Student giving thumbs up near habitats for native pollinators

Campus Tree Planting

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA

Grant High School students Mai Lee, Husia Lee, and Visay Phasavath proposed and implemented a drought-tolerant tree planting on their school’s campus. The trees will provide shade, help capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well as create an attractive space on campus for students to gather. The team reached out to Sacramento Tree Foundation for assistance, and the organization provided trees, as well as guidance on tree species, planting techniques, and proper care of the saplings. Fellow students Joscelyn Lor, Tatiana Blackmon, Ariya Vue’s proposal also helped obtain funding and materials needed to make the tree planting project a success.

1. Students digging hole for a tree 2. Students planting a tree 3. Students posing for camera

Campus Clean-up & Trash and Recycling Bins

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Girls painting trash can Girl showing thumbs up after painting trash can
Selena Garcia and Samsara Gomez, students at Grant High School were concerned about the amount trash on their school campus. They knew that in addition to making campus unsightly, that the trash has potential to be washed into nearby waterways, and/ or cause issues for soil, plants and wildlife in the area. They tackled the problem by creating clean -up groups to pick up trash around campus after lunch 2-3 times per week for 3 months (until school ended). They also added additional trash and recycling bins around campus. The bins were painted in bright attractive colors to encourage student use. The team also created and posted signage in areas they saw most of the litter, encouraging students to properly dispose of their trash after lunch, etc. Fellow students Jocelin Perez, Belen Thompson, Sara Rios, Yadira Manriquez, Bryan Portillo, and Eliezer Salazar assisted in the implementation of this successful project, which the team hopes to continue next school year.

Trash in raised garden bed Raised garden bed clean Girl standing next to garden bed

Promenade Pollinator Planting

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA

Before green house on empty field

Grant High School student Landon Lo’s proposal was to support pollinators by creating and expanding habitat on the school campus. Helped by fellow students Valeria Sanchez, Adan Lopez, Chris V. and others, he was able to see his project through and transform 4 raised planter beds into gardens boasting a variety of pollinator-friendly, drought tolerant plant species. Their plantings surrounded a beautiful “pollinator totem” to create a beautiful space on campus.

Students shovelling soil into wheel barrows Students working with soil in raised garden bed Student with hoes watering raised garden bed

After green house with raised garden beds and totem

Garden Education for 5th graders

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Boys learning how to plant seeds

Jessica Espejo Arellano, Kathy Nguyen, Abigail Murillo Maldonado, and Cher´Nae Perry, students from Grant High School’s GEO Academy, invited 5th and 6th graders from Hagginwood Elementary to the Grant garden to learn about seeds, vegetable and pollinator plants, as well as the benefits of composting. The elementary students planted seeds, learned plant anatomy by cooking “5 plant part chow mein”, investigated critters in the compost and soil, and made plant ID bookmarks. The GEO student leaders planned and led the hands-on activities with the rotating groups. Additional students from GEO, Ghulam Murtaza Niazi, Rodrigo Gatto, Alejandro Gil-Reyes, Milton Molina helped make this day a fun, educational and successful event for all.

Students outside working on a picnic table with soil Two girls kneeling by garden doing a project Classroom full of students

Project Yellow

2022, Selkirk, MB, Canada

Jerzy is a student from Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School in Selkirk, MB. When she was posed with the question, “What can I do to improve my watershed?”, she was buzzing with ideas!

With Project Yellow, I hoped to improve the state of our watershed’s bee population. In order to do so, I handed out packets of Anise Hyssop seeds; a plant very attractive to pollinators. My workplace gave me permission to hand out a packet with each sale, which helped me give away over 80 of the 100 packets. Whilst explaining my project to customers, they showed a genuine interest in helping. It only took two shifts to clear out the seeds! The rest of the seeds were given to friends and family. I am very pleased with the level of community involvement as it will take one to save our watershed.