Life on Land icon

The Story of Frog Plains

2022, West Kildonan Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Two girls kneeling down looking at grass
When Breanna and Rae from West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg, MB heard that a protected wetland in their area was not being upkept, they decided they wanted to do something about it! They organized a group of students to go in, pick some weeds and invasive species, and plant some new native species to bring the area back to its former glory!

“We want to help and connect our community by bringing back the beauty that this wetland once was.”
Two girls standing with plants growing in pots
The girls partnered with Edmond Partridge Middle School so that they could educate the next generation and have them help with the project. They also made a partnership with the Aki Learning Centre who donated some plants including Narrow Leaf Sunflower and Purple Prairie Clover. They also got some extra little packages of seeds to give to students to plant elsewhere in the community and spread their project beyond Frog Plains!

Blue Thunderbird logo

No Hunger iconSustainable Cities and Communities icon

Food For All

2022, Lord Selkirk Regional, Selkirk, MB, Canada
Girl standing with contest winner sign
Jenna is a high school student from Selkirk, MB who wanted to do something to reduce food waste in her community. She got permission from her boss at the grocery store she works at to start donating food that cannot be sold in his store rather than throwing it out. They worked together to create a plan to have the food picked up and transferred to the school’s breakfast club. Her project met environmental sustainability needs, but also social ones, as well.

“Even this small call to action may seem small but, in the end, it will make a great impact among the community. Food waste has accumulated so much over the years especially with the pandemic occurring. I feel my solution for such a huge problem is needed greatly in these harsh times.”Aaron's No Frills sign

Legacy Story – Standing for Tomorrow

From student-action project to state legislation! Learn how Caring for Our Watersheds has left a lasting legacy for this group of students from Virginia.

Clean Water and Sanitation icon

#WaterShedWash

WatershedWash

2021, Fort Collins High School, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Emma Eddy
The Cache La Poudre Watershed covers 1,000 square miles of land and supports about 330,000 people. At home car washes can degrade the health of our watersheds. That’s why Emma decided to take action! To spread awareness over her concern and to educate the community, she developed an educational video that she was able to share on social media. It gained over 300 views! The City of Fort Collins Utilities shared her project on their social media sites as well. As an added incentive she embedded her own contest for three people to win a car washing gift card for a year that was generously donated by Breeze Thru Car Wash. Viewers entered the contest by using her hashtag #WaterShedWash. The winners were selected and now have a chance to improve their watershed.

Youtube Video Link

WatershedWash

Quality Education iconResponsible Consumption icon

Education for Younger Generations

2021, Northridge High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Juan Reveles Hernandez
Education is key for developing informed, active water citizens. That’s why Juan dedicated his time and energy to educate elementary students on their watershed. Juan developed a lesson to introduce students to watershed concepts. He partnered with a 3rd grade teacher at S. Christa McAuliffe and presented the lesson to the students remotely. Juan supplied students with materials that could be found around the home and constructed watershed models with those materials. The lesson was structured in such a way that students had the opportunity to complete the lesson in class or from home. This made it inclusive for students attending class remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. To evaluate his lesson, he quizzed the students before and after they completed the lesson. He found that the students scored phenomenally high after completing his lesson. We have some future water scientists in our presence!
Education for Younger Generations

Life on Land icon

Our Blooming Watershed

Our Blooming Watershed

2021, Greeley Central High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Kimberly Gonzalez Jimenez
Pollinators are an important component to the health of our watersheds. They contribute to the diversity of our watershed and the existence of our plants. Pollinator gardens as recommended by the U.S. Forest Services and the United States Department of Agriculture as pollinators are known to help boost pollinator populations. That’s why Kimberly decided to plant a local pollinator garden. The garden was planted within the Pouder River Panch Natural Area (a city park) in Greeley, Colorado. It includes fourteen different species of flowers and plants to attract pollinators. This will in result cater to our declining pollinator population and provide them with a chance at steading their numbers so they can continue serving our watersheds and us!

Clean Water and Sanitation iconResponsible Consumption iconLife Below Water icon

The Pandas Choice

The Pandas Choice

2021, Northridge High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Pamela Perez
Plastic is everywhere and we use them everyday. One of them being plastic toothbrushes. Pamela found that plastic can travel through many other watersheds and end up in the ocean. This in turn affects our water quality and organisms – including humans. She learned that plastic toothbrushes can take up to 400 years to decompose! That’s why she decided to encourage her peers to make the switch from plastic toothbrushes to bamboo toothbrushes. Pamela constructed a presentation with all the details on why it’s important to make the switch. This presentation was shared with peers remotely or presented by teachers, as there were COVID protocols restricting Pamela from presenting herself. Pamela also distributed bamboo toothbrushes to students that reviewed her presentation. Pamela received a lot of positive feedback from her peers. It sounds like her peers are happy they made the switch!
The Pandas Choice

Quality Education iconResponsible Consumption iconLife on Land icon

Bracelets for Bats

Bracelets for Bats

2021, Greeley Central High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Saria Mowrer
Saria found that the population of Little Brown Bats has decreased 90% in the past 20 years alone, and scientists predict that they may be extinct by the year 2030. This is due to habitat loss as well as a fungal disease known as White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) that has been wiping them out by the thousands. WNS wakes bats up during hibernation, and causes them to lose the fat that they had built up to survive the winter. It is caused by pollution in and near bats habitats, so the best way to combat it is to provide clean habitats for local bat colonies. Continue reading…

Clean Water and Sanitation iconResponsible Consumption icon

Cutlery Can Be Decomposable?

Cutlery Can Be Decomposable

2021, Northridge High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Yaritza Morfin
Before Yaritza’s project, her school cafeteria was distributing plastic utensils for lunches. Yaritza looked into this and found that plastic utensils can take over 450 years to decompose! She knew she had to take action. Yaritza worked with the cafeteria team to make the switch to biodegradable utensils. The cafeteria didn’t have the proper infrastructure to switch to reusable utensils, so she settled with biodegradable utensils. She specifically moved forward with sporks because they could take the place of both spoons and forks, decreasing her school’s plastic waste. With about 150 students eating lunch at school everyday for four days a week, Yaritza managed to decrease the amount of plastic waste while also reducing about twenty-three pounds of CO2 emissions in one month!
Cutlery Can Be Decomposable

Clean Water and Sanitation iconResponsible Consumption iconClimate Action icon

Mother Native

Mother Native

2021, Greeley West High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Brookelynn Hernandez and Helena Rangel
Colorado has been affected by drought and it’s only becoming worse with climate change. This means that there is a greater need to conserve our water sources. Our local watersheds such as the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds are significantly affected by drought and climate change. That’s why Brookelynn and Helena decided to encourage community members to xeriscape their gardens. Xeriscaping can reduce water use by 50% to 70% and by conserving water, we are keeping our watersheds healthy and flowing. They decided to set up a booth at our local farmers market and give out free succulents to promote xeriscaping and educate people about the benefits of using native plants. Attendees were excited to take their new succulents home to start taking action!