Thermal Pollution

2014 Wyoming, Ohio, USA

The Mill Creek is in the southwest corner of Ohio and empties into the Ohio River. It flows 28.4 miles through three different counties and about half a million people live within the watershed. It is mainly urban and industrial with some forested and agricultural lands located in the northern section. The Mill Creek also has many CSOs (combined sewer overflows) and SSOs (sanitary sewer overflows).

Thermal pollution is a problem in many of our urban streams, especially in the Mill Creek, that often flies under the radar. While thermal pollution doesn’t involve dumping massive amounts of chemicals into the rivers or many other signs that people generally associate with pollution, the heating and cooling of natural waterways (whether directly or indirectly caused by people) can have a bigger effect on wildlife ecosystems than people think.

Benny and Isabelle felt that they could do their part to reduce thermal pollution when it happens in a localized setting, such as when water temperature of creeks and streams rises due to lack of shading and foliage. Their solution was to plant trees along the banks of the North Branch of the Mill Creek. They felt it was an easy solution to tackle the problem of thermal pollution in local streams.

Benny and Isabelle put their project into action on May 10th, 2014. They had an excellent group of volunteers of both students and community members come out and help. Together they planted about 600 trees in about 3 hours. The areas where they planted were alongside a local stretch of the North Brach of the Mill Creek that was in need of restoration. It was a great time to be social and meet new people while helping out their watershed. Over all, they thought this was a very fun and education experience for them and they were honored to be offered such a wonderful opportunity.

Thermal Pollution

Bottle Filling Stations in Hockey Rinks

2014 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Erik Rogalka from Garden City Collegiate wanted to do something to conserve water in the community. He proposed installing water bottle filling stations at the new hockey rink.

“By all the teams and parents filling their bottles using one of these stations the amount of water that would be saved would be huge. Another great thing about these stations is that it lowers the amount of disposable bottles being used. Instead of buying disposable bottles, spectators and players can use this bottle filling station. This would decrease the amount of disposable bottles that are thrown out at hockey rinks.”

“This project would be a really good way to help preserve our watershed, even if it is just in a small way. Everyday people are wasting water and using plastic bottles in hockey rinks without giving it a second thought. People rarely think about the consequences of their actions and these bottle filling stations would help save our watershed from carelessness. This project is one hundred percent approved by the community centre and is relativity low in cost. For these reasons I think this would be an excellent plan to implement.”

Erik can now proudly say that through the Caring for Watersheds contest, he was able to make this happen!

Wetland Aeration System

2014 Wainwright, Alberta, Canada

Ben Brunen of Wainwright Alberta wanted to help protect wetlands and the aquatic life that depend on them in his home town. After discussions with local biologists and the Town of Wainwrights’ Park and Recreation department, he decided that the best way to do that was install an aeration system in one of the main waterbodies in town.

The wetland Ben focused on was in Wallace park, in the heart of Wainwright. A popular place for residents and visitors alike, the wetland water quality and aquatic life had been suffering with increased algae, due to lack of oxygen in the pond. Because of the pond’s condition, fish were not able to survive, taking away a popular summer-time activity for Wainwright’s residents: recreational fishing. Having an aeration system would help the wetland as the fish and other aquatic life depend on oxygen, often depleted by high algae levels.

Ben, the youth representative of the town’s Parks and Recreation board, had the Town of Wainwright help support half of the project costs to buy an aeration system. The Parks and Recreation board emphasize supporting local companies, so they naturally turned to Art Matthews of Wainwright Plumbing and Heating to design and install the aeration system. The system was installed in early summer of last year.

The system has been very successful in increasing oxygen in the water, supporting an increase in aquatic life and decreasing algae, while adding to the pleasing aesthetics of Wallace park. An article in Wainwright’s newspaper in May of 2014 reported that the system is still functioning perfectly, and trout populations are healthy, allowing for recreational fishing to begin at the start of summer.

Garcia Bend Park/River Clean Up

2014 Sacramento, California, USA

Alexa Smith, Kieran Garcia, and Feliceya Torres wanted to help their community by holding a straightforward cleanup along the banks of the Sacramento River. They submitted a proposal explaining how excess garbage can pollute the waterways and adversely affect aquatic organisms. For the cleanup, they chose a site in their neighborhood that is used frequently for recreation, Garcia Bend Park.

Smith, Garcia, and Torres recruited additional students from their high school, The MET Sacramento, and spent a productive day on the waterfront. They collected over 15 bags of trash in just a few hours. Project funds from Nutrien helped to purchase bags, rubber gloves, a dip net, and snacks for the participants.

Water Conservation Education Booth

2014 Elk Grove, California, USA

California is currently faced with a severe water shortage and extreme drought conditions. The need for water conservation is critical and water agencies are appealing to the public for help. Students in the Green Club at Valley High are concerned that students and members of their community are unaware of how serious the current predicament has become and how to address the situation with water conservation measures. Judy Phu, Asia Xiong, and Jamilah Ahmach-Antolin presented their proposal to address this situation at the 2014 Caring for Our Watershed Finals. Their solution included preparing a community outreach booth geared toward water conservation for the on-campus community health fair.

The community health fair is attended by hundreds of students from the feeder middle and elementary schools as well as other community members, providing an excellent opportunity to reach a large number of people in a short period of time. Green Club members designed a water education game (similar to Chutes and Ladders) where younger students could play and see water conservation measures in a fun-interactive way. They gathered pamphlets and information from local water agencies to give to visitors as well as secured donations of water conservation related prizes (low-flow showerheads, shower timers, toilet leak test kits, etc.) to giveaway to game winners. Booth visitors were encouraged to sign a 20% water conservation pledge. Those that signed the pledge were entered in the raffle to win larger water conservation prizes (low-flow toilet). Through their creative, educational booth, they drew attention to an important watershed issue and exposed youth and community members to ways they could make a difference.

Battery Recycling

2014 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Batteries need to be disposed of in a proper manner. Orit Gluskin wanted to make sure her fellow students knew more about battery disposal, and the dangers of batteries in the landfill.

“The elements that are put in batteries range from common acids to toxic metals. The reason we shouldn’t just dispose of batteries in the regular garbage is because under high temperature, pressure or even when untouched, they can leak toxins. If they leak into the soil they will simply follow underground water into the closest water supply. These toxins are harmful to both organisms and the environment.”

Thanks to a contribution from Nutrien, Orit was able to start a school-wide battery recycling awareness campaign. Orit created posters and student surveys to learn more about her classmate’s knowledge around battery disposal. She also held a recycling drive where students could bring in their batteries, which were taken to a reputable e-waste facility in Winnipeg. Students were rewarded for their participation with entries for gift cards.

Greening our Cafeteria

2014 Gimli, Manitoba, Canada

Students at Gimli High School have taken an environmental interest in their school cafeteria. They’ve monitored the amount of waste produced by their cafeteria and decided they wanted to look for better options to reduce that waste. Carly, Tristin, and Hayden proposed testing compostable and paper plates to see if they would hold up in their cafeteria and if they will break down in their school’s compost bins. Once their testing is complete, they plan to work with the school to see what kind of changes can be made to make their cafeteria greener.

“The materials that these various plates, cups, and cutlery are currently made of will either never decompose, or will sit in our landfills for a minimum of 50-80 years. According to environmentalhealthnews.org, plastic in landfills can leach harmful chemicals that spread into groundwater. This means that not only are we littering our earth and filling our landfills, but we are infecting our groundwater, drinking water quality, and eventually our beautiful Lake Winnipeg.”

With a donation from Nutrien, the trio was able to purchase various brands and types of plates to experiment with. This is a great first step in their journey to a greener cafeteria!

Bottled Up

2014 Landmark, Manitoba, Canada

Trevor, Cole, Jaxon, and Andrew wanted their school to use less plastic water bottles. They also saw the refill stations as a way to reduce water use. They proposed faucet refill water stations to encourage students to refill their own bottles.

“We did an experiment to see how much water we will waste from drinking from a fountain. We squirted water from the fountain into a cup for three seconds and marked the cup, and then we timed someone drinking and got the spilled water in a cup and marked it. By comparing the lines we discovered that 66% (2/3) of the water dispensed goes down the drain.”

Thanks to Nutrien, the school now has a new drinking fountain with a sensor so that no more drinking water goes down the drain!

Don’t Flush Those Meds!

2014 Gimli, Manitoba, Canada

When Hailey and Ruby discovered that traces of pharmaceuticals were being found in Canada’s lakes, they decided to take action. The pair surveyed family and friends and found that most people don’t know how or where to dispose of pharmaceuticals.

“According to the article Pharmaceuticals in Our Water: A New Threat to Public Health, tests on water in North America have found trace amounts of antibiotics, painkillers, anti-inflammatories, hormones, tranquilizers, chemotherapy drugs and drugs used to treat epilepsy and blood cholesterol.”

Hailey and Ruby created a brochure with details on how their community could properly dispose of medications, and delivered these brochures to doctors’ and dentists’ offices around Gimli. They also shared the information with the Home Care Co-ordinator and Senior Resource Manager as well as a private home care companies to expand their audience. “By informing people of the possible consequences of flushing meds on our watershed, we are confident that people will want to do the right thing. After all, we all want a healthy lake and watershed”

Cigarette Recycling

2014 Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

“Did you know that 4.5 trillion cigarettes are smoked a year worldwide and it takes 18 months to 10 years for a cigarette butt to decompose?” Alex Klasz noticed that his school had a lot of cigarette butts around the area where people smoke, and when he discovered how harmful these are to the environment, he wanted to make a change.

“Cigarette butts go from the grass and sidewalk to the drain for the street to the river where fish can eat and choke on butts. This means the hazardous chemicals in those cigarettes, such as cadmium, lead, arsenic, and hydrogen cyanide, enter our watershed.”

Alex also learned that cigarette butts can be recycled through a program called TerraCycle, but needed collection containers for his school so that students wouldn’t put their cigarette butts on the ground or in the garbage. Thanks to Nutrien, the school received an outdoor container for cigarette butts. Through the recycling program, the school also receives funds for cigarette waste. Alex plans to use those funds to purchase more containers so that the program continues.