Pathways to Save our Natural Areas

2021, Calgary, AB, Canada

In 2021, Christian, a grade 9 student at St. James School in Calgary, Alberta noticed that the naturalized areas at his school were being damaged by young children playing in and running through them, and he realized that the low-lying plants in these areas would die unless something was done.

Christian understood that the natural areas in his school and community help combat climate change by removing CO² from the atmosphere, and therefore they needed protection. Christian decided to spring into action with his project to install stone pathways throughout these natural areas to prevent further damage by the younger students at his school. In doing so, these areas would have marked pathways so that kids can continue to enjoy the space while also protecting the growing flowers and shrubs. St. James School supported his project fully, and working with his fellow students and teachers, Christian and his classmates successfully installed various stone pathways throughout their schoolyard gardens.

Fast-Growing Dense Mini Forest

2021, Calgary, AB, Canada

When Will, a grade 9 student from St. James School in Calgary, Alberta learned that road transportation produces a majority of CO² emissions in Canada, he decided to take action with his “Fast-Growing Dense Mini Forest” project. Noticing that his school lacked natural green space, and acknowledging his school’s proximity to two major highways, Will proposed a plan to improve his school’s native gardens by planting more fast-growing and resilient trees and shrubs to help combat CO² emissions while also restoring biodiversity.

Will’s research into these miniature forests showed that they can grow 10 times faster and become 30 times denser than a traditionally planted forest. Additionally, these mini-forests can absorb significantly more carbon while creating prime, natural habitat that could attract hundreds of wildlife species. With this in mind, Will proposed the planting of dozens of tree and shrub saplings in a small area of his school yard in an effort to fight climate change and improve life on land.

His project gained outstanding support from his school and community. St. James School is a long-time CFOW participant that have spearheaded multiple initiatives, including running their own composting program (which is being enhanced to involve more students). Will and many of his fellow classmates began to take action. Students have already planted over 100 tree saplings and seeds in their school yard, and have been watering, weeding, replacing mulch, and repairing their natural area in hopes to establish their very own miniature urban forest. Will’s project has allowed his community to learn more about their environment and watershed, and they hope to inspire more schools to follow suit and plant more native vegetation in their schoolyard to support our urban ecosystems.

Mountain Bluebird Bird Boxes

2021, Calgary, AB, Canada

Jessica, Sage, and Zoee, grade 8 students from Cardston Junior High School in Cardston, Alberta looked to help bird populations in their community, their county, and the Oldman Watershed. After speaking with Parks Canada, they researched a lesser known native species, the Mountain Bluebird, which relies upon the Oldman Watershed in the area. These small, colourful birds are declining due to habitat loss and increase competition with other birds like sparrows and starlings. Jessica, Safe, and Zoee decided to take action by working with the Mountain Bluebird Trails Conservation Society in Lethbridge, and planning, building, and donating wooden bird boxes to help some of these birds.

Jessica, Sage, and Zoee worked with a local hardware store to prepare the materials, and educated their classmates on native bird species throughout the process. They garnered the support of their teacher, principal, siblings, and parents in the school community to help out with various aspects of the project, such as transporting supplies and cutting the wood. All four grade 8 classes were involved in learning about the bird boxes, as well as assisting with the construction of them. These three organized everything into kits, taught other students how to construct them, and delivered the bird boxes to the conservation society. The organization will then install them throughout the area so that they are ready for the birds that may need them for years to come, including the beautiful Mountain Bluebird.

By researching, planning, and fostering interest in this cause, Jessica, Sage, and Zoee hope to help support local bird populations by providing consistent shelter and safe nesting sites, while raising awareness about native bird species and the factors that may be contributing to declining populations. The whole project – from idea to proposal to implementation – was a fun and engaging learning process that has taught these students to better appreciate efforts to protect and care for our watersheds!

Vertical Garden Project

2021, Sacramento, CA, USA

When Ella Waite and Mia Andrade from George Washington Carver High School started researching vertical gardens, they were impressed by the myriad of environmental and social benefits they could provide. For their Caring for Our Watersheds project, Ella and Mia decided to not only build a vertical garden, but to also document the process and share through social media. With this added component, they could more widely demonstrate the benefits of the design and hopefully inspire others to try this type of gardening. As detailed in their proposal, vertical gardens allow people to efficiently utilize the space available in urban environments to provide food, improve air quality, reduce heat-island effects, save energy, and increase biodiversity.

Tree Planting Project

2021, Sacramento, CA, USA

Grant High School Students Wendy Mora Cervantes and Cherish Jackson proposed a Caring for Our Watersheds project that was straightforward, yet had multiple benefits. With their tree planting project, they were able to plant several different species of trees which would provide shade, help reduce the heat- island effect in urban areas, absorb CO2, and sequester carbon. As the students were not on campus for most of the year due to COVID-19, they planted these in their own yards. This will actually help ensure the trees’ survival as the students will be able to access and care for them during the first several months as they get established. Not only a source of shade and fruit, but also a source of pride as Wendy and Cherish beautify their neighborhood and make a simple, positive addition to their environment. Caring for Our Watersheds funding helped purchase the trees, soil, and basic materials for planting and staking the new trees.

Urban Tree Planting

2021, Sacramento, CA, USA

Anh Nguyen and Nicholas Vang, students in Grant High School’s GEO academy, are concerned about climate change. They live in a highly urbanized area, with little natural vegetation, and therefore wanted to add elements to the landscape that might help minimize the effects of climate change. They did some research and learned that doubling Sacramento’s urban tree canopy has the potential to remove thousands of tons of Carbon dioxide annually. The students decided to plant trees in their community, as they would absorb CO2, provide shade, and help reduce the heat-island effect. As they were choosing different species to plant, they decided to also include apple trees that would provide fresh fruit to residents as well as habitat and nectar for pollinators. The students also planned to reach out to the diverse cultural groups that they are connected to (Hmong, Lao, Vietnamese) to make information about tree planting and watershed benefits accessible, even to those who do not speak English.

Composting for a Cause

2021, West Kildonan Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Woman and man posing in front of door smiling

Have you ever thought about how much food waste is produced by restaurants? Nicholas from West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg, MB came up with an idea to get more restaurants to compost some of their waste to divert it from the landfill and have it turn into something useful! He partnered with a local company called Compost Winnipeg, and they were able to fund restaurants subscriptions with this composting company for a couple of months to get them started in hopes that they would continue recycling afterwards. They also held a successful community recycling event to educate local members of the community on the benefits of compost at home!

“As a community it is our obligation and responsibility to take care of our Watershed so our future descendants, and wildlife alike have a safe, healthy, and nurturing place to enjoy and to depend on for generations. My proposal works to reduce the amount of food waste produced by restaurants in our community, and to divert their food waste away from landfills.”

Man and woman posing in front of composting truck

Roughage Eatery logo
Compost Winnipeg logo
Wall Street Slice logo

Carman Bike Racks

2020, Carman, MB, CANADA

Bike Rack

Ahmed, Colton, Gene, & Dorian are students from Carman, MB who wanted to take action on air pollution in their community. They thought that if there were more bike racks in their town, it might encourage more people to ride their bikes instead of driving. To start, they had a new bike rack installed at their school, and they plan to encourage students to have walk or bike-to-school days.

“Our project is on air pollution, and our goal is to make more bike stands so more people will walk and bike to reduce air pollution.”

Biochar – A Garden Demo Study

2019, Sacramento, California, USA

When George Washington Carver High School students Camille Chappell and Nathan Castro first learned about biochar, they became intrigued. Biochar is a soil amendment that can improve soil health, boost plant growth, and has the potential to sequester carbon in the soil for hundreds to thousands of years.

In an effort to learn more about and educate others about this charcoal-like substance and its potential environmental benefits, Camille and Nathan created a biochar demonstration garden and designed a study comparing plant growth of a plant grown in biochar amended soil and one in regular soil. They took measurements at least twice a week and collected data on the amount of leaves and flowers present. They synthesized their data into a presentation that they gave to their class. chi

The presentation served as a catalyst for discussion and raised awareness about biochar and its potential to both improve plant growth and act as a carbon sink. This project gave Camille and Nathan an introductory experience with designing and conducting a scientific study as well as gave them and their classmates a chance to take a closer look at this interesting substance that is getting more attention in the fields agriculture and climate change science.

Environmental Field Trip to SMUD

2019, Sacramento, California, USA

Claudia Negrete, a student at the MET Sacramento, also interns at the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), where she has been learning about the organization’s various energy conservation efforts and renewable energy incentives.

Claudia developed a way to share her own transformative experience with her classmates at school, and wrote a project proposal for a field trip for her class to visit SMUD headquarters to introduce them to SMUD’S sustainability initiatives.

SMUD Field Trip Activity

The agenda included energy- saving tips/ techniques/ products for the home, a hands-on STEM solar activity, Atrium lecture, a talk on LEED building certification etc. Caring for Our Watersheds funding helped make this fun, educational trip a reality for the students.