LIVING WALL AND GREEN AREA

2017, CALGARY, AB, CANADA

In 2017, Ryan Song of Sir Winston Churchill High School placed 4^th overall in the Caring For Our Watersheds competition with their project “Living Wall and Green Area”. Sir Winston Churchill High School was built in 1968 and has undergone very few renovations since then. The school contains very few windows, many of which do not open. Students often complain that the school environment is stifling, uninspiring and that there is poor air quality. In addition, Ryan felt that there was a general lack of environmental awareness among students at this school.

In an effort to combat these issues, and raise awareness about the local watershed, Ryan and the Sir Winston Churchill Earth Club decided to install a portable green wall, and produce information brochures about unsustainable behaviors that have a negative impact on our watershed. The portability of the green wall means that it can be moved to different classrooms within the school, based on the amount of natural light that is seasonally available in sections of the building.

The living wall and green area is maintained by student volunteers that are members of the Eath Club. Through their continued dedication to this project, and involvement with the CFOW program, these students have taken a vested interest in protecting the watershed and providing knowledge to other students about why the green wall is there and the impact our actions have on native plants and animals in our watershed.

Squeaky Green

2015 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Julia and Jasmine from Students making sqeaky green handsoap student action project St. Edward School decided to focus their efforts on educating about the harmful effects of triclosan. Trisclosan is a preservative and anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent found in many of the hand sanitizers, soaps, shampoos and other PCPs that we use. Studies show that triclosan can interfere with how hormones function in our bodies. It is an endocrine disrupter and can affect the reproductive systems of animals. Triclosan is also found to be very toxic to aquatic animals and can cause long term negative effects on aquatic ecosystems.

When triclosan enters our water ways it can react with other pollutants and form additional harmful compounds like dioxins which is linked to causing cancer in humans. Triclosan doesn’t easily degrade so it can build up in our rivers and lakes after washing down the drain. This means that fish can accumulate this chemical in their bodies over time, potentially becoming harmful to the other animals, including humans along the food chain. Sqeaky Green Hand soap student action project

The students developed 3 triclosan-free organic consumer products: hand sanitizer, hand soap, and shampoo, and shipped out education packages and samples for teachers and students to utilize alternative products that do not include this harmful chemical. The soap contains water, castile soap, olive oil, vitamin E oil and lemon essential oil.

In order to share this information, Julia and Jasmine created a commercial that they showed to classes in their school to inform them about the problem and to share their solutions. They also developed a recipe book so that other students could create their own soaps free from chemicals.

After piloting the Squeaky Green products with their class they wanted to make a bigger impact in Saskatoon. They wanted to get more students across Saskatoon to use triclosan-free products! So, Julia and Jasmine made 40 body product sample packs. Each of these sample packs contained samples for the hand sanitizer, soap, and shampoo and a copy of the Squeaky Green recipe book that detailed how to make them. In November of 2015, these packages went to 40 schools in Saskatoon and encouraged students and teachers to become Squeaky Green and to protect our precious watershed. Students and teachers were able to see for themselves how effective Squeaky Green products are and how easy they are to make (not to mention how good they smell!).

Looking Good, It Just Might Kill You

2015 Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Angelica Soares noticed the nail polish used in her high school’s Cosmetology Department was full of chemicals that were ultimately making their way into the watershed. Angelica’s proposal was simple: switch to a formula with less chemicals, and educate people so that they consider how the products they are using for beauty aren’t so beautiful for the environment.

“Every time someone gets a manicure and/or pedicure, the nail polishes used are removed then disposed in a garbage bag. That garbage is then transported to the local dump where it sits, allowing the chemicals in the polish to secrete into the ground, which leads into our waterways.”

Thanks to a donation from Nutrien, Angelica was able to purchase new, 5-chemical free (toluene, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, and camphor) for her school’s Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser- demonstrating the important link between human and environmental health. The Costemology department is currently using the leftover polish; Angelica also created brochures educating clients on these chemicals and the importance of Caring for Our Watersheds.

Play Away Smoke App

2014 Washington, DC, USA

When students at Roots Public Charter School walked around their neighborhood to determine its environmental weakness and strengths, they noticed a lot of litter, specifically cigarette butts. They recognized that smoking isn’t only a health issue, but a source of harmful pollution in the Anacostia and Potomac watersheds. In an effort to get people to recognize the negative effects of cigarette smoke and litter, the students designed an app called, “Play Away the Smoke”.

The app is a game in which players move to the next level by correctly answering questions about the impact of cigarette smoke on the environment, economy, and human health.

The Roots students’ project was the 1st place finalist in the 2014 Caring for Our Watersheds competition. Through the summer following the finals, the students and their teacher Carlene Burton worked with an Android app developer to bring their concept to reality, and their contracted services for app development cost

$6,500, provided through implementation funding from Nutrien.

Pick Up the Poo!

2013 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Benjamin Gresty and Jaxon Lalonde are enrolled in the Eco-Justice environmental and adventure program at St. Edward School. Their proposal for the Caring for our Watersheds competition looked at the problems to the river and surrounding area caused by the failure of people to pick up after their pets. Chances are, if you are a dog owner, you have done the dirty deed of not cleaning up after your dog once or twice. Many people think this is not a big deal. Some even feel that dog waste can act as another kind of fertilizer. This is not the case! When dog waste washes into our local water ways it has negative effects for our South Saskatchewan River Watershed.

When dog owners don’t clean up their dog’s poop, it Student photo - pick up the poo student action project can leach into soil and with it, harmful disease causing micro-organisms like round worms, E. Coli and Giardia that can live in dog feces. This puts children who play outside and adults who garden at risk of these infectious organisms. If dog waste is washed into the storm drains it ends up in lakes, rivers, streams or marine water. People can accidentally swallow its bacteria and other disease-causing organisms while swimming or playing in the water. It can even contaminate ground water!

Dog feces contains nutrients like phosphates and nitrogen that encourage the growth of algae and aquatic plants and is also known to carry terrible diseases such as Whipworm, Hookworm, Tapeworm, Parvovirus, Beaver Fever, Salmonella, and E.coli. Said nutrients and pollutants have caused a major algae growth and pollution problem in Lake Winnipeg, giving it the title of 2013’s most threatened lake.

Jaxon and Benjamin decided to clean up dog feces in a local park and hand out bags to dog owners to raise awareness about how dog poop can affect our watershed

To further spread the information about the problems of dog waste, the students started a “poopagenda” poster campaign in off-leash parks, at bus stops and on lampposts. They have also started working with the City of Saskatoon to have permanent signs installed to educate the public about the potential harm caused by unscooped waste. Picking up the (dog) poo is one small and simple step to a much cleaner watershed!

Hand Sanitizer and our Watershed

2012 Greeley, Colorado, USA

The students’ originally proposed to replace the soap dispensers in every bathroom with a dispenser of hand sanitizer, which would save time, trees, and reduce water consumption. By using hand sanitizer the students at the school would be saving paper towels, soap, and money. During the implementation of the proposal the students’ discovered recent research that suggests that the manufacturers of hand sanitizers claim that the sanitizers kill 99.9 percent of germs and this may not actually be the case. The students’ also found that the Food and Drug Administration recommends that hand sanitizers not be used in place of soap and water but only as an adjunct. It also recommends that to properly sanitize the hands, soap and water should be used; a hand sanitizer cannot and should not take the place of proper cleansing procedures with soap and water.

Based on their research, the students’ changed their search to finding a hospital-grade hand sanitizer that is triclosan-free (which has been found to alter hormone regulation in lab animals or cause antibiotic resistance). So, instead of replacing soap in the restrooms they are now placing the triclosan-free, hospital-grade hand sanitizer in the cafeteria at the head of the food line. At that point students will be able to enter the food area with germ-free hands. This means that the installed bio-based hand sanitizer will contribute not only to a cleaner and more economical school site, but also a more environmentally safe school for our students. Thanks to Nutrien for their donation of $698.00 to implement our solution.

“By keeping the chemicals out of our watershed we not only help our own area but all of those downstream of us.” Mayra & Sam