Brilliant Bats

2022, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
bat house outside
Did you know that one little brown bat can eat 1000 insects a night? To reduce the number of pesticides used in Saskatoon, Evan Dennis from Montgomery School decided to build houses for bats. He has installed ten bat houses across the city and countryside. Evan also partnered with Meewasin Valley Authority and added QR Codes on signs to help educate the public about bats and other flora and fauna in Meewasin Valley. They also had a public bat installation event at a local park. Thanks to Evan, 300 bats have brand new homes in the City of Saskatoon.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Goal 15- Life on Land
Goal 13- Climate Action

Students putting bat house together outside Student and man using table saw for bat house

outdoor signage for bat house

Community-Based Clean-Up Station in Polluted Parks

2023, Loveland, Ohio, USA
trash pickup station outside
Zachary Peebles and Ryan Werne are both students at Loveland High School working to protect the Little Miami Watershed. For their project they conceptualized, planned, built, and installed 3 trash pickup stations at key locations of popular local parks with a lot of trash pollution. At these stations, members of the local community who spend time at the park will grab a container from inside as they enter, fill it with trash as they walk around the parks, and throw the bag away as they are leaving to remove this trash from the park on a regular basis. Additionally, by using repurposed coffee bags that would have otherwise been thrown out by local coffee shops as these containers, the group was able to simultaneously reduce the trash in their watershed and give these non-recyclable items another chance. Through the commitment of their school’s Green Team to maintain the project by checking in on the boxes and resupplying them with coffee bags as they are used up, even as the students move forward, the project will
continue serving their community far into the future.

The project addressed sustainable development targets 6.3 to “improve water quality by reducing pollution”, 14.1 to “prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds”, and 15.1 to “ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems” by removing trash (and the dangerous toxins/microplastics associated with it) from the park that otherwise would pose a threat to the water quality, underwater life, and terrastrial life both in the park itself and downstream. Additionally, their project involved the “participation of local communities” as stated in target 6B. Every bit of trash removed by those attending the park, according to the students, is a small but important step towards reaching these development goals, and inspiring others to take the similar steps in their own backyard.

Throughout the last 6 months, Zachary and Ryan took the opportunity to help their watershed and created a solution that is simple, easy to maintain, and most importantly, effective. By coming up with a strong plan before moving forward, receiving the necessary support and permission from their local government for the project was not an issue. They learned about protecting our environment and its importance, developing and proposing realistic solutions, and collaborating with one’s own community to help work toward a future for everyone.

trash pickup station outside with other bins around

Native Prairie Species Garden

2023, CINCINNATI, OH, USA

Student standing beside sign
Ladasia Faulkner, a junior at Spencer Center, planted a native prairie species garden on her school’s campus. She did this because the campus had very low biodiversity, clay-like soil, and few deep root systems. These caused runoff whenever it rained, which then eroded the land and polluted the watershed. She, along with many volunteers, built both an education garden and a wild restoration area on the hillside between the bus pickup area and the staff parking lot. She has fully planted the restoration area and will be starting the plants for the education garden inside this winter to be transplanted in the spring. She also created educational books to pair with the educational garden so that students and staff can learn about each plant individually before looking for them in the wild restoration area. By using many volunteers, Ladasia gained many community connections that will be able to partner her and the school in maintaining the garden and expanding the impact. She provided seed packets to many of these volunteers who were interested in creating their own prairie restoration gardens.
green yard by house
Through her efforts, Ladasia was able to target many of the UN’s sustainable development goals but she felt that her work addressed #15, life on land, the most. She is restoring the school’s biodiversity loss with the addition of 21 new native plant species. This addition will continue to increase the biodiversity by attracting other native animal species, including many critical pollinator species, such as the endangered Monarch butterflies.

One big take away Ladasia has learned from this experience is that with the power of community, anything is possible. Many volunteers, including Ladasia herself, had never gardened before and learned a lot about setting up, planting, and maintaining a garden along with the amazing ecological benefits that come with it. Hopefully this project has inspired hundreds of new gardeners that can further protect our watershed. Ladasia was able to achieve her goals and make an impact that will better the watershed for many years to come.

Do Something Sweet for the Environment

2022-2023, Rocky Mountain High School, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Stumps of wood on ground

Family standing around outside table with cutup stumps on it
Sadie Gudmestad from Rocky Mountain High School addressed the loss of native bees in Northern Colorado by handing out bee hotels for solitary bees to nest in. Solitary bees make up 90% of Colorado’s native bee population, which has decreased by 30%. Solitary bees pollinate native plants and help to keep Colorado’s ecosystem healthy, but they have experienced a loss of habitat due to urbanization. Bee hotels help to provide a habitat for solitary bees and help to educate people on how to be aware of native bees. Reclaimed wood from the National Forest Service was used to create the hotels. Seventy-five bee hotels were handed out around Northern Colorado to people who live as far as Grand Junction. This solution addressed Target 15.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Brush Off Invaders

2023, Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada
Students looking at project board mounted outside
Cassy Setter and Emmett Sherbinin were concerned about the presence of invasive plants in their watershed, so they came up with the idea of boot brush stations. Since invasive plant species can get onto the shoe’s of hikers, a boot brush can stop the spread into different areas. A benefit from these stations is that native plants will continue to thrive in the environment, and parks will have more management against invasives.

Their project targeted the Sustainable Development Goals #6 Clean Water and Sanitation (6.6), #14 Life Below Water (14.1, 14.2), and #15 Life Above Water (15.1, 15.5, 15.8).

They started with building stations to install into parks around their county and city with the help of their class. A sign is attached to each station with information on invasives and why it is important to use these stations before going onto a trail. Cassy and Emmett were able to work with their local municipalities to get permission to put their stations in 4 parks. They even donated a few to their local watershed group.

Students standing by project board

Trees & Beads

2023, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Two students standing by project on table
Taylor Ball and Kyptin Watters raised money for tree planting by selling jewelry. They wanted to give people an opportunity to participate in something beneficial for the environment. Their goal was to expand awareness by encouraging others to share their platform. With each purchase made they would donate to a local tree planting group. They advertised their product on a variety of social media channels, on a local radio station, and with schools.

The Sustainable Development Goals they focused on were #6 Clean Water and Sanitation, #13 Climate Action, #15 Life on Land, and #17 Partnerships for the Goal.

They partnered with Trees Canada and were able to get 125 trees planted by May 2023. Some future partnerships they want to make were with AWES, 2 Billion Trees program, and Trees for Life. All profits that are made will go towards the donation. They have been able to start a sustainable business that helps the community and environment.

wrists with bracelets on them

Willow Staking

2023, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
group of students by river
Jade Pham’s project was on reducing erosion of river banks after seeing the consequences of flooding in the Bow River. They decided on willow staking along banks that have little to no vegetation. Willows can survive in wet environments and their root system can prevent erosion while filtering pollutants. Some of the other benefits to their project is improving biodiversity and providing habitat and food for wildlife.

The Sustainable Development Goals Jade focused on were #6 Clean Water and Sanitation, #13 Climate Action, #14 Life Below Water, and #15 Life on Land.

They partnered with Friends of Fish Creek to learn how to properly willow stake. There was a call for volunteers and funding from the community to be able to complete this project. Jade chose a location with little vegetation and where other projects had already been implemented to ensure better results. Her target was to plant 100 stakes along 50m of stream bank. With the help of the volunteers, she was able to complete their first planting.

riverbank

Bat Boxes

2023, Claresholm, Alberta, Canada
logo of bat box

Mary-Ann Toone wanted to increase the population of bats residing in her town, so she built bat boxes. WIth human populations growing and taking away natural habitat for bats, they have limited options. Bat boxes provide a place to roost and provide protection from predators and the elements. Mary-Ann designed a three chamber bat box to provide room for larger colonies. The benefit of having more bats in the area is decreased insect populations without having to use harmful chemicals. They wanted to educate the community about the importance of bats by leaving posters with information

Their Sustainable Development Goal was #15 Life on Land.

Mary-Ann approached her local councilors about her project to get permission for putting bat boxes in the community. With the approval of the council, they put boxes up in local parks and campgrounds. They also got the help of their construction teacher and students to help build the boxes. A bat box building club has been formed in their school because of this project.

Thrifty Tote Bags

2023, GREELEY, COLORADO, USA

Lida De Los Santos, a student at Greeley West High School, tackled the pressing issue of plastic pollution by designing and producing reusable shopping bags. After discovering the alarming statistic that 92 million tons of clothing find their way into landfills worldwide each year, she was inspired to make a difference. Lida took a creative approach by repurposing used shirts into tote bags, which she distributed to her peers and members of the local community. Each bag included an informative tutorial, enabling recipients to understand the gravity of the issue and learn how to create their own upcycled bags. By empowering others to participate in this sustainable solution, Lida aims to contribute to the improvement of their local watershed. Her initiative not only helps reduce plastic waste but also promotes awareness and encourages others to take similar actions in their daily lives. This solution contributed to Targets 14.1 and 15.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Shed Ed

2023, LOVELAND, COLORADO, USA

Mackenzie Flikkema and Ryan Lee from Resurrection Christian School created a fun, educational board game to educate peers and community members about their watershed. They surveyed students in 3rd – 5th grade. The surveys included the question “What is a watershed?” and “What are things that help/harm the watershed?” These students did not have a good basic understanding of the watershed and therefore could not answer the questions. Ryan and Mackenzie decided to create a board game with the concept of having fun but also showing the students what they can do to improve their watershed. The game was able to keep the kids entertained while also teaching them valuable lessons. This solution addressed Targets 4.1 and 15.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals.