In our pilot Pollution Prevention program, students in participating classes conducted surveys around their school campuses to investigate potential pollution hazards that could enter the watershed and ultimately harm trout.
After identifying problems on campus, whether it had to do with chemicals, pesticides, litter or landscape features, students worked in groups to come up with solutions to these potential pollution problems. Students at Lansing Elementary decided to create signs around campus to bring awareness to the problems they identified.
One group discovered cracks in the walls which could lead to ants or other insects crawling in and eventually lead to the need for pesticide. They learned that pesticides are harmful to aquatic life when they enter waterways, so they posted signs to encourage students and staff to stop using pesticides, while presenting facts about it's harm.
Another group discovered a wide use of paper staple litter around campus, recognizing the harm of these staples entering a drain and making their way into streams where trout could ingest the staples. They created a sign to illustrate the harm of this kind of litter.
Finally, another group at Lansing Elementary identified a large amount of chemicals being used around campus, for hand cleaning, sanitizing as well as bathroom and multi-use cleaning products. They created a poster to post on campus that shows before and after visuals of chemical use, displaying how these chemicals when entering waterways can be harmful to trout as well as for human drinking water.
The students decided their goal was to bring awareness to these issues on campus. In the pollution prevention program, they learned that they can "Be a Voice" for their trout, since they have taken care of them in classroom tanks all year and have grown to understand the trout's needs.
Soon, classes will release their trout into the stream and the best way to keep caring for them is to take of their stream. What are other ways we can care for our local streams in our every day life?
