Long Time Eco-Participants Graduate
The South Bay Team’s Isaiah and Gerard have participated in Grades of Green programs for the past 4 years. The two eco-leaders have partaken in Youth Corps challenges, Trash Free Lunches, and most recently, the 2019 Waste Campaign. The two have graduated from high school and plan to continue their environmental work at college!

Isaiah’s Accomplishments
Isaiah’s interest in the natural world led him to Grades of Green. He implemented the Native Garden activity at his old middle school to engage others in the practicality of environmental action. In addition, he created coloring books for younger elementary students to appreciate and foster respect for the natural environment. With his engineering talents, he built a Bluebird Sanctuary at his school and worked with two other clubs to produce and install artwork and poetry featuring the local birds of 90807. As if his resume wasn’t impressive enough, Isaiah finished his Grades of Green tenure by getting 2 hydration stations installed at his high school and was a semi-finalist in the 2018 Waste Campaign. In the Fall, Isaiah will be studying environmental engineering at University of Pennsylvania.

Gerard’s Accomplishments
Gerard partook in Trash Free Lunches on Tuesdays to reduce the effects of single-use plastics on the environment at lunch time. He proceeded to start up an environmental student store in school to increase incentives for students to partake in Trash Free Lunch. Students would save points for each Trash Free Lunch activity and spend their points on eco-products in the store. In the Fall, Gerard will attend University of California, Berkeley.

St. Roza and their Water Campaign

St. Roza, a veteran Grades of Green Team from Uganda and winner of the first Water Campaign, has joined us once again for this semester’s 2018 Water Campaign. The team has made incredible accomplishments in recent years. For the first Campaign, they have installed a water filtration system to maximize water efficiency for their garden. In addition, they used their well-earned prize money from the first Water Campaign to build a 40,000 liter well for their school and their community!

St. Roza’s Grades of Green Team has been looking into ways to solve their community’s water issues. In Uganda, 61% of Ugandans lack access to safe drink water. In addition, the nation’s tropical climate creates distinctive periods of rain and drought- known as wet and dry seasons. This can make water conservation and water quality efforts more difficult to manage. After building their 40,000 liter well, St. Roza has managed to address the water conservation portion and are looking into ways to keep their hard earned water in good quality. Without centralized water infrastructure, people in Uganda have to be creative and resourceful when it comes to safe drinking water.

Water Facts!

Let’s check out a few water facts to learn how to be resourceful with our own water!

1) The average global footprint for daily activities per person is about 3400 liters of water.

2) The average American diet alone uses up about 3785 liters of water a day.

3) Nearly 22% of indoor home water water use comes from doing laundry.

4) 80% of all diseases in developing nations are related to lack of safe water for drinking and sanitation.

5) Activated charcoal is an ingredient used in many water filters. It can absorb nutrients and other chemicals from water sources due to its extremely high surface area.

Do you have any water facts and tips? Share with us on Instagram @gradesofgreen