The Arroyo Earth Team interns spent February further exploring how pollution impacts their watersheds. They took a closer look into how trash, pet waste, fertilizer runoff and invasive species degrade the water quality and ecosystem health in their local watershed.
The interns were then tasked with sharing this important information with their community in San Lorenzo. In teams, interns brainstormed how to best educate people through art, paying close attention to the specific data and facts they want to share. The art will be showcased at San Lorenzo Library on March 7th.
The first team decided to create a large banner depicting an underwater scene littered with marine debris. The words, “Make a Change,” and a recycle sign are painted across the banner to encourage people to decrease the amount of trash that ends up in the ocean.
The second group is educating the community about how pollution impacts water quality. They are building a system of three connected water bodies. The first depicts how trash impacts waterways and causes aquatic animal death. The second depicts how fertilizer runoff increases the level of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water, creating Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) that can kill other aquatic plants and animals. The third shows a healthy water body with happy plants and aquatic animals thriving. The team aims to show the community what a healthy habitat looks like compared to two different polluted ecosystems.
The final two groups decided to educate the public on how marine debris impact animals. One team is building a large sea turtle that seems healthy on the outside, but when turned over, reveals large amounts of ingested trash. The second team is building a scene depicting a mother bird feeding trash to her chicks. Both teams want to share with the community the different ways that trash can be tangled around animals or in their digestive systems, leading to starvation and death.
If you are interested in learning more about how pollution impacts watersheds, come to San Lorenzo Library on Saturday, March 7th between 10:30am – 2pm to see the finished art pieces!