Education

Jun 2, 2016

What Does a Scientist Look Like?

Drinking Water Act, Education, Public Water Systems, STEM 3 Comments

by Lisa Donahue

Thirstin’s water cycle

Recently, I had the opportunity to be the introductory speaker for Girls in Science Day at a local public elementary school. As the auditorium filled with a diverse group of girls and boys in kindergarten through fourth grades, I asked them to think, “What does a scientist look like? What does a scientist do?” The young students shared their ideas: wears a white lab coat, works with chemicals, wears safety goggles, blows things up. All good answers! I have no lab coat, but I have goggles, a hard hat, and safety shoes for field work. I don’t, however, blow things up.

The goal of the students’ day was science exposure, so I talked about all the different disciplines I’ve studied and used in my job as an environmental scientist here in EPA’s mid-Atlantic drinking water enforcement program. We talked about all of those “ologies” – biology, meteorology, toxicology, geology – and chemistry – and why you need to know about all of them to understand the water cycle and how contaminants move through the environment.

We also talked about where and how environmental scientists work: we work inside and outside; using computers and our scientific knowledge to ask questions and make good decisions about the environment. I even talked about the data we gather from public water systems to find out if they meet drinking water standards.

During my career as a scientist, I have spoken in classrooms countless times, and participated in events designed to foster girls’ interests in STEM topics. The organizers always thank me for my time, emphasizing the importance of having a “real scientist” talk to the students. Still, I always wonder: Will they remember anything about water pollution? Will they absorb my enthusiasm for my work?

During this presentation, I was asked a question I wasn’t expecting: “At your work, who does the most important science, boys or girls?” What a question! For me, the answer was easy: I said that we all work together, because I work with so many men and women who do the important work of protecting human health and the environment. I hope both the girls and boys remember that.

About the author: Lisa Donahue is an environmental scientist in EPA’s regional office in Philadelphia, and has degrees in biology and environmental education. In addition to her work in the Water Protection Division, she chairs EPA’s Federal Women’s Program National Council. She’s proud to be one of the many men and women scientists in public service.

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone. EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog, nor does EPA endorse the opinions or positions expressed. You may share this post. However, please do not change the title or the content. If you do make changes, please do not attribute the edited title or content to EPA or the author.

EPA's official web site is www.epa.gov. Some links on this page may redirect users from the EPA website to a non-EPA, third-party site. In doing so, EPA is directing you only to the specific content referenced at the time of publication, not to any other content that may appear on the same webpage or elsewhere on the third-party site, or be added at a later date.

EPA is providing this link for informational purposes only. EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of non-EPA information provided by any third-party sites or any other linked site. EPA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, internet applications or any policies or information expressed therein.

May 4, 2016

Gamify the Grid! New EPA game Generate! Helps Students Understand the Relationship between Climate Change and Energy Production

Air Quality Awareness Week, air research, climate change, climate change research, Education, energy efficiency, PECASE, STEM, Students and teachers, tools for school 2 Comments

By Rose Keane

When you’re teaching someone, sometimes you never know what’s going to stick. Some people need to hear the information, others might need to read it, but chances are the best way to get someone to remember is to have them try it themselves.

EPA researcher Rebecca Dodder is helping teachers provide middle school and high school students with these kinds of opportunities through her new Generate! game, a board game that requires the player to consider the costs and benefits of the type of energy we use and impacts on air quality and climate.

Hands-on learning! Kids play the Generate! game during Earth Day festivities at EPA’s campus in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Having students actually grapple with the realities of financial limitations, carbon emissions, and limited natural resources makes the lesson much more tangible and long lasting. I had the chance to see these connections being made when students came to EPA’s campus in Research Triangle Park, N.C., to play the game during Earth Day festivities.

Here’s how it works. In the first round, students select which sources of energy—for example, coal, natural gas, nuclear, solar or wind—that they would like to use given a finite amount of resources (in this case the number and types of energy pieces). Each energy source comes with its associated installation and maintenance costs, and the aim is to meet energy demands (filling up the full board space) while spending as little as possible.

The second round, however, made things a bit trickier. As with our energy sources in real life, there is a cost associated with the carbon emissions of each energy piece, with heavier costs for higher carbon-emitting sources like coal, and smaller or no carbon costs for the renewable energy sources. These costs refer to the idea that for each ton of carbon dioxide emitted, there are increased costs to communities from climate change. As students factored these numbers in, they realized their original plan was no longer sustainable and also way too expensive. You could practically hear the groans coming from each group’s table when the final tallies came in.

In the third round, students were offered pieces called “efficiencies,” which represent our behaviors, consumer choices, and energy efficient appliances. These pieces incur relatively small costs initially (for example, how much it would cost to replace your washer and dryer), but in the long run actually save the player money. “Think about it,” Dodder said to the students, “A lot of these big decisions are out of our control, like whether or not to build a nuclear power plant, for example. The thing about the smaller energy efficiency pieces is that’s all the stuff that we can change – it’s all in our control.”

Making climate change and its impacts tangible for younger generations can be extremely difficult, but games like Generate! make these kinds of activities fun, educational, and remind the students that their energy choices are in their hands. Educators can use this game to help their students recognize the relationships between energy usage and climate change, and encourage them to investigate their role in the carbon cycle further.

Dr. Dodder’s innovative approaches to educating the younger generation about science and her research contributions are being recognized today at a ceremony in Washington, DC where she will receive a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists.

Learn more about the Generate! game and download your copy here.

About the Author: Rose Keane is an Oak Ridge Associated Universities contractor with the science communications team in EPA’s Office of Research and Development.

Feb 3, 2016

Making a Visible Difference through Citizen Science

C-FERST, Citizen science, Education, EJ, Environmental Justice, What you can do 0 Comments

By Laura Stewart

About the author: Laura Stewart is an Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education (ORISE) research participant in the EPA Region 10 office.

My first citizen science project was in 1999; working on a United Nations-funded project in Swaziland. In a poor community near a paper mill, we worked to address environmental and local health concerns due to the plant’s emissions. As a result of the youth-led project, the factory extended the height of its smoke stakes to disperse the emissions, which improved air quality. Seeing this interplay between environmental science and social justice changed my life.

Me (in all black) with the Swaziland “bucket brigade.”

Today, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related jobs are some of the fastest growing sectors in the United States, growing to an estimated 9 million jobs by 2022.

Despite this projected growth, diversity in these fields is decreasing. Since 1991, 12 percent fewer women are earning computer science degrees. According to a National Science Foundation report, 8 percent of Hispanics and 4 percent of African Americans earned bachelors degrees in engineering, and currently people of color make up less than 20 percent of staff in the nation’s environmental organizations.

I believe these trends are creating the potential for a fundamental problem in trying to solve environmental and health challenges – how can we make a visible difference in low-income and minority communities when people from those communities are not taking part in STEM? I believe using citizen science at the community level provides a great answer to this problem.

Citizen science is the involvement of regular people in the discovery of scientific knowledge. Citizen scientists come from all walks of life, harnessing the power of information towards a common goal.

Here at EPA, I’m working on a community-based research project testing the beta version of a new EPA resource, the Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST). C-FERST is a web-based environmental information and mapping tool that EPA researchers are developing where communities can identify, understand, and address local-scale sources of environmental exposure, thus becoming a part of the expanding pool of citizen scientists:

In Tacoma, Washington we used C-FERST with local government, a nonprofit organization, and a local college to look into food access, houselessness and infant mortality.
At Portland Community College, students assessed disproportionate impact, environmental justice concerns and air quality.
At Concordia University, social work students used the tool to interpret the real-life implications of environmental data for an upcoming project that focuses on creating safer, healthier, and more educated communities.
At Groundwork Portland, youth in a summer employment program used the tool for a livability study. By using C-FERST information about brownfields and air quality, students were able to inform their field research and advocate for equitable development practices in one of their city’s urban growth corridors.
In Seattle, we partnered with Antioch University to train their Masters of Urban Environmental Education graduates to use C-FERST to develop culturally-responsive curricula. As part of a STEM summer program at Garfield High School in Seattle, C-FERST was used to teach high school and middle school children of color about environmental justice issues including food justice, urban blight, and transit access. Students learned to conduct a community assessment, create and upload GIS map layers, and envision interim uses for vacant properties in their community.

I believe citizen science dares us to recognize how power imbalances affect the unique experiences of communities and people’s abilities to positively change their communities. Citizen science gives us the opportunity to return that power back into the hands of communities, potentially changing lives, not just the immediate results from science projects, but engaging members of these communities in the long term power of STEM disciplines and what they can bring to their communities.

What is your community doing to make a visible difference through citizen science?

Sep 11, 2015

Lessons from an Avocado: Making Food Recovery an Everyday Activity

Education, food waste, Local Community, recycling, sustainability 1 Comment

By Lisa Thresher

It’s lunchtime on a Saturday and my stomach guides me to the kitchen. I notice an avocado sitting on the counter. Perfect, it’ll be a nice addition to a salad! Then I notice grey fuzz protruding from the top of it. My avocado went bad, and is moldy through and through! This is not good – in more ways than one.

Since I’m a new hire in EPA’s Resource Conservation and Pollution Prevention program, one of my main responsibilities is to foster increased food recovery here in the Heartland. So having food spoil is unacceptable to me. Not on my watch! Fortunately, I know of a resource to help me prevent more food from spoiling.

Lisa (center) as EPA coordinator at first food waste audit at Haskell University in Lawrence, Kan.

EPA has partnered with the West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum on a toolkit called Food: Too Good to Waste. This resource is designed specifically to help household consumers buy what they need, use what they have, and minimize waste as much as possible. Usually, the toolkit is utilized on a community-wide scale, where a neighborhood signs up to use the toolkit for a few weeks and tracks its progress.

One of the toolkit’s strategies and tools that is directly applicable to my current situation is the Fruit and Vegetable Storage Guide. Following the case of my avocado, I’d have known to refrigerate it once it ripened. Thankfully, this convenient guide is available online, or I might’ve panicked and stuffed all my fruits and vegetables into the refrigerator to prevent them from spoiling.

Another unfortunate result of wasting my avocado is the loss of time and resources that went into producing it. I’m not just referring to the money I spent to buy it, but the natural resources, energy, time, and labor as well. When pondering the entire life cycle of the avocado, I think about the land, pesticides and fertilizers used, the farm equipment likely powered by fossil fuels, the time and effort spent by the farmer, and other farm-related operations.

My avocado’s journey on a farm is only one part of its life cycle. Considering all the steps involved in getting it from the farm to the store where I bought it, I’m amazed that all of that went into one piece of fruit. It’s not easy to make the connection between the complex process that brought the avocado to me as a consumer and the money that I paid for it.

This blog is about my unfortunate avocado, but the story of sustainable food management is a much bigger one – not only a national concern, but a global one. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2011, about one-third of all food products – equivalent to 1.3 billion tons – are lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems worldwide every year. This is a monumental loss that impacts people, the economy, and the planet.

I’ve learned my lesson about food spoilage and will continue to refine my food purchasing, storage, and consumption habits. We’re fortunate that EPA and other agencies have plenty of resources to help us prevent the loss of food. Pair them with focused daily efforts, and throwing food in the trash will be a thing of the past.

Well, I‘m off to compost this avocado so it can at least go into the soil – instead of my lunch!

About the Author: Lisa Thresher is a Life Scientist with EPA Region 7’s Air and Waste Management Division. She recently graduated from Philadelphia University with a degree in environmental sustainability and a minor in law and society. Lisa is a Philadelphia native and has an affinity for the arts and staying active.

Jun 26, 2015

Summer Reading List: Learn About States’ Shapes, Social Physics, and Rust

Around the Water Cooler, Education, In Your Backyard 1 Comment

By Jeffery Robichaud

I was in Seattle for a meeting this spring and realized that my kids had only two more weeks before they were off for the summer. My wife and I would face the yearly struggle of convincing them to read for “fun” again. It was also a reminder that I needed to build my reading list for the summer!

So here’s my Big Blue Thread Summer Reading List for 2015. While you’re at it, check out my Fall 2012 Reading List and Fall 2008 Reading List.

“How the States Got Their Shapes” by Mark Stein

This book has been out for a while but I picked up the paperback version for my kids at the Smithsonian earlier this year. I intended for them to read it, but I ended up being the first to crack it open. It is chock-full of the stories behind all the minor squiggles, curves, and not-so-straight lines that make up our states’ borders. If you find yourself bored at home sometime, pull up Google Maps and zoom in really, really close, and you may find that many of the straight lines you learned as a child aren’t so straight after all. There appears to be a second book from Mark Stein called “How the States Got Their Shapes Too: The People Behind the Borderlines.” If you’ve read it, jot down a comment below and tell me how it was.

“Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread – The Lessons from a New Science” by Alex Pentland

I’m not entirely done with this book yet. It’s beckoning me from the nightstand, competing with all the shows that my wife and I have stored on our DVR. So far, this has been a really interesting read, focusing on the importance of social interaction in creativity and innovation in the workplace. It puts a lot of things into perspective with respect to the new “connected” workforce, or more accurately, how we might be missing some really great opportunities because of the lack of meaningful social interaction and stimulation. Definitely a headier read, so if you have little ones who will be vying for your attention, save it for another time.

“Rust: The Longest War” by Jonathon Waldman

OK, I’ve only made it through the first few chapters of this book, and I really enjoy it. I’m going to save the rest for the beach later this year (especially since saltwater plays a prominent role). If you enjoyed other historical treatises such as “Salt,” “Water,” or “Cod” (I sense a theme), then I’m pretty sure you will enjoy “Rust.” The writing is fast-paced and funny. Waldman tells us, “rust affects everything from the design of our currency to the composition of our tap water, and it will determine the legacy we leave on this planet.”

So head out and pick up a new book for the summer. Better yet, support your local library with a visit. While you’re there, ask them how to sign up to check out e-books and audiobooks. After your visit, share some of your recent reads with us. What page-turner would you recommend we pick up this summer?

About the Author: Jeffery Robichaud is a second-generation EPA scientist who has worked for the Agency since 1998. He currently serves as Deputy Director of EPA Region 7′s Water, Wetlands, and Pesticides Division. Jeffery fondly remembers card catalogs from his youth and wonders what became of all those beautiful old wooden shelves. (Youngsters who have no idea what he’s talking about should check out the opening scene in “Ghostbusters.”)

Jun 16, 2015

Committed to Environmental Education On and Off the Job

children's health, Education, environmental education, recycle, Science Explorer’s Club 2 Comments

By Kim Bartels

From the very beginning of my career with EPA as a kids’ environmental health coordinator, I have been afforded the opportunity to share my passion for protecting the environment and my love of science with children. This has been a significant aspect of my life personally, because no matter what my job title is, at the heart of it all, I am a scientist and a mom. I care about this work so much that I’ve even started volunteering at a neighborhood school. Now in my third year as a science volunteer, coordinating science enrichment activities at my kids’ elementary school, I have had the opportunity to engage hundreds of kids in fun ways of learning about science and the environment.

I coordinate the Science Explorer’s Club and it has become so popular with students that we have expanded it to run the entire school year. We meet once a month before school and have been told by a few parents that their young scientists amazingly bounce out of bed at their earlier time, excited to join us. Roughly 70 young scientists conduct projects and experiments that include spooky science, egg drop challenges, leaning towers of pasta, borax snowflakes, holiday chemistry, forensics, bubbleology, candy science, color mixology, fun with dry ice, and a liquid nitrogen demonstration.

As I became known for my enthusiasm for science and all things sustainable, my involvement with other enrichment activities expanded to include the Science Fair and an annual week-long Waste Free Lunch Challenge, and I am now a mentor for the school’s Green Team. This advisory team of 5th and 6th grade students serves as recycle ambassadors for their assigned classrooms, coordinates special recycling efforts for a few hard-to-recycle lunchroom items and sponsors a month-long clothing reuse/recycling collection drive as an Earth Day activity and a fundraiser.

Beyond the importance of fostering kids’ enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering and math, another reason I love my volunteer work is the kids’ priceless reactions. My daughter recently shared with me that if she could have one wish granted from a genie and she couldn’t wish for more wishes (obviously), she would wish for the whole world to reuse and recycle EVERYTHING. After hearing that my son gets to do a lot of science experiments at home, his classmate expressed that she wished she could come to our house for more science. Probably one of the best declarations came from my 4 year old “assistant,” who attends all of my volunteer gigs, as she announced, “Mom, I just want to do science with you FOREVER!” My immediate response: Um, yes please!

About the author: Kim Bartels is the Region 8 Children’s Environmental Health Coordinator. She has a BA in Biology and a MS in Environmental Science. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her family of five, finding creative ways to show her children how the world can be their very own science laboratory.

Jun 11, 2015

On this Campus, the Rain Works

Campus RainWorks, Campus RainWorks Challenge-, Education, Storm Water, water 1 Comment

By Madeleine Raley

As the intern for the EPA’s Office of Water, I sit in on weekly communications meetings with the rest of the staff. One week in March we were discussing our communication strategy for Earth Day. It was decided that we would announce the winners of the third annual Campus Rainworks Challenge, a design competition to engage college and university students in reinventing water infrastructure. The winning designs proposed innovative additions to their respective campuses that would reduce storm water impacts while providing educational and recreational opportunities.

When the winners of the competition were announced in the meeting, you can imagine the feeling of pride I felt when I heard that my very own school, the University of Maryland, was a first place winner for the demonstration project category! So, on Earth Day, April 22, I got to stand on the steps of Memorial Chapel and listen to Ken Kopocis, Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, award my fellow students and teachers with this prestigious award.

The project, titled “Historic Chapel Site: Meadows, Meanders and Meditation” includes a 7-acre re-design of the area next to the campus chapel that captures and treats storm water from the adjacent parking lots and rooftops. Replacing storm pipes and traditional lawn cover, they would implement meadow landscapes that include bio retention, bios wales and rain gardens to treat storm water in a more natural, on-site way.

Photos from the student report

As a student, I walk the pathway to class on the field just below the proposed site. The erosion from storm water flowing from uphill parking lots and sidewalks cuts a clear and visible pathway, descending through the athletic fields. It leaves behind a brown trail through what should be green grass. When I learned of the project’s location, I knew exactly where and why they proposed to build it. The erosion is not a sight you can miss.

The plan provides a habitat for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, and beneficial insect species such as ladybugs. It also includes an outdoor classroom and contemplative landscape for visitors and the university community. The faculty and students of University of Maryland, including me, are thankful this is an award that recognizes and also helps to enhance campus’s green infrastructure.

About the author: Madeleine Raley was an intern for the Office of Water communications team. She is a senior Government and Politics Major and Sustainability Minor at the University of Maryland and is expecting to graduate in May.

May 22, 2015

Building Community Resiliency by Training the Next Generation

Economic Development, Education, Environmental Justice, Job Training, Partnership, workforce development 0 Comments

by Patrick A. Barnes

In 2011, the first of the baby boomers reached retirement age. And for the foreseeable future, boomers will be retiring at a rate of 10,000 a day, nearly a quarter million a month.

In an effort to help compensate for its retiring workforce, the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board (S&WB) launched several initiatives to reach individuals within communities of need to find future water/wastewater plant operators. One such initiative resulted in a very unique and timely partnership with Limitless Vistas, Inc. (LVI), supported by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

At LVI, our mission is to serve at-risk, underserved, and under-employed young adults, ages 18 to 29 years. Through our program, participants obtain certifications, knowledge, skills, and hands-on experience in the environmental industry. Near the end of their training, LVI participants serve in internships with S&WB and local environmental and engineering firms. These internships help the students learn more about potential careers within the environmental industry. It also gives potential employers a chance to work with non-traditional future employees and discover their talents and enthusiasm before offering them a job.

Granville Guillory has used this opportunity to truly excel.

Granville was 20 when he came to LVI after several personal hardships and dropping out of college. His aunt heard about the LVI program and suggested he give it a try. During his interview, Granville indicated he wanted to work for S&WB and follow in his uncle’s footsteps. According to Granville, his uncle had worked at the S&WB for most of his life and he was “set.” Granville was looking for the same type of stability in his life.

Granville, along with several other students, were there on June 21, 2012, when EPA announced that LVI was among the recipients of an EPA Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant. There, Granville discussed his desire to work for the S&WB. His sincerity and personal enthusiasm earned him a private tour of the facility after the press conference.

Later that year, Granville and seven other LVI members participated in an internship at the local facility, where he continued to impress the staff with his work ethic, curiosity, and natural intuition for the work. And his hard work paid off! After passing the Wastewater Operators State Board Exam, Granville and another student were asked to join Veolia North America (the plant operator) as full-time employees.

Now at age 23, Granville is excelling as a State of Louisiana Class III Wastewater Plant Operator and, as he puts it, “if things go wrong, it is my responsibility to help make them right before any serious damage to the furnace or an emission violation occurs.” Because of his performance and interest in furnace operations, he was asked if he would be willing to travel overseas to broaden his skills. Later this year, Granville will be traveling to Tokyo for six months to learn about a new and more efficient furnace that Veolia is planning to incorporate in its U.S. operations.

Granville also has taken on an active role in mentoring new LVI participants and interns. With his enthusiasm, they are able to see the bigger picture through discussions with him and strive harder to achieve their goals — just like Granville did.

I firmly believe that there cannot be true environmental justice without economic justice, and this tremendous need represents a unique opportunity for impacted residents to obtain meaningful jobs, thus putting them on a path to economic equality and ultimately, helping to build the socio-economic strength necessary for communities like Granville’s more resilient for the future. It truly takes a unique team of partners working together across governments and with local communities and industry, to connect the dots for environmental workforce development and job training programs to succeed!

About the author: Patrick A. Barnes, President of BFA Environmental is a professional geologist and founder of LVI. Patrick recently was honoured as a White House Champion of Change Community Resiliency Leader. Patrick first envisioned LVI in 1997 after years of performing environmental engineering services to poor communities working as an EPA Technical Assistant Grant (TAG) advisor and after working on several Brownfields redevelopment projects in the Southeast.

May 18, 2015

The Importance of Education and Outreach

Clean Water Rule, communications, Education, environmental information, Outreach, water 1 Comment

Every day at EPA we are focused on two things: protecting public health and improving the environment for all Americans. As part of that effort we have the responsibility to explain this work to every American and make clear why it is relevant to their lives and the lives of their families.

Like almost every government, business or non-profit organization these days, we use social media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, to stay connected and to inform people across the country about our work.

It lets us communicate directly with the public and to get their feedback. We also use these platforms to correct the record and clarify misinformation that is often injected in the discussion about important policies, rules and regulations.

One recent example has been around the development of our Clean Water Rule. The issue itself is a complicated one, admittedly. It involves science, complicated decisions from the Supreme Court, and very strong opinions on all sides. To ensure Americans had the facts directly from us about the proposed rule, the value of protecting streams and wetlands, and the need for clearly defined protections under the Clean Water Act, we used social media.

Our goal is to inform and educate. We encourage folks from all perspectives to participate so we can understand more, learn more and finalize a stronger rule. Every stakeholder — whether they supported or opposed the rule — were provided the same link to our Clean Water Rule webpage in education and outreach materials, emails, and presentations, and were told the deadline for submitting public comments and how to do so.

A public outreach effort to increase awareness and support of EPA’s proposed Clean Water Rule is well within the appropriate bounds of the agency’s mission to educate and engage Americans. As noted in a recent Comptroller General opinion, “agency officials have broad authority to educate the public on their policies and views, and this includes the authority to be persuasive in their materials.”

Because that is a fundamental step in developing smart, pragmatic regulations that allow us to protect public health and the environment while at the same time allowing the economy to continue to grow.

After releasing the proposed Clean Water Rule in March 2014, EPA conducted an unprecedented outreach effort that included holding more than 400 meetings across the country and visiting farms in nine states. The input helped us understand the genuine concerns and interests of a wide range of stakeholders and think through options to address them. As outlined in a recent blog by Administrator McCarthy, the key changes made to the proposed rule were actually driven in large part by outreach to agriculture, local government, states, and utilities.

About the author: Liz Purchia is the Deputy Associate Administrator for EPA’s Office of Public Affairs.

Editor's Note: The views expressed here are intended to explain EPA policy. They do not change anyone's rights or obligations. You may share this post. However, please do not change the title or the content, or remove EPA’s identity as the author. If you do make substantive changes, please do not attribute the edited title or content to EPA or the author.

EPA's official web site is www.epa.gov. Some links on this page may redirect users from the EPA website to specific content on a non-EPA, third-party site. In doing so, EPA is directing you only to the specific content referenced at the time of publication, not to any other content that may appear on the same webpage or elsewhere on the third-party site, or be added at a later date.

EPA is providing this link for informational purposes only. EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of non-EPA information provided by any third-party sites or any other linked site. EPA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, internet applications or any policies or information expressed therein.

May 6, 2015

The Charge for Our Current Generation

behavior change, biomimicry, CBSM, community-based social marketing, Education, EPA voluntary programs, student, sustainable food management, sustainable materials management, systems thinking 0 Comments

By Virginia Till

One thing folks don’t always know about us is that many of our programs are voluntary and proactive, and assist communities. While I do much of my work in the office, I relish opportunities to get out into the public and “put a face” to government.

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Westerly Creek Elementary School in Denver, CO.

I was looking forward to interacting with kids about the 3 R’s: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” When I found out the students were ages 3-4, I was a bit intimidated since “Recycle Rita” had never done her Recycle Relay for a group this young. However, I decided I was up for the challenge and forged ahead.

Surprise, surprise, the kids already knew a lot about my topic. If you can believe it (and I’m sure the parents out there will), some kids even knew the word “landfill!” I was very impressed. After a bit of introduction, including a relay demo, we got started. The kids had a great time running back and forth and figuring out what was landfill, recycle, reuse, or compost. Some choices had more than one answer, which got their wheels turning, but they all enjoyed it.

This experience got me thinking about how current generations often pin their hopes on future generations. I hear talk about younger folks knowing more about the environment, and caring more about it, than we did in the past. We also talk about protecting the environment for future generations. I would propose that while it’s true many children might have an ever-increasing awareness of global issues and access to information, it’s current generations that are in still in a position to get things right.

There are many opportunities to adjust our current policies and processes to include more “systems thinking” and learn lessons from nature by focusing on long-term adaptability. Customizing our activities to community needs and addressing barriers to behavior change is also a great strategy. What are the most relevant health or environmental issues you experience in your community? How can you reduce the barriers to changing behavior?

While kids today might be more aware of the environment, we have many excellent opportunities to make our communities more resilient, now and into the future. If you get a chance to slow down this spring and take in the sights, I recommend it. And next time you chat with a 4-year old, ask her or him if they know what a landfill is or about the 3 R’s. You’re bound to be impressed!

Find resources for teaching and learning about the environment.

About the author: Virginia Till is an Environmental Protection Specialist for EPA’s Denver Office Environmental Stewardship Unit. Virginia works to reduce wasted food and educates others about waste diversion (source reduction, recycling, composting). Her alter ego, “Recycle Rita” often helps out in describing strategies for reducing waste in the first place.

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