Heritage High School junior Dinah Carlton and sophomore Jared Burns are two of 12 students selected to attend the third annual Environmental Summit April 28-29 being hosted by Rock City, Ruby Falls and Chattanooga Coca-Cola.
“The students and I will meet with local environmental experts,” said HHS environmental science teacher Kim Hayen. “We are excited about learning how to conserve water. We are reaching out to people with a vision for environmental solutions. The students desire to be a catalyst for change.”
The students were selected based on essays related to conservation that they wrote and submitted.
Burns wrote his about how crop pesticides can travel through the water supply into drinking water. He lives in the middle of vegetable, meat and chicken farms.
He is concerned that pesticides and animal waste getting into creeks and streams could pose a threat to the human community and the natural habitat. So, he proposes monthly or weekly checks on the main aquifers and suppliers of water to make sure the water is treated properly and is OK for human consumption. He is also concerned about oil and litter causing trouble for the water supply and addressed both in his essay.
Carlton’s essay discusses agricultural practices that could be used to protect water sources, such as banning till farming. When a crop is planted between rows, nutrients can be maintained in the area, she explained. It’s about minimizing erosion particles that take a ride in the runoff of the water, she wrote.
“Water conservation is important because we will run out,” said Carlton. “There’s 3 percent freshwater for us to be able to drink unless we do desalination [taking salt out of ocean water for drinking purposes], and that’s expensive.”
At the summit, a panel of environmental experts will read and evaluate each essay submitted based on the student’s vision for environmental solutions and their desire to be a catalyst for change.
Hayen said global water supply could be the top environmental issue because water impacts the food supply. Water management is arguably the biggest problem, she said.
“We talk about sustainability,” said Hayen. “We know our actions have an impact on the environment. We want to keep benefiting from the resources.”
The winning student will receive a new iPad.