Earth Force members Miranda Main, Michele Wehner and Teresa Boucher show off storm drain stencil.

You can be a Solution to Pollution! is the message Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy Advanced Biology students are sending to Erie citizens through their Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force project.

Using non-traditional methods to get the information out about nonpoint source pollution, the students painted their message via stencils on city storm drains. Collegiate educator, Mrs. Doreen Petri’s class hopes to improve the Erie community and the water quality with their project.

In May, students took to the streets and placed their stenciled message, "Pollution=Mistake…..Drains to Lake", on storm drains on State Street from 26th Street to 38th Street to raise awareness of littering - any litter on streets and sidewalks will wash into sewers untreated, potentially causing pollution as it enters into Lake Erie and other bodies of water that are a part of the Erie watershed.

Students also went door-to-door handing out informational brochures, hung non-point pollution posters provided by the City of Erie, and used a GPS unit provided by PA Sea Grant’s Sean Rafferty to map the locations of the storm drains, the S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie also partnered with the youth.

Collegiate students hope to convey that Erie citizens all have a stake in protecting our waterways — an important and irreplaceable resource for drinking water, recreation and wildlife habitat. These students hope that others will get involved and stop littering of any kind and protect our water quality and aquatic habitat.

Mrs. Petri’s encouragement and guidance was an important factor in the project, “There are no boundaries on pollution, but there are also none on what we can do to prevent it. The students of today have a passion for the environment. They truly care about the human impact on the environment and want to make our community aware of possible pollution and the best ways to prevent it.”

Using their Earth Force project to communicate, the Collegiate students are making a difference in the quality of life in Erie….so can YOU!

(Contributed by Susan A. Smith, Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force)

7/15/2005