In order to effect environmental change, we need to educate young people about conservation issues. They are the ones who will eventually become the leaders in the conservation movement. High schools everywhere need to begin to incorporate practical environmental studies into their programs. There is in fact a high school in New York City called the High School for Environmental Studies, and they have made environmental science the centerpiece of their curriculum. There are also schools in Cincinnati and Chicago and other major cities that are beginning to follow suit. But as far as I am able to determine, these schools are the exception. Most schools, especially in rural areas, only touch on environmental issues as part of their larger and more general science programs.
This dearth makes the Chapel Hill, North Carolina “Mayor’s Youth for a Sustainable Future Initiative” even more extraordinary. Basically, in 2007, the mayor’s office and the youth council joined forces and put together an idea for a hands-on project that would allow their young volunteers to observe instances of water waste and water control, and to make judgments about their observations. While there were all sorts of environmental impact issues these young people—three girls from the Chapel Hill high school—could have addressed, they chose water conservation because of the high drought levels that part of the state had experienced in recent years—and its corollary, increased costs for water supply and development.
Over the next two years, the young women worked with water department authorities to learn how to perform water audits. Then they chose five apartment units in one complex for their testing. Each of five units featured toilets that used at least 3.5 gallons of water, showerheads that used at least 2.5 gallons of water per minute, bathroom sink aerators that used 2 gallons or more of water per minute, and kitchen sink aerators that used 1.5 gallons or more of water per minute.
Once the girls had determined the individual and collective water usage stats for the units, my company, Niagara Conservation, provided the energy efficient toilets, showerheads and aerators to replace the less efficient existing models in the units. Then the girls went out and performed post-retrofit audits. Even without changing out dishwashers or other water-usage fixtures, they found that collectively water usage had been cut by 28 percent.
But this was not the end of the project by any stretch. The girls next worked with the mayor’s office and youth council to develop a detailed cost/benefit analysis report, which they presented to the town council. In it they recommended audits and retrofits of all units at the complex that had served as their test subject, and in all other public housing units where the town pays for water usage as well.
This is the kind of hands-on environmental enterprise we need to see at work across the country. It is the kind of enterprise that empowers young people to take on leadership roles. These young women had a chance not only to learn a very important environmental lesson but they also learned how to politic to effect change based on their knowledge. Everyone who participated in the MYSFI should be very proud.