Article - Wonders of Water

Wonders of Water

Did you know Vanderlyn's very own Brownie Troop 10571 is participating in an amazing project this year? WOW!, Wonders of Water has already taught the girls about water sources and the significance of keeping water clean. They discussed ways to conserve water, like taking shorter showers, fixing leaking faucets and turning off faucets while brushing their teeth. The troop will earn patches for each part of the journey.

The Girls Scouts Forever Green (GSFG) Take Action project encourages girls to be leaders in protecting natural resources and improving the environment. Troop 10571, led by Cindy Tibbetts and comprised of students from Vanderlyn and Dunwoody Elementary will also focus on the Reduce Plastic Waste initiative. The girls will learn about the effect of plastic waste on the Earth and the ways to reduce plastic waste through reusing and recycling. One way to reduce waste is to replace single-use water bottles with reusable water bottles. Did you know? The effect of single-use plastic bottles is drastic on the environment. When plastic bottles are not recycled, they end up in landfills and in the oceans. Animals ingest the plastic, thinking it's food, and this poses a significant health hazard to them. The brownies of Troop 10571 learned about these effects and have made a pledge to reduce them and to record the number of times they refill their reusable water bottles. Coach Dwyer has also helped out by educating students about the health benefits of drinking water and the need to use reusable bottles.

The ultimate goal for this project is to give the girls the opportunity to think outside of themselves, and do something for the community, so the brownies have encouraged others to use reusable water bottles. At the Vanderlyn Fall Social, they offered filtered water to anyone who brought a reusable water bottle and they handed out stickers to place on the bottle to record the number of times the bottle was refilled.

Some important facts to consider:

• 30 billion plastic water bottles are thrown away every year. Plastic can take up to 1,000 years to disintegrate.
• Plastics make up over 80% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a deposit of toxic waste in the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas, that reaches depths of up to 90 feet.
• Making bottles of water out of plastic takes more than 1.5 million barrels of oil, every year. That much oil could fuel 100,000 American cars for a year.
• It is important to filter water to remove hazardous chemicals like chlorine and mercury. Simply installing a filter on your faucet or keeping a filtered pitcher of water in your refrigerator can provide your family with healthy drinking water.
• We can all make a positive impact on our environment by reducing the amount of plastic we use and recycling what we do use. Think about other ways you can make a difference in our community, like using reusable bottles. It can save the environment and your wallet!

For more information on the Girl Scouts Forever Green project,
please visit http://www.girlscouts.org/gsforevergreen/Reduce-Plastic-Waste-Details.asp.