Bkivlo
Registered: December 2008
City/Town/Province: Seabrook
Posts: 1
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The Horsepen Bayou in Clear Lake, TX was the selected location for my environmental stewardship project. My name is Rebecca, and I am president of the Earth Club for my High School. I decided to do a bit more than recycling this year. On December 6, 2008, I was going to clean the Horsepen Bayou! Those who participated and I were initially disgusted at the idea of setting foot in the area, yet we knew it would be an ideal area to clean and simultaneously benefit the community. Once we entered into the disheveled bayou, we started noticing certain aspects of the land we had previously neglected to see. For instance, there were patches of these beautiful flowers. Although they were covered with various types of weeds, their colors were exposed providing us with a higher respect towards the bayou. After witnessing the occasional squirrel, egret, and one jackrabbit, we began to wonder what this place was like prior to it’s decay. I sent out letters to many science teachers through out the building requesting that they offer their students extra credit to bring in trash bags, gloves, bug spray, hand sanitizer, and snacks. The result was outstanding! We had more than enough supplies, and were able to donate plenty to Hurricane Ike relief when we were finished. The teachers also gave students extra credit for attendance. We had about 60 students show up, which is a bit lower than we expected, but this number did not hinder the final result. We collected 970 lbs of trash! We weighed the bags as they were brought in, and made it into a competition- this really got the students going. It wasn’t until I took the time to look out upon the masses of litter pilled up in the parking that I truly realized the feat I had accomplished. Nine-hundred and seventy pounds of trash that had previously blocked up sewers, killed innocent animals, and destroyed beautiful ecosystems were now in my hands. Knowing that I had been the primary root of this salvation made me realize what one single person is capable of, and that I wasn’t going to stop at this one project. Because the Horspen Bayou will quickly replenish it’s litter supply, the only effective long term plan for it’s improvement would be semi-annual clean ups- one in the fall and one in the spring, and I plan to do just that! It is vital that we continue to clean the bayou for many reasons. The Horsepen Bayou is the backyard to the high school and elementary school. Kids find themselves in or around the bayou frequently, and many different types of litter can be dangerous to those participating in innocent play. The bayou’s health is maintained through a sewage system in regard to heavy rain. Before our clean up, the sewage drain was completely ineffective. A trashy bayou is not to heavily valued by the local residents, and therefore there are not too many efforts put forth to keep it clean. If we can show them the bayou’s potential then we can get more forces to help keep this place clean. Most importantly, human waste completely alters and occasionally destroys entire ecosystems. By keeping trash out of the bayou, we maintain life in the bayou. I believe that the Apprentice Ecologist Initiative is a wonderful organization due to it’s attraction to hard working, self-sufficient students due to the scholarship money, and the way it brings out the best in them. Most of the students who have not encountered this website would most likely not have created and organized an entire clean-up. Because of this initiative, ecosystems are being brought back to life, and communities are beginning to find value in their local natural resources once again.
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