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Water education with Siza Water
Water education with Siza Water
With National Water Week falling over the school holidays, Siza Water celebrated this precious resource on last Thursday, hosting pupils from seven local schools and teaching them simple eco-friendly and efficient ways to preserve water.
Christine Hugo and Darryn Tucker from Water Explorer facilitated fun, educational activities that not only taught pupils about making water safe to drink but also raising awareness of the danger plastic pollution poses to our survival.
In his opening address, Siza Water Managing Director, Shyam Misra said, "By nature, humans think the earth is at their disposal and abuse it. Humans are the primary source of water pollution because of our excessive use of plastics, chemicals and emissions from factories that cause acid rain."
He said many fish caught these days are found to have plastic in their stomachs and are toxic to eat, highlighting the importance of using straws made of bio-degradable materials such as paper and bamboo, or rather not using straws at all.
"Humans need water for three main purposes: hygiene (to stay clean), survival (stay hydrated) and recreation (to swim and for aesthetic features like fountains that create tranquillity)." said Misra.
Because water is life and a primary source of energy of the world, Misra urged pupils to go and practice what they learnt on Thursday at home during the March school holidays and then take it to the rest of their lives.
Being divided into seven groups, pupils made water filters from plastic bottles filled with stones and grass before doing a beach clean up and finally, each wrote down their own pledge to save water. The plastic picked up from the beach was then used to make eco bricks, which could be used to make furniture, build chairs and walls or sculptures.
"Because plastic photo-degenerates in the sun, the things we make from eco bricks must be kept out of the sun. We could either cover it in or we could use the structures indoors," said Hugo.
She said the key to the success of cleaning up and recycling initiatives was to mobilise the communities and making it part of everyday life.