What are the Environmentally Active Kids of Tuc -El- Nuit up to this year?!

1. What are the Environmentally Active Kids of Tuc-El-Nuit up to this year?! The first problem starts with salt and water…

2. The Senior E.A.Ks are the of the earth! SALT

3. The town of Oliver has a secondary sewage treatment system.

4. Reclaimed water from this system is used to irrigate a golf course, 2 vineyards & other green spaces around town.

5. GREAT That’s a idea, isn’t it? Think again! There’s too much salt in the water And it’s killing the trees!

6. The E.A.Ks got involved when they discovered that reclaimed water was going to be used on the school grounds.

7. Worried that their trees would be dead before they got to grade 8, the kids started: Googling! Calling! Touring!

8. What they discovered was not what they expected… “Mineral salts are always present in the soil in different amounts”

9. “Through history, too much irrigation always leads to salinization of the soil, which leads to desertification and the collapse of civilizations!”

10. Salinizationis the build up of salt in the soil.Desertification is when an area turns into desert due to too much salt killing the plants

12. “AddingNaCl(sodium chloride)speeds up this process...and industrial and residential water softeners are the main source of these salts.”

13. Too much NaCl kills plants in 3 ways: 1. It causes dehydration

14. Too much NaCl kills plants in 3 ways: 2. It blocks photosynthesis

15. Too much NaCl kills plants in 3 ways: 3. It creates a waterproof salt pan

16. There is NO GOOD WAY to remove salt from the ground! Salt also can’t be removed by sewage treatment systems!

17. Back to Oliver, turns out that the golf course has tried to plant new maple trees, but they can’t survive in the salinized soil.

19. The pines are also dying, from too much salt and overwatering. The old maple trees are not expected to last much longer either.

20. The E.A.Ks concluded that there is no safe amount of salt that can be added to reclaimed water.

21. There are only 2 solutions: Ban water softeners or Stop using reclaimed water

22. The E.A.Ks sent their results to the paper and the town.

23. They have also visited a school board meeting and talked to the trustees about the problem. It’s a work in progress!

24. Project Two: Flushed Away!

25. Problem: Find an alternative to the continual flow urinals in the school toilets!

26. Solutions: Put motion sensors on the urinals Install a timer Buy dry urinals

27. The E.A.Ks have decided on the timers, but Tuc-el-nuit may be closing down soon so that project is on hold for now…

28. The Junior E.A.Ks are • Winging It! Project 3

29. Did you know that 14 of the province’s 16 species of bats can be found in the Okanagan Similkameen?

30. And did you know that 6 of these species are listed as being at risk?

32. The Junior E.A.Ks decided to help the bats out by building 14 summertime homes!

34. Bats can eat up to 1000 insects a night! • We hope they eat lots of mosquitoes, because they can give us the West Nile virus.

36. The 14 bat boxes will provide the bats with a safe and cozy place to spend the summer.

38. The Junior E.A.Ks are also responsible for Tuc-el-nuit’s Western Bluebird trail. This is the 15th year!

39. Over 1,000 Western Bluebirds have been fledged over the years!

40. The Junior E.A.Ks have concluded that winged critters are very effective insect munchers.

41. They are: • Entertaining • Interesting to learn about • Inexpensive • and • Environmentally Friendly!

42. So skip the insecticides and pass me another piece of plywood!

43. Thanks for watching!