St. John's School Excells in Program "Eco-Escuela"

St. John's School in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is leading the charge in the program "Eco-Escuela" by reducing the amount of solid waste their school creates by purchasing and installing 3 solid-waste reducing super cool water fountains! Wilma Meloen explained to the chapter that the "acquisition and installation of these water fountains was only achieved through the combined effort of many teachers, parents, and students operating under their program called ''Project H20,'' which is a program designed to raise awareness about solid waste reduction." Mrs. Meloen along with the rest of the St. John's faculty, staff, students, and parents are all working together as a team to reduce their schools footprint on the environment and they are doing an excellent job. It is initiatives like these that supports their efforts in becoming a green school under the program ''Eco-Escuela.'' Congratulations St. Johns School and thanks for the invitation to participate in your schools Earth Week!

The bottles on the strings were collected by the science club during the spring semester and strung up to represent how much solid waste their school could reduce by not consuming single-use plastic water bottles.

This is one of three new solid-waste reducing super cool water fountains recently installed at St. John's School.  Students can simply drink from the spout or fill and refill their reusable water bottles as they desire. 

 

Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal effort.

SF Recycling Program Congratulates Winning Classes with Prizes and Pizza

The outreach and education component of this years reef restoration project came to a close this past week after the chapter held its final pizza party for the class that recycled the most in their school-wide recycling program.  The two schools that participated in the chapter's outreach and education program associated with this project were MAS Integrated School in Anasco and Jorge Seda Crespo in Rincon.  Recycling totals for the two schools can be seen by clicking here.  The outreach and education program began when students were exposed to the growing problem of marine debris in the ocean through educational and interactive presentations given by the chapter beginning back in October.  Then, the chapter invested $1,000 in each school's recycling program (with funding from NOAA) in the form of recycling bins, purchased from AMEC PR, to be used in the schools.  Prior to beginning the recycling programs in January, the students painted the containers with sea creatures that are threatened by marine debris to remind the students why it is important to recycle.  After those events, the chapter coordinated the pickup of the materials on a weekly basis with each schools municipality, and just to change things up, the chapter had each school compete between homerooms to see which class could not only recycle the most but also record how much they recycled.  As an incentive for their efforts, the chapter reached out to companies in the surf industry such as Rip Curl, Roxy, FCS, and Nixon, to get prizes for the class(es)/individuals that excelled in the program, recycled the most, and recorded accurate data.  These companies fully supported our goal of stimulating an inner conservation ethic amongst the students and were happy to reward them for their efforts with their great products.

The chapter is very pleased to report that the programs were a great success and we hope to implement more programs like these in other schools along the west coast and around Puerto Rico.  Below are photos from the pizza parties held for each winning class during the last two weeks of the semester.  The chapter would like to thank each school for their participation in this outreach and education program, Rip Curl, Roxy, FCS, Nixon, Oneway boardshop, and volunteers that contributed their time to help make the educational component for this year's marine debris removal and prevention program a great success.  Thanks! 

 

 

 

        

If your school is interested in participating in this type of program for the academic year of 2012/2013 please contact the chapter at salvatrespalmas@yahoo.com


Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal effort.

School-Wide Recycling Programs were a Great Success

The final tally is in!  Between both MASIS in Anasco and Jorge Seda Crespo in Rincon the schools have combined to recycle 80 (95 gallon) full containers of plastic and 39.75 (95 gallon) full containers of aluminum.  Check out the winning classes below!

MASIS                                                                             Jorge Seda Crespo

Best All Around: Class #10                                             Best All Around: Class #8


Most Plastic: Class #10                                                    Most Plastic:  Class #8

Most Aluminum:  Class #9                                               Most Aluminum:   Class #8

Most Plastic Counted:  Class #10                                     Most Plastic Counted:  Class #8

Most Aluminum Counted:   Class #9                                 Most Aluminum Counted:  Class #8


If we were to assume that single-use plastics were the only material being recycled in the schools, and the fact that a single-use plastic bottle measures ~8.5", and that 350 single-use plastic bottles fill a 95 gallon container then MASIS has recycled (33 x 350 = 115,500 bottles) and JSC has recycled (47 x 350 = 16450 bottles).  When we take the amount of bottles recycled for each school and multiple it by the length of a single bottle we get the length of the "bottle-string" the school is compiling and heading on an adventure around the island!  The MASIS bottle-string = 2.49 km and the JSC bottle-string = 3.55 km.  See the progress of each bottle-string in the image below.  Click on the image for a larger view.

Detailed counts per class are seen below. 

Congratulations to the winning classes!  This is truly an amazing effort that should be replicated at other schools around the island.

Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal effort.

Day 5; 500 tires and counting

On Friday, April 13th, 2012, the Surfrider Foundation Rincon conducted two reef restoration outings in the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve.  The first was in the morning when SF Rincon volunteer extraordinar, Angela Haynie, and her friend, Liz Muse, helped remove the 500th and 501st tire from the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve.  The first tire was removed back in 2008.  Thanks so much girls!!!

In the afternoon, Sara Caez and her friend Sandra Trujillo, San Juan locals, helped removed a lot of debris too.  They loved the towboarding!  Thanks for making the drive over from SJ to participate!!!

 We removed 7 tires, a piece of a yola, clothing, and 2 baskets full of plastic and other miscellaneous debris.

Angela amped after a nice towboard over the reef

Liz thrilled to be a part of a great cause

Sandra and Sara made the drive over from SJ to enjoy some fun in the sun.  Thanks girls!!!

Sara enjoying underwater flight

A healthy school of tangs cleanses the reef of algae

 

 

Between the morning and evening session both crews amounted to removing 7 tires, a piece of a boat hull, a basket full of clothing, and two basket fulls of plastic debris.  The reef is looking great!!

Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal effort.

Recycling Tally up to March 27th 2012

The second tally is in!  Between both MASIS in Anasco and Jorge Seda Crespo in Rincon the schools have combined to recycle 40 (95 gallon) full containers of plastic and 4 (95 gallon) full containers of aluminum.  Check out the leader board below the image!

MASIS                                                                             Jorge Seda Crespo

Best All Around: Class #2                                             Best All Around: Class #8


Most Plastic: Class #12                                                    Most Plastic:  Class #8

Most Aluminum:  multi-class tie                                        Most Aluminum:   Class #8

Most Plastic Counted:  Class #2                                       Most Plastic Counted:  Class #8

Most Aluminum Counted:   Class #2                                 Most Aluminum Counted:  Class #8


If we were to assume that single-use plastics were the only material being recycled in the schools, and the fact that a single-use plastic bottle measures ~8.5", and that 350 single-use plastic bottles fill a 95 gallon container then MASIS has recycled (22 x 350 = 7700 bottles) and JSC has recycled (18 x 350 = 6300 bottles).  When we take the amount of bottles recycled for each school and multiple it by the length of a single bottle we get the length of the "bottle-string" the school is compiling and heading on an adventure around the island!  The MASIS bottle-string = 1.66 km and the JSC bottle-string = 1.36 km.  See the progress of each bottle-string in the image below.  Click on the image for a larger view.

If you were to measure the length of plastic bottles you were to recycle how far would it stretch?  Could it stretch as far as San Juan to stress the importance of enacting a bottle bill on the island?   

Detailed counts per class are seen below. 

Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal effort.

Day 4: Spring Cleaning in Tres Palmas

On Wednesday, March 21st, 2012, two RMTP debris survey and removal outings were conducted with 2 different crews.  In the morning, the Bierce's from Ohio removed a total of 3 tires, with the afternoon crew removing 6 more.  During the morning outing David, Tom, and Cassidy accompanied me on a dive of the NW corner of the marine reserve.  We surveyed a nice portion of the area and did not find any debris.  The reef appears healthy and fish populations are beginning to slowly rebound.

The afternoon crew, Scott Cotner, Kendra Engstrom, and Celeste Pawol helped remove 6 tires, a derelict anchor, plastic debris, old rope, and boat debris.  All of these items were removed from the sandy area offshore from the shoreline reef that stretches from Calle Surf to the Black Eagle Marina.

The deepest part of the marine reserve, the northwest corner, is a bustling reef habitat with hard and soft corals, sponges, schools of fish, and an abundance of invertebrates.  

Under a ledge this mixture of grunts, parrotfish, snappers, and tangs take shelter for the day.

The Bierce's were stoked to help out!

 

The afternoon crew worked hard to remove 6 medium-sized tires and a host of other items off of the substrate.

Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal effort.

Installing Recycling Bins at the Marina and Steps Beach in Rincon

On Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 a group of volunteers helped install the first recycling bins in Rincon at the Marina and at Steps beach.  Two bins were installed at each beach and the chapter will be working with the Municipality of Rincon to monitor the effectiveness of this beach-side recycling program.  Alex, a local high school student, cleaned, painted, and prepared the barrels that were used in this effort to fulfill his community service hours necessary to graduate this spring.  Great job Alex!  The chapter would like to thank all the volunteers that came out and helped install the recycling bins! 

Alex breaks ground at the site of the recycling bins at the marina. 

 

Peter and Steve align the posts at Steps beach.

Steve and Jim position the Latas y Plastico (Cans and Plastic) recycling bin into place. 

 

These are first beachside recycling bins installed along the beach in Rincon.  One is designated for glass and the other for aluminum and plastic.  There are two more at Steps beach. 

Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal and prevention effort.