PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Over 1200 students around the area from grades 4-12 attended the 30th Clean Water Celebration event at the Peoria Civic Center. The event educates students on ways to protect and use water for environmental conservation.
Karen Zuckerman, Chairperson for the Clean Water Celebration Navigating Committee, hopes to impact the way students interact with their environment.
“There are things that they might not have thought of, that they could do in their own lives, choices that they can intentionally make to maybe change the way that they impact the planet,” Zuckerman said.
Some students are even making a real-world impact now. A group of Pontiac Township high school students is pushing to conserve 30% of land and water by 2030.
“Our group has already established the legislation here in Illinois and our main focus is working to establish it in Michigan as well, and then throughout the United States,” said Doralyn Lee, a Pontiac Township student.
The event was highlighted by the expo, where booths demonstrated the impact of environmental conservation.
“The city of Peoria is interested in educating the public about rainfall and runoff and what the problems are, the challenges that are created with runoff, and managing runoff in the city of Peoria and the community at large,” said Eric Hansen the storm water program manager for the city.
One booth was led by John Ingles, who runs a local business called Wild Routed. It is a company specializing in eco-friendly products.
He shared what he hopes people take away from his presentation and his hopes for the future.
“Because we have so much waste it seems that trying to reduce plastics, reduce our waste both in product packaging and in the products that we make, is important,” said Ingles.
There was a keynote speaker at the event as well. Classes were available for students to learn more about the many uses of water.
