Swedish Delegation visits Dayton and the Rivers Institute

Check out this Dayton Daily News Video about the Swedish Delegation that visited Dayton last week to learn about what we are doing to protect and conserve out water resources in the region.

We enjoyed the opportunity to interact with them throughout the week, including a paddling trip down the Mad River.

FLOW

Hey guys! I was in the second group of new stews for paddling and got to see Flow last Friday (Sept. 26th). I loved it!! This was right up my ally, being an Int'l Studies/Human Rights double major. The effects of water control and water pollution are just astounding. I knew, in some countries, it was bad - but I didn't realize it was this bad. Flow was a great informational movie about those effects and definitely makes me think about the privatization of water and companies who use water (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, etc.), especially on the communities which need the water and economic benefits. I was so excited to hear how Dayton could get some great business with the aquafer, but now that I've seen Flow, I see how progress, without the check of morals and human rights, can be devastating. I think it's really important to keep in mind how much water we consume. Also, the movie reminded me of an AWESOME organization called Charity: Water (www.charitywater.org) which helps give clean water, by means of a town well or plumbing to schools etc., to third world countries. They are not in the U.S., but this is a great organization if anyone wants to check it out.

Smile! You're on River camera!

Just a few photos from paddling on Friday.

more of the Rivers Institute in the news!

Below are links to two more news articles that came across my desk this week about the Rivers Institute and the University of Dayton. Great work everyone - enjoy!

September issue of Ohio Magazine: "College Greens"

September 20, 2009 edition of Catholic Times in Columbus, Ohio

River Clean-Up w/ Phi Kappa Psi & the Ocean Conservancy

On Saturday September 26th, the Rivers Institute organized a river clean-up with the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity at RiverScape in downtown Dayton. The fraternity contacted us about potential service work revolved around the Dayton community and its rivers in August and we were happy to facilitate such an event. We were even happier when we realized it was the group's first-ever visit to RiverScape and we hope it is just the beginning to connecting them to the river and the larger Dayton community.
This clean-up was also exciting because it was the first time the Rivers Institute partnered with the Ocean Conservancy in their annual world-wide Inter-Coastal Clean-Up (ICC), to eliminate marine debris. The Rivers Institute met with the Ocean Conservancy two weeks ago, during their visit to Dayton, and realized we had a clean-up scheduled one week after their 24th annual ICC event, which takes place every third Saturday of September. The Ocean Conservancy was happy to include our clean-up and sent us data cards to fill out and submit for their annual report; the only statistical data distributed world-wide on marine debris and litter.
Our group of 20 volunteers collected over 12 bags of trash and became part of over 400,000 people, who all cleaned up litter on rivers and beaches around the world. Please take a minute to check out the Ocean Conservancy's website to learn more about the ICC and to watch the short youtube video on this year's clean up.
We are looking forward to being part of the ICC in the future and helping the Ocean Conservancy celebrate 25 years of cleaning up the world's waterways! A special thanks to Stewards, AJ Ferguson, Alex Galluzo, Dom Miller and Drew Morrison, for their time and effort spent on the clean-up....not to mention the two shopping carts Dom pulled out of the river!!!

Girls of Science at St. Albert Catholic School

Last Monday, some of our very own girls of science (Tracey Horan and Leslie King) were invited to share their enthusiasm for local geology with the Girls of Science Club at St. Albert the Great Catholic School. The club invites a different "girl of science" to share expertise and collaborate with the girls each month, and this particular month, the Rivers Institute was selected. About 15 middle school girls gathered after school to talk about water resources in the area, build a model aquifer together, learn about hypoxia, and then make posters to remind the rest of the school about the importance of water conservation. The girls were fascinated by the aspects of Dayton's water resources they had never heard of, asked great questions, and seemed excited to stump their science teachers with what they had learned! Another successful collaboration!

A little motivation

One man organized the planting of a billion trees in a single day.

And has provided for the future care of the trees.

And managed to employ 300k people living below the poverty line.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8257563.stm