Water is unquestionably the world’s most precious resource. It is the one thing that no living being can survive without.
That is why the Bakersfield College geology club and MESA have joined together to inform students of water conservation.
“Odyssey: The Journey of Water” is a project that the two clubs have designed to educate the students and faculty of Bakersfield College about water’s past and its future.
“We just want to get information out about where water comes from and our conservation efforts for it. We want to raise information about bottled water and how that effects our environment,” said Chris Ballard, geology major and member of the geology club.
“Because plastic takes so long to break down and with the increase of bottled water, if everyone drinks one bottle of water a day, we’re filling up our land space and killing our landfills with all the plastic.”
Michelle Vallejos, also a geology major, said that all bottled water is simply purified?tap water with added minerals.
“A lot of people get confused because they think that the mountains or pictures on the bottles that brands such as Aquafina and Dasani define that the water comes from a spring or natural source. In reality, all it is, is purified tap water,” she said. “The FDA controls how bottled water is controlled and the levels of minerals in it, but the EPA controls the levels of minerals in tap water, and they are actually much stricter than the FDA’s regulations. So, in reality, tap water is better for you.”
According to Natalie Bursztyn, geology club adviser, the clubs began this project in the middle of last semester, and they have sent letters and brochures to local schools to inform and educate them about the water crisis.
With the help of BC digital art students, they have also created a website http://www2.bakersfieldcollege.edu/mesah2o/ where anyone can look up information concerning the water cycle, water conservation tips, Kern River history and can also download any posters, brochures as well as the presentations and lesson plans that the geology club has created. Ballard said that if he could get any point across to students it would be to “think about what they are doing. Make a conscious effort to really think about what you are doing to the environment.”
According to Vallejos, the simple tips are the best ones. There are things that students can do that they usually don’t think about doing, but doing these things can save water in the long run. “A lot of students keep the water on while brushing their teeth. It’s a hard habit to break, I know, and even though it’s something that most of us do not even think about, turning off the faucet will save a lot of water.”
If anyone is interested in helping out, they can visit the Web site or the geology club’s facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27375030846 for more information, said Bursztyn.