New Portland Chapter Exec members Ryan Cruse and Nastassja Pace volunteered at this years Children's Clean Water Festival where over 1,100 fourth and fifth graders came to learn about water-related issues. At the Surfrider exhibit kids got to dig and sift through sand and objects from local Oregon beaches. Sand is made up of tiny bits of everything that is found on the beach. Objects found can be grouped into evidence of: plant life, animal life, humans and non-living materials. The children identified the evidence and learned about the detrimental effects humans are having on coastal ecosystems with plastics becoming ubiquitous. For the restless ones we also had a scavenger hunt, and the kids got to search the grounds for the more environmentally friendly alternatives to the single-use plastic bag, water bottle, and lunch container. Kids seemed to leave the event with a new perspective on conserving water and decreasing pollution! See KATU's post about the event.