On February 7, 2025, we had an interview with Anna Bateman, the Stewardship and Development Manager of NYC H2O. NYC H2O is an organization that educates New Yorkers about the local water ecology in New York.
Anna taught us about how it’s not just important to be mindful of our waste. We should understand where all our waste is going, and how long it stays on Earth. She also said it’s important to know why we’re consuming and try to consume less. She also talked about experiences she had on the beach. Of course, she found trash, but she also found a pile of creepy mannequin legs on the shore. Sadly, she also saw dead animals stuck in plastic bags washed up onto the shore. She could see the impact of ocean pollution just by walking by the shore.
Anna thinks prevention is the most effective way to stop ocean/water pollution. For example, people can prevent trash from blowing out of trash cans, or limit how much they use or buy something that can contribute to ocean or water pollution. Things that we, normal people can do to affect this problem is beach cleanups. It’s easy to sign up for and is enjoyable(for some people).
She also told us about ways we young people can impact ocean/water pollution in the future as a job. There are many types of skills and jobs around this topic. Most people think of trash and marine debris, cleanups and marine biologists when they think of ocean pollution. But there are many more different aspects of ocean pollution, and many ways to help. Anna said it’s important to know what you’re passionate about and what skills you have and connect it to ocean/water pollution to make an impact using your skills and interests.

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On February 6, 2025, we visited the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn with Eliza and the Microplastics group(Xander, Hannah, Fox, Audrey, Taiyo).
We learned about how oysters can help the ocean. Oysters filter water and make it clear, and the clear water helps plants grow, which provides habitats for marine animals. Oysters have disappeared from New York because of pollution, dredging, and overharvesting. An organization called the Billion Oyster Project is helping restore oysters in New York Harbor.
We also learned about everyday items that can pollute our ocean and things we can use instead. Normal soap is better than antibacterial soap, because of the chemicals inside it. The chemicals will go down the drain, and into the ocean, and the chemicals can kill marine life. Regular soap works just as well to clean yourself. Powdered detergent is better than liquid detergent because it’s lighter and inside biodegradable boxes. On the other hand, liquid detergent is heavier to ship and comes in plastic bottles. We also learned that a single oil-change’s worth of motor oil dumped in the drain or gutter can pollute and ruin a million gallons of fresh water. Instead, you can go to their local auto parts store, and recycle old oil for free. When you flush old medicines down the drain, they would end up in rivers and oceans, which would damage marine life. Instead, you can return them to the pharmacy.

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On January 26, 2025, we watched a documentary on water waste. This documentary taught us that water waste is a big problem in America and that we are slowly turning it into a desert. An example of water waste is how much we use in one day. Did you know that the average American uses 300 gallons per day?

We use a lot of water in our daily lives but there are many ways to cut back on water usage. First, let’s talk about cutting back on water waste in the kitchen. To not waste as much water when cleaning dishes don’t use the sink or rinse them before using a dishwasher because those methods waste the most amount of water, so I recommend to directly put the dishes into the dishwasher so you use the least amount of water. For showering I recommend using a flow reducer to reduce water used in a shower. For sinks, you can use an aerator to reduce water usage and finally, for toilets, some models use less water when flushed. These methods can help us cut down on water waste

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For this fieldwork me and my group watched a documentary about water waste and how we can cut down on using so much water. I learned a lot about how to cut down on water usage. For example, you can just put your dishes into the dishwasher instead of rinsing them first, you can also put in toilets that flush less water down. I learned that the average American uses 88 gallons inside and 112 gallons outside. I also learned a lot about how to much water usage can effect our planet and how we live. For example, in San Francisco, because they are taking all the fresh water from the San Francisco Bay 6 species of fish are going endangered, also one side of the Hove Dam has dropped 200 feet in the last 20 years because it is being used a lot of agriculture and other things. Over all, this documentary has taught me a lot about how we can cut down water usage and why we should.

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On December 19, 2024, we had an in-house interview with our science teacher, Eliza Zygmuntowicz. We asked about what Eliza has done as a scientist relating to water and ocean pollution, and important information about our topic.

Eliza has taught about water pollution, and also has taught about green infrastructure and planting near water. She talked about how it is important to know about this topic because only a small percentage of water is drinkable, and all the fresh water is frozen in glaciers, and is not accessible.

Something we learned is that water and ocean pollution affects us by plastic breaking down and entering our bodies, which can affect our health. We also learned that loose dirt can get into fish gills, which can kill fish. A major cause of water and ocean pollution is fertilizer getting into the ocean.

Something that I personally thought important was that water and ocean pollution affects communities of color and low-income communities because of environmental racism. The resources go to high-income communities, while the negative impact goes to low-income communities. A problem relating to low-income communities and water pollution is that people made reservoirs and pushed out the people who live there.

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At 9:00 me and my group (that consists of Me, Gio, and Masami) met with our science teacher in the principles office. We all sat down and we took turns asking her questions and writing down her answers like how much you know about water/ocean pollution and what organizations are helping stop it. We learned that water is being pulled from farther and farther away so eventually we will run out of places to get clean water. I also learned that we are consuming a lor of microplastics from the water we drink every day that can affect our health. After the interview we walked out the room with new information on who to talk to for our topic and just more knowledge of our water/ocean pollution all together.

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On December 19th, 2024, we Had an interview with Eliza on water pollution how it affects us, and what can we do to help. Water Pollution affects us because we do not have many ways of accessing drinking water this is due to only a small amount of water being drinkable and fresh most of the other sources of water are frozen in glaciers making it inaccessible.

In our time with Eliza, we also learned how pollution effects us and water animals like fish. Fish get affected by pollution due to loose dirt that gets into fish gills and makes it diffuclt for them to breathe. Water pollution affects the humans due to microplastics that can get into the water or food. Microplastics are bad becuase it can get broken down in our bodies and make us sick.

During this interview Eliza talked about envoirmental racism. Enviormental racism is when Low income comunities have worse reasourses becuase of the better reasourses going to more high income comunities.

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