I was at a booth at Miami River Day at Lummus Park on Saturday, where kids and parents circled the booths to get stars so they could get a gift. The question I asked, so the kids could earn a star, was: "Where does Miami-Dade drinking water come from?" Out of all the kids and and all the parents, only one parent knew that the water came from underground: The Biscayne Aquifer. Most of the parents thought drinking water came from rivers (the hopelessly polluted Miami River?) and most of the kids thought our drinking water came from the ocean. Hmmm. The River Day kids couldn't make the connection that water had to seep underground. When I asked them where the water would have a better chance to seep underground, 1) on the road, or 2) on the dirt, about half thought the pavement would do a better job. Hmmm yet again. Let's continue teaching to the FCAT, boy, is that working well for our kids! The children aren't taught how lucky we are to have an aquifer here in Miami-Dade, and the Everglades, to supply them with drinking water.On a brighter drinking water note, we are saving 34,000,000 million gallons of our precious water a day, since 2007, according to Miami Dade Water and Sewer. They attribute the saving to 1) Conservation, 2) Irrigation restrictions, 3) New construction standards and 4) Lack of population growth.
6 comments:
Surely there are few communities in this country with less environmental awareness than ours. Our politicians and so-called "leaders" stand foremost among the ignorant.
Aside from the kids' (and their parents') lack of understanding about where our drinking water comes from, it was nice to see a decent turnout for River Day and the hundreds of people who toured the river.
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Yes, M over 1,000 people took a free boat ride down the river.
better stick to the important stuff, like Q's bout tiger woods
HAHAHA this is my favorite post. I have to say that this is the perfect blend of sarcasm and intelligence. I'm upset that I missed the event, mainly because I wish I could have answered your question correctly & allowed you to regain a spark of hope for humanity.
I looked up your blog as part of my job, but I think that I'll probably be a frequent reader now!
Speaking of the Water and Sewer Department, are they still pumping all of our sewage one mile offshore?
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