Learn About the Water Drop Patch

The importance of environmental education for children and young adults goes without saying.  Perhaps many of you have had early childhood experiences that inspired you to care for our natural resources.  My early childhood experience began in elementary school, with an environmental educator at our local nature center.  Regardless of how you became interested and whether or not your community has an environmental educator or nature center, there are many learning opportunities widely available that can foster environmental stewardship.

Prairie Rivers Network has been helping to create learning tools that promote a sense of stewardship for Illinois’ rivers and streams.  Along those lines, last month we held the first of a series of trainings for girl scout leaders to familiarize them with an adapted form of the Girl Scouts Water Drop Patch.  The existing Water Drop Patch program was originally developed by the U.S. EPA and Girl Scouts USA at the national level to teach girls how to become watershed stewards.  PRN tailored the program to address Illinois' rivers and streams and their local watershed issues.  Resources and alternative activity ideas were included in the guide to aide leaders in working with girls to earn the Water Drop Patch, allowing girls to explore their watershed and local streams.

Regardless of whether you are associated with the Girl Scouts, this guide is a great tool for anyone interested in clean water and healthy communities.  It provides suggestions for volunteer and river conservation activities in your community and can lead to partnerships between watershed groups and interested scout troops or others to address local water issues.  Activities that fulfill patch requirements include river clean ups, storm drain stenciling, and rain garden planting.  These are things all of us can do to protect our river communities.