NAACP youth explore clean water issues

Members of the Lower Sussex and Milford/Slaughter Neck NAACP Youth Councils hosted a Clean Water Workshop April 14 in the Milton Public Library. The educational event, facilitated by environmental advocates Kit Zak and Trish Baines, touched on subjects ranging from pollution to public policy.

The NAACP considers environmental justice a human and civil rights issue, so participants were eager to study the effects of pollution on the environment throughout the world and close to home. Key findings of Delaware’s Task Force on Clean Water include several startling statistics. According to the 2015 report, “More than 90 percent of Delaware’s rivers, streams, bays and ponds are polluted.” In addition, it says, “There is a $100 million annual shortfall to address the state’s water quality needs.”

At the end of the workshop, Baines handed out plastic water bottles and reusable grocery bags. She, Zak and the young activists also worked on postcards stressing the importance of environmental justice, to be sent to local political leaders. The youngsters also pledged to practice what they learned and to educate peers about the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle. They agreed to use their new water bottles, refilling them with tap water instead of purchasing single-use plastic water bottles. Though these are small acts by a small group, workshop participants said they were making a positive impact and proactively addressing the issues of waste reduction and clean water in the First State.