It was clear Friday that many St. John school students got the Earth Day message not to litter. At least a half dozen said they learned not to put trash on the ground.
“I put it in a trash can,” Kiahra Boynes, 10, and a Julius E. Sprauve School student, said when asked what she does with her trash.
Students from several St. John schools started Earth Day by parading their way behind the red-shirted Litter Critter from the Winston Wells Ballfield to the V.I. National Park Ballfield in the annual V.I. Waste Management Authority Litter Stomp. Carrying poster with various anti-litter and Earth Day messages, they sent a clear message that they weren’t putting up with any litter.
“Garbage is not good for the world,” Guy Benjamin School student Jada JnPhillip, 6, said.
Sprauve School students created a rap song to sing about the earth.
“Look at those trees, they’re real dry now,” they sang.
Organizations, government agencies and people set up shop around the park ballfield to get more than just the anti-litter message to the students at the annual Friends of the Park Earth Day Environmental Fair.
“We’re celebrating Mother Earth. We do this to help educate and make kids more aware of the relationship between them and Mother Earth,” Friends President Joe Kessler said.
Students from Gifft Hill School were on hand to explain the harmful affects of sunscreen on coral reefs.
“There’s a certain chemical – oxybenzone – that kills corals,” Kanika Liburd, 17, said, adding that other chemicals in sunscreen were also harmful to corals.
There are sunscreens available without chemicals that hurt corals, and Liburd suggested they be used instead.
Gifft Hill also had a team from its garden program ready to show younger students the ins and outs of gardening.
V.I. Water and Power Authority microbiologist Tunda Meyers was giving students a look at bacteria through a microscope.
“That’s E. coli,” she said, discussing a common bacteria that causes problems when ingested.
Delry “Ital” Anthony, who uses natural seeds and materials to create art pieces, explained to the students the uses of various things on his table.
“Anybody know anything about this? It’s a baobab tree,” he said.
The V.I. Energy Office’s Don Buchanan entertained the students with a solar car, but he had a message he wanted them to hear.
“Our focus is to talk to the kids about global climate change and how it relates to energy issues,” he said.
The St. John Community Foundation was on hand with its bottle toss game to set students on the path to recycling. However, Sprauve School student Joel Ojeda, 11, already got the message.
“If you recycle, the earth is going to be paradise,” he said.
