I thought it was really cool that this article is only from a few months ago because it shows how recent this development happened and how the issue of water pollution after a storm is still very relevant in New York. To read that 30 billion gallons of raw sewage and polluted storm water are discharged from hundreds of pipes into local waterways each year was pretty surprising because you’d think that if it’s that prevalent we’d be building infrastructures like this playground on a more regular basis. I really liked how because the project was done on school property, it was able to serve as an educational tool as well as one that fights water pollution. It became a school project sort of and the students had to learn about sewer overflows and visit a playground that had already been renovated. They participated in design workshops and had to devise a list of both absorbent and recreational items.
Rather than just having the project not concern the students at all, I think it’s really cool that the kids were able to be fully aware of why this construction project was happening and what function this new playground is intended to serve. As one of the teachers from the school mentioned, the playground is not only serving to minimize storm water runoff, but also serves as it’s own little ecosystem. If the kids see projects like this going on first hand it’s something they’ll remember in the future and hopefully support when they’re adults.
PS: The third grader that said“I’m excited about the grass so we can just lay down and relax during recess. Before it was concrete, and you would scrape yourself” made my heart melt. I hope he doesn’t get scraped again.
