Water Babies : 3rd-Graders Take No-Nonsense Approach to Conservation

George Fedele’s third-grade class has an idea or two about saving water: Wash your car--and yourself--in the rain. You do the lathering up; the downpour does the rinsing.

If that doesn’t prove to be a popular water-thrifty notion, these Grant Elementary School pupils have another suggestion: Water police who make house calls. Unannounced.

Expanding on a mandated elementary curriculum on community awareness, Fedele has introduced the youngsters to environmental studies. They began in early March on a modest scale, picking up trash on their own Wilton Place campus in Hollywood.

Since, they have conducted an experiment showing that a pumpkin is biodegradable, have designed and painted posters that denounce water-wasters and have done some thinking about being kind to Mother Earth.

On a recent Friday, they shared with a classroom visitor their thoughts--sometimes childlike, often sage--about smog and water pollution and recycling. The exchange went like this:

Question: Who do you think is to blame for the mess we’ve made of the Earth?

Briyant Martinez, 8: George Washington? . . . Dan Quayle!

Alex Anguiano, 8: The Indians and the dinosaurs.

Sunday Be, 8: Us, the people.

Q: What can each of you do to help save water?

Mercedes Gonzalez, 8: Not leave the water dripping.

Jorge Ruiz, 9: Not let the water run when you brush your teeth.

Helen Bekele, 9: My mama always told me not to waste too much water by opening the faucet very wide.

Q: Do any of you help water the lawn at your house? How can you help save water doing that?

Alex: When it rains, you don’t have to water the lawn.

Helen: When there’s a lot of water, many people say, “I can waste water. . . .”

Q: Good point. How do you feel about people who think they can use all the water they want because they can pay for it?

Marlon Amaya, 8: Now they’re giving tickets for wasting water. Or taxes. . . .

Briyant: They should be tortured.

Marlon: No, they should be tickled with feathers.

Alex: If you waste, you go to court.

Jonathan Devera, 8: They should put police in people’s houses to watch them and see if they waste.

Teacher Fedele: Water police?

Cristofer Cierra, 8: That’s a good idea.

Armando Isaac, 8: It’s not a good idea because then they’d see you naked.

(Giggles all around.)

Fedele: How do people know how much water we use?

Briyant: They have this device for every house.

Fedele: What kind of device?

Jorge: A machine.

Fedele: Yes, but what’s it called? What are those machines you put money in when you park?

Briyant: A meter!

Q: What do you think your family pays each month for water?

Jorge: A thousand dollars.

Marlon: A dollar a gallon.

Briyant: $299. No, I don’t know. . . .

Sunday: $500 a month.

Q: Do you help wash the family car? How can you save water doing it?

Marlon: You can use a bucket.

Jorge: When it rains, wash it with the soap and let the rain rinse it.

Fedele: That’s a good idea.

(And, someone suggests, you can take a shower at the same time.)

Jonathan: Some people use Turtle Wax. . . .

Q: What’s a fair way to ration water?

Luis Garcia, 9: By how many people live in the house.

Q: There is plenty of water in the ocean. Does anyone know what we call the process for taking the salt out of water?

Briyant: Preserve?

(“Alienation,” someone offers, prompting another round of giggles. Fedele writes the word for them on the board: Desalinization.)

Q: What’s the worst thing we do to the Earth?

Jonathan: Air pollution.

Mercedes Gonzalez, 8: From cars, trucks, factories. . . .

Sunday: Water pollution.

Q: What causes water pollution?

Sunday: People. When they drink a soda, they throw it in the water.

Q: How many of you recycle?

All hands go up. It’s not mandatory in their neighborhood, but recently containers have been provided for separating glass, aluminum and plastic.

Jorge mentions that he takes cans to Vons and gets money for them.

Fedele: What can we do to help clean up the air?

Mercedes: Walk to work or ride a bicycle.

Sunday: Tell companies to make cars that have motors that don’t cause pollution.

Mercedes: They should run by sun.

Fedele: Solar energy.

Jorge: You could have battery cars.

Jose Contreras, 8: You could put pedals on them.

Briyant: Like in the Flintstones.

Q: What if we didn’t have cars at all?

Mercedes: We could ride bikes, skateboards.

Jorge: And horses.

Q: We just fought a war in the Persian Gulf, and one of the issues was oil. What should we do to make sure we always have a good supply of oil?

Jonathan: Don’t drill, because it gets in the ocean and we drink from the ocean and we can get sick and die.

Jorge: And we could not get our fish from the sea to eat. Fish has vitamins.

Q: What would each of you be willing to give up to help heal the Earth?

They would not be willing to give up fast foods, but about half of the class of 25 said they would boycott to get fast-food restaurants to stop using plastic foam boxes for hamburgers.

Q: When you go to the store with your family, do they get the groceries in plastic or paper sacks?

Both, acknowledged the majority. The class is divided on whether plastic or paper is worse.

Marlon: You’re killing trees for paper.

Brenda Andaverde, 8: You can bring your own bag.

Q: Yes. They do this in Europe.

Jose: In Mexico, too.

On one wall of the classroom is a large piece of art paper on which is written:

IF YOU WANTED TO START A NEW CITY, WHERE WOULD YOU LOCATE IT? WHY?

The children are asked to answer those questions.

Mercedes: Los Angeles, because I like to smell the ocean.

Jorge: I would build an underground city because it’s peaceful and quiet.

Cris: In space, because it’s nice and peaceful.

Jonathan: I’d put it by a river so you could have fresh water.

Alex: I’d start it in the forest, to see the animals.

Helen: Up in the clouds.

Leticia Pineda, 8: On the beach.

Jose: With Pluto.

Q: You talk about places that are peaceful and quiet. How do you feel about L.A.?

Briyant: Too noisy.

Jose: The air’s foggy. There’s a lot of people smoking.

Brenda Aeschbacher, 8: There’s a lot of gangsters.

Jonathan: I don’t like L.A. because there’s pollution and you can get sick. And when you go to the Alpha Beta, people talk too much.

Fedele: How many of you feel you don’t have enough space to play and run around?

Most hands go up.

Q: If you were Mayor Bradley, what’s the one thing you’d do to make Los Angeles a better place?

Jonathan: An arcade game in every house. You don’t have to put a coin in, you just press “start.”

Alex: I’d tell people not to gamble.

Sunday: I’d have ordinary people, if they see drug dealers, go and arrest them.

Mercedes: I’d tell people not to smoke a lot.

Jose: Give Nintendos to all the kids.