ENVIRONMENT
Port St. Lucie Magazine 17
Participants learn how to use environmentally
safe methods to take care of their home or yard.
They will learn about the history and ecology
of the wetlands and waterways, find out what
the local governments are doing to improve the
health of the rivers and lagoon and learn how
they can help to create a better future for the
lagoon and its tributaries.
Graduates can take the Water Champions
Captains course to learn to be leaders so that
they can begin teaching others. For example, a
captain might man a booth at a festival or speak
at homeowner association gatherings.
“For the Love of Florida,” a series of talks at
the Port St. Lucie Community Center by experts
who bring humor and anecdotes along with easily
understood science, is open to all who want
to learn more.
PROPERTY PROTECTION
Other Water Champions components include
demonstrations — for example, how to make a
rain garden to allow water to percolate downward
after a rain — and volunteer projects of all
kinds, from helping with landscaping to removal
of unwanted vegetation in sensitive areas.
Next season, probably starting in October,
Oxbow will feature training in specific topics to
match the interests of participants. Algae blooms
are a good example, says Erin Cartmill, one of
the Oxbow staffers who is helping to develop >>
A life-size diorama inside the Oxbow education center is used for teaching. Here, a curious
fish looks at a manatee.
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