Students Reducing Stormwater Runoff Pollution The North Carolina Coastal Federation works with students to help reduce the amount of polluted stormwater runoff entering our coastal waters. By teaming up with schools all along the coast, we design, build, plant and maintain rain gardens on their campuses and in their communities when funding and availability allows.…
Students and volunteers help us build and monitor living shorelines up and down the coast. These projects allow students to connect with nature while participating in hands-on restoration efforts. Groups learn about why living shorelines are important as well as what types of creatures call them home. Living Shorelines 101 Living shorelines are a method…
Our educators occasionally conduct professional development trainings for formal K-12 classroom teachers. Public school teacher training programs serve as opportunities for enriched learning and reinforcement of crucial lessons. The Coastal Federation’s educators are experts in teaching about watersheds and the importance of the estuary through hands-on techniques. Working jointly with the N.C. Center for the…
EarthWise, as it’s called, started with a seed — first planted in the imagination of an old man and then in the soil by his children. The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s small community farm that then sprouted is at the end of a dirt road, near Bogue Sound in Carteret County. People come down the…
Teaching Students with Oysters Most folks enjoy eating oysters — but students working with the North Carolina Coastal Federation like to also learn about why oysters are so valuable to the environment. The federation’s multifaceted Oyster Education Program connects students to the coast using the oyster in the classroom and in the field. The classroom…
Brunswick County Habitat for Humanity In 2015, the federation worked with Brunswick County Habitat for Humanity to install low-impact development techniques in its homes. Habitat for Humanity also partnered with the Brunswick County Cooperative Extension, Winding River Garden Club, Coastal Garden Club, UNC-Wilmington students and the U.S. Coast Guard. In new and existing homes, these…
What’s all the fuss about a little rain? When rain falls on hard surfaces such as parking lots, roads and rooftops it is not absorbed into the ground. Instead this “stormwater runoff” along with water from sprinklers and home car washes collects pollutants such as pet waste, auto fluids, sediment, fertilizers and pesticides and flows…
