Students and public works collaborate to keep one small city (and the rest of the world) clean

Michael Soares

English Teacher and Newspaper Advisor Pontiac Township High School City of Pontiac, Illinois

teenager begins to spray paint on a Pontiac, Ill., city street. Vandalism? An act of illicit graffiti art? Quite the opposite. In fact, hundreds of teenagers over the years have been excused from the classroom to spread across the community and spray paint with the blessing of Chris Brock, Pontiac Street Superintendent. One of a series of innovative programs emanating from Pontiac Township High School (PTHS), the Storm Sewer Stenciling Project has found students and staff coordinating with the City of Pontiac Public Works, junior high schools, local businesses, and various departments inside the high school including science and art to raise water pollution awareness and other environmental concerns. Pontiac, home to a working landfill which according to the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) is the “largest with a remaining capacity of almost 233 million tons,” has produced students inspired to create and implement multiple eco-minded programs besides the stenciling project, including battery and light bulb recycling and perhaps most successful of all, the National Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program (P2D2) which developed legislation signed into law by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn in August 2011 and also placed third in the international Volvo Adventure Award contest cosponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The sewer never sleeps

Throughout the community, grates in Pontiac lead into a sewer system which never sleeps—an infrastructure which dwells beneath the city and runs its course oblivious to the world above. Students at PTHS have recognized that what makes its way into this system fundamentally impacts the environment and they have taken extraordinary steps to counteract these changes. According to Paul Ritter, science teacher at PTHS and president of the Illinois Science Teachers Association, “the stenciling project is specifically focused on Central Illinois’ attempts to reduce or eliminate Non-Point Source (NPS) pollution by having students stencil warnings on storm sewer drains. Each year, students stencil approximately 3,600 storm sewer drains with the warning ‘Do Not Dump/Drains Into Our Vermillion River.’ By spreading this message on every storm sewer drain in our area, they hope to illustrate the connections among humans, their actions, and the pollution we see every day in and along the river. They also hope to promote environmental stewardship as each community sees visible improvements in their drinking and recreational water quality, taking responsibility for the future of both their community and their health.” Continues Ritter, “The student-led project focuses attention on this issue, which combines the energy and enthusiasm of our Pontiac Junior High School eighth grade and my Ecology students, with the resources and capabilities of our local community and agencies to increase public awareness and action on NPS pollution.”

Collaboration with City Government

Inspired by the success of the community-wide efforts of the storm project, Ritter took other causes to his students, including the Dry Cell Battery/Light Bulb Recycling which was initiated with help of Brock, who testified along with students to Pontiac’s city council about the successful drop-off recycling boxes located on the city’s Public Works Department’s property, cell phone recycling opportunities, and the promotion of recycling in Livingston County. Brock, whose role as Street Superintendent has long included being a liaison between student groups and the mayor, “advises students on various city policies and works with them on preparing different presentation to the city council.” Brock was quick to recognize the potential of social action for education in Pontiac, citing not merely the environmental benefits, but also the impact of student interaction with community and government. Says Brock, “In this day and age when people generally think government is against them, we have taught these students that by working with their elected officials and public servants, things can happen and change.”

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The rise of P2D2

Groundwork for P2D2 began with the speculation of what one should do with expired and unused pharmaceuticals. Not wanting to simply dump the drugs down the drain, and suspecting that they would eventually make their way to the water supply, Ritter took the problem to his classroom and invited his Ecology students to brainstorm solutions. Ritter and his students began to uncover what he describes as “startling information pertaining to the effect of pharmaceuticals on the quality of drinking water around the world.” According to the P2D2 website, students “found that scientists with the United States Geological Society have detected drugs such as antibiotics, anti-depressants, birth control pills, seizure medication, cancer treatments, pain killers, tranquilizers, and cholesterollowering compounds in varied groundwater sources.” They were even more troubled when research revealed that wastewater treatment methods in local facilities were never intended to remove such chemicals and in fact were incapable of doing so, concerning scientists that “in humans, the chemicals in our water supply could increase rates of breast, testicular, and prostate cancer, as well as lower sperm counts and disrupt hormones.” Based in the evidence, it was clear that the safe disposal of prescription drugs was not currently a viable option. Ritter and his students became determined to change that and set about creating a program that would provide this service, setting into motion a phenomenon which would ultimately spread across the United States and even draw interest from abroad.

P2D2 becomes state law

Billing itself as “a collaborative effort between communities, local pharmacies, police departments, hospitals, city officials, students, and more,” the P2D2 program turned the students’ dream into reality. With the help of city administrators like Brock, local pharmacies were convinced to allow customers to bring in unused prescription drugs. Likewise, police stations opened up their doors, using retired and repurposed mailboxes to safely and securely serve as drop-off receptacles. Effectively, those dropping off unused prescriptions could be confident that instead of going into the water supply, their drugs would be sent to an eco-friendly facility

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signs Bill 2056 with Pontiac Township High School students (photo credit: Megan Bozarth)

where they would be responsibly incinerated which in turn would create clean energy to be harnessed and used elsewhere.

In reaction to their success, Ritter and his students developed relationships with media outlets to increase exposure for P2D2, propelling the program beyond Livingston County and even statewide. Other PTHS faculty members were enlisted for their expertise, including Megan Bozarth, a social studies teacher who guided her honors students in written appeals to representatives and senators in support of bills concerning the funding P2D2 efforts. This legislation placed an additional $20 fine on illegal drug possession convictions in Illinois, funding the shipment of unused prescription drugs collected to the

incineration facilities at no cost to the taxpayers. The bills passed unanimously through the Illinois House in the spring of 2011 and eventually made their way to the governor’s desk. On August 24, 2011, Gov. Quinn signed Bill 2056 next to the Chicago River and in the presence of Ritter, Bozarth, and the students who made a small-town program a statewide phenomenon.

Legacy

As Pontiac’s homegrown programs continue, P2D2 in particular has continued to attract high profile media coverage. Ritter and five PTHS students traveled to Sweden in early June to compete in the Volvo Adventure Awards. The competition, in conjunction with UNEP, invited twelve groups from among many nations to present their innovative and groundbreaking eco-conscious programs for a “greener future.” The P2D2 team, already named first in the U.S., returned home as third-place world champions. Here at home, the program has expanded across the country, having been adopted in twentytwo states including Alaska and Hawaii. In Pontiac, the impact of these programs has a strong local resonance, prompting Brock to reflect, “I also find it amazing with the different efforts that have been brought forth from the students is that these projects that have been presented to our community and have been embraced, rely on very little in the way of public funds… the effort they have made and accomplished is remarkable.”

For more information about P2D2 see www.p2D2program.org or contact Paul Ritter at (815) 8446113. Pontiac Street Superintendent Chris Brock can be reached at (815) 844-5025 or Chris.brock@pontiac. org. Landfill Information Source:

www.environmentalistseveryday. org/publications-solid-wasteindustry-research/information/faq/ municipal-solid-waste-landfill.php

Michael Soares lives in Bloomington, Ill., and has taught at Pontiac Township High School since 1997. He is the editor for P2D2 and has published several articles about successful programs created at PTHS. He can be reached at (815) 844-6113 or soaresm@pontiac.k12.il.us.