The children who live across the street are collecting items for people in West Virginia whose lives have been disrupted by a chemical spill that poisoned their drinking water. The collection is sponsored by their elementary school. They are asking for things like bottled water (of course), cleaning wipes, waterless toothbrushes, paper plates and cups, no-rinse shampoo, and food products that don't require water.
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Items We Donated |
This project sounds like a good learning experience because the students are not only enjoying a way to help others, but are also seeing how water, which we usually take for granted, is important to protect and how we depend on it for many things, such as drinking, cooking, cleaning, and bathing.
Although the chemical spilled into the Elk River a month ago, many people still don't have water that's clear and palatable. Not much is known about the safety of MCHM, and it has proven difficult to completely flush out from pipes. Some 300,000 people were affected including the population of Charleston, the state capital.
A
thoughtful article on remediation is at Green Risks, and a charity accepting Paypal donations is
Aurora Lights. I've been following the story with interest because West Virginia is a neighboring state and I've been there many times.