The columbia river pollution education and outreach project will reduce toxic pollution in the middle columbia river basin by educating and inspiring students and community members to prevent…

The columbia river pollution education and outreach project will reduce toxic pollution in the middle columbia river basin by educating and inspiring students and community members to prevent pollution discharges. The grantee will do this by conducting youth and community pollution education and outreach through school, community, and online engagement and by educating and inspiring students and community members on sources of toxic pollution, reduction strategies, and actions to prevent pollution. This project builds on and expands RIVERKEEPER's successful columbia gorge pollution prevention outreach and education program funded by EPA in 2020 and 2021. Activities:activities to be performed during this project period include: - develop educational materials connecting threats from toxic pollution in the middle columbia to pollution prevention strategies - record and air pollution-prevention focused 'conoce TU columbia' ('know your columbia') radio show/podcasts - update RIVERKEEPER's virtual and field-based pollution education curriculum - virtual and field-based education at the nichols natural area, sharing engaging lessons on toxics in the columbia and pollution prevention - pollution education and community restoration events (virtual and along the columbia river at the nichols natural area) subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:IT is anticipated that this project will result in the following deliverables: - youth and young adult education materials including 24 social media posts, four bilingual fact sheets, 12 emails reaching over 20,000 people. The project will reach thousands of people through bilingual pollution-prevention materials tailored to the columbia river. Columbia RIVERKEEPER (RIVERKEEPER) will share the materials via the organization's website (151,000+ visits per year), social media (facebook: 25,214 followers; twitter: 5,300 followers; instagram: 5,600 followers), and email network (20,700+ contacts). - community outreach events reaching 700 community members, including six pollution prevention and restoration events (two online education events and four in-person events along the columbia river at the nichols natural area). - six radio shows and podcasts focused on priority toxics, pollution prevention, and water quality on 'conoce TU columbia' ('know your columbia'), RIVERKEEPER's bilingual radio show and podcast, which airs bimonthly on radio tierra and is available on spotify and soundcloud. - expanded virtual and filed-based curriculum modules highlighting priority toxics and pollution prevention and reduction strategies. - virtual and field-based education events at the nichols natural area, where 1200 students will learn how toxic pollution threatens the middle columbia river and strategies to reduce pollution. Expected outcomes of the project include: community members understand that toxic pollution threatens the columbia river, people, and other life that depends on the columbia and that people learn specific strategies to prevent pollution. Another outcome will be improving environmental education activities and programs and improving youth and young adult knowledge about toxic pollution with the goal of leading to changes in behavior. This project will benefit columbia river gorge communities, especially youth.