  |
Information for Adults
Press Room
Action For Nature in the Media
BOY, 13, IS HONORED AS POLLUTION WATCHDOG
Thursday, July 28, 2005
By Michele Jurich, San Jose Mercury News
David Marash-Whitman, 13, of Saratoga has received an award for his advocacy for the protection of creeks and Bay Area water from pollutants poured down household drains.
David is one of nine students ages 9 to 16 to receive the 2005 International Young Eco-Hero Award, presented annually by Action For Nature, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco.
Seven of the winners are from the United States; other winners are from India and Kenya.
David first contacted Cheri Donnelly of the West Valley Clean Water Program when he was a seventh-grader working on his science project called "Ecotoxicology of Storm-Water Pollution."
At that time, Donnelly told him which pollutants were of most concern to the West Valley Clean Water Program.
David studied motor oil, paint products, garden chemicals and pool/spa cleaning agents that are washed daily into storm drains by rain and other runoff and flow untreated to the creeks and the bay, endangering wildlife.
He then made presentations about the problem to the water group, which includes representatives from Campbell, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga, as well as to community organizations.
The award ceremony for the student at Kehillah Jewish High School in San Jose was held July 19 at the Monte Sereno City Hall.
For more information on Action for Nature, including applications for the 2006 awards, see www.actionfornature.org.
Copyright © 2005 San Jose Mercury News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission.
AFN contact information:
Action For Nature
2269 Chestnut Street, #263
San Francisco, CA 94123
USA
E-mail: awards@actionfornature.org