SAMOHI — Santa Monica High School Students and their families have collected and sorted approximately 100,000 recyclables since 2008, raising $5,000 to purchase water-purifying systems for kids in underdeveloped countries.
Benjamin Kay, a teacher at Samohi and coach of student group Team Marine, said money raised went to Water Solutions For Life, an organization dedicated to promoting water conservation and to providing water to those who need it around the world. The group uses the cash generated by recycling to purchase LifeStraws, which are portable water purifiers which last for up to a year. They can filter up to 264 gallons of water, removing bacteria and parasites that can make people sick and sometimes kill.
"This year we've already raised almost $1,000," Kay said in an e-mail to supporters. "You can save lives too and help the environment by recycling."
Kay urged those who are interested in helping to drop off recyclables to room S107 at Samohi or request a pick up by Team Marine members. Learn more at www.teammarine.org.
About 2.6 billion people — half the developing world — lack even a simple "improved" latrine and 1.1 billion people have no access to any type of improved drinking source of water, according to the World Health Organization. Roughly 1.6 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera, attributable to a lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and 90 percent of these are children under 5, mostly in developing countries.
kevinh@www.smdp.com
