Advice From Owlie - Great Outdoors Month

ADVICE FROM OWLIE

Q: Dear Owlie,

Happy Great Outdoors Month! To celebrate, my family and I want to take a trip to the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park. We’ve never been before and were wondering if you could share some of the awesome features the park has to offer. Thank you Owlie!
Sincerely,
Great Outdoorsman

A: Dear Great Outdoorsman,

Happy Great Outdoors Month to you too(Hoo)! I always love seeing new faces in the park and would be happy to share a few of my favorite features.

1. Pipe Garden. The pipe garden is a great place to walk around and learn about the different ways to conserve water inside and outside your home.
2. Storm Drain Pipes. Located throughout the park are large storm drain pipes visitors can walk through. They’re perfect for shade on a hot, summer day and even feature educational elements.
3. Observation Tower. What once was a giant funnel to filter wastewater, the Observation Tower gives the best view of the entire 22-acre park.
4. Upside-down Boat Clarifier. The upside-down boat clarifier located at the entrance of our park was also previously used at one of our recycling plants to treat wastewater. Be sure to check out the huge replica mammoth tusk hanging from the top!
5. Watershed Bridge. The watershed bridge is a demonstration of how water falls from the top of the watershed (mountains) to the end of the watershed into the ocean (water). It is the perfect place to see some of the many ducks and birds we have up close. Make sure you’re quiet or you might scare them away!
   

I hope you and your family enjoy your time at the park! Be sure to maintain health and safety guidelines while you visit, but most importantly have fun being in the great outdoors!

Talk to you all soo(HOO)n!

Owlie

Advice From Owlie - At-Home Activities

ADVICE FROM OWLIE

Q: Dear Owlie,

I’ve been spending a lot of time at home recently in order to keep myself and those around me safe during this time, but I’m running out of fun activities to do around the house. Are there any fun activities you do that you can share with me? Thanks, Owlie!

Sincerely,

Safer At Home

A: Dear Safer At Home,

You’ve come to the right place! There are a lot of fun, safe activities that I’d love to share with you. To start, if you’ve ever been on one of our Water Discovery Field Trips, you definitely know how awesome they are. Luckily for us, a few of the education activities we do on the field trips are now posted on our website! So, even if you haven’t had a chance to experience a Water Discovery Field Trip yet, you can still take advantage of the fun activities that are offered. Learn about the different birds in the park with Bird Bingo, the parts and functions of plants with Plant Factory and all about aquifers and groundwater with Edible Aquifer (my favorite!) all from the comfort of your own home!

You can also unleash your inner artist by following this awesome new video for a step-by-step process on how to draw a sketch of me! It’s a great way to pass the time and is suitable for all ages, so definitely make sure to check it out and don’t forget to tag me in all of your masterpieces on our @ChinoCreekWetlands and @IEUAWater Instagram pages! But most importantly, remember to have fun and stay safe!

Talk to you all soo(HOO)n!

Owlie

Advice From Owlie - Earth Day

ADVICE FROM OWLIE

Q: Dear Owlie,

I love attending the Earth Day celebration at the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park with my family and friends every year. Even though there won’t be an Earth Day celebration this year, I want to keep my pledge to be an environmental steward. Can you help me think of ways I can do so? Thanks Owlie!

Sincerely,

Eco Hero

A: Dear Eco Hero,

I love celebrating Earth Day at the Wetlands, too! I am so happy to hear you are still honoring your pledge. Here are seven easy ways you can keep your promise to be an environmental steward while still saying safe at home:

1. Properly recycle paper, plastic, glass and electronics.  
2. Use water wisely! Run only full loads of laundry or dishes, turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth and fix any household leaks. 
3. Decrease your carbon footprint by walking or riding your bike as an alternate means of transportation. It’s a great way to get some fresh air and exercise!
4. Conserve energy by turning off all lights and fans when leaving a room.  
5. Use reusable shopping bags for trips to the store.
6. Pick up after your pets to prevent any unwanted material from ending up in our oceans.
7. Spread the word! Encourage others to do their part to make every day Earth Day!

I look forward to seeing you at next year's Earth Day celebration. Until then, stay safe and don't forget to celebrate Earth Day’s 50^th Anniversary on April 22!

Talk to you all soo(HOO)n!

Owlie

Advice From Owlie - National Skip the Straw Day

ADVICE FROM OWLIE

Q: Dear Owlie,

I heard National Skip the Straw Day is this month and I really want to participate! I want my friends to participate too, but they don’t know if they should. Do you have any information I could share with them to convince them to participate? Thank you!

Sincerely,

Straw Saver

A: Dear Straw Saver,
You’ve come to the right place! National Skip the Straw Day is an annual holiday that occurs on the fourth Friday in February. The holiday was founded in 2017 by a group of Michigan students called the Coral Keepers, and it’s a great reminder of the importance of eliminating the use of single-use plastic in our everyday lives.

Did you know each year the U.S. uses enough straws to wrap around the Earth 2.5 times and fill 127 school buses daily! Straws are also non-biodegradable and non-recyclable, and even if they’re burned, their plastic releases toxic chemicals into the air. However, most straws end up on the ground where they stay for around 400 years. This means that every straw that anyone has ever used still exists today, polluting beaches and rivers, and harming sea life such as turtles, fish and seabirds.

It’s so important to help by reducing the use of single-use plastic and picking up any litter and properly throwing it away. Reusable straws and bags are great alternatives, too. So, break free from plastic and tell your friends and family to remember to skip the straw on February 28!

Talk to you all soo(HOO)n!
Owlie

Advice From Owlie - Pollution

ADVICE FROM OWLIE

Q: Dear Owlie,

Happy New Year! I love going to the beach with my family, so my New Year’s Resolution is to do my part to reduce the amount of pollution in our oceans. Do you have any tips for me to do so? I’d love to share them with my family too! Thanks so much!

Sincerely,

Pollution Solution

A: Dear Pollution Solution,

I’d love to help with your New Year’s Resolution. Did you know there are two different types of pollution? The first type is point-source pollution. Point-source pollution is easy to identify because it comes from a single place. The second type of pollution is nonpoint-source pollution. This type of pollution generally comes from runoff or rain, but its origin is hard to track down because it can come from many places, all at once.

To help prevent pollution, recycle whenever possible. Items such as plastic bags, plastic bottles, and straws are extremely harmful to our oceans and the animals in them, so remember to throw away your trash and recycle when you can. Reusable bags and straws are great alternatives! Another tip I have is to pick up after your pets. Animal waste (A.K.A. POOP!) can end up in the ocean after it rains, so always pick up after your pets to prevent dirtying our ocean water. The last tip I have is to spread the word! Just about anyone can contribute to a cleaner, safer ocean for ourselves and our oceanic friends.

I look forward to sharing more advice with you all in the upcoming year. Happy 2020!

Talk to you soo(HOO)n!
Owlie

Advice From Owlie - Duckweed

ADVICE FROM OWLIE

Q: Dear Owlie,

My family and I just visited the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park. We had such a great time getting to see all the different animals and are planning to revisit soon! While we were there, we noticed something green floating on the water in some of the ponds. It looked like moss or algae, but we weren’t sure of what it was. Any chance you could help us out? Thanks Owlie!

Sincerely,

Keen on Green

A: Dear Keen on Green,

I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed your visit! I can definitely answer your question. What you saw in the water is called duckweed. Duckweed is a type of aquatic plant that floats on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of water. They are the smallest known type of flowering plant, no more than ¼ of an inch long and reproduce by budding. Some duckweed can also produce a specialized bud called a turion, causing the plant to sink to the bottom when it’s cold and grow once again when it’s warm. This explains why you only saw duckweed in some of the ponds and not all of them!

Duckweed is also really important to our wetlands. Waterfowl, such as the ducks and birds at our park, love to eat it! Duckweed also helps to purify the water by absorbing any excess nitrogen and phosphate and even prevents algae growth – so our animals are swimming in some pretty clean water!

Hopefully you can share this information with your family and come back to check out the duckweed again!

Talk to you soo(HOO)n!

Owlie

Advice From Owlie - Photo Contest Announcement

ADVICE FROM OWLIE

Attention all park-goers: The Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park is hosting its very first Instagram photo contest and the winner will receive a gift bag filled with awesome prizes!

Photo submissions will be accepted starting Saturday, December 7^th until Tuesday, January 7^th. Only one photo is allowed per person, per account AND you must be 18 or older to enter.

Entering is easy, all you need to do is:

1. Take a picture in the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park. (It can be of yourself, your family, an animal, or even a plant!)
2. Post your photo to Instagram with the hashtag #ccwphotocontest and tag us (@chinocreekwetlands) in your photo
3. Follow @chinocreekwetlands on Instagram (We’ll be posting important updates and announcements regarding the contest!)

Once the submission period has ended, all the photos will be featured on our Instagram story where the public will vote within a 24-hour period for their favorite photo – so make sure to tell your friends and family to vote! The winner will be announced and contacted via Instagram on Tuesday, January 14^th.

I can’t wait to see all your photos! My advice: head over to the park and enter before it’s too late!

Talk to you all soo(HOO)n!

Owlie