Camp Week 02: Water / Obtain a yield

Campers will be introduced to the importance of access to a safe water supply and ask them to uncover where their own water supply comes from and potential threats to it. We challenge them to develop strategies to tackle issues affecting their water supply. 

Your camper will:

Learn about water contamination issues (agricultural, runoff, oil pipelines), drought, and flooding

Ideate solution to some of these challenges and craft a pitch

Learn what is needed to get projects off the ground and present their implementation plan

The BAM Virtual Camps are a process that contains two journeys. One is that of the individual camper who maintains a simple garden, observes the growth and emergence that results, and will be challenged by activities, like developing strategies to reduce home water use and repurpose gray water or safely interviewing neighbors about water supply challenges. These actions force them to come face to face with their water supply. This feeds into the other journey, one of the teams that collaborate to design solutions, like a business, a social initiative, a policy, or an invention, tailored to their local communities' challenges related to water management. The group will present their "design" via live broadcast. From there, it can potentially be adopted as an actual effort by their local community. 

Here are some possible ideas that could come from this weekly process.

• A neighborhood rainwater harvesting initiative 

• Adopting or developing technology that optimizes water use 

• Encouraging local government to incentivize the adoption of water-conserving native plants on front lawns and back yards 

This journey is designed to give individuals and groups the freedom to pursue where their curiosities take them but also maintains accountability and standardized assessment in their approach to research and tackling their chosen challenge. In short, there are no right or wrong answers. The BAM coaching team are the guides on this journey, mentoring and collaborating with campers along the way, encouraging them to think more deeply and ask better questions.

Water is vital to all life on earth but access to a safe water supply is under growing threat. Nearly 1 in 4 American's drinking water comes from contaminated or untested systems. However, a recent poll by YouGov revealed that nearly half of Americans under 30 had no understanding of where their water came from. So, with sea levels on the rise and flooding incidences on the increase, our communities’ relationship with water must evolve. 

Topics Covered: Contamination Issues (Agricultural, Runoff, Oil Pipelines), Drought, Flooding