CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Students are learning the importance of resource conservation and being good stewards to the planet during an annual Earth Day event.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) hosted its annual Earth Day Celebration at the Clay Center in Charleston Tuesday, which brought in dozens of elementary school students from various counties across the state to get educated about the environment through multiple activities.

Third grade student Reagan Workman said she was learning about ways to save energy and conserve water.

“Using solar energy can help to not waste, but also, getting water sometimes from rain to water your plants can like save water,” she said. 

Workman was at one of the various stations set up outside of the Clay Center Tuesday getting to participate in a hands-on activity about solar energy.

“I was pressing this button on this race track powered by solar energy, and it was like going around and around the longer I held it,” Workman said.

Another third grade student Case Kirk said he liked learning about the different functions of the earth’s various ecosystems.

“About how like animals and the earth can process its stuff and break down and recycle,” Kirk said.

Both students were from Midway Elementary School in Lincoln County.

DEP Project Wet Coordinator at Tuesday’s event, Tomi Bergstrom was on-hand at one of the various learning stations teaching the students about wetland habitats, specifically how wetlands filter and reduce pollution in the earth’s groundwater and neighboring streams, as well as on the diversity and adaptability of the plants and animals that live in wetlands.

She said she was glad to see her presentation was garnering a lot of interest from the students, who may have not been aware of what wetlands specifically are and the value they have on the planet.

“It’s surprising how much they know of these areas already but they haven’t connected the dots of where these animals actually live at, how they are connected to each other, how water is an integral part to that connection of having a healthy ecosystem they can explore,” Bergstrom said.

In Bergstrom’s presentation to students Tuesday, she told them that there are only about 6% of wetlands on the entire planet, and they are also referred to as “the kidneys of Mother Earth,” because they filter out so much pollution from the ecosystems.

She said she hopes this lesson will inspire the students to take care of these ecosystems in the long-term.

“I want them to value these areas and you know, maybe grow up to be a scientist who studies them, or maybe grow up to be a park ranger that helps manage them for the public to access and recreate at,” said Bergstrom.

The event was met with various other exhibitors as well, such the DEP’s Youth Environmental Program (YEP), Watershed Improvement Branch, Division of Air Quality and Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP), the Division of Natural Resources, the U.S Forest Service, among others.

DEP Youth Environmental Program Director Annette Hoskins said this event has been being hosted by the DEP for around two decades now, and it sets a strong example for the children.

“It’s just a good educational day to let them know that Earth Day is everyday, that we can do something everyday to help our environment and our communities,” Hoskins said.