As we all know, climate change is pretty much unavoidable, but it can be contained to a certain extent. Climate change effects plants, animals and ecosystems, all in which can be found in the Narragansett Bay, here in Narragansett, Rhode Island. In order to restore and protect the Narragansett Bay, The “Save The Bay”, is a non-profit organization that promotes the ecological health of the Bay.

The thing that is so special about the Narragansett Bay is that it is part of a community. Not only is the bay home to many fish and ecosystems, but also a lot of activities are exercised on these waters as well such as; fishing, kayaking and boating. There was once a time where the bay was such a recognized body of water, and now it is barely functioning, and the main contributing factor to this problem is pollution. These waters over the years have become so dirty and polluted, its almost as if these waters are not even livable for certain wildlife anymore. Just think for a second, and picture the image of raw sewage pouring into the bay, is that right? Is that healthy to people, but most importantly the animals living in the water? The answer is no. Yes the conditions of the bay have deteriated over the past years, but there is still room for vast improvement, and there is still for people to get back to healthy fishing, swimming and sailing, but most importantly enjoying the waters of the Narragansett Bay. 

In an effort to “Save the bay”, as I already stated, the main issue that needs to be addressed is the pollution, and what we can do to control it. Narragansett in my opinion is a very close community but made up of all different types of ages. Yes, there are a lot of retirees, but there are also a lot of young people. By young people, I mean people aged anywhere from middle school too college. When it comes to maintaining the environment, young people seem to be the most careless and do the least to keep the environment clean. In order to hopefully change this, Save The Bay came up with “The Blue Water Challenge”. The blue water challenge is an opportunity for high school students in Rhode Island to get involved and make a difference in an attempt to protect the Narragansett Bay from further damage

With the Blue Water Challenge, students will compete competitively to create a public service announcement by print, audio or video. This is great because I feel like students can engage and interact with each other in a hands on matter in order to help support this great cause.  Different schools throughout the state will have an opportunity to compete, and the PSA should be designed to tell the ways that we can improve the water quality of the bay, ways to cut back on pollution and ways to conserve the water. Participants have a chance at winning $500, and Save The Bay will promote winnings to thousands of Rhode Islanders, and will participate in a live press event admiring the winning work. 

Being that young adults are the most careless when it comes to keeping our environment clean, this challenge in my opinion is a great way to sway the minds of this particular audience in efforts for a change to be made. With the Blue Water Challenge, not only do the people win, but also most importantly the bay wins. Awareness will be raised, and it will conserve and protect Rhode Island’s greatest natural resource, the Narragansett Bay.