Brooker Creek Preserve
"It's kind of sad, but it makes you want to do something about it."
"It is amazing, beautiful and fun! You will leave with a different perspective on our world and what you can do to help!"
"A wonderful journey to bring awareness to cleaning up our waterways from discarded plastic."
Pop-Up Show Visitors
Brooker Creek Preserve
March 2 - 11, 2017
Tour Host
Brooker Creek Preserve in Tarpon Springs is part of an expansive Pinellas County parks and preserves system. Surrounded by dense development, the Preserve provides a unique opportunity to access and enjoy the natural beauty of Florida in an urban setting
The Pop Up Show was exhibited at the award-winning Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center. Nestled amid a wetland forest alongside Brooker Creek, it is a calm respite from the traffic and noise.
Hiking and equestrian trails provide visitors an opportunity to explore the Preserve’s many ecosystems. In a one-mile loop you can experience three very different ecosystems, see bald eagles feed their babies and watch otter play.
So much great space - lots of angles. Where to put what?
Transformation!
But the most fun was playing with the kids!
Fourth grade classes from neighboring schools played the Splash Trash Treasure Hunt finding the answers to questions about trash in our oceans and what they can do to make a difference.
They all won - smart kids!
Although we were only open seven-days, we had more than than 900 visitors and 143 written commitments to adopt a new action that will reduce trash in the ocean.
Lots of activities planned around the Tour made the time go by even faster!
A special thank you to the Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve for their support and generous donation to the Tour.
And a huge shout-out to all of their committed volunteers who keep the Environmental Education Center running. You guys are the best!
This was another one of those really moving moments in the Tour for me:
I’m talking with one of the 4th grade classes when one little boy raises his hand and asks, “How do I get my Dad not to throw everything in our boat into the water? He says it stinks and he won’t have it in his boat. I don't want him to do that. How do I get him to listen to me?"
I’m talking with the kids about not using plastic and am confronted with the reality that littering is still a major problem.
I thought we were beyond that?
We’re not.
And what do you say to a little boy who just
wants his father to listen to him?
"Many thanks for all your time and effort at Brooker Creek Preserve. We all enjoyed your very creative displays and everyone learned so much about plastic waste in our oceans and on our beaches. You are truly an inspiration to all of us to do more to stop this problem."
Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve
© SplashTrash 2016
SplashTrash Intl. by SplashTrash Intl. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please give credit to SplashTrash Intl., the SplashTrash Tour, Bette Booth, www.splashtrash.org
