MISSION: WATER 40 HEADLINE WATER HEROES EarthEcho Water Challenge educates on the fundamentals of water testing. EarthEcho Water Challenge is the largest water quality program of its kind. Q. Can you speak to how EarthEcho empowers youth specifically? And what strategies you've used to get more buy-in from the younger population? Philippe: Yeah, we've evolved over the last 14 years, of course, just as technology and society has. I see organizations doing pretty much the same thing they were 30 years ago, and I think that that's an impediment to being effective. It's hard to change. It's hard to grow and it's hard to look at new technologies. There weren't any smartphones 14 years ago when we founded EarthEcho. We've seen a huge evolution in society in how young people communicate, from video games to mobile devices. You have to keep up and look for new ways to engage with them. Also, I think that what else sets us apart is that we're not a purely educational organization either. Our mission, our goal, is to engage people with action. We have a saying at EarthEcho, "awareness doesn't lead to action, action leads to awareness." We start with the idea of getting people engaged and getting them outdoors. The EarthEcho Water Challenge is a perfect example of this. It's a program that we're really excited about. It was developed initially by the EPA around 15 years ago and has continued to evolve over the years. Other groups like the Water Environment Federation, WEF, took it over from the EPA for a couple of years and then they were seeking another partner that was more youth-focused to take over, and they chose us. We were quite honored to be able to inherit that program two years ago, and it's a perfect example of action leading to awareness. We get people outdoors in their own communities, connecting with water, which is our most precious substance. They begin to understand where that water comes from and how it’s tested. It’s the beginning of a powerful conversation, which is symbolic of what EarthEcho is all about. That conversation is a jumping off point to people thinking more critically about what's happening in the environment over the long-term. Q. What’s your vision for the challenge moving forward? Philippe: Well, as soon as we took over [the Water Challenge program], we spent a lot of time and resources updating the logistics of the program and how we could digitize and streamline how we communicate to participants. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes work and investment to bring us to where we are today. That continuous improvement is a big part of our strategy moving forward. We also want to emphasize the action component of the challenge. Now that participants have personally tested the water and see the results, what are they going to do? Will they run cleanup projects, lobby for legislation, or seek funding? How will they improve or protect the water in their own community? There are all sorts of different ways that people can get involved. Also worth mentioning, is expanding the different water quality parameters that we can test for. We're hearing back from many of our partners that the tests we have currently are a terrific starting point, but they're interested in collecting data on phosphates and nitrogen. But why stop there? Can we look at nutrient loads in a water system that have a huge impact on our water? Eventually, could we build a program to test for things like E.coli and other indicators of water health? Ultimately, our goal is to make the EarthEcho Water Challenge the premiere water quality program, and I believe in many ways it already is. It's the largest global program of its kind, but we're never satisfied. We want to continue to grow it to meet the diverse needs of each community around the world.