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Eco Diary Competition

To enter, students must use the Eco Diary provided by their teacher and follow these guidelines:

• Each diary must consist of 4 entries and the eco diary must be fully completed.
• Each entry must include a diary/illustration and a paragraph to explain the action.
• All pictures must be original, hand-created artwork or digital illustrations of the student teams submitting the diary.
• All paragraphs must be typed or handwritten and must be the original work of the student submitting the diary.
• All entries must be written in English.
• Each team must have different actions. Please do not submit the same entries for each student team.

Eco Diary Topic Ideas

Below you will find Eco Diary topic ideas, including topics submitted in past entries. We encourage students to expand on these ideas and develop new topics that can be the focus of their projects and entries. Think-outside-the-box and be innovative as you complete your Eco Diary. The more unique the entry, the better!

Animals

• Animals in captivity
• Bee pollination
• Biodiversity
• Collection of litter in parks to preserve animal habitats
• Dead fish in local rivers and lakes
• Endangered animals
• Importance of wildlife to the environment
• Make a bird feeder
• Overfishing impact on natural ecosystems
• Poaching problems
• Scarcity of wildlife in park system

Climate Change

• Address climate issues with composting
• Address CO2 and the climate
• Air Pollution
• Biodiversity of plants
• CFCs and ozone layer depletion
• Climate change with less car gas
• Climate change with less waste pollution
• Climate change with plant growth
• Depletion of natural resources
• Emission of Greenhouse gases
• Fossil Fuel Consumption
• Fundraiser for planting trees
• Nitrogen oxides from fertilizers
• Plant helpful and healthy plants in backyard
• Reduce the use of petroleum-based products
• Teach Global Warming concepts to younger children

Community

• Airport noise on nearby wildlife
• Community recycling schedule
• Deliver recycling bins to homes
• Donate used clothing
• Educate local restaurants about bamboo straws
• Green space designation in urban communities
• Impact of urban sprawl on land use, traffic, pollution, health, etc.
• Land Use (urban, suburban, rural, etc.)
• Plant wild flowers
• Raise money to purchase tree saplings
• Start an Eco-Club
• Trash pick-up in the community
• Urban runoff
• Urban smog

Energy

• Conserve energy with biking and walking over driving a car (also, less air pollution)
• Conserve energy with solar fans
• Educate others about energy conservation tips
• Geothermal energy
• Renewable energy: solar, wind, hydro energy
• Replace light bulbs with LED lights
• Ways to reduce energy usage

Food

• Composting
• Food waste
• Genetic modification of food 
• Growing fruits and vegetables
• Hydroponics
• Industrial waste impact on soil 
• Make composite soil
• Make a mini greenhouse
• Make a worm farm
• Plant a container garden
• Reusable water bottle, coffee cup, etc.
• Soil degradation due to erosion, overgrazing, pollutants, monoculture planting, soil compaction, etc.
• Soil nutrients for healthy food
• Soil restoration
• Use of pesticides on food

Renew – Reuse – Recycle

• Collect rainwater for other use
• Create art with recycled waste
• Plastic waste
• Make candles/air fresheners using non-toxic chemicals
• Make cloth napkins
• Make homemade art items
• Make laundry products at home
• Make paper
• Recycle clothes
• Recycle plastic
• Recycle rubber tires
• Reuse items for crafts

Water

• Acid rain impact on human health, wildlife and aquatic species
• Impact of water pollution on marine life
• Lead in water
• Limnology – study of freshwater
• Non-biodegradable trash (i.e. plastic packaging, toxic e-waste, chemicals) that leach into waterways
• Oil spills
• Ocean acidity impact on shellfish and plankton
• Oceanography – study of the ocean
• Overgrowth of algae in local park pond
• Pollution from industrial waste, sewage and pesticides
• Reduce water usage
• River clean up
• Water pollution
• Water waste

Other Ideas

• Bioremediation
• Deforestation
• Fire ecology – wild fires
• Impact of pollution (air, water, soil, noise, radioactive, light and thermal) on the environment
• Make Non-toxic cleaners
• Make Non-toxic weed control
• Noise Pollution – how it impacts organisms living nearby
• Properly dispose of hazardous household waste
• Urban ecology
• Waste disposal

Deadlines

New Jersey

• Entries Due by 6:00 PM EST on May 10, 2024

Submissions

Prizes

Prizes

Ten New Jersey student teams will be selected as winners and five student teams in Colorado. Each student on the team will be awarded a prize along with their teacher.