New Hanover students develop low-flow toilet

WILMINGTON — Some New Hanover County students are making a difference for the environment outside the classroom. And it all started with an unlikely source.

Behind the walls of New Hanover High School is a group of senior students trying to make a difference in our environment one flush at a time.

They’ve received national recognition for their work on helping the environment.

In September six students took on an extra credit project that took on a life of its own.

New Hanover senior Katy Link said, “We just did it to get extra credit, and then when we looked more into how we could make a difference and how we could spread awareness about environmental issues, it became a much bigger issue for us.”

The project included tackling indoor air pollution and the effects deforestation has on our climate. But it was their work on water conservation that made them first place winners in a national competition designed by Lexus and Scholastic.

The group discovered toilets are the number one consumer of water in the household. So they created a low-flow toilet.

Link said, “Twenty-eight percent of all the water used in your home is from your toilet, alone so we wanted to focus on how you can reduce the impact that your toilet makes.”

Lyceum Academy Dean Gordon Massengill said, “This was not an assignment they had to do, this was something they elected to do to apply the knowledge that they had in class to be able to present themselves in a manner to go to a national competition. I think speaks volumes.”

New Hanover student Maggie Sullivan said, “It was nice to do a project that fit in so well with our curriculum and the AP environmental class that we are taking, and it was just really nice to know that our hard just paid off.”

It paid off big. The group was awarded a $50,000 grant to divide among New Hanover High, their advisor and themselves for college scholarships.

In the end they also created environmental activists in their own school.

New Hanover student Zac Rushton said, “I’ve had a bunch of kids talk to me about the project and what we’ve done, and just through word of mouth it’s just going to get around.”

New Hanover student Evan Keith said, “The bigger picture is just getting the youth to be involved in the environment and trying to get them motivated and educated so they can do something to make a difference.”

The students have gone to their state legislators to raise awareness statewide. They’ve also been contacted by the Lowe’s Corporation to help introduce their low-flow toilets in stores.