NSA Bahrain Environmental Team makes a difference for Earth Day 2023

By Mark C. Mosher, NSA Bahrain Public Affairs

In celebration of Earth Day 2023, the Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain’s Environmental Team hosted several events around the installation and in the local community to promote environmental stewardship not only in observance of the day but throughout the year.

The first event, hosted by the NSA Recycling Program, was an informational booth that distributed flyers and handed out reusable shopping bags to participants in an effort to help the NSA community reduce the use of plastic bags on the installation. They also highlighted the environmental compliance and conservation programs that are ongoing throughout the year. 132 volunteers participated in a blind water taste test comparing drinking water produced on the installation versus bottled water. The number of participants who preferred the installation’s drinking water compared to bottled water was a staggering 75%, demonstrating the quality of water produced on NSA Bahrain and convincing many to switch from expensive bottled water.

NSA Bahrain’s Environmental Team also hosted a tree planting event on NSA I and II. One such tree was a Date Palm tree planted near Building 100 in support of the base’s greening goal by using reject water from drinking water production for irrigation. This creatively reuses a water resource that otherwise would be sent for wastewater treatment. In conjunction with the tree planting efforts across the installation, the NSA Environmental Team provided a horticulture planting workshop at the Bahrain School. 50 students in grades 8-10 participated in the workshop using materials provided by the NSA Recycling Program with instructions given by volunteers from the Bahrain Garden Club.

The final event hosted by the NSA Environmental Team saw them co-sponsoring an off-base cleanup effort at Karbabad Beach, the first partnership with the Kingdom of Bahrain in over 20 years. Over 60 volunteers from the Supreme Council for Environment, Bahrain Capital Municipal Council, and the U.S. Navy joined hands for this event. The Sailor 360 organization helped to coordinate gathering military volunteers that included the NSA Bahrain’s Commanding Officer and Public Works Officer. The combined efforts of all the volunteers contributed to the collection of over 500 pounds of debris from the beach, a large portion of which was plastic waste. Their efforts helped to prevent this plastic waste from reaching the open ocean, where it has a negative impact on a multitude of ocean ecosystems. This event highlighted a unique bi-lateral cooperative opportunity providing immediate conservation benefit to our host nation’s environmental resources while demonstrating the US Navy’s commitment to environmental stewardship.