My little sister and I gazed at the sea blue harbor as our ferry cruised slowly across the water. We were very excited to visit the Harbor Islands for the first time. My sister asked for the one-hundredth time, “What island are we going to first?”

“Well,” my dad said, “we are going to Spectacle Island first.”

“It is called that because of all the sea glasses lying on its beaches.” I chimed in, as we reached our destination.

“Wow, look at all the colorful pieces of sea glass,” my sister said, “and look how beautiful this island is.”

The Boston skyline looked majestic from these shores. The harbor was buzzing with activities. Ships of different sizes and shapes were cruising to and from the harbor. Hungry seagulls flew above constantly chatting and looking for food.

We were all enjoying the sea breeze and the beautiful views. As we sat down on the beach, I asked, “Did you know even a few decades ago, this was the dirtiest harbor in America?”
“No way, what did people do to make it cleaner? Sounds like a lot of work” my sister wondered.
“It’s one of the largest environmental cleanups performed in our nation.” I continued, “All the sewage and industrial waste from Boston neighborhoods are collected and sent to the wastewater treatment plant on Deer Island. The cool part of the cleanup is the solid wastes are separated by gravity and decomposed by bacteria.”
“Gross” my sister gasped. “yeah, but they are good bacteria helping do the dirty work” I laughed’
“What happened the remailing sewage water?” my curious sister quizzed.
“Glad you asked” I replied. “The rest of the water is purified with chlorine to remove harmful bacteria and then de-chlorinated before being sent in a large pipe approximately ten miles out in the harbor.” Now it supports a healthy ecosystem of plants, marine, and terrain animals.”
“Like fish, birds, and seaweed” my sister added.

Remember how our Grandpa usually says, “If you protect and take care of Mother Nature, Mother Nature will take care of you.”

I can see that to be the case!