News
There's Something New in Downtown Athens...
Sep 4, 2007 by Natalie White
Stormdrain Decal
Decals placed on downtown stormdrains for environmental education project.
There’s something new for you to see in downtown Athens. Decals have been placed on all the stormdrains to teach citizens about stormwater pollution.
Each decal reads “No Dumping” and then tells which river or stream that particular stormdrain drains to. It’s not yet a well-known fact that streets are connected directly to streams via the stormwater system. Stormdrains are doing their job by directing excess rain water away from our streets to help prevent flooding. We’ve learned over time that this water runoff carries with it anything that it contacts on its journey. This includes litter, oil, sediment, fecal bacteria, and any other pollutant that is on the ground. Swept along by runoff, these harmful things all end up in a stream when it rains.
So what can be done to prevent stormwater pollution from entering our streams? Surprisingly, it’s the combination of many small actions that will be the key to a big success. Large scale dumping can generally be found and regulated. It’s the effect of thousands of people tossing a food wrapper on the ground, hosing car wash soap into a stormdrain, or not picking up their pet’s waste that is too frequent and widespread to regulate effectively. It’s up to the individual to regulate his or her own behavior.
The motto “Let nothing but rain go down the stormdrain” is a great place to start. Here is a short list of things the average person can do to prevent stormwater pollution:
- Pick up after your pet and properly dispose of the waste
- Fix your car if it has an oil leak
- Don’t litter, and keep your property litter-free
- Wash your car on the grass instead of in the driveway
The next time you are downtown and you hear someone asking about the new stormdrain decals, let them know what they mean. Stormwater is becoming an environmental issue in towns all over the US. Doing these simple things will help keep our streams and their inhabitants healthy. For more information about how to prevent stormwater pollution, look under “What You Can Do” on the main Homepage.
Tagged: stormwater decals, stormdrain decals, environmental education project, no dumping
