Category: Stormwater Pollution

New CWEP Stormwater Video Heading to a Theater Near You this December!

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We are very excited to release our new animated stormwater video that we’ve been working hard on over the last few months! This 30-second version of our full-length video will be shown in theaters across the region this holiday season, so tell your friends: If you’re headed to the movies between December 15th and 29th, grab a seat a little early to catch this ad rolling a few minutes before the previews start!

You can find our full-length videos in both English and Spanish, as well as individual pollutant spots you can use at home, at work, or in the classroom on our Resources page.

Keep your Community Beautiful on “America Recycles Day”!

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Here at CWEP, we know that clean and healthy water goes beyond just keeping leaves and oil out of our storm drains. It means supporting an entire system of sustainability and keeping our nation trash-free. One of the ways we can achieve this goal is through recycling. Today, the national non-profit Keep America Beautiful, which aims to increase national appearance through community involvement in cleanup and beautification projects, is hosting their annual event, “America Recycles Day.” America Recycles Day happens every year on November 15th, and communities from all over the nation participate with a variety of events from social media campaigns to local cleanups to school recycling education. There are over 2,504 registered events this year alone!

Here in North Carolina, we have a number of events, some of which are hosted by CWEP members. The Veterans Employment Base Camp and Organic Garden (VEBCOG) in New Bern is hosting a Feed the Worms event in which they will be educating the public about compost and collecting vegetable food scraps, newspapers and cardboard to feed their worms over the winter. On Saturday, November 18th, CWEP member Spring Lake will be hosting a fall litter sweep to keep their town looking its best. During the event Spring Lake will also be accepting non-standard recyclables, such as e-waste, tires, eye glasses, cellphones, and medicine. If you don’t live in New Bern or Spring Lake, don’t worry, The State of North Carolina Division of Environmental Assistance & Customer Service (DEACS) Recycling and Materials Management Section (RAMMS) is also hosting an event for America Recycles Day. Their event is social media-based and asks state agencies, businesses, and citizens to take photos of people who are recycling using the hashtag #CaughtRecycling. They also ask that people tag them in the posts on Twitter and Facebook at @RecycleMoreNC as well as sharing other pictures of their community’s events.

If your community got involved (or if you or someone you know got #CaughtRecycling), be sure to let them know!

What Lurks Below

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Last month, London sewage workers discovered an enormous greaseball blocking the pipes in the Whitechapel neighborhood, creating a nasty situation and limiting water flow. The ball, weighing 130 tons, took 3 weeks for workers to break down using high-pressure water jets. It was made of a combination of hardened grease and fat from food production as well as wet wipes, diapers, and other non-flushables that had been flushed down the toilet. Experts say that if the ball had not been caught when it was, waste could have started to burst from manholes and flow through the streets of London. Watch the London Fatberg in action here.

It’s not just London that’s in danger of having its sewage system ruined by improper waste disposal; many towns and cities may have greaseballs lurking beneath them, too! So how can we make sure our pipes are functional and our streets stay feces-free? There are many things we can do in our kitchens and restaurants to dispose of cooking grease, fats, and oils the right way and keep our pipes flowing smoothly, especially as the holidays approach!

  1. Make sure to let the grease cool before either pouring it in the trash or into a storage container.
  2. Once you’ve poured out the grease properly, make sure to wipe out your pots and pans with a paper towel to remove any grease that might be stuck to your cookware. Be sure to do the same with plates!
  3. Check if your municipality has a grease recycling program like Durham, which accepts and recycles cooking oil free of charge.
  4. As for toilets, remember that only toilet paper should be flushed. Most wet wipes are not meant to go through our pipes and sanitary napkins and tampons should never be flushed either. We are fortunate that our sewage treatments systems are top-notch, but that doesn’t mean we should overload them. When in doubt, throw it out!

 

How Washing your Car at Home Contributes to Stormwater Pollution

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Check out this great video from Wellington Water in New Zealand about how to keep your car wash activities from polluting our water! All communities face the same stormwater challenges we do, so we can all learn from each other when it comes to cleaning up. Take a look and see what you can do differently this summer to reduce your stormwater impact, and tell your friends and neighbors when you see them washing their cars!

When it comes to stormwater pollution, sharing is NOT caring!

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Our everyday activities can really contribute to stormwater pollution if we aren’t careful. Trash, litter, pet waste, sediment, fertilizers, oil, you name it – it can end up in the storm drain and on its way to the nearest stream before you know it! Of course, that pollution can have a major impact on the fish and other animals that live in those streams, ponds, and rivers where the pollution ends up. What would happen if the fish could tell us they didn’t appreciate us sharing our dirty stormwater with them?

Check out the video below to see what happened when Jonny Fishpatrick was fed up with the stormwater pollution being dumped in his home, and imagine how this could be happening in your neighborhood!

Did you know that good old fashioned dirt is actually a MAJOR stormwater pollutant?!

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What happens to dirt in stormwater?

When soil, dirt, sand, clay, or other tiny bits of earth end up in stormwater, we then call it “sediment” because those pieces can eventually settle out to the bottom of a body of water. However, moving water such as stormwater runoff through our neighborhoods and cities keeps the sediment from settling and can cause serious problems for water quality.

What does sediment do in the environment?

Sediment pollution creates many issues in the environment; here are just a few!

  • Clogs fish gills and suffocates small insects and other animals;
  • Creates murky, cloudy water that blocks sunlight from reaching plants;
  • Transports hundreds of other chemicals and pollutants to our drinking water that are hitching a ride on the sediment;
  • Encourages growth of toxic algae that can make people and animals sick;
  • Completely changes the course of a river or stream by depositing new banks!

What can we do to reduce stormwater pollution from sediment?

Sediment can come from many sources, such as construction sites or digging, erosion when vegetation has been removed, and even just dust and grime from your driveway, car, and sidewalk. You can help keep this dirt from getting in our streams and rivers by sweeping up instead of hosing down!

If you see muddy brown water being deliberately sent into the storm drain like in the photo below, or if you see lots of sediment coming from a construction site, call your local water department (contact info here) and let them know right away.

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Mow High, and Let the Clippings Lie…

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It’s heating up out there, and the grass is certainly responding! Many of us know we’ll need to mow frequently over the next few months, but we may not know that yard waste, such as those lawn clippings, is actually a stormwater pollutant that can have a big impact on water quality. Check out the CWEP video below starring the Sodfather, and learn about what you can do to help keep stormwater runoff clean as we do our summer landscaping!

The Basement Guide to Water Pollution

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Thanks to Tyler with the Green Teens Club for sending over this great resource on water pollution! This infographic from Basement Guides offers a lot of interesting information on sources of contaminants in your home, as well as additional data on pollution around the world. Click on the image below to take a look at their site!

Also check out the Green Teens Club website below to find more information about environmental issues, as well as see the cool work the Club is doing in their area. Maybe you’ll want to start your own club!

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Did your nearby creek suddenly turn brown? Report it to the Muddy Water Watch!

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Ever wonder what to do and who to contact when you see a problem in a creek or river? Many of us witness pollution in our waterways and may not know how to help. Now, a new tool helps citizens report sedimentation and erosion issues from construction, chemical releases, oil spills, or even trash accumulation in their areas.

The Muddy Water Watch was developed by Waterkeepers around the country as a way to monitor and protect their waterways from harmful pollution. Concerned citizens can submit, assign, and track incidents as soon as they are discovered using the website interface. Additionally, their handy mobile app can be downloaded for free and sends citizen reports directly to the Riverkeeper in the impacted area.

Check out more about what the Waterkeeper Alliance and the Riverkeepers in your area are doing to keep your water safe.

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