Kids Can Help Too!
There are lots of things kids can do to help keep our rivers and lakes clean.
Have you ever thought about where rain goes after it lands on your house or driveway? Rain drops roll down your driveway and into the road. Once in the road, rain enters the storm drain – the grates that are in city streets. Do you know what happens to things that enter the storm drain? Water or any thing else that enters those drains travel through pipes that empty right into our rivers and lakes!
You can help clean up our local rivers and lakes by making sure that only rain goes down the storm drain.
Clean up After Your Pet
Pet waste is not only gross to find in yards or on sidewalks, it carries bacteria and germs that cause beach closings in the summer. To keep our waters clean, pick up after your pet often. Even waste in your backyard can pollute local waters. Bring a small plastic bag with you on walks and pick up after your dog.
Help with the Yard
Grass clippings and leaves from our yards are causing our lakes and rivers to turn green! You can help by sweeping grass clippings off your driveway and 
sidewalk back onto your lawn after your mom or dad mows the grass. You can also help your dad and mom rake up the leaves in your yard in the fall!
Get Some Exercise
You may have heard that car and trucks can cause air pollution but did you know that driving cars and trucks can also affect water? Oil, grease and dirt that fall from our vehicles when we are driving are washed into storm drains and into our rivers and lakes. One way to help clean up water is to drive less. Instead of asking for a ride, ask your mom or dad if you can walk or bike with them to a friend’s house or the park!
Most importantly, never put anything down the
storm drain. The fish and frogs and especially your
friends don’t like to swim with garbage!
Only rain should go into the drain!
Stormwater is rain or snowmelt and water from things people do, like overwatering the lawn or discharging pool water into the street drain. We can choose products carefully and shape our lawns and pavement so water sinks in. When we do, runoff is reduced, pollutants filter out and streams and groundwater are protected.
Untreated runoff is the biggest threat to our nation’s water quality, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Let’s make the small, important changes that will reduce that threat and improve water quality and our lives!