Denver creates an initiative to encourage citizens to use safe practices to keep Denver’s water clean.
In the midst of all the environmental awareness, FrontRange Earth Force has been an instrumental resource in educating citizens about water quality issues through the City and County of Denver’s Keep it Clean Campaign.
Beginning in the summer of 2007, FrontRange Earth Force, a local nonprofit organization whose focus is engaging young people in their communities and supporting service learning in schools, partnered up with Denver Water to promote community awareness about storm water pollution and the environmental affect their daily activities have on local rivers and creeks. Tracy Vlnicka, Professional Developer for Earth Force, describes her work as, “Helping young people to explore environmental issues while educating their communities. It has been a great experience binging water quality issues to school children. All year they have been learning about monitoring PH levels, oxygen levels, turbidity, and observing the various effects the water in their neighborhoods have on wildlife in their communities.”
Earth Force students have spent time in their communities doing outreach and stenciling “please don’t dump” signs on storm drains. By targeting and developing a message for a key group of people, they have found this campaign to be more effective than targeting the entire population. Developers such as Nancy J. Haws, a Design & Marketing expert for Denver Water, have created short catchy phrases and memorable charters that appeal to people in the communities.
The main message is Keep It Clean from Drain to Stream, which simply means, everything that flows into storm drains eventually flows into rivers and streams, and together we can reduce storm water pollution thus reducing the pollution in local streams. There are three simple ways to do achieve these goals. The first is “be wise every time you fertilize” (involving lawns and gardens.) This message promotes using fertilizers sparingly. It also promotes the use of natural fertilizers, planting native resistant plants that don’t need fertilizer, using proper disposal methods, and using alternatives to fertilizers such as compost or bone meal. This message is accompanied with Wiltna La Fleur, a cute plant carrying a measuring cup.
The next message, which deals with pet waste, is Pick up litter and after your critter. It emphasizes the use of plastic bags and pooper-scoopers when walking dogs, the proper disposal of pet waste, and the securing of trash in dumpsters. Doogie Doggie, a friendly looking dog toting a plastic bag and shovel, can be seen tagging along with this message.
The final message that deals with vehicle maintenance is, Beware of spills that often kill. This message gives tips about how to deal with outside chemicals. It emphasizes using cat litter or saw dust to soak up chemical spills and then disposing of the material, pouring soapy water down the sink not out on the street, and recycling vehicle maintenance products. Muckie Duckie, a duck in rain boots, always tags along with this message.
These directives may seem cute and catchy, but they carry a heavy impact. The fact is, water from storm drains are NOT sent to waste water facilities and cleaned. They flow into storm drains, which lead directly to local creeks and rivers. Community awareness of polluted rivers is so low that one of the worst polluted, the South Platte River, where PH, turbidity, and toxicity levels are far beyond the healthy limit, is the site for community events, summer swimming, and fishing.
Rivers and creeks don’t get this bad on their own. When it rains, leftover fertilizers run off lawns into storm drains, and have been known to cause many problems because of the excess of nitrogen and phosphorous they leave in rivers and streams. The increase in phosphorous and nitrogen creates a reduction in dissolved oxygen in water bodies, caused by an increase of mineral and organic nutrients. This causes an excessive growth of algae. Algae is good to eat for invertebrates, fish, and ducks, but an excess of algae especially-decomposing algae-reduces the amount of oxygen in the water that is available to the animals of the river. The eco balances in rivers are very sensitive, and the slightest decrease or increase in oxygen can lead to a decline in fish and other animal populations, throwing off the balance of the ecosystem.
Animal waste is nothing to be joked around with either. Animals contribute pollutants such as nitrates, phosphorous, sediments, pathogens, heavy metals, hormones, antibiotics, and dangerous organic matter like ammonia to the waters we use for drinking, swimming and fishing. There is no need to express the dangers of coming in contact with large amounts of fecal matter. There is, though, a need to express the dangers of unaware individuals coming in contact with the toxins of these rivers and creeks every day.
Chemicals from car maintenance such as motor oil, petroleum, antifreeze, transmission fluid, engine cleaners, and battery acid are all disastrous for local waterways. They all contribute toxins into local rivers and streams, which cause PH levels to fluctuate, resulting in the disappearance of important creatures in rivers. Some of these include bacteria, fungi, protozoans, larvae, snails, worms, fish, ducks, and reptiles that all function in the river’s eco system.
The Keep it Clean Campaign is designed to help individuals and community members to reduce the amount of environmental impact they have on their nearby rivers and creeks. One can learn more about the Keep it Clean campaign by visiting www.keepitcleandenver.org. One can also take the pledge to keep it clean from drain to stream by signing the pledge on the site. Remember, be wise each time you fertilize, pick up litter and after your critter, and be ware of spills that often kill.
