Not many people know that there is a HUGE difference between sewer pipes, like the pipes in your home, and storm drains, a common sight on city streets. Anything that goes into a sewer first goes to a sewer treatment facility where it’s treated before going into the ocean. On the other hand, all the trash, runoff and debris that goes into storm drains isn’t treated, it just goes straight into the ocean as is! Not only does all of this trash in the ocean make a day at the beach less fun, but it also threatens human health and endangers wildlife. You may think that the majority of the trash in the ocean comes from people enjoying a day at the beach, but up to 80% of the pollutants and litter that is found in the ocean came from inland sources and washed down to the ocean via storm drains.
📷Picture courtesy of Think Blue
While this is a serious problem, ILACSD and Think Blue, the City of San Diego Storm Water and Transportation Department have a very easy, and fun, way to make sure people know the connection between ocean pollution and storm drains, Storm Drain Stenciling! The premise is simple: you volunteer to go around and stencil a bilingual message on top of a storm drain to create a visible reminder to let people know that anything they dump here will all go straight to our ocean backyard.