WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS

Kids’ Water Pollution Prevention Resources Our children are our future. Teaching them early on about issues affecting our community can help them be environmental stewards of the future. A key environmental issue we face here in San Diego County is stormwater pollution. Everyday pollutants such as trash, pet waste, garden chemicals, and automobile fluids can make their way into our storm drains and eventually our ocean when it rains or overirrigation occurs. Unlike sanitary sewers, water that flows into storm drains is not treated and can harm our waterways if we aren’t careful.   We’ve collected some family-friendly activities to help you teach your children this holiday break about how their everyday actions can help prevent stormwater pollution, improve water quality, and keep our County’s waterways and beaches beautiful.

How to Build Our Next Generation of Environmental Stewards and Ocean Protectors

• Use web-based resources to educate kids about environmental stewardship, the wonders of our ocean, and stormwater pollution prevention. Project Clean Water’s Stormwater Stewards Youth Activity Book teaches kids about the importance of San Diego County’s pristine beaches, creeks, and ocean as well as how to prevent water pollution and the degradation of our aquatic ecosystems. Kids can also get a greater appreciation of our coastal resources and animal life through California Coastal Commission’s live coastal web cams and activities like beach treasure hunts and coastal creature word searches. Challenge your kids to a matching game of the top ten littered items in California and talk to them about how to properly dispose of each one.
• Involve kids in outdoor activities like community cleanups, nature programs, and educational camps.
  • Take kids on a neighborhood or park pollution patrol where they can identify common pollutants such as plastic bags, cans, food wrappers, and cigarette butts. Additionally, see if there are any oil stains in parking lots that indicate leaked oil or even pet waste which, along with the rest, can contaminate our water resources. Use this activity sheet to help. Do even more to protect our ocean by picking up and properly disposing of trash using these Solo Cleanup Guidelines from Surfrider Foundation San Diego.
  • Volunteer for a local community or beach cleanup Don’t Miss These Stormwater Pollution Prevention Events in December! to pick up trash before it can make its way to our storm drains. If you live near a beach, visit a tide pool or enjoy other beach activities that help kids realize the importance of keeping the ocean clean. At the end of a visit to a beach or waterway, pack up and carry out all that you brought in, especially any trash. Download the Clean Swell® trash collection app to track and record your trash.
  • Sign up kids for nature programs or winter/holiday camps to give them an appreciation of their local waterways and environment. Explore nature in your neighborhood or at various California State Parks with the Junior Ranger Program where kids can earn rewards for completing nature activities. Local camps include the Agua Hedionda Foundation’s Winter Discovery Camp focusing on science activities, and Coastal Kiddos’ outdoor education and recreation program.

• Engage kids in hands-on holiday sustainability and waste reduction activities to teach them about the importance of preventing waste from reaching our waterways.
  • Reduce holiday food waste by preparing the right amount of food for your guests using Save The Food’s Guest-Imator for guidance. Uneaten items or leftovers can be stored in reusable storage containers, composted, or donated to local food pantries. Kids can have fun learning how to reduce food waste and protect the environment with the EPA’s Food Is Too Good to Waste Activity Book.
  • Teach kids the value of repurposing/reusing gift wrap and packaging as they help you with your holiday gift-wrapping. Emphasize the benefits of recycling cardboard packing boxes, reusing ribbons and gift bags, and replacing traditional giftwrap with alternative wrappings like newspaper or fabric. Check out these alternative gift wrapping options.
  • Recycle Right (knowing how and what to recycle) to ensure trash and recyclables are sorted, recycled, and disposed of properly. Review the County’s Holiday What Goes Where Flyer to make sure you’re properly disposing of and recycling holiday waste. Kids can learn about recycling and composting (organic waste recycling) using these printable activity sheets – What Goes Where, Wormy Ways Maze, and Wormy Words – and by touring a recycling center. Also, since many holiday items can easily blow into our storm drains or be removed by animals, instruct your kids to securely close recycling, trash, and green waste bins.
  • Give gifts of experience or make your own zero-waste gifts. Not only can you make the holiday more memorable, but you can also help to minimize waste. Some do-it-yourself gift ideas for kids to make include cookies in a jar, paper straws, and a variety of plastic-free holiday gifts.

Check out the County’s December Stormwater Pollution Prevention Events Bulletin Don’t Miss These Stormwater Pollution Prevention Events in December!  for more youth programs such as , Kids in the Garden Monthly Saturday Classes, and the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation Discovery Center. The County of San Diego wishes everyone a very happy holiday season and thanks you for all your efforts to preserve our beautiful waterways year-round!

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

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ONLINE SERVICES

Report Stormwater Pollution
Report observed pollution to the correct jurisdiction.

Citizen Access Portal
Research property information and permits. Apply for some permits online.

GIS Maps
Find property information including zoning designation with our web-based mapping tool. 

Watershed Protection Website
sandiegocounty.gov/stormwater

Learn more about available water quality rebates that you could apply to your property!

Project Clean Water efforts are focused on providing a centralized point of access to water quality information and resources for San Diego County Watersheds. Click HERE to visit Project Clean Water’s website.