WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS
Memorial Day Holiday Pollution Prevention Tips 🌊♻️⛺️⛵️
Memorial Day is a time to remember those who served and sacrificed for our nation. It’s also a time when families and friends gather to celebrate the unofficial kick-off to summer. Unfortunately, many of our holiday and summertime activities can generate pollutants like litter, boating and camping waste, and pet waste. If we’re not careful in managing and properly disposing of these outdoor pollutants, they can wash into our storm drains that lead to our waterways, or land directly in our water bodies. These pollutants can get in the way of us enjoying our activities, but more importantly have a lasting effect on our water quality and the safety of our wildlife. Here are some ways you can enjoy your summer activities and protect our waterways at the same time!
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Minimize food waste and related products – Plan your Memorial Day outing carefully to avoid excessive leftovers and minimize food waste, packaging, and single-use products. Replace single-use products and plastics with reusable products such as food containers, reusable water bottles, coolers (vs. Styrofoam), and tote bags (vs. plastic bags). Single-use plastics never go away and break down into microplastics that harm our environment and can kill aquatic life. Transport your food scraps home and either compost or recycle them in your curbside organics/green waste recycling bin. This not only produces a nutrient-rich amendment for your garden, but it also helps to divert waste from landfills and reduce greenhouse gases.
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Properly secure and dispose of trash – Many holiday entertaining items like food packaging, plastic utensils, and serve ware are lightweight and can easily blow into our storm drains or be removed by animals if not properly disposed of. Leave excess packaging at home to help prevent fly-away litter from reaching our waterways. If you’re camping, take extra care to secure your trash at your campsite to prevent critters from getting into it and spreading it around. If you walk away from your beach picnic, secure your items to prevent seabirds from flying off with your food and leaving trash behind. While boating, keep everything on-board, especially fishing gear, which can entangle and kill aquatic life, cause boat damage, and remain in the environment for over 600 years due its inability to biodegrade. Whether beaching, camping, hiking or boating, follow ‘pack it in, pack it out’ principles. Take your trash with you to properly dispose of later and securely close lids on recycling, trash, and green waste bins.
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Clean up after your pet – Our pets love to join us on our holiday outings. But remember to scoop up your dog’s poop! Their waste is full of bacteria and excess nutrients that will contaminate local waterways and our beaches if not disposed of properly. Pack extra bags with you, bag the waste, and place it in a closed trash bin or dumpster.
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Properly dispose of RV and boating wastewater and sewage – Black water (toilet waste) and grey water (sink and shower waste) from RVs and boats contain harmful bacteria. If wastewater and sewage are not properly disposed of at designated pump stations, they can contaminate our local waterways and ocean. This can not only impact our recreational enjoyment, but it can also harm aquatic life and pose a risk to our own health. Get tips on how to properly dispose of RV waste through the County’s RV Users Guide and find dump station locations through its interactive map. For an interactive map of boating pump out stations, check out the Port of San Diego’s Sanitary Stations & Fuel Docks Map.
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Prevent boat oil and fuel spills – Oil and fuel contain harmful components which can affect human health and severely damage our aquatic environment, even in very small quantities. Prevent oil spills by practicing preventive engine maintenance through regular inspections and by repairing small leaks that may drip oil. For more tips on preventing oil and fuel pollution, check out the California Division of Boating and Waterways Boating Clean & Green oil pollution prevention video and spill-proof fueling practices webpage.
The County of San Diego wishes everyone a safe, healthy, and pollution-free Memorial Day. Thank you for all of your efforts to prevent water pollution and protect the health, safety, and recreational enjoyment of our waterways!
*Note: Beginning in July 2026, this stand-alone monthly Water Quality Improvement Topic Bulletin will transition to a combined Topical and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Events Bulletin. The new monthly format will focus on educating residents and businesses on various Water Quality Improvement Topics as well as select County-sponsored Stormwater Pollution Prevention Events.
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