We did it! With the help of over 100 volunteers, 243 storm drains were marked with beautiful "Do Not Pollute" labels and over 2,000 residents received information about storm water run-off and the DC and Montgomery County programs to mitigate. A great way to end earth month!
We have pictures coming just as soon as I get them uploaded and figure out how to post a slide show.
And in case you missed the education part of the day - two messages to take away:
Everything that goes in the Storm drains comes out in the creek.
Water is killing our waterways!
Stormwater run-off washes pollution, trash, silt and more into the creeks. All this flows downstream to the Potomac and to the Bay. Further, too much stormwater causes the creeks to flash flood, the banks to erode and loss of habitat for the macro-organisms who live on the rocks on the stream beds. When these organisms lose their homes, they die, the animals that feed on them disappear and this part of the ecosystem becomes sterile.
The solutions lie locally. Redirect the rain water from the impervious surfaces back into the ground. Not only will the waterways be better for it, but the groundwater will be recharged. Plants depend on this ground water to survive. Visit the DC Riversmart Homes website, www.ddoe.dc.gov/riversmarthomes or the Montgomery County Rainscape website, www.rainscapes.org for a wealth of information on what you can do right on your property.
Thank you again to everyone who came out. Please support our sponsors and raffle donors listed in the previous post. And check back for pictures!
And if you missed the festivities, but want a t-shirt, we have a limited number available for a $20 donation.
Sarah Morse
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sunshine and Labels for this Weekend
Just checked the weather, and it promises a beautiful weekend, just right for spending an hour or two gluing labels on storm drains!
On Saturday, pick up supplies at the Bethesda Library from 1:00 to 3:00.
On Sunday, we will be at the Bethesda Pool Parking Lot from 11:00 to 5:00.
Details are in the previous blog, but I just wanted to take a little space to recognize our sponsors, without whom we could not be giving away t-shirts (I just picked up the t-shirts and they are so beautiful!) and our raffle donors who have given us dozens of prizes to reward our volunteers.
So thank you to sponsors:
Giant Food, macUpgrade, American Plant, DAI, Press, Potter and Dozier,LLC, Advanced Energy Dynamics and Planet Cotton.
Our raffle donors are: Strosniders, macUpgrades, Mamma Lucias, Austin Grill, Ledo Pizza, Lord and Taylor, Tickled Pink, Aveda, Wild Bird Center, Safeway, All Fired Up, Cosi Restaurant, Lilit Cafe, Wow Cow, Green Paper Studio and Bethesda Magazine.
Thank you also to Honest Beverages for donating Honest Tea and juice drinks. It's supposed to be hot this weekend so the beverages will be appreciated.
And of course, we have great partners - Chesapeake Bay Trust gave us a grant for the door hangers, Montgomery and DC governments provided the storm drain labels and glue and Bethesda Green and Friends of the Bethesda Library are also worthy partners.
I hope to see everyone there. Contact me at stormwater@LFWA.org if you have any questions.
Sarah Morse
On Saturday, pick up supplies at the Bethesda Library from 1:00 to 3:00.
On Sunday, we will be at the Bethesda Pool Parking Lot from 11:00 to 5:00.
Details are in the previous blog, but I just wanted to take a little space to recognize our sponsors, without whom we could not be giving away t-shirts (I just picked up the t-shirts and they are so beautiful!) and our raffle donors who have given us dozens of prizes to reward our volunteers.
So thank you to sponsors:
Giant Food, macUpgrade, American Plant, DAI, Press, Potter and Dozier,LLC, Advanced Energy Dynamics and Planet Cotton.
Our raffle donors are: Strosniders, macUpgrades, Mamma Lucias, Austin Grill, Ledo Pizza, Lord and Taylor, Tickled Pink, Aveda, Wild Bird Center, Safeway, All Fired Up, Cosi Restaurant, Lilit Cafe, Wow Cow, Green Paper Studio and Bethesda Magazine.
Thank you also to Honest Beverages for donating Honest Tea and juice drinks. It's supposed to be hot this weekend so the beverages will be appreciated.
And of course, we have great partners - Chesapeake Bay Trust gave us a grant for the door hangers, Montgomery and DC governments provided the storm drain labels and glue and Bethesda Green and Friends of the Bethesda Library are also worthy partners.
I hope to see everyone there. Contact me at stormwater@LFWA.org if you have any questions.
Sarah Morse
Monday, April 20, 2009
Watershed is Clean. Time to Label it!
Saturday was a fantastic day for the Little Falls Watershed. Crews of volunteers in seven locations spent the morning cleaning trash from the creeks and pulling garlic mustard. At my station alone (Bethesda Pool), we pulled 14 bags of trash out of a section of the creek in Kenwood Forest that has never been cleaned as far as I can tell. I'll post more (and photos) as the reports come in.
So, moving right along, plans are finalizing for Label the Watershed April 25-26. We've cleaned it, now we will label the storm drains to remind people that everything in the gutters, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, etc, flows right into the creek. Much of the trash we pulled out came in via the storm drains.
April 25 - from 1:00 to 3:00 we'll be at the Bethesda Library with maps and supplies.
Apirl 26 - from 11:00 to 5:00, we'll be at the Bethesda Pool Parking lot on Little Falls Parkway and Hillandale Road.
Stop by at anytime and pick up supplies. We'll send you out with a map to label 10 drains. Along with the affixing labels, we have door hangers to pass out to neighbors with information about the problem stormwater run-off causes and what people can do to help. It should take a team of four people about an hour.
Rain Plan:
We cannot glue the labels on if it is wet out, even a little drizzle.
So, the rain plan is:
For April 25: you can still come to the library and pick up supplies. Hopefully, it won't rain on April 26, so you can label the drains and return the supplies to the Bethesda pool and get your raffle tickets.
For April 26: If it's raining on Sunday, we will postpone to May 3. Check the this blog for up-to-date information.
Free Raffle Tickets and T-shirts:
When you return your supplies and marked map,we'll give you a raffle ticket for every storm drain you label. The raffle drawing will be at 4:00 on April 26, but you don't have to be present to win. We have great prizes including a nano shuffle donated by macUpgrades.
And we have free t-shirts for all the volunteers.
Partners, Sponsors and Donors
The best thing about this event is that we have been able to engage the whole community to support us. We are grateful to have many sponsors and partners:
Thank you to Chesapeake Bay Trust for partial funding, partners Bethesda Green, Friends of the Bethesda Library and the DC and Montgomery County governments.
Our sponsors include American Plant, macUpgrades, DAI, Giant Food, Planet Cotton, Advanced Energy Dynamics, and Press, Potter & Dozier, LLC. Raffle donors include Strosniders, macUpgrades, Mamma Lucias, Austin Grill, Ledo Pizza, Lord and Taylor, Tickled Pink, Aveda, Wild Bird Center, Safeway, All Fired Up, Cosi Restaurant, Lilit Cafe, Wow Cow, Green Paper Studio and Bethesda Magazine. Thank you to Honest Tea for in-kind donations.
So, moving right along, plans are finalizing for Label the Watershed April 25-26. We've cleaned it, now we will label the storm drains to remind people that everything in the gutters, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, etc, flows right into the creek. Much of the trash we pulled out came in via the storm drains.
April 25 - from 1:00 to 3:00 we'll be at the Bethesda Library with maps and supplies.
Apirl 26 - from 11:00 to 5:00, we'll be at the Bethesda Pool Parking lot on Little Falls Parkway and Hillandale Road.
Stop by at anytime and pick up supplies. We'll send you out with a map to label 10 drains. Along with the affixing labels, we have door hangers to pass out to neighbors with information about the problem stormwater run-off causes and what people can do to help. It should take a team of four people about an hour.
Rain Plan:
We cannot glue the labels on if it is wet out, even a little drizzle.
So, the rain plan is:
For April 25: you can still come to the library and pick up supplies. Hopefully, it won't rain on April 26, so you can label the drains and return the supplies to the Bethesda pool and get your raffle tickets.
For April 26: If it's raining on Sunday, we will postpone to May 3. Check the this blog for up-to-date information.
Free Raffle Tickets and T-shirts:
When you return your supplies and marked map,we'll give you a raffle ticket for every storm drain you label. The raffle drawing will be at 4:00 on April 26, but you don't have to be present to win. We have great prizes including a nano shuffle donated by macUpgrades.
And we have free t-shirts for all the volunteers.
Partners, Sponsors and Donors
The best thing about this event is that we have been able to engage the whole community to support us. We are grateful to have many sponsors and partners:
Thank you to Chesapeake Bay Trust for partial funding, partners Bethesda Green, Friends of the Bethesda Library and the DC and Montgomery County governments.
Our sponsors include American Plant, macUpgrades, DAI, Giant Food, Planet Cotton, Advanced Energy Dynamics, and Press, Potter & Dozier, LLC. Raffle donors include Strosniders, macUpgrades, Mamma Lucias, Austin Grill, Ledo Pizza, Lord and Taylor, Tickled Pink, Aveda, Wild Bird Center, Safeway, All Fired Up, Cosi Restaurant, Lilit Cafe, Wow Cow, Green Paper Studio and Bethesda Magazine. Thank you to Honest Tea for in-kind donations.
Monday, April 13, 2009
LFWA Gets CBT Grant
Label the Watershed is officially funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust! Our grant will cover costs of educational materials and other expenses associated with putting on the event. A big thank you to them for supporting local watershed groups. Hopefully, we'll see everyone out on April 25 or 26. See previous blog posting for all the details. btw, if it rains, we will have to postpone the April 26 date to May 3. You can't affix the labels if it is wet out. However, we will still be at the library on April 25. That's an indoor location and we'll just pass out labels for people to apply when the weather gets drier.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
CLEAN IT, LABEL IT, OWN IT!
It's our watershed. On the April 18th, we're cleaning it up. And then on April 25/26 we'll label it so everyone knows that we live in the Little Falls Watershed!
Please join us at one or both of these events.
Saturday, April 18: Creek Clean-ups and Garlic Mustard Challenge!
9:00 am to noon, rain or shine!
We will be cleaning the Little Falls Branch creek and Stream Valley Park all the way from the Dalecarlia Reservoir to the Bethesda Public Pool. The effort has also been expanded to remove the invasive weed 'garlic mustard' in the parkland, so experienced weed warriors and new volunteers welcome!
Sign-in stations include:
Children under 15 must be supervised by an adult. Middle and High School students who check in will earn SSL credits from the Montgomery County Parks Department.
This cleanup is supported through volunteers and funding by the Westmoreland Hills Garden Club, the Westbrook Elementary AquaEagles and EcoDefenders, the Town of Somerset, the Westmoreland Citizens Association, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commisssion, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, Bethesda Green, and the Little Falls Watershed Alliance.
Contact cleanup@lfwa.org for more information.
April 25/25: Label the Watershed!
April 25 - Bethesda Library, 1:00 - 3:00
April 26 - Bethesda Pool Parking Lot, 11:00 - 5:00
For the first time ever in Watershed history we will attempt to label all the storm drains using only volunteer labor! We have raffle tickets and t-shirts and great prizes. We have labels and instructions. All we need are volunteers to make this happen! Volunteers will be sent out in teams of three to five people and will label 5 to 10 storm drains. We hope to have people preregister, but if you just show up at either location, we will have lots for you to do! Contact Sarah at stormwater@lfwa.org to register your team or volunteer to help with running the event.
We are lucky to have many sponsors and partners in this event -
Thank you to Cheaseapeake Bay Trust for partial funding, partners Bethesda Green, Friends of the Bethesda Library and the DC and Montgomery County governments.
Our sponsors include American Plant, macUpgrades, DAI, Giant Food, Planet Cotton, Advanced Energy Dynamics, and Press, Potter & Dozier, LLC. Raffle donors include Strosniders, macUpgrades, Mamma Lucias, Austin Grill, Ledo Pizza, Lord and Taylor, Tickled Pink, Aveda, Wild Bird Center, Safeway, All Fired Up, Cosi Restaurant, Lilit Cafe, Wow Cow, and Bethesda Magazine. Thank you to Honest Tea for in-kind donations.
Please join us at one or both of these events.
Saturday, April 18: Creek Clean-ups and Garlic Mustard Challenge!
9:00 am to noon, rain or shine!
We will be cleaning the Little Falls Branch creek and Stream Valley Park all the way from the Dalecarlia Reservoir to the Bethesda Public Pool. The effort has also been expanded to remove the invasive weed 'garlic mustard' in the parkland, so experienced weed warriors and new volunteers welcome!
Sign-in stations include:
- Little Falls Park in Westmoreland - 3 stream side stations (Little Falls Parkway and Massachusetts; Elliott Road Park trail entrance; Albemarle Street entrance)
- Glen Cove/Green Acres - 2 stream side stations (gravel turnout on Little Falls Parkway between River and Mass Ave; and Little Falls Drive at Wakefield Road by footbridge to Westbrook Elementary School playground.)
- Town of Somerset - station at the Somerset Pool, Falstone Avenue and Warwick Place.
- Bethesda Public Pool - station at the Bethesda Pool located at Little Falls Parkway and Hillandale Avenue.
Children under 15 must be supervised by an adult. Middle and High School students who check in will earn SSL credits from the Montgomery County Parks Department.
This cleanup is supported through volunteers and funding by the Westmoreland Hills Garden Club, the Westbrook Elementary AquaEagles and EcoDefenders, the Town of Somerset, the Westmoreland Citizens Association, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commisssion, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, Bethesda Green, and the Little Falls Watershed Alliance.
Contact cleanup@lfwa.org for more information.
April 25/25: Label the Watershed!
April 25 - Bethesda Library, 1:00 - 3:00
April 26 - Bethesda Pool Parking Lot, 11:00 - 5:00
For the first time ever in Watershed history we will attempt to label all the storm drains using only volunteer labor! We have raffle tickets and t-shirts and great prizes. We have labels and instructions. All we need are volunteers to make this happen! Volunteers will be sent out in teams of three to five people and will label 5 to 10 storm drains. We hope to have people preregister, but if you just show up at either location, we will have lots for you to do! Contact Sarah at stormwater@lfwa.org to register your team or volunteer to help with running the event.
We are lucky to have many sponsors and partners in this event -
Thank you to Cheaseapeake Bay Trust for partial funding, partners Bethesda Green, Friends of the Bethesda Library and the DC and Montgomery County governments.
Our sponsors include American Plant, macUpgrades, DAI, Giant Food, Planet Cotton, Advanced Energy Dynamics, and Press, Potter & Dozier, LLC. Raffle donors include Strosniders, macUpgrades, Mamma Lucias, Austin Grill, Ledo Pizza, Lord and Taylor, Tickled Pink, Aveda, Wild Bird Center, Safeway, All Fired Up, Cosi Restaurant, Lilit Cafe, Wow Cow, and Bethesda Magazine. Thank you to Honest Tea for in-kind donations.
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