Clean Water Starts With You!

TRASH

We’ve all seen it: paper, aluminum cans, plastic wrappers, unwanted food, plastic bags and bottles, and cigarette butts on the side of the road or on the sidewalk. Small amounts of trash around your home and neighborhood contribute to a big water quality problem. Trash clogs storm drains and causes flooding, which can damage homes and businesses and harm local creeks and rivers.

Changing a common behavior, like littering, starts with you. Each person must accept responsibility for their actions and influence the actions of others around them at home, at school, in your place of business, and in the community at large.

The image below shows the various ways trash can get into Lincoln’s creeks and ravines.

How Trash Gets Into Creeks

Lincoln Stormwater Program acknowledges the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program for developing and sharing the content and artwork of this poster.

What can you do?

  • Never put or dispose of anything in the storm drain or drainage ditch.
  • Properly dispose of trash.
  • Secure lids on your “One & Done” and green waste containers to prevent items from falling out.
  • If you see trash in your neighborhood, pick it up and properly dispose of it in a trash receptacle.
  • Clean leaves and trash out of your rain and street gutters.
  • Dispose of pet waste in the garbage.
  • Remember to bring a bag for trash when hiking, camping, or at any outdoor activity.
  • Keep a trash bag in the car and never throw anything out of your car window.
  • When hauling materials by truck, enclose your loads or cover with a tarp to prevent anything from falling or blowing off the back.
Example of trash and litter on top of storm drain

TAKE THE TRASH PLEDGE!

Did you know that 80% of trash that ends up in our waterways originate from land? You can pledge to make a difference and help to inspire the actions of others around you at home, at school, in your place of business, and in the community at large. By taking the pledge to pick up ten pieces of trash every week, you are helping to keep Lincoln waterways clean. Thank you for doing your part to remove the trash that pollutes our environment.

CLEAN WATER STARTS WITH YOU!

Litter Pledge