WATER QUALITY ISSUES:
People Pollution - Litter
All storm drains on city, county, and campus streets drain directly to local waterways. Any substance other than rainwater that enters into a storm drain system goes directly into a local stream, creek, river or lake… Untreated… NO pollinates are removed!
People Pollution
This rainwater, or polluted runoff (people pollution), comes from things we do every day. Anything you dump or drop on the ground adds to polluted runoff. The most common pollutants result from littering. Trash like fast-food wrappers, plastic water bottles, soda cans, plastic cups, foam cups, and even pet waste can end up polluting our local waterways. Drips and drops from leaking car's ... motor oil... even the fertilizer you spread on to your yard... work it's way into the stormwater drain system and go straight to a local water body!
-Litter working its way to local creeks and streams.-
-Trash and litter collected from Hinkson Creek in less than 45 minutes.-
-City of Columbia, Storm Drain Markers.-
Littered Styofoam
Styrofoam - Environmental Impact
Americans reportedly throw away 25 billion Styrofoam cups every year. Styrofoam cups are non-biodegradable. Throwing away this much single-use plastic is harmful for several reasons.
First, Styrofoam cups are non-biodegradable. Instead of breaking down over time, Styrofoam cups break into tiny pieces and stay in the environment for hundreds of years. Moreover, they take up valuable space in our landfills and leach harmful chemicals into the environment.
Second, Styrofoam cups are difficult to clean up. Styrofoam often escapes waste collection systems and accumulates on land and in water because it is easily windblown. Pieces of Styrofoam show up in our parks, forests, beaches, oceans, and rivers.
Marine Debris - Fishing Nets to Six-Pack Rings
Marine species often get tangled in debris, from fishing nets to six-pack rings. If they get caught, they could get injured or even die. Even if they don't get entangled, many animals mistake plastic debris for food, and eat it. This fills their stomachs with junk they can't digest.
A traditional six-pack ring made from plastic can take as many 450 years to completely decompose. Plastic rings that end up in the water or on beaches can cruelly trap animals, choking the necks of birds and turtles, or it can be mistaken for food.
Peanut with six-pack plastic tightly around her shell
Japanese honeysuckle
Invasive Plants and Species
Aquatic invasive species can drive out and eat native plants and wildlife, spread diseases, and damage infrastructure. Many aquatic invasive species - include plants, fish, and mussels.
Plant invasive species can harm the natural landscape, native wildlife, outdoor recreation, working lands, and economy. Choose Missouri’s native plant species when purchasing plants for your landscaping and remove known invasive species where possible.
Micro-trash
Micro-trash is anything from cigarette butts and gum wrappers to (beer and single-use plastic water) bottle caps, the edges of candy wrappers, tiny fruit labels, chunks of styrofoam, broken glass, and/or various other discarded pieces of packaging and related plastic.
Essentially, micro-trash refers to any small piece of trash in the environment that is dangerous to wildlife when ingested. (To clarify: All micro-trash is dangerous to wildlife when ingested.)
Plastic Pollution
Cigarette butts — whose filters contain tiny plastic fibers — are the most common type of plastic waste found in the environment. Food wrappers, plastic bottles, plastic bottle caps, plastic grocery bags, plastic straws, and stirrers are the next most common items.
Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems' ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people's livelihoods, food production capabilities and social well-being.
Native Plants
Natives require much less watering, fertilizer, and pesticides. In fact, they can prevent water run-off and improve air quality. Native plants can help decrease pollution because they eliminate the need for mowers and other equipment.
Native plants require less water than lawns and help prevent erosion. The deep root systems of many native Midwestern plants increase the soil's capacity to store water.
