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Help your neighbors and local elected officials to become more informed and better aware of statewide goals for marine and coastal resource protection. Start by letting them know why you support improved land use policies and practices that target reducing nonpoint source pollution that enters our coastal waterways and degrades adjacent marine waters. And most important, let your local elected officials know that you support their efforts to seek funds and other forms of support for these urgently needed community-based actions.
Local programs and land use practices that touch on reducing nonpoint source pollution include such action as stormwater management to reduce untreated contaminants from entering municipal drainage systems that dump directly to the ocean, and improved development practices (e.g., grading and erosion control, proper vegetated buffer zones along riverbanks, landscaping public spaces with native plants, low impact development design for new housing projects).
The elimination of trash and plastic debris from coastal streams also requires that communities organize and conduct coordinated creek and stream debris removal, and recycling programs for plastics including single-use water bottles and shopping bags. State programs that are designed to support local action can provide technical guidance as well as funds to communities that demonstrate a desire to take action.
Parents can also contribute to instilling these values in their children both by example at home, and by supporting educational programs and organizing other opportunities to support school science and natural history programs. Successful programs that explore local environmental and ecosystem issues can also provide students with opportunities to participate in volunteer efforts to clean-up creeks and beaches, remove invasive plants, and plant native plants that restore wildlife habitat and improve local stream and river ecosystems.
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