Scoop the Poop Event Next Week!!!

Get a jump start on Scoop the Poop Week (April 24 - 30)!!!
Come in and make LAWN SIGNS and/or BUTTONS to promote picking up pet waste!
It's a FREE EVENT!! (RSVP at 715-394-0392 or superiorstormwater@gmail.com to ensure we'll have enough materials)
Support Scoop the Poop!! 

When: Tuesday April 21, 2015
            5-7 PM
Where: 51 E 1st St (ESD offices/Wastewater Treatment Plant - across E 2nd & railroad tracks from Golden Inn/Animal Hospital)

Clean up the Outdoors

Clean Up the Outdoors

The city of Superior Public Works Department has street sweeping April through the fall and the brush pickup is happening in late April.  Sand was applied to roads during the winter time for driving safety.  Now that the snow is mostly gone the sand remains.  The city picks it up and it heads to a temporary site and then to the landfill.   Some cities do not use sand.  However, there are temperatures that salt doesn’t work (too cold) so sand was a way to add traction for safety during those icy times.   We don’t want the sand – or loose soil – to go down storm drains to head to local streams.   Ensure that soil erosion is reduced by having plant roots in place to hold the soil and find ways to reduce the flow of stormwater such as by putting in a rain barrel or having less impervious surfaces.  Water picks up things as it flows over surfaces.  If the surfaces are clean or held in tack it won’t move things.    

There are two free landfill days scheduled  - one on April 25 and the other on May 2.  From 8 AM until 2:30 PM on those days the City of Superior residents can drop off household trash, brush, tires, grass clippings and used motor oil for free.  To drop-off of a mattress you will have to pay $10 each or $13 to drop one off if damp, wet, or heavily soiled.  From the tour we had at the landfill in the fall, about 18,000 mattress are brought to the Superior landfill each year and not very many of them are recycled because they come in wet.  So keep your unwanted mattress dry so that it can go through the program at Goodwill that recycles all the materials. 
  As a reminder recyclables, electronics, appliance, demolition/construction material, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, and household hazardous waste are not accepted at the landfill.  

Also, be sure to pick up pet waste as you walk your dog.  It’s natural material and would ‘go away’ in time but by picking it up you are removing the chance for stormwater to move some of the pet waste and have it travel down a storm drain. 

Finally, inevitably there is litter around.  The wind blew it, the rain moved it, or someone litters on purpose.    Put on a pair of rubber gloves and do some litter pickup for areas in town.  It will be a great way to bring beauty to our city.  Parks, yards, and areas in town will soon have flowers in bloom.  Let’s let the flowers color the lawns and not litter.

 

Enjoy the warmer days and longer days ahead.  Get out and go for a walk.  Admire our local streams and the shore of Lake Superior and bay.  We really do live in a beautiful place.

Do you live in a watershed?

Yes! We all live in a watershed. The USGS defines a watershed as an "area of land where all the water that falls in it and drains off of it goes into the same place." 
All the water in the city basically ends up in Lake Superior, but do you know where it goes before then? Do you know the name of the stream nearest you? The rain that falls here at the wastewater treatment plant drain directly to Superior Bay of Lake Superior. If you live more inland, chances are your rain water flows into a storm drain connected to a stream before reaching the lake. Here are a couple of resources to determine the stream nearest you:
Streams of Superior (city website)
Lake Superior Streams (Info on streams from Duluth-Superior area)

We are constantly promoting "only rain down the drain" because storm sewers do NOT go through a treatment process. Do you have a storm drain by your home? Think about all the stuff that snowmelt and rain water flushes from your yard into the drain:

• Road salt
• Dog poop that never got picked up
• Lawn fertilizers and other chemicals
• Grass clippings and fallen leaves
• Dirty washwater from washing your car at home

All of these will find its way to pollute our lake. The map above is a bit hard to read, but all the boxed red text shows our impaired waters due to pollution.

Keeping Lake Superior Blue Is Up To YOU!!

Pick up pet waste - new videos

Picking up after your pets is important to help our local water quality stay clean.

Here are recently released local videos with the local Animal Allies organization.
http://youtu.be/0-TKIp7KMo4

http://youtu.be/u8sZhqDFm2A

Clean Water - clean waterways depend on community efforts - Come chat on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.

The final chat in our 3 part series - Bites on Clean Water - will be on Thursday, October 24 at Big Apple Bagels, 1224 Belknap.  The topic of discussion is how do activities in the community impact our local streams, rivers, and Lake Superior.  Not everyone makes it to the shores of a stream or Lake Superior everyday but with the over 2000 storm drains in our area we are all standing on the shore of streams and lakes via the nearby storm drains carrying materials moved by stormwater runoff down the drain.    What is on our lawns and public spaces can be carried down a storm drain - pet waste, litter, plant debris and other items.  Thanks for helping keep places clean.  Stop in for the discussion Thursday morning.  We'll supply free bagel bites.   You don't need to have attended any of the previous discussions to attend this one. 

-Posted by Wendy Grethen

Bringing the Poop Back to the Polluter

Rex striking a pose at Super One

Back in December, I wrote this post about picking up pet waste.  Then, in April, we celebrated Scoop the Poop Week by handing out pet waste baggie dispensers that attach to your dog's leash.  We went to different spots in Superior and gave out information about pet waste disposal.  Rex, the Regional Stormwater Protection Team's mascot, came out to get everyone excited about picking up pet waste and preventing pollution.  Some other cities, it seems, have been taking that message and turning up the intensity. An article from Mother Nature Network (here) tells of cities DNA testing dogs so that they can link poo left in public back to the dog, returning the poop to the owner in a "Lost Property" box and publicly shaming residents who don't scoop the poop.  While it seems unlikely that we would do that in Superior, it certainly seems effective.  For now, though, if you need some help remembering to Scoop the Poop, stop by our offices at 51 E 1st Street and pick up a pet waste baggie dispenser.

 

Written by Jillian Edwards

Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd!

Although it certainly hasn’t felt like April in Superior lately, Earth Day (April 22^nd) is fast approaching.  Earth Day was founded in the U.S. in 1970 as a day for teaching about the environment by former Wisconsin Governor and US Senator Gaylord Nelson.  The Earth Day Network organizes Earth Day each year. 

If you are interested in doing something for Earth Day, you can let the world know about your commitment on the Earth Day Network’s website (here http://act.earthday.org/).  We also have some tips for things you can do to celebrate the Earth this April here:

1.       Plant a tree.  Trees filter air pollutants, decrease heating/cooling needed in your home, sequester carbon, create habitat for animals and insects, and reduce stormwater runoff, among many other things.

2.       Install a rain barrel.  Rain barrels provide water for lawns/gardens, reduce stormwater runoff, and lower demand on municipal water supplies.  If you’re interested, we’re selling rain barrels (at cost with tax included) through May 24^th.  Visit www.ci.superior.wi.us/sale for an order form and more information.

3.       Replace appliances and fixtures with water and energy efficient models.  When appliances and fixtures need to be replaced, choose models that will save water and/or energy; it will also save you money.

4.       Clean up your neighborhood.  Pick up dog poop from your yard.  Clean up litter, leaves and sticks from the storm drains on your street.  When it rains, all of these things can be washed into storm drains, leading to water pollution down the pipe. 

5.       Plant a rain garden.  This is a little more time intensive than the other suggestions, but planting deep-rooted native plants in a depression in your yard can be visually appealing and will also reduce stormwater runoff and water pollution.

6.       Get inside! Of the Superior Public Library, that is.  You can see artwork by the 5^th and 6^th graders who won our “Water is Art” contest beginning April 22nd.  You can also learn more about the Earth by checking out a book; no matter what aspect of the Earth you’re interested in, there are books to cover it!

7.       Get outside! What better way is there to celebrate the Earth than to spend some time outside of our built environment? Spending time in the woods or on the water will remind you just how much you love living in such a beautiful place.  Scientists have found that spending time in nature is also good for your health; it can increase immune system function, lower your pulse, lower blood pressure, and decrease stress.                                

There are so many other things that you can do to celebrate Earth Day!  Don't forget to take a little time to love the Earth this April 22nd.  It'll do you and the Earth good!