trash free mystic
As a highly urbanized watershed, trash is one of the biggest problems that we focus on. Most of the trash in the ocean comes from rivers--and the trash in rivers comes from our streets.
Each time it rains, trash takes an unexpected journey from the side of the road into our waterways, as part of stormwater pollution. Stormwater (rain and snowmelt) washes everything on the streets into our stormwater system, which releases--you guessed it--into our rivers.
Trash is also connected to one of the biggest environmental challenges we face worldwide: the huge worldwide growth in the generation of plastic waste and its negative effects on ecosystems and human health.
Goals
To reduce the amount of escaped trash that is getting to rivers, streams, and lakes
To measure the amount of plastic coming off the urban landscape
To work with municipal governments, residents, and other regional stakeholders to come up with large-scale policy, legal, and engineering solutions to reduce trash inputs to the Mystic River.
Current Projects
Volunteer mapping of trash density helps us understand the sources and composition of trash in the watershed.
Help us remove trash from the streets and in our parks before it has a chance to be washed into the Mystic River.
A Trash Trap in the Malden River captures trash and prevents it from floating further downstream.
Educational programs and materials help spread the word about ways to reduce stormwater pollution.
Resources
Join us in tackling this problem that will take many people pushing in many different directions to bring about positive change.
A Waste Resource Guide for Mystic Municipalities
While it’s important to work to reduce and divert household waste through, for example, reuse, upcycling, and composting, this is not always possible. That’s why it’s so important that we work to dispose properly of the waste we do produce, as improper disposal pollutes the environment—especially our rivers.
The majority of plastic in the ocean comes from rivers, and this plastic waste is most often carried directly into our rivers by stormwater. Waste from the street is picked up by the water and is transported through stormwater drainage pipes directly into the Mystic. Beyond plastic trash, pet waste can cause significant bacterial contamination of our waterways, and yard waste that may have been treated with herbicides or pesticides contributes to excess phosphorus contamination, which leads to algal blooms and invasive plant growth.
Everyone can help protect the river from pollution by building an awareness of the waste disposal procedures where they live. Below, we’ve compiled a list of links to the waste disposal information for every municipality in the Mystic River Watershed so that we can continue protecting our river through proper waste disposal!
Compiled by Lucy Kates
A few big things we know about plastic pollution:
Half of all plastic ever made has been produced since 2005
Recycling captures less than 10% of all plastic waste, and the majority of that gets “downcycled,” only delaying its becoming waste
Plastic in the oceans is a huge and growing environmental problem.
Most plastic in the ocean comes from rivers.
Most plastic in the river comes from the land, through the stormwater system.
We are at the beginning of a huge collective environmental problem, not the end of it.
