When the leaves start to fall, neighborhoods become a flurry of rakes and leaf blowers. Falling leaves contain nutrients that are great for your garden, compost or lawn. With so many falling at once, they can easily cover storm drains as well as your backyard. Clogged storm drains cause rain water to run down streets into lakes and rivers. Traveling over the roadways, the water collects dirt, grease and trash. These potential pollutants can negatively impact the health of local waterways.
Viewer Tip: Keep your leaves out of the storm drains this fall. Compost leaves or use them to cover flower beds for the winter. Using leaves as mulch will protect your plants from the cold and add nutrients to the soil for the next growing season. Also check with your garbage hauler - they may have a leaf composting program just waiting for your leaves!
For more tips, visit Earth Gauge!
This information is provided by Great Lakes Aquarium. Learn more at www.glaquarium.org.