When hurricanes come around again it is a dangerous time for our environment. Basically, all the trash and litter that is on our yards and roads get washed into the storm drains with the heavy rain. From there, it gets into the water, it makes lakes look dark and murky while also killing our wildlife. One of the most important things a street sweeper does is prevent contamination of our lakes.
Prevention is key!
We have to be careful when we take care of our yard, we can accidentally put the environment at risk! For instance, cutting our grass leaves clippings behind that eventually wash into the drain. You wouldn’t think clippings of grass would be harmful, as we have discussed before when the clippings get into ponds and lakes the excess decomposing grass throws off the aquatic ecosystem and promotes algae growth. Access algae growth consumes the oxygen that the fish need to survive, resulting in much dead fish. This has a direct effect on the production of purifying water for consumption. Use a lawnmower attachment that picks up what you cut. Your yard will look better and the environment will be safer.
Using fertilizers and pesticides have similar effects. Try not to use more than you need, and choose products for your yard that are better for the environment in case some of it does get washed away. Watering your lawn after using a product can help get it to soak into your lawn.
Moving Your Car
Having to park somewhere else can be a hindrance, but it is a huge help for the street sweepers to be able to take care of that area. Street sweepers move very slow and have to skip an area if there is a car blocking it. There are cities like Los Angeles that only have 33% of their streets swept more than once a year. This is largely due to cars not getting moved on scheduled cleaning days. A street sweeper cannot clean an area unless the cars are moved.
Let’s do our part!
So this hurricane season let’s do our part in helping street sweepers be able to do their job effectively. If we take simple measures to make sure our lawn debris, fertilizers, and pesticides are staying out of our lakes and move our vehicles to let street sweepers clean, we can massively impact our local environment this season! And remember, we don’t just do our part during hurricane season – but all year long.