This month, Paige Copenhaver, Environmental Planner for the County of San Diego Watershed Protection Program and Project Clean Water representative, spoke with the San Diego Union-Tribune about the inspiration behind Project Clean Water’s Design Challenge.
Stormwater pollution in San Diego is a pressing environmental matter. Common pollutants include:
- Garden chemicals getting washed into storm drains from properties from over-irrigation
- Bacteria from pet waste that is not properly disposed of
- Trash that has not been properly disposed of, or is from overflowing trash cans
- Polluted water from car washing that takes place in a driveway or street
To address stormwater pollution in a creative way, Project Clean Water came up with the Design for Clean Water Challenge to engage the community and inspire them to come up with their own solutions to reduce stormwater pollution.
The call for submissions was sent out in July and from that came four project winners:
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- “ReFashion the Future: An Upcycled Fashion Show to Combat Stormwater Pollution” by Chris Carson demonstrates how to turn textiles that have been discarded into new garments
- “La Eco-Resistencia/The Eco-Resistance: A Sound Art and Multimedia Exploration of Stormwater Pollution” by Francisco Eme uses photography, video, audio and a collection of artifacts to show how stormwater pollution impacts urban ecosystems
- “Nature’s Design: Trees & Stormwater Mitigation” by Elektra Fike-Data/Tree San Diego features a certified arborist leading an educational tree planting and stormwater mitigation demonstration
- “A Spoken Word Ode to Water” by Gill Sotu, featuring his performance of “Have you ever seen water cry,” a piece he created personifying water and exploring themes of neglect, pollution and stewardship
You can check them out this weekend at the 40th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day event on September 21, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at NTC Park in Liberty Station.