New Castle County residents who have pledge to be a Clean Stream Champion can purchase discounted rain barrels! You must register to pick-up a rain barrel. Upcoming pickup dates and locations: November 21 at Glasgow Park
About Great Schools, Clean Streams Great Schools, Clean Streams is New Castle County's annual environmental awareness campaign. Sponsored by the Department of Public Works, our goal is to help residents do their part to keep our waterways clean and safe, prevent plumbing problems at home, and support their local school system. […]
The Delaware Solid Waste Authority operates Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Events at different locations throughout the year and weekly through out locations in the state. Delaware residents can bring their HHW to the event free of charge. Click Here For The 2023 Collection Event Schedule
DSWA Special Collection Events take place on select Saturdays throughout the year. The collection events provide a free collection of household hazardous waste, electronics recycling and the ability to shred personal documents for Delaware Residents. Events are subject to change - Please check their events calendar at: 2023 DSWA COLLECTION EVENT […]
Volunteers will assemble at 8:00 AM at either the Ashland Nature Center in Hockessin, DE or Anson B. Nixon Park or the Kennett Area YMCA outdoor Pool in Kennett Square to help with clean up of 98 miles of roads and streams in the Red Clay Valley watershed. More than […]
The Christina River Watershed Cleanup’s mission has always been the removal of trash from within this beautiful watershed, while raising public awareness for pollution prevention. Since the Cleanup began in 1992, more than 360 tons of tires, appliances, household items, and other trash have been cleared from within the watershed. […]
Looking to do more in your yard to reduce flooding, support clean water, and help wildlife? Join us on April 16 from 5-6pm at New Castle County’s Paper Mill Park to learn more about rain gardens, native plants, and other ways to be good stewards of our properties. Stop by […]
2024 Spring Native Plant Sale Delaware Nature Society Member Day: Friday, May 3, 2 pm – 7 pm Open to the Public: Saturday, May 4, 9 am – 3 pm Make a difference for wildlife by adding native plants to your yard. Find a variety of native wildflowers, trees, […]
Fall Native Plant Sale - Support Fall Pollinators
For Newark residents only. Residents who received a tree or shrub from the Spring event will not be eligible. The plant giveaway online registration is first come, first served. https://secure.rec1.com/DE/newark-de/catalog
What you can do:
Learn more: www.nccde.org/213/Fats-Oils-Grease
Whenever possible, buy products that are free of toxic chemicals. Read the label and choose the least hazardous product to do the job. The words “warning”, “danger”, and “poison” indicate that the product’s ingredients are harmful so try to avoid. Try to select products that are made from plant-based materials, such as citrus, vegetable or pine oils.
What you can do:
Runoff can be contaminated and also causes flooding. Before our region was developed, most of the land was covered in forests, wetlands and marshes. When it rained, most of the rainwater would slowly soak into the ground. Because our landscape now includes homes, businesses and shopping centers, rainwater can’t soak through hard surfaces such as roads and parking lots but instead runs quickly over these surfaces and causes flooding.
What can you do:
If you live in a community, you can also make a difference by:
Dumping harmful pollutants, such as motor oil, into storm drains is illegal. New Castle County residents should report any pollution going into or out of the storm sewer system by contacting the pollution hotline at:
Call or text 302STOPPIT (302.786.7748), or write hotline@302stoppit.org
Learn more: www.302stoppit.org/home
City of Newark:
Gardening with native plants – plants that originated in this area – supports both water and wildlife. These plants thrive in our climate and are easy to grow and care for without using extra water or chemicals. Native trees, shrubs and plants improve water quality by filtering pollutants and help to absorb excess water with their deep roots. Plus, their seeds, berries and leaves are great food for birds, butterflies and pollinating insects.
What you can do:
If you don’t have a yard, you can still make a difference:
Scoop the Poop
Help stop Poo-llution and keep harmful bacteria out of our waters. Picking up after your pet is a simple way to keep pollution out of our waterways while keeping our parks, neighborhoods and yards clean.
There are over 110,000* dogs in New Castle County generating approximately 41 tons* of poop daily. It’s the same as untreated sewage washing into our waters!
An average size dog dropping can contain 3 billion harmful bacteria. Rain washes these bacteria and nutrients into our streams, rivers and beaches which can make water unsafe for swimming and recreation.
What you can do:
If you don’t have a dog, you can still make a difference:
* Estimate based on 34% of households owning 1.6 dogs (American Veterinary Medical Assoc) x 200,000 NCC households (US Census 2013-17) x .75 lbs waste/dog
