The Schuylkill Action Network is using street art and a new contest to show students how to prevent water pollution.
Children in kindergarten through high school have until Feb. 28 to enter the Schuylkill Students Street Art Contest. To enter they must submit a drawing, video or both to the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, a founding member of the SAN. All entries should show others how to keep pollution out of storm drains. Those who win will see their work transform into street art surrounding a local inlet.
‘Anything dropped or spilled near a storm drain becomes pollution when it rains or snows heavily,’ said Tom Davidock, a PDE employee who coordinates the SAN. ‘This contest addresses that by engaging our youngest residents, and the theme works well because street art was really born in Philly.’
Each first-place winner will receive a $50 gift card and a pizza party for his or her entire class.
The Philadelphia Water Department first used street art for the theme of its Green City, Clean Waters Art Contest. It then asked the SAN to duplicate its idea upstream to help preserve Philadelphia’s supply of clean water.
The Schuylkill Action Network welcomes anyone willing to help clean up the Schuylkill River and the many waterways flowing into it. Its members do this by partnering on projects in Berks, Chester, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and Schuylkill counties, among others. In this way, it helps to protect nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians, all of whom depend on these waterways for safe drinking water.
Since 2003, the SAN has grown to include dozens of local, private, and public members. This is in addition to its five founders: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3; Philadelphia Water Department; Delaware River Basin Commission; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.
Info about the Schuylkill Students Street Art Contest can be found at Facebook.com/SchuylkillWaters. Details on the Green City, Clean Waters Art Contest are available at DelawareEstuary.org. Callers can inquire about both contests by dialing (800) 445-4935, extension 112.
