Washington's Puget Sound is severely polluted with chemicals, fertilizers and other runoff that enters the waterway through storm drains. When it rains, the rainwater takes pollutants from the streets and people's lawns directly into the area's waterways. A group of community activists think rain gardens are the way to address this runoff issue.
Rain gardens are shaped like a bowl and filled with layers of spongy soils and plants that can withstand extreme wet and dry conditions. These gardens are built to act like a forest and replicate the work of the thousands of acres of woodlands and wetlands that have been lost to urban development.
Rain gardens are easy for people to build in their own yards through some simple landscaping, and the increased soil filtering they offer allows water to enter Puget Sound much cleaner than if it had washed directly into the storm drain.
Quotes
"A rain garden is a beautiful landscape feature you can put in your yard at home to collect rainwater runoff from your rooftop, your downspouts, driveway, any hard surface. And the plants and soil in the rain garden will filter out any pollutants found in that runoff and slow it and divert it before it goes in the storm drains." - Stacey Gianas, Stewardship Partners
"It's like anything that's unfamiliar. You learn a little more about it and you get a little more acquainted with it, you talk to other people about it and you -- it sort of starts to normalize as an idea." - Karrie Kohlhaas, Seattle resident
Warm Up Questions
1. What happens to the all the water that falls during a big rain storm?
2. How might a waterway get polluted?
3. Name some major waterways in the U.S. Are any of them near where you live?
Discussion Questions
1. Based on what you saw in the video, describe how storm runoff makes its way into Puget Sound. How does a rain garden help clean that runoff?
2. Would you build a rain garden in your yard? Why or why not?
3. Are the bodies of water near where you live clean or polluted? What do you think are the main threats to water cleanliness where you live?
Additional Resources
