Environmental Services
What Can I Do?
Did you know that a typical city block generates 9 times as much runoff as a wooded area the same size? Impervious cover, such as pavement, concrete, and rooftops, prevents rainwater from sinking into the ground. This water becomes stormwater, which adversely affects our streams and water quality. How can you help protect our streams from the large volumes of stormwater that run off all the paved areas and buildings in Arlington? Here are some ways to help reduce stormwater runoff:
- Disconnect your roof gutters from storm drains. Place the downspouts on your storm drains so they run into your yard or garden, not into your driveway, sidewalk or street. Or, you can collect rainwater using a cistern or a Rain Barrel and re-use it as you need around your yard.
- Create a Rain Garden at home to treat and filter stormwater runoff from your house or driveway. Read another brochure on rain gardens.
- Collect rainwater from your roof in a rain barrel or cistern, which you can use to irrigate your garden, and can help solve problems with soggy areas in your yard or basement.
- Wash your car on the grass so the soapy water does not run directly onto the pavement and into the storm drain. Or, take your car to a carwash that recycles the wash water.
- Never dump anything down a storm sewer! The water that runs into storm sewers goes DIRECTLY into our local streams, and IS NOT treated at the Water Pollution Control Plant. If you have household hazardous waste that you need to get rid of, you can drop it off at the County's Household Hazardous Materials Program.
- Adopt your street! You can help improve your neighborhood and protect the environment by adopting your street. If you see any trash or litter around the storm drains near where you live, clean it up. Litter that is washed into storm drains goes directly into our local streams and affects the ecology and beauty of our streams.
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- If you live near a stream, or if your property borders a stream, try to maintain a vegetated buffer next to the stream. These vegetated buffers help absorb runoff and filter pollutants before they impact the stream. Do not mow the grass right up to the stream edge.
- Check out the "green gardening" web page for lots of environmentally friendly gardening suggestions.
- Consider Grasscycling leaving grass clippings on your lawn to provide nutrients, instead of fertilizing. This is a fast and easy way to a great looking lawn!
- Try composting at home. Composting is a degradation process brought about by bacteria and fungus organisms. Large amounts of organic kitchen, garden, or lawn refuse can be reduced in a relatively short time to a pile of black, crumbly humus which makes an ideal soil conditioner for your garden. Find out more about composting.
- Create a Rain Garden at home to treat and filter stormwater runoff from your house or driveway. Read another brochure on rain gardens.
- Try to reduce the amount of water you use in your yard. If you are landscaping, choose native plants that require less water to maintain (Water-Wise Gardener Program). Consider capturing rainwater and using it to water your lawn and plants.
- If you think you need to fertilize your lawn, consider getting your soil tested before you fertilize to find out how much and what type of fertilizer your really need. Virginia Cooperative Extension offers great lawn care classes and will test your soil for you, if you mail them a sample. Never fertilize before rain is predicted.
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- Try to minimize or stop using pesticides entirely. These chemicals can damage aquatic life, even at very low levels. Use boiling water to kill weeds on your sidewalk or driveway.
- On average, 44% of your utility bill goes for heating and cooling. You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours. This is easy to do with an automatic setback or programmable thermostat.
- Buying some new appliances? Consider the ENERGY STAR® appliances. For example, a conventional washer uses about 40 gallons of water per load. In contrast, a full-size ENERGY STAR® clothes washer uses 20-25 gallons per load. This saves as much as 7,000 gallons of water per year, and saves you money on your water AND energy bills!
- Planning some home renovations? Donate used or new building materials that you do not need to an organization such as the Loading Dock, which recycles these materials to build or renovate low-income housing, soup kitchens, community centers, etc.
- Do you live in an apartment? Check out DOE's tips for saving money on energy in your apartment.
- Use public transportation to get around town. Did you know that 25% of Nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay comes from air pollution? Check out the Commuter Page's Ozone Action Days Program.
- Today's best air conditioners use 30% to 50% less energy to produce the same amount of cooling as air conditioners made in the mid 1970s. Even if your air conditioner is only 10 years old, you may save 20% to 40% of your cooling energy costs by replacing it with a newer, more efficient model. Click here for more information about energy-efficient air conditioning.
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- Unless your home was constructed with special attention to energy efficiency, adding insulation will probably reduce your utility bills. Much of the existing housing stock in the United States is not insulated to the best level. Older homes are likely to use more energy than newer homes, leading to very high heating and air-conditioning bills. Even if you own a new home, adding insulation may save enough money in reduced utility bills to pay for itself within a few years, continue to save you money for as long as you own the home, and increase the resale value of your house. Learn more about insulation.
