Don’t let your neighborhood go to the dogs! Hampton Roads residents can now apply for a free pet waste station through a new grant program offered by askHRgreen.org. Geared toward property managers, neighborhood associations, and community groups that are committed to making scooping the poop a priority, the grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants may apply online.
For those who qualify, askHRgreen.org will provide a free pet waste station, which comes ready to install and includes a post, sign, bag dispenser, waste can, hardware, 400 dog waste bags and 50 can liners. The community group is responsible for installing the station, emptying the trash regularly and replacing the bags.
Pet waste stations encourage residents to do the right thing by making scooping the poop easy and convenient. Pet waste may be unsightly and gross, but did you know that it is also a major source of nitrogen and bacteria pollution in our local waterways? When it rains, pet waste washes into our storm drains and eventually flows into rivers and streams. This excess nitrogen and bacteria transform the water into a cloudy, green, foul-smelling mess that lacks oxygen and becomes an aquatic dead zone. The same pollution is responsible for beach closures, fishing restrictions and warnings on eating local seafood. Installing a pet waste station is one small thing a community can do to help keep our local waterways clean.
So help us spread the word! Let’s get these FREE pet waste stations out of storage and installed today so we can work towards greener communities and cleaner waterways in 2014.
For more info on keeping our waterways clean, visit our page on stormwater pollution.