Pollution education for the next generation

COEUR d'ALENE — Moira DuCoeur's third-grade students chattered with excitement as a new storm drain marker was spray-painted outside their school Thursday.

Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Dan Gookin and city assistant project manager Kim Harrington paid Sorensen Magnet School of the Arts and Humanities a visit to give the students buttons and certificates and to share this historic stenciling moment with them.

The buttons contained images of the students' own stencil artwork they created while learning about storm drains and how everything that goes into many of the city's catch basins actually flows into Lake Coeur d'Alene.

"I think it's special that it was at Sorensen and our class got to do it," said Adeline Smith, 9. "I don't get why people dump things in there and it goes to our lake and it goes to what we're going to swim in."

Oliver Graves, 8, was chosen as volunteer to clean off the spot near the drain where Gookin spray-painted the stencil.

"It's bad to pollute," Oliver said.

The new stencil is of the city of Coeur d'Alene's sailboat logo with the words "No dumping, flows to lake." It will replace the current fish stencils that read, "Dump no waste, flows to our lake."

Harrington said it's important to educate kids about storm drains and pollution because that information will stay with them as they become educated grown-ups.

"I still run into a lot of adults that don't realize that if something goes down that storm drain, that it goes right out to the water," she said. "A lot of folks still think that it goes to the wastewater treatment plant for treatment. With storm water, that's not the case. You start with the kids young and they grow up with the knowledge of that, and they've got some great ideas. They get it."

Gookin said involving the students in the storm drain marking project creates a sense of community and awareness.

"When I was a kid, obviously, we didn't know," he said. "You washed your car and all the crap went into the street and you changed your oil and washed that out into the street and it went into the hole, where it goes after that, I didn't care. Now they can say they know."

Harrington said the storm drain marking project relies heavily on volunteers. The city has kits available for groups or anyone who wants to help mark the drains with the new stencil.

To volunteer, contact Harrington at kimh@cdaid.org.