Help us get the word out about cleaning our drains of all leaves and litter before winter hits for good! We will be distributing doorhangers on ~Halloween morning~ which should be nice and sunny!

Saturday, October 31st 10am-12pm
Meet at Sheridan Memorial Park

We will bring hot cider!! Dress warmly, masks required.

Afterwords, join the NE Storm Drain Challenge Celebration at the Audubon Neighborhood Association office at 2600 Johnson St NE at 1pm. RSVP and details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/694452494759874

It’s Fall Leaf Cleanup Week!

With the weather warming up it’s perfect timing to clean up all the leaves that have been accumulating before the next round of snow hits!

Storm drains feed directly into our local lakes and rivers, unfiltered, so it’s important to keep them clear for cleaner and healthier waterways. Fall is an especially important time to keep the leaves that are collecting on our streets and sidewalks out of our storm drains. While they might be “natural” debris they become pollution when large quantities hit the water and break down becoming food for algae.

Make sure you’re ready for the week with this checklist of things to do.

1. Adopt an available storm drain near you at http://adopt-a-drain.org if you haven’t already (or feel free to adopt more if you already have an adopted drain)

2. Gather the tools you'll need. These might include: gloves, rake, trash grabber, dustpan, safety vest, bins for separating waste, yard and/or trash bag

3. Collect and separate trash and recycling from the area around your adopted drain

4. Rake or sweep up leaves, sediment and sticks and place in compost or yard waste bag

5. Estimate and report the debris you collect from 10/26/2020-11/1/2020 and you’ll be entered to win a tote bag

6. (Optional, but greatly appreciated!) Take a before and after photo of your efforts and share it on your Facebook or Instagram and tag us!

NE Adopt-a-Drain Challenge

From May 1 to October 31, 2020

Here in NE, all of our storm drains go straight to the Mississippi River carrying pollutants and debris with it. It's important to keep our Mississippi clean, not only for the plants and animals that call it home, but also because that's where we in Minneapolis get our drinking water from, along with millions of our neighbors down river from us.

Join us in adopting a storm drain near your house. Adopting a storm drain just means that you'll keep an eye on and clean it out with a broom and rake when it gets clogged with trash, leaves, and sand. Kids love to help and you feel like you're really doing something concrete to help our Planet and protect our water.

It's a friendly competition to see which NE neighborhood can adopt the most storm drains by the end of October. Do your part to rep your neighborhood! By this fall, we'll be able to measure the difference our efforts have made in keeping pollutants out of our Mississippi River! Go to adopt-a-drain.org to sign up!