From the perspective of rainwater, streets in the city are similar to streams in the country. In the country, streams feed larger tributaries that eventually go into the ocean. In the city, runoff from the streets goes into storm drains and then, in central Baltimore, goes into the harbor and finally into the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic. This means that debris, chemicals, gasoline, excess fertilizer, etc. that gets washed into the street ends up polluting the bay. Painting our storm drains is a reminder that our individual actions have an impact upon our environment, on the food we eat and our health.

The storm drain shown above was designed and painted by neighborhood children under the direction of an artist. This is just one of 25 storm drains that we have painted in 2012 and 2013.