San Diego, California, is relaunching the new and improved Think Blue San Diego.
This is a public awareness effort to educate people on how a modern storm water system helps ensure clean water and clean beaches for the future.
Think Blue San Diego is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, reported the city.
“One of main reasons so many people love to live in San Diego – and why millions come to visit each year – is our breathtaking environment,” said Mayor Todd Gloria, reported the city. “To keep our city clean and beautiful, we’re calling on San Diegans this Valentine’s Day weekend to show their love for San Diego by picking up trash around their homes or businesses. Taking just a few minutes to ‘Think Blue’ will help preserve and protect what makes San Diego so special.”
The Think Blue San Diego website features updated information on how the storm water system works and about the needed $6.7 billion in upgrades over the next 20 years to modernize the system. The website also includes a new data visualization tool highlighting the Fiscal Year 2021 information collected by the Stormwater Department in the Data & Maps section.
Think Blue and I Love A Clean San Diego will partner for this special Valentine’s Day weekend cleanup to remove trash from the San Diego River Watershed, according to the city.
Think Blue and I Love a Clean San Diego also held a webinar with tips for water conservation and an overview of money-saving rebates San Diego offers for rain barrels, rain gutters, greywater systems, and more.
A new public outreach and education advertising push for Think Blue will begin to roll out on Feb. 14.
Think Blue San Diego was first introduced two decades ago as an awareness campaign to prevent storm water pollution. The city stopped funding Think Blue about a decade ago.
A 2011 survey showed 43% of San Diegans know that storm water goes directly to local waterways untreated and this number fell to 26% in a survey conducted in 2021.
“Storm water infrastructure is largely out of sight and out of mind compared to more visible infrastructure like street repairs and park improvements,” said Ian Monahan, director of communications at I Love A Clean San Diego. “This new Think Blue movement will help bolster the work we do year-round to educate San Diegans about the importance of storm water in our daily lives, and highlight the significant upgrades needed for our aging storm drain system to create a cleaner San Diego now and for future generations.”
