Scoop the Poop!

You've heard us harp on this again and again, but with the recent beach closures, we feel it's not a topic that can be understated. All poo can be a source of bacteria for our waterways, particularly when we have a large storm event.

In the city of Virginia Beach, there are more than 40,000 registered dogs (it's estimated that there are closer to 400,000 dogs total in Virginia Beach). Even with that low estimate, with the average dog pooping .75 lbs, that means 30,000 lbs of poo deposited into our watershed every day. As I'm sure you can imagine, if all of that feces is not collected, that is a LOT of bacteria. Add to that the estimated 130,503 Canadian Geese (http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/) that reside along coastal Virginia, each producing 1 lb for 130,501 lbs/day (see previous blog entry for more on keeping them off your property), an unknown number of feral cats and wildlife, and you've got a whole lotta poo and bacteria on your hands (or at least your lawn).

Every time there is water (stormwater, car wash water, pressure washing water, pool emptying, watering plants or the yard, etc), the bacteria from any feces on the ground is going to wash away, either directly into the water, if it is on a beach or shoreline, or into a storm drain, where it will make its way into the river or the bay. Only 20% of the over 1,000 storm drains in our watershed are treated. The remaining 80% are draining directly into the river or bay.



At Lynnhaven River Now, we encourage all pet owners (especially dog owners) to sign the Scoop the Poop pledge, pick up a scarf (like Calvin is modelling above) to show others their commitment, and place a sticker on their city trash cans to remind others to scoop the poop as well. 

If your neighborhood or complex does not yet have a poop bag dispenser, we encourage you to apply for one through the askHRgreen Pet Waste Station Grant. You can find the application here. You must commit to installing the station, ensuring that it stays stocked with bags, and that the trash bag gets emptied, but the station itself is free of charge!

Of course, we'd be remiss to not mention the issue of boater discharge as well, which certainly contributes to the problem. We hope that all boaters remember that the Lynnhaven River is a NO DISCHARGE ZONE, which means no dumping, even if it treated sewage.


Bacteria in our water is a serious issue that deserves our attention and our action. On the economic side, dirty water can affect our tourism (which is largely based on our waterways). On a more personal level, it can affect our health, and our ability to enjoy the beautiful waters of Hampton Roads safely. Please, Scoop the Poop, and encourage others to do the same. It doesn't matter where you live, it's all going to the same place.

Written by Trista Imrich

No Butts About it... Cigarettes are Bad News for the River!

Keep Your Butts Out of the Lynnhaven!

How many times have you seen a curb, parking lot, or beach littered with cigarettes? Many people don't see cigarettes as pollution or trash. They believe that they are biodegradable, and will eventually disappear into the environment. However, even though cigarette filters, or "butts," may look like cotton, they are made of something called cellulose acetate, a type of plastic!  

On average, it takes anywhere from 18 months to 10 years for a cigarette filter to biodegrade, depending on environmentals. 

  

Environmental impact

In addition to plastic materials, cigarette filters release the toxic chemicals they are designed to collect from cigarette smoke into the environment.  These chemicals get washed into nearby waterways and can impact macroinvertebrate populations, which ultimately disrupt entire food webs.  These filters are also eaten by larger organisms like fish and birds that mistake them for food.  Additionally, littered cigarette filters can start wildfires and cause massive ecological and economic damage.   

What can we do to solve this problem?

The simple solution is to start disposing of these filters properly.  While there are less ashtrays around these days, smokers can use a pocket ashtray.  You can get yours FREE HERE

There are also some new cigarette filter repurposing programs out there.  The Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company collects cigarette filters, and other cigarette material from the public to make various plastic products like ashtrays and shipping pallets.  You can find out more about this and sign yourself up here.  Another new and exciting potential use for these filters was discovered recently by scientists in South Korea.  They have converted the filter plastic into a material to be used in various electronic devises. You can read about this research here.

There is still time to turn this problem around.  Become part of the solution--no butts about it!   

Written by Clint Boaz, Edited by Trista Imrich

Tell Geese "Get Outta Here!" by Speaking their Language

Many who live in the Lynnhaven Watershed are all too familiar with the Canada goose. Waterfront homeowners have tried just about everything to keep them off of their lawn from string fences to fake alligators to pellet guns. Many of these attempts, unfortunately, fall short of removing these persistent birds from properties. So, try these new strategies that speak to the geese in their own instinctive language- predator versus prey:

Change their habitat

"Angry Goose", This Incredible World on Flickr.com

Geese are instinctively wary of tall grasses, brush, and forested areas where predators may be lurking. Talk to your neighbors who have marsh grasses growing along their shoreline and lots of shrubs and trees growing in their yards. They will tell you they see far fewer geese on their property than those with manicured lawns. Geese not only steer clear of shrubbery, but they seek out your lawn because they like to eat the tender, young grass shoots. Let the grasses within about 5 feet or more of your shoreline grow to a foot or more high. Geese view this as a barrier and won’t walk through it from the water. These grasses also create a buffer that keeps fertilizer and loose soil from flowing off of your yard and into the river during storm events. If the geese attempt to fly over your tall grasses, they will be even more deterred to stay on your property if shrubs and trees are planted throughout. A yard full of tall grasses, shrubs and trees signals to geese that it could be full of predators and lacking yummy grass shoots. They’ll fly away to find a nice, short, safe lawn full of food at your neighbor’s house.

Like the look of a manicured yard, rather than tall grasses? Replace lawn with planted beds.

If you aren’t so keen on the idea of unmowed grass, plant a marsh garden in areas that get flooded in storm events or at high tides. See our list of suggested “high marsh” plants in our Tidal Wetland Restoration Guide at http://www.lynnhavenrivernow.org/files/pages/Wetlands%20Pub%20for%20Website.pdf

On properties with riprap or bulkheads, plant a buffer garden at the edge of your shoreline. Many native shrubs and other plants can be planted in a beautiful mulched bed along your shoreline to keep geese out and pollutants like fertilizer and loose soil in.  

Search the Native Plants Database by state at http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ to find native plants that are best for your yard. Buffer gardens can also be planted upland of a marsh garden on natural shorelines. You can also get free trees for your yard from LRNow! See details at www.LRNow.org.

Buffer garden on Lyon property on the Lynnhaven River

Don't feed the geese. 

Feeding geese bread crumbs while you’re at Mount Trashmore might seem like something fun to do with the kids, but you are just telling the geese you want them to stick around and teaching your kids how to pollute the river. Like most animals, geese will always come back for a free meal! Why migrate south for the winter when they can just go to Lake Trashmore for bread? The University of California-Davis estimated one goose produces an average of about 5 pounds of poop per day, which contains a lot of bacteria, most of which is E. coli. When it rains, where does all that E. coli go? That’s right, into the river. So, remember- what goes in must come out! The less bread we feed the geese, the cleaner the river will be.

Humanely harass them.

Decoy dog and un-bothered geese, Frank Lundberg

If all else fails by altering their habitat and our habits, you can try a few more scare tactics that may rattle their gaggles. A quick internet search for special lasers and light-emitting devices used to scare geese will produce a line-up of lights that supposedly scare off geese settling down for the night if used properly at dusk. But, if you live near a sandy beach, please don’t use this tactic as it could create a dangerously confusing situation for baby sea turtles seeking the light of the moon to steer them towards the sea.

Motion-activated sprinklers are another high-tech strategy that could startle grazing geese. In combination with some well-placed predatory landscaping, this method could frighten geese enough to send them packing.

A myriad of chemical solutions are also recommended by various online sources, but we would advise against using these chemicals. Whatever you put on your lawn flows right into either a storm drain or your shoreline, both of which lead directly to the river. No one wants weird chemicals in their water.

All of these tactics can be useful, especially if combined and if done repeatedly. Remember, you are essentially training the geese to view your yard as unsafe and uncomfortable. Since they don’t speak English, we can only do our best to speak to them in their natural language. Take away their food and a safe habitat and your resident geese should decide to fly the coop!