Runoff pollution running through the Bay

by Amy Alton, Communications and Policy Associate

NRDC recently released their annual beach water quality report, naming storm water runoff – an untreated toxic brew of trash, oil, pesticides, heavy metals and chemicals – as the #1 source of pollution in our Bay and waterways.

Read all about it.

The truth is most of the pollution in San Francisco Bay doesn’t come from shoreline industry or boaters. It comes from all of us. Pollution from our homes, cars and neighborhoods, which includes plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, cigarette butts, and toxic chemicals like pharmaceuticals and mercury, flows unfiltered through storm drains into the Bay, killing wildlife, smothering wetlands and spoiling water quality.

Fortunately for us and for the Bay, since we create this pollution, we have the power to diminish it. All it takes are simple lifestyle changes to protect the Bay.

Click here to learn how you can reduce Bay pollution.