What's a Watershed?
where the water goes
You’re standing in a watershed! The Carole Highlands Gardens are in the Sligo Creek Watershed, part of the larger Anacostia River Watershed. When it rains, everything that can be carried away by water (we're talking trash here) washes down into Sligo Creek; if it doesn’t get stuck there, it ends up in the Anacostia River.
What is not as obvious as the plastic and tires is the oil and gas from our roadways and the bacteria from animal droppings. These substances are a huge problem for fish and other aquatic life, and even humans.
cleanups are important
Have you ever been to Bladensburg Waterfront Park, or better yet, kayaked or canoed on the Anacostia River? If so, you probably noticed plastic bottles or old soccer balls or even tires caught up along the shores. That trash started out on land somewhere in the Anacostia Watershed.
Cleanups happen several times a year and are organized by many local groups. Carole Highlands organizes cleanups, as do Friends of Sligo Creek, the Anacostia Watershed Society, and the Anacostia River Keeper.
So are gardens
One of the great things about gardens, especially native gardens, is that they capture and use rainwater. With less water rushing out of our communities and into the neighboring creeks and rivers, less trash is carried into the river. We still have to pick it up, but it's a lot easier when it's on dry land!