The students in kindergarten through high school have until February 28 to enter the Philadelphia Water Department Green City, Clean Waters Art Contest. 

To enter they must submit a drawing, video or both to the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, the city’s longtime collaborator.  All entries should show others how to keep pollution out of storm drains.  Those who win will see their work transform into street art surrounding a local inlet.

“Adding art to streets and sidewalks is yet another way we are connecting with folks who may not realize they’re polluting,” said Joanne Dahme, general manager of public affairs at the PWD.  “It’s a natural fit given how Philadelphia is the birthplace of street art.”

First-place winners will receive a $100 gift card and art supplies.  They will also see their art on ads placed inside SEPTA buses and subway cars for millions to see.  And they can share it using social media and free calendars.  These will be available inside the PWD’s Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, where admission is always free.

The first three schools to submit over 100 entries will each receive $100 gift cards.  Teachers will also receive a $50 gift card per winning student.

“This year we look forward to collecting our 15,000th entry since 2000,” said Cheryl Jackson, program specialist at the PDE.  “That’s 15,000 people keeping our water clean, plus millions more who have seen our ads, calendars and videos.”

The PWD collaborates with partners across Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey on a variety of projects and programs.  It does this to make local waterways more drinkable, fishable and swimmable.  The PDE shares these goals and, like all National Estuary Programs, its specialty is collaboration.

Philadelphia’s drinking water comes from two rivers.  These include the Delaware River and its largest tributary, the Schuylkill River.  Together these rivers bookend Philadelphia, and both flow south into Delaware Bay.

For more information, visit the Green City, Clean Waters Art Contest webpage or call 800-445-4935, extension 112.

2/24/2014