Picture a glass of water sitting on a windowsill. At first glance, it’s a simple glass of water, but when you take a closer look you may notice small particles floating in the water. What are these things you might ask? It can range from dust to some naturally occurring minerals in your tap. Now, picture yourself walking by Mirror Lake at UConn’s Storrs campus. Does it look good from afar? Take some steps closer to the lake. As you get closer do you notice anything off? Maybe you see someone’s estranged shopping cart? Do you notice the deceptively shallow bottom? Do you see the plastic wrappers? How do you think these things got here? 

Hi! I am part of a team working to raise awareness for Mirror Lake and get storm drain nets added into part of the Mirror Lake renovations. To learn more, please read our storymap below - it will redirect you back to this petition at the end!

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c7f872b9838448309ace5d63b981948f

Over time, Mirror Lake has changed due to pollution carried into the water from storm drains. Reusable storm drain nets are a cost-effective way of catching plastics and organic waste. Storm drain nets that we can use at UConn cost as low as $33. The cheapest model found catches various pollution sources such as sediment, trash, and debris. We could utilize student volunteers to help empty the nets. We can even put a net that will catch litter from floating into the greater watershed out of Mirror Lake. Ohio Wesleyan University put a storm drain net in place to remove trash and debris from the Delaware Run near campus. The net has successfully captured large amounts of debris.  If other universities have started implementing this solution, UConn as a flagship research university can too!  hio Wesleyan University put a storm drain net in place to remove trash and debris from the Delaware Run near campus. The net has successfully captured large amounts of debris.  If other universities have started implementing this solution, UConn as a flagship research university can too!  We've created a petition to start the journey towards getting storm drain nets implemented everywhere at UConn.