Movies

Polluted Puddles: Arlo’s quest to clean up our mess

What’s not to like about a young boy examining puddles and channeling his inner-scientist?

Those of us living here in the Pacific Northwest are pretty familiar with where puddles come from. But where do puddles go?

What is colloquially called “stormwater” flows across our streets, parking lots, roofs, and sidewalks, collecting anything loose that it can carry along. It creates ephemeral puddles along the way, but the majority of the water flows into a water body, bringing with it all of that loose stuff and chemicals it collected along the way.

This movie follows young scientist Arlo as he learns about the sources and impacts of pollution. Better yet, he caps off the movie by observing a simple technique for removing this pollution from the water. This short (6 minute) movie is a great way to refresh your notions of handling our surface water, and a cute movie that will help educate your family and friends.

Along similar lines, here are links to other related media:

Is This Where Puget Sound Starts?, John F. Williams

Stormwater runoff: A flood of crud, Liam Moriarty, Laura James

Northwest artist Karen Hackenberg

Mapping Plastic: A Circumnavigation of Bainbridge Island, Liesl Clark

$#*! MY DOG SAYS, Puget Sound Starts Here

Alki Storm Water Outfall, time-lapse, by Laura James

And a treasure trove of related videos, Liesl Clark

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