The source of all that litter is people: a cigarette butt carelessly tossed aside or a candy wrapper blown away by the wind. The litter does not come from one person or one place. It comes from many different people and different places. Eventually that litter and other debris at the curb can find its way to the local creek, stream, pond or river and even the ocean.

How does all that curbside debris find its way to the local creek or lake? When it rains, stormwater carries all that debris down to a nearby storm drain along the roadway. The stormwater not only carries easily visible debris such as litter, but also less visible pollutants such as oil and antifreeze from cars, pesticides from lawns, and even metals from brake linings. The storm drain leads to a system of stormwater collection pipes that lie beneath the streets. These underground pipes carry the stormwater directly into waterways. (In some of New Jersey's older cities the wastewater and stormwater collection systems are combined with both going to the sewage treatment plant rather than separate as they are in most newer cities and suburban areas.)

The best way to avoid contaminating local waterways is pollution prevention. By preventing pollution sources from coming in contact with stormwater, the stormwater remains clean and does not pose a water quality problem when it enters the waterway. By making small changes in our daily lives, we can help prevent pollution of stormwater. Reducing nonpoint source pollution can be as simple as using the garbage can, avoiding unnecessary pesticides or cleaning up after pets. This booklet contains numerous choices to help you prevent pollution at the source.

For the first twenty-five years after the creation of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on Earth Day in 1970, the state's water resource protection efforts concentrated on sewage treatment plants, industrial discharges and other major "point" sources of pollution. As these sources of pollution have been reduced, it has become clear that one of New Jersey's largest pollution problem is people. It is us -- you and me! As the most densely populated state in the nation, the collective individual actions of the state's nearly 8 million people add up to a major pollution source. Compounding this is the vast influx of visitors to our resort areas and the impacts of their activities in these areas and along the transportation corridors. This type of pollution is called "nonpoint source" pollution or "NPS" because it comes from many diffuse or scattered sources, such as individuals, rather than a concentrated "point" source. Sometimes NPS is called "people pollution" or "pointless pollution." The litter at the curb is one type of NPS because it comes from many different people and many different places.