Changing the daily habits of residents and visitors in the Barnegat Bay watershed can have significant positive impacts on the Bay and the local environment. Actions as simple as how people landscape their homes, maintain their yards, use water, dispose of pet waste, and operate their boats have cumulative impacts to the tributaries and bay’s water quality and marine and estuarine habitats. This also can affect the economy, tourism, public health, and overall quality of life that residents and visitors value. Education about Barnegat Bay is designed to deepen people’s understanding of the bay and how their actions can affect it. To that end DEP will continue its education and outreach efforts while leveraging and encouraging the work of so many Barnegat Bay educators past and present.

Barnegat Bay Blitz: First conducted in 2011, DEP’s Barnegat Bay Blitz is a watershed-wide clean up event which is conducted to encourage the public to become involved in a clean-up of their communities. It also helps to instill ownership, pride, and stewardship of the watershed. The Blitz provides an opportunity for residents to directly participate in restoration efforts and enhances public awareness of this natural resource. The Barnegat Bay Blitz unites people of all ages and backgrounds in a common goal – safeguarding Barnegat Bay. To date, the Blitz has engaged more than 32,000 volunteers and removed nearly 5,000 cubic yards of non-point source pollution from the bay (NJDEP, 2017b).

Barnegat Bay Rain Barrel Challenge: The Barnegat Bay Rain Barrel Challenge is a competition that encourages schools and youth groups located in the Barnegat Bay watershed to learn about the bay and what people can do to help protect its water quality and natural resources. Rain barrels capture rainwater, helping to reduce stormwater runoff and nonpoint source pollution in local waterways. Rain barrels also reduce potable water use; storing rainwater for later use on yards and in gardens. The students investigate the theme for each year’s challenge then work together to design and paint rain barrels that address the theme. The 15 school/organization that wins the challenge receives a Barnegat Bay Festival Day sponsored by DEP and its partners. Rain barrels entered in the challenge are featured during the Blitz Opening Ceremony and are showcased at public venues throughout the watershed on the Rain Barrel Challenge Summer Tour.

United States Environmental Protection Agency Trash Free Waters Initiative: Common trash from consumer goods makes up the majority of what eventually becomes marine debris, polluting our waterways and oceans. Plastics in the aquatic environment are of increasing concern because of their persistence and effect on the environment, wildlife, and human health. United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Trash-Free Waters program is reducing the volume of trash entering U.S. waterways (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2017).

• Actions: Continue an effective education and outreach program
• Lead: DEP and United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Partners: New Jersey Clean Communities, Barnegat Bay Partnership, Save Barnegat Bay, ReClam the Bay, Ocean County Vocational Technical School Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science, AmeriCorps New Jersey Watershed Ambassadors, Municipal Stakeholders, schools, and private entities