Eighty-three percent correctly replied that it would make a "big difference" in cleaning up local waters if they picked up litter and kept their local storm drains clear of debris. Three-quarters of respondents said picking up pet waste would make a "big difference" and 67 percent said that using less fertilizer on their lawns would help a lot.
Eighty-eight percent said they were "very bothered" by floating trash in Baltimore Harbor, which they said was hurting tourism and the economy. "People are emotionally upset about the condition of the harbor," Raabe said. "Many people in authority may underestimate that level of antipathy and shame about the harbor."
But 63 percent of those polled said they would be "very bothered" or "somewhat bothered" to pay more in taxes to clean up water pollution.
During interviews with focus groups concluded by OpinionWorks, several people thought that the floating trash in the harbor is being tossed by tourists - not washed from the streets of Baltimore, which is the source of most harbor trash, Raabe said.
Over the past six years, the city has spent more than $1 million installing filters to catch floating debris as it flows out of storm-water outfalls toward the harbor in Canton, Carroll Park, Hunting Ridge and the Carroll Camden Industrial Area.
New York City has trash-catching systems in its storm-water pipes, and Chicago long ago rerouted its storm-water pipes to direct most rainwater and trash away from that city's waterfront.
Baltimore's four new trash filters have had some success, catching 133,955 pounds of floating debris last year, according to city figures. But the filter in Carroll Park broke earlier this year when it was vandalized.
"If people didn't litter, we wouldn't need any of this" filtering, said Kurt Kocher, spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works.
Halle Van der Gaag, executive director of the Jones Falls Watershed Association, said she doesn't think it's the best solution to spend millions more to build more trash filters.
"I would rather have people change their behavior in their own yards," Van der Gaag said.
She said the local watershed organizations would like to create ads that would persuade people to pick up after their pets, use rain barrels to catch water running off their roofs, spread less fertilizer in their yards, plant trees and stop littering.
The poll was funded by grants from the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, the Rauch Foundation, Abell Foundation and other nonprofit organizations. Its results were to be made public today.
tom.pelton@baltsun.com
