Schools with 600+ students
- First Place ($1,500 award): Newark Charter School – 1,137 pledges
- Second Place ($1,000 award): Brandywine Springs School – 1,028 pledges
- Third Place ($750 award): Christ the Teacher Catholic School – 398 pledges
This year, 12,470 New Castle County residents pledged to keep New Castle County’s water clean, over 30% more than 2023!
Schools with 600+ students
Schools with 200-599 students
Schools with fewer than 200 students
21 Schools with 50+ pledges chosen at random for $250 Wild Card Prize
Find out more about how the contest works and what your school could win!
Great Schools, Clean Streams is a public service campaign to reduce water pollution in New Castle County, Delaware. Residents pledge to follow five simple steps and assign their pledge to a county school. Schools that collect the most pledges win cash prizes they can use to purchase educational materials or to support school projects.
Anyone aged 18 and over, may take the pledge, accept the terms and conditions, and assign the pledge to a New Castle County school. There is a limit of one pledge per email address.
Yes, anyone aged 18 and over, may take the pledge online and assign the pledge to a New Castle County school (including teachers, school staff and school board employees). There is a limit of one pledge per email address.
Yes, those below the age of 18 can take the pledge by signing a poster displayed at their school. Schools can download the poster from this page.
To protect the privacy of minors, we do not collect electronic signatures from anyone under the age of 18.
Yes, anyone aged 18 and over, may take the pledge and assign the pledge to a New Castle County school. There is a limit of one pledge per email address.
All public, charter, private or parochial schools in New Castle County offering classes between Kindergarten and the 12th grade are eligible to receive the prizes, if they are among the top pledge recipients.
Between February 26th and March 15th 2024, residents will pledge to follow five simple steps to prevent water pollution: Scoop the Poop, Garden for Water and Life, Only Rain Down the Drain, Reduce Household Chemicals, and Cease the Grease. When they pledge, they can designate their pledge to any public, charter, or private school in New Castle County, DE. The nine schools that receive the most designated pledges in their tier will win cash prizes. Twenty-one schools that collect 50 or more pledges will be entered into a drawing for a “wild card” prize of $250.
To help schools secure pledges, we have created a sample backpack flier and poster. Schools can download these from the School Resources page.
Schools will compete in one of three tiers, based on their enrollment:
Tier 1: 600+ students
Tier 2: 300 to 599 students
Tier 3: 1-299 students
The Sponsor will award cash prizes to the winning schools in each tier as follows:
First Place: $1,500
Second Place: $1,000
Third Place: $750
All schools that either participate in the student poster pledge or receive 50 or more pledges will be entered into a drawing for a “wild card” prize of $250. (21 winners)
Yes! We have resources to help you – check out the toolkit.
If the school you would like to assign your pledge to is not on the list (and it is a Public, Charter, Private or Parochial school located in New Castle County Delaware), please contact us at greatschoolscleanstreams@gmail.com or phone (302) 395-5707 to add the school.
What you can do:
Learn more: www.nccde.org/213/Fats-Oils-Grease
Whenever possible, buy products that are free of toxic chemicals. Read the label and choose the least hazardous product to do the job. The words “warning”, “danger”, and “poison” indicate that the product’s ingredients are harmful so try to avoid. Try to select products that are made from plant-based materials, such as citrus, vegetable or pine oils.
What you can do:
Runoff can be contaminated and also causes flooding. Before our region was developed, most of the land was covered in forests, wetlands and marshes. When it rained, most of the rainwater would slowly soak into the ground. Because our landscape now includes homes, businesses and shopping centers, rainwater can’t soak through hard surfaces such as roads and parking lots but instead runs quickly over these surfaces and causes flooding.
What can you do:
If you live in a community, you can also make a difference by:
Dumping harmful pollutants, such as motor oil, into storm drains is illegal. New Castle County residents should report any pollution going into or out of the storm sewer system by contacting the pollution hotline at:
Call or text 302STOPPIT (302.786.7748), or write hotline@302stoppit.org
Learn more: www.302stoppit.org/home
City of Newark:
Gardening with native plants – plants that originated in this area – supports both water and wildlife. These plants thrive in our climate and are easy to grow and care for without using extra water or chemicals. Native trees, shrubs and plants improve water quality by filtering pollutants and help to absorb excess water with their deep roots. Plus, their seeds, berries and leaves are great food for birds, butterflies and pollinating insects.
What you can do:
If you don’t have a yard, you can still make a difference:
Scoop the Poop
Help stop Poo-llution and keep harmful bacteria out of our waters. Picking up after your pet is a simple way to keep pollution out of our waterways while keeping our parks, neighborhoods and yards clean.
There are over 110,000* dogs in New Castle County generating approximately 41 tons* of poop daily. It’s the same as untreated sewage washing into our waters!
An average size dog dropping can contain 3 billion harmful bacteria. Rain washes these bacteria and nutrients into our streams, rivers and beaches which can make water unsafe for swimming and recreation.
What you can do:
If you don’t have a dog, you can still make a difference:
* Estimate based on 34% of households owning 1.6 dogs (American Veterinary Medical Assoc) x 200,000 NCC households (US Census 2013-17) x .75 lbs waste/dog