There are many different ways you can support the health of the Nine Mile Run Watershed. We encourage you to explore the tabs below to find the action items that best fit your interests. Whether you are a longtime, avid environmentalist, or someone who just wants to reduce their water usage, we have lots of steps that you can take at your own pace. If you have any questions about this list or new ideas add, be sure to let us know!
How YOU can help Nine Mile Run
- Become an NMR member or give the gift of membership
- Manage stormwater sustainably at your home or business with a rain barrel, rain garden, or stormwater planter from our StormWorks team
- Plant a tree, pick up litter, or celebrate our work at aNMR event
- Buy a nifty NMR t-shirt
- Choose NMR as the nonprofit of your choice for your Amazon account through Amazon Smile
- Leave a review for us on our Great Nonprofits, Yelp, or Facebook profiles
- Donate to the Nine Mile Run Fund at The Pittsburgh Foundation *
- Include us in your estate planning *
- Host a fundraiser to benefit NMR *
- Ask your employer to consider sponsoring NMR *
* To get involved with any of these programs, please contact our Executive Director, Brenda Smith, at or (412) 371-8779 ext. 113.
- Advocacy is such an important topic that we created a dedicated page for ways you can take action and learn more.
- Volunteer or intern with NMR
- Apply to join the NMR Board of Directors
- Make an ongoing commitment by becoming an Urban EcoSteward or a Watershed Tree Tender
- Organize a group you are involved with (church, girl scout, classroom, etc.) to co-host a volunteer event with us. Potential projects include: Stream clean up; community tree tending; stream restoration management with invasive plant removal and/or native planting
- If you are a student or an educator, consider conducting a service learning project in the NMR restoration area
- Help track the health of Pittsburgh’s waterways using the Water Reporter app. Through the app you can share beautiful snapshots or report pollution issues.
- Attend NMR workshops and events
- Learn more about the dynamics of a watershed through our watershed, forestry, and monitoring pages
- Utilize online citizen science tools, such as iNaturalist and eBird
- Organize a presentation from our staff members to your group/class
- Coordinate a walking tour with NMRWA about the watershed, green infrastructure, urban forestry, or stream restoration and stewardship
- Go for a walk or bike ride along Nine Mile Run! Bring a pet, a friend, or just your own two feet!
- of the watershed
- Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter
- Follow NMR & StormWorks on Facebook. Share or comment on our posts, we’d love to hear from you!
- Let us know if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas about our work!
- Use biodegradable soaps and avoid antibacterial soaps; avoid using “flushable” wipes, which clog up the sewer system.
- Use sidewalk salt sparingly; stick to more environmentally friendly ingredients like magnesium chloride or potassium chloride to protect your lawn, trees, and pets.
- Compost food scraps in a compost container to reduce the amount of waste going to our landfills. The resulting compost makes for a great fertilizer for gardens!
- Cut back on unnecessary water usage, especially during and after rainfall to reduce the amount of sewage water that overflows into Pittsburgh’s waterways. Sign up for notifications of when sewage overflows are occurring on ALCOSAN’s website.
- Collect rainwater for your lawn or garden with a rain barrel from our StormWorks team.
- Beautify your property and reduce stormwater runoff to the sewer with a rain garden or stormwater planter from StormWorks.
- Save your unwanted chemicals and medications for Pennsylvania Resource Council’s Collection Events.
- Pick up litter in your neighborhood. Check out the Litterati app as a way to track what you’ve picked up and share your finds via social media.
