Arlington County has a strong program for the arts and uses it to promote award-winning contributions to the urban landscape.
They include an educational game now making the rounds in the county to promote awareness of the wipes problem in sewers.
Cynthia Connolly, special projects curator for the county in northern Virginia, was challenged to create a project to help address the problem, which she first learned about in 2021. As part of her role, she was working with the solid waste division, and she thought it best to include that division’s related issues in her project.
Let the games begin
The county’s water pollution control plant treats 23 mgd from businesses and residents. Nearly 20% of the flow comes from the communities of Alexandra, Fairfax and Falls Church.
To launch her project, Connolly contacted several artists she knew and chose Scott Pennington. She brought the wipes and solid waste challenges to him, and they collaborated on a “Let it Flow” beanbag game that incorporates all the relevant topics.
The game board had to be portable for transport in a van to community events. The end product is an arcade-style unit with a mock sink, toilet, garbage can and other features. Players are given color-coded beanbags bearing pictures of items that people might flush down the toilet. The colors match those of game board holes that represent the proper receptacles.
After tossing the beanbags, players receive a one-page handout to remind them of the correct places to toss their trash. Pennington stores the game board at his art studio. When county staff members need it for events, Mary Strawn, chief engineer for the pollution control plant, contacts Pennington, who drives the board to the site and stays to supervise the game.
Metrics and measures
As of last spring, the beanbag game had been taken to 11 community events, and some 5,000 residents played — children and adults alike. “A survey at each event was passed out and feedback on the unit was resoundingly positive,” Connolly says. “They loved it!”
The “Let It Flow” unit won a 2025 National Environmental Achievement Award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies in the category of Public Information and Education: Educational Program.
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