What We Can Do
Cultivate the Earth
"Live simply that others might simply live"
~Elizabeth Ann Seton
Water Reducing Pollution to Marinas
Simple Ways To Minimize Fresh Water Pollution
Using Less Freshwater: 10 Tips
Global Warming: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
Waste
~Elizabeth Ann Seton
Water Reducing Pollution to Marinas
- Maintain your vehicle properly: poorly maintained vehicles drip gas and oil on roadways and parking lots, which is washed into storm drains with every rainfall
- Recycle used oil
- Maintain engine maintenance on your recreational boat
- Please don't dump garbage into the ocean!
Simple Ways To Minimize Fresh Water Pollution
- Endorse curbside recycling programs. Keep garbage bound for landfills to a minimum
- Take engine oil to a recycle depot (most Mohawk Service stations and Canadian Tire Stores now accept used oil.
- Don't use chemicals on your lawn or in your garden
- Build a backyard compost bin and add the compost to your garden as a natuarl fertilizer
- If you drive an older vehicle, check frequently for oil and gas leaks and repair if necessary
- Be a smart shopper, purchase items with the least amount of packaging. This saves energy and creates less trash
- Share your environmental knowledge with family and friends
- Use biodegradable soap to wash your car and your laundry
- Take toxic chemicals to proper disposal depots; never pour them down the drain
- Don't use chemical cleaners in your home-especially in sinks, tubs, showers, and toilets
- Paint fish symbols on storm drain; this alerts people to the fact that toxins flushed down drains are harmful to our marine ecosystem
Using Less Freshwater: 10 Tips
- Repair leaks in your home water system. As much as 30% of our water is lost to leaky taps. A drip equates to 300,000 liters in one year
- Don't water your lawn. Plant shrubs that do not require constant watering
- Install a drip irrigation system in your garden. It will use only a fraction of the water that sprinklers use
- Install a low flow shower-head
- Don't let the water run to get a cool glass of water, keep a container of cold drinking water in the fridge instead.
- Wash your car with a bucket of water not a running hose, you'll save 300 liters of water
- Sweep your driveway instead of washing it
- Capture rainwater in barrels
- Don't let water run when brushing your teeth
- Water plants in the morning so evaporation is minimized.
Global Warming: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
- Drive your car less
- Buy a smaller, fuel-efficient vehicle
- Say no to plastic bags at stores. Invest in a cloth reusable bag.
- As much as possible, buy local products that were not shipped long distances
- Take your own mug to the coffee shop. By not using a disposable cup you will help conserve resources and save energy
- Turn out lights when not in use
- Wash clothes in cold water
- Don't buy bottled water. Purchase your own filtration system and drink from a reusable container
- Recycle and reuse as much as possible. Your junk may be someone else's treasure
- Try to avoid purchasing disposable products
- Save paper and eliminate the necessity to travel by receiving and paying bills online
Waste
- Reduce, Use, Recycle: we can easily reduce the amount of solid waste produced by half.
- Purchase items that are not designed to be thrown away after only a few uses
- Look for products that have minimum packaging
- Repair and reuse items that you might normally throw away, this will save money and resources
- Hold a garage sale
- Donate unwanted items to a charitable organization that will pass them on to people who need them
- Many products can be refurbished and will save you money
- Support recycling programs: Place paper, glass, metal, and plastic items in your curbside blue box for pickup
- Items such as motor oil should be taken to recycle depots so they can be shipped to a refinery
- Start a compost in your backyard! Composting is...
- Good for the planet – Composting converts a large portion of our waste into hearty soil. This by-product of natural recycling will help our community garden grow instead of emitting greenhouse gases and taking up real estate in a landfill.
- Good for our bank account – Less matter will need to be transported to a landfill; collection and landfill costs will be reduced.
- Great for your plants – composted soil provides structure and hearty nutrition to the soil