Reduce Water Pollution

Water is where life began and why life continues, but it is also the world's most threatened essential resource. In addition to the accelerating climatic-driven threat of drought, where water sources all over the world face the threat of potentially drying up as the warming climate accelerates, water is becoming increasingly polluted every year. Water pollution affects drinking water, rivers, lakes and oceans all over the world. This consequently harms human health, wildlife and the natural environment. According to the NIEHS, water pollution is any contamination of water with chemicals or other foreign substances, such as fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural runoff, sewage and food processing waste, lead, mercury and other heavy metals, chemical wastes from industrial discharges, and chemical contamination from hazardous waste sites, that are detrimental to human, plant or animal health. Polluted, unsafe water is the leading cause of sickness and death with half of the world's hospital beds filled with people suffering from water-related illnesses. You can help purify, conserve and protect water resources by following the many actions listed below. Learn more.
Why Cleaner Water?
WATER POLLUTION
WATER SCARCITY
"We have the ability to provide clean water for every man, woman and child on the Earth. What has been lacking is the collective will to accomplish this. What are we waiting for? This is the commitment we need to make to the world, now." ~ Jean-Michel Cousteau
“Five million people die unnecessarily each year because of illness related to lack of potable water. Half of them are children under the age of five. To bring it home, think about this: one child dies from lack of clean water every twelve seconds.” ~ Thomas M. Kostigen
Install a Rain Barrel - A  Rain Barrel  is a system that collects and stores rainwater from your roof that would otherwise be lost to runoff or diverted to storm drains and streams polluting the water. A rain barrel collects and stores water for when you need it most, such as during periods of drought, to water plants, wash your car and more. Lawn and garden watering make up nearly 40%-50% of water use during spring and summer months. Rain Barrels provide free water to homeowners with no chlorine, lime or calcium making it ideal for gardens, flower pots or car and window washing. Gaiam, Ace Hardware, Plow and Hearth, Rain Barrel Source, and Spruce Creek Company offer great Rain Barrels! Learn more.
Correctly Dispose of Hazardous Household Products and Make Your Own Non-Toxic Cleaning Product - Huffpost Green, Care 2, Sharing Sustainable Solutions, The Modern Pet Blog, Wired Mamas and Eco-Cycle can help make this little experiment a success and into a family activity. Everything you need is probably already in your pantry! Hazardous household chemicals, such as toxic cleaning products, contain harmful substances, including sodium hypochlorite, petroleum distillates, phenol and cresol, ammonia and formaldehyde. These chemicals usually make their way into drains, sinks, and toilets, which end up polluting nearby water bodies and the humans and wildlife that depend on them. NRDC offers the following advice: "Contact your local sanitation, public works, or environmental health department to find out about hazardous waste collection days and sites, or check Earth911.com for local recycling options. If a local program isn't available, request one. Additionally, incorrect disposal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products leads to the presence of pharmaceutical residues in our waterways and, ultimately, our drinking water. To keep pharmaceuticals and personal care products out of waterways, never flush them down the toilet. The best way to dispose of these items is through "take-back" programs where drugs are returned to a facility that can dispose of them properly. Contact your local health officials or household hazardous waste facility to find out what options exist in your region."

    Build a Rain Garden - Help improve the water quality in your community and provide food and shelter for wildlife by redirecting storm water to a rain garden. 70% of pollution in streams, rivers and lakes are carried there by storm water. Rain gardens can help prevent this. Learn more.
      Recycle E-Waste - Donate or recycle your E-Waste (electronics) responsibly. E-Waste, which is one of the fastest growing types of waste, contains mercury, lead and other toxins that may leak from landfills into local water sources and is a growing environmental and health problem. Recycle your batteries with Battery Solutions and  Call 2 Recycle. Recycle obsolete computers at the Computer Recycling Center. If your wireless provider is AT&T, Sprint or Verizon, your old phone and battery can be taken to one of their retail stores for recycling. AT&T will accept all brands of cell phones. More sites for recycling electronics include Green Disk, Eco Squid, Earth 911, Digital Tips and  E-Cycling Central. Learn more.
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      Don't Be A Litterbug! Litter consists of waste products, usually man-made objects thrown onto the ground, that have been disposed of improperly, without consent and in an inappropriate location. Research shows about 85% of littering is the result of individual attitudes. Changing individual behavior is key to preventing litter. Once litter is on the ground, it attracts more litter and will eventually become ocean litter since the ocean is downhill to everything. On the flip side, a cleaner community with more readily available trash and recycling receptacles actually discourages littering and improves community appearance and quality of life. Ultimately, littering is a personal choice that can stem from a lack of personal responsibility for one’s actions and surroundings. Litterers may also have a sense of entitlement, a feeling that other people, especially those who get paid to, should clean up after them. According to KAB, "Nearly one in five, or 17% of all disposals observed in public spaces were littering, while 83% disposed of litter properly. And 81% of littering was intentional, e.g., flicking, flinging, or dropping. On the other hand, individuals who hold the belief that littering is wrong, and consequently feel a personal obligation not to litter, are less likely to do so. Some people feel no sense of ownership for parks, walkways, beaches, and other public spaces. They believe someone else will pick up after them; that it’s not their responsibility." Learn More About Litter and Litterers

      "Water and sanitation problems have reached boiling point: children are dying unnecessarily at the rate of 20 jumbo jets crashing every single day."
      ~ Ravi Narayanan
      Always Use Native Plants, which are more tolerant of drought conditions, need less water, cost less to maintain and provide the best habitat for the birds and butterflies in your region. Discover the Recommended Native Plants by State.
        Monitor Water Quality - Help improve your local  watershed and build community awareness on pollution problems by volunteering to monitor and assess water quality. If you live in the United States, you can locate your local watershed here.
          Learn to Compost - Composting is nature's process of recycling decomposed organic materials into rich soil known as compost. There are many reasons to compost and various types of composting. Composting commonly comes in the form of vegetable compost and animal manure compost. Mix in earthworms when possible to help remediate the waste, remove toxic heavy metals, break down the organic matter and leave richer soil. Not sure where to buy composts? Directions on how to compost here. Keep your kitchen scraps from vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds etc. in a composting bin or container. You can use this to add a compost site to your garden or add to your garden to create deeper topsoil, recycle nutrients, reduce water pollution and save landfill space.

            Recycle Used Motor Oil and Avoid Pouring Waste Oil Down Storm Drains or Gutters. A single quart of motor oil that seeps into groundwater can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water. You can check Earth911.com for local recycling options for used motor oil or ask your local sanitation or public works department to create one and be sure to keep up with car maintenance to reduce the leaking of hazardous fluids, such as oil and antifreeze.

            Conserve Water - The less water you use, the less will be running down the drains and into gutters carrying pollutants with it and the more money you save. Explore EPA's Conserving Water Page

            Help             Identify and Stop Polluters             by joining local clean water or environmental groups that monitor industry and sewage treatment plants that are discharging wastes. You can find a local clean water organization in your area by contacting the Clean Water Network or Waterkeeper Alliance.
            Try to Plant Vegetation at Lower Elevations Than Nearby Hard Surfaces to allow runoff to seep into soil rather than travel on asphalt or concrete collecting and dispersing pollutants into storm drains or nearby water sources.

            Build a Green Roof                         - Green roofs function like a "breathing wall" consuming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and emitting oxygen through use of vegetation, water management and even larger plants or in rare cases trees. These roofs can also absorb as much as 70% of rainwater preventing storm drainage resulting in 70% of pollution in our streams, lakes and rivers. Learn more.
              Avoid Over-Watering Lawns and Gardens, which can not only waste water, but can also increase the leaching of fertilizers into groundwater. Watering before the sun comes up, or after it sets, will also decrease the amount of water lost to evaporation.

              Decrease Concrete, Asphalt and Hard Surfaces Around Your Home to reduce runoff from your property and try to create landscapes with vegetation, gravel or other porous materials, such as wood decking and interlocking bricks for walkways.

              Strategically               Plant Grass Buffer Strips Along Rivers and Streams              , between fields and surface waters, such as rivers, streams, lakes and drainage ditches, to protect water quality and prevent contaminants, such as fertilizers and pesticides, from entering the environment and traveling to other non-targeted species and locations. Learn more.
                "Clean water, the essence of life and a birthright for everyone, must become available to all people now." ~ Jean-Michel Cousteau
              Your Guide to Green Living
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