Friends of Casco Bay suggests things we can all do to ensure clean water. For more information, go to www.cascobay.org. Count how many you already do!
- Don’t put household chemicals or pet wastes down the storm drain, or they may end up in the ocean.
- Maintain a green yard for a blue bay—without pesticides and fertilizers. FMI, go to www.yardscaping.org.
- Using less water means less wastewater to pollute our ocean. Take shorter showers; turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth.
- Walk or bike more to reduce pollutants entering the atmosphere and ocean. An increase in carbon dioxide in the ocean is making it harder for shellfish such as clams and lobsters to build their shells.
- Recycle. Styrofoam and other garbage can choke marine birds and mammals.
- Don’t release helium balloons. Sea turtles can mistake them for their favorite dish: jellyfish.
- Use reusable cloth bags at the grocery store.
- Pack your lunch—and your kids’ lunches—in reusable containers.
- Invest in a travel mug and a water bottle. Each year, people discard more than 25 billion disposable beverage containers.
- Cut up (or don’t buy!) products with plastic six-pack rings, which can strangle marine birds, sea turtles and mammals.
This article is presented by:
Friends of Casco Bay
43 Slocum Drive
South Portland, ME 04106
[email protected]
207.799.8574
www.cascobay.org
These are all great suggestions, but here’s something else to consider: We wouldn’t have to worry about recycling styrofoam, or taking reusable bags to the grocery store, or bringing a water bottle, or cutting up plastic soda rings if the things we use didn’t come packaged the way they do.
Lots of marketing tells us that it’s OUR responsibility to be stewards of the planet – which is true, but is only half the story. One of the best ways to reduce waste and pollution would be to change the way things are produced and packaged, which I think is the responsibility of the manufacturers. These same manufacturers often support campaigns that tell us to recycle. On the surface, this makes them look good – helping to spread a positive message. If you dig a little deeper, though, the biggest impact would be made if the manufacturers changed their practices, rather than telling us to change ours.
This is where you come in. They tend to see things in terms of a financial bottom line, so you can vote with your dollars by not buying things that come with lots of packaging. Even better, tell manufacturers that you are choosing other products because of the way theirs are packaged!