Alternative Cleaning Methods

Tips to help keep our area waterways from harmful chemicals.

Stop Pointless Personal Pollution! How everyday chores can harm your streams and lakes From the Environmental Protection Agency -

It’s a beautiful Saturday—a perfect day to make some extra spending money washing cars for family and neighbors, gassing up and oiling the lawn mower, laying down some fertilizer on those yellow patches in the yard, walking the dog, and spraying your mom’s rosebushes for pesky bugs. Work hard and maybe you can make enough money to spring for movie tickets for you and your date. The health of your nearby stream is probably one of the last things on your mind as you tackle your tasks. But guess what! Each of your jobs could harm a nearby stream, lake, or wetland. How? Well, consider.... Washing Cars Many cleaning products contain phosphates and other chemicals that can make fish and other aquatic life sick. Using a hose to wash off suds creates a stream of wastewater that can travel down your driveway, into the street, and down a storm drain. No problem? Well, what do you think is at the other end of your storm drain? Usually a stream! Here are some things you can do to clean your car, not your carp:

• Use a bucket instead of a hose to save water and limit flow.

• Wash your car in sections and rinse it quickly using a high-pressure, pistolgrip nozzle.

• Use biodegradable soaps.

• Park your car over gravel or your lawn. so wastewater doesn’t flow away.

MORE TIPS FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Fertilizing the Lawn Green: Lawns need lots of fertilizer, right? Wrong! Too much fertilizer applied at the wrong time can be very harmful to grass. It can cause disease, weeds, and poor root growth and make your lawn less able to withstand periods of heavy rain or dry weather. In addition, the same rains that pick up oil, gas, and other hazardous chemicals can also pick up excess fertilizer lying around and carry it to a lake or stream. Instead of making grass grow in your front yard, this fertilizer can make algae and weeds grow in the water. Here are some things you can do to keep your lawn and streams and ponds healthy:

• Use native grasses that do not have high fertilizer requirements.

• Test your soil to find out exactly what nutrients your lawn needs.

• Apply fertilizer only when it is needed, during the right season, and in proper amounts.

• Do not leave fertilizer on driveways and sidewalks where it can be picked up and washed away by runoff from the next storm.

• Do not fertilize if a heavy storm is predicted.

MORE TIPS FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (PDF)
 

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