Some Things You Can Do To Protect Our Water

Stormwater pollution is one of New Jersey’s greatest threats to clean and plentiful water. Here are 6 easy things you can do as a resident or business owner to help keep our storm water clean: ·

• Limit your use of fertilizers and pesticides– Does your lawn really need fertilizer? Do a soil test first to see and then consider using organic fertilizer. Do not apply fertilizers if heavy rain is predicted. Remember that pesticides not only contaminate our storm water but they are toxic to many living things especially bees!
• Properly use and dispose of hazardous products– Cleaning products, motor oil and paints are just some products that need to be used and disposed of properly.
• Use natural or less toxic alternatives when possible.
• Clean Up After Your Pet – Never discard pet waste in a storm drain!
• Do Not Feed Ducks and Geese – Feeding ducks and geese and other waterfowl causes them to concentrate in small areas resulting in concentrated animal waste, causing the same problems as pet waste.
• Please do not litter – Recycle, Recycle, Recycle. Place litter in trash receptacles. Litter on the ground gets swept into drains and then into our River.

This information was taken from the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection. Please visit their website for many more interesting and useful facts. http://www.nj.gov/dep/wqmp/

Last modified: July 21, 2014