Give the Gift of Clean Water to your Neighbors

The holiday season is a great time to get into the gifting spirit! Consider treating yourself (and your neighbors) to the gift of clean water! Portland is fortunate to have wonderful water resources throughout the city and Casco Bay, and it’s up to all of us doing our part to keep them that way. Having trouble coming up with a gift to preserve clean water? We’ve got some suggestions.

Cleaning up Litter and Pet Waste: As the saying goes, “pack it in, pack it out.” Litter can cause issues for aquatic life when they mistake it as food or get caught up in it, and pet waste adds harmful bacteria and nutrients to water bodies. Being diligent about picking up after yourself and your pet is a low-cost gift you can give your neighbors which would make a big impact!

Reducing Salt Usage: While icy sidewalks and driveways are a safety concern here in Portland, there are right times and temperatures to apply salt without impacting water quality. Road salt is made up of chemicals which do not naturally break down or filter out of the environment. One teaspoon of road salt can permanently pollute 5 gallons of freshwater! You can minimize excess salt running off into our streams by applying salt before a storm, shoveling early to avoid needing it, and only using it when temperatures are above 15 degrees. Also, a little bit goes a long way in terms of salt application!

Treat yourself to a car wash: Along the lines of reducing salt usage is getting salt off your car in a safe way. Washing your car at a car wash allows less water to be used in the process, typically using 60% less! The water is often recycled multiple times before being sent to a treatment plant. Car washes also keep salt and soap chemicals from flowing to storm drains and ending up in our water.

Giving the gift of taking action to reduce stormwater pollution is appreciated by all, no matter how big or small the gift is!