Four Decades
Tips For Water Conservation and Safety
The summer is a time for hot weather and enjoying our lakes, rivers and streams. It is also a time when we tend to have our water closer to the forefront of our minds. Sometimes it seems like there is not much we can do to protect the health and vitality of our water because these problems seem too big. Increasingly, we all share a responsibility to do our part to protect our waters. How we use water, what happens to the rainwater falling on our lands and what we send down our drains are the next greatest challenges we must face together.
Clean Water Action would like to offer a few tips that each of us can do at home to help protect, restore and conserve our precious water resources:
Conserving water in your home:
- Conserve electricity. The largest use of water in Minnesota is for energy production.
- Turn off water when brushing your teeth and shaving.
- Use low-flow showerheads and take shorter showers.
- Use low-flow aerators on the faucets in your house.
- Only wash a full load of dishes and clothes. Don’t pre-wash dishes but do scrape off large pieces of food. Modern dishwashers tend to use less water per load than washing by hand.
- Store filtered tap water in a pitcher in the fridge instead of bottled water.
Keeping our water safe at home:
- Use green cleaning products that are safer for our waters as well as our families. Many of the most common cleaning chemicals have safer and less expensive alternatives. The Responsible Purchasing Network provides a products database of GreenSeal and/or EcoLogo certified cleaning products. Recipes for homemade cleaning products can be found at Do It Green.
- Don’t dispose of household hazardous waste down the drain, in the storm drains or on the driveway. These include solvents, pesticides and paint. Contact your county to find your local hazardous waste disposal options.
- Don’t dispose of medications down the drain. Instead, check with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for guidelines on disposal of unused medications or contact your county sheriff.
Landscaping for better water:
- Avoid watering your lawn except under severe drought conditions. Cool season grasses may turn brown and go dormant in the middle of the summer but will re-grow when rain and cooler weather returns.
- Use native plants appropriate for your area and plants that require a low water input. Native plants often require considerably fewer fertilizers, pesticides and maintenance.
- Harvest and keep rainwater on your site by using rain barrels, rain gardens and permeable paving. Urban storm water washes over hard surfaces, moving large volumes of water, sediment and pollution to sewers and adjoining water bodies.
- Avoid putting any yard waste and leaves in the gutters and storm drains. This waste will eventually end up untreated in our waterways. Either dispose of yard waste as directed by your county or city or use the waste as compost or mulch.
- Other landscaping tips can be found at the University of Minnesota Extension Service
Get the Extension Service water recommendations (pdf, 283 KB)
You will need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader properly installed to view PDF documents. You can get it free from Adobe.
Publication Date:
06/08/2010
In this issue of Minnesota Currents|online:
The 2010 legislative session ended in the early morning hours of May 17 after a brief special session was called by the Governor. Fights over the state budget and funding for health care and education dominated the atmosphere at the Capitol, making it a tough year to pass meaningful environmental legislation. However, once again Clean Water Action was able to celebrate several legislative victories this session. In addition to passing another bill to keep toxins out of our environment, we were able to stop attempts to weaken current environment laws and move Minnesota towards dirty energy options.
Earth Day Birthday Bash Highlights
Clean Water Action members, volunteers, allies and staff celebrated Earth Day’s 40th Birthday with food, fun and activism!
The drinking water sources for nearly 1 million Minnesotans are at risk of losing Clean Water Act protections. Congress now has an opportunity to fix this and restore protections weakened by the Supreme Court and Bush Administration.
Tips For Water Conservation and Safety
The summer is a time for hot weather and enjoying our lakes, rivers and streams. It is also a time when we tend to have our water closer to the forefront of our minds. Sometimes it seems like there is not much we can do to protect the health and vitality of our water because these problems seem too big. Increasingly, we all share a responsibility to do our part to protect our waters. How we use water, what happens to the rainwater falling on our lands and what we send down our drains are the next greatest challenges we must face together.
Clean Water Action would like to offer a few tips that each of us can do at home to help protect, restore and conserve our precious water resources
Pesticide Issues Gain Urgency At Federal Level
Pesticide issues have gained momentum and long awaited attention at the federal level this year. Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota is leading the fight to ban the highly toxic and commonly used pesticide atrazine, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking to disclose inert ingredients in pesticides and the President’s Cancer Panel released a report stating that chemicals threaten our bodies.
Meet Our Canvassers - Is This Job In Your Future?
Summer is in full swing and so is Clean Water Action’s canvass recruitment program! We are currently hiring for part time and full time positions for our field and phone canvasses. Learn valuable skills, work with fun and exciting people, chat with our members about important environmental issues and build your resume. Spend your summer with us by calling today to learn more about our exciting employment opportunities.
Here is what phone canvass manager, Terrance Noble, and field canvass manager, Anna Waugh, have to say about working for the Clean Water Action canvasses.
Creating Healthy Homes and Healthy Water
Clean Water Action continues our work to protect environmental and human health from toxic chemical exposure through our involvement in the Healthy Legacy Coalition. This past year, we educated over 500 Minnesotans about how to reduce their toxic chemical exposure in their homes and actively support protective policies with our Healthy Home Presentations. If you would like to host a Healthy Home, Healthy Water Presentation in your community, contact Kim LaBo.
The potential invasion of Asian Carp has been one of the dominant Great Lakes issues as of late. Asian Carp are voracious eaters that have been moving up the Mississippi River system threatening native species wherever they go. An electric fence was constructed near Chicago to prevent the carp from traveling from the Illinois River through the artificial canal system and into Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, last year Asian Carp DNA was found in the waterway beyond the electric fence sparking fears the fish have breached the barrier and will establish themselves in the Great Lakes. Efforts since then have focused on a dual track of determining the extent of the immediate problem and finding a long-term solution. Initial results are promising that they have not established themselves in the Great Lakes, yet, but efforts will continue to determine the extent of the Asian Carp invasion.
Clean Water Action and all of the other activists and allies working for strong, comprehensive climate and energy legislation are still waiting for the introduction of new climate and energy legislation by US Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lieberman (I-CT). These senators have been working with Senator Graham (R-SC) to craft a bill capable of passing the Senate since earlier efforts stalled. A draft was released during the middle of May.
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