What can individuals do to reduce water pollution?

Question

What can children do to reduce water pollution?

Answer 1

Reduce Water Pollution
Here are some simple tips you can use to help decrease pollution in Toronto's waterways:

In your home | In your yard | Maintaining your car | At the Beach

In your home:

DON'T dump hazardous household products. Keep paints, used oil, cleaning solvents, polishes, pool chemicals, insecticides, and other hazardous household chemicals out of drains, sinks, and toilets. Many of these products contain harmful substances, such as sodium hypochlorite, petroleum distillates, phenol and cresol, ammonia and formaldehyde that can end up in Toronto's waterfront. The City of Toronto has a household hazardous waste (HHW) program that helps prevent toxic materials from entering our landfill sites and sewers. For more information, visit the City of Toronto Household Hazardous Waste page.


DO use non-toxic household products. Discarding toxic products correctly is important, but not buying them in the first place is better. Ask local stores to carry non-toxic products if they don't already.


DO recycle and dispose of all trash properly. Never flush non-degradable products, such as disposable diapers, down the toilet. They can damage the sewage system and end up littering beaches and waters.


DO conserve water. Low-flow toilets and showerheads save you both water and money. Repair dripping faucets promptly because they can waste up to 20 gallons of water a day and a leaking toilet up to 200 gallons a day. The City of Toronto has a Residential Toilet Replacement Program. To learn how you can take part in this program, visit the City of Toronto's Residential Toilet Replacement Program web site.

You can also conserve water by sweeping your driveway and sidewalk instead of hosing them down.
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In your yard:

DON'T over-water lawns and gardens. Use slow-watering techniques on lawns and gardens. Over-watering your lawn can increase the leaching of fertilizers into groundwater. Trickle or "drip" irrigation systems and soaker hoses are 20 per cent more efficient than sprinklers. It is also better to water your lawn in the early morning or late evening to prevent water evaporation due to the midday heat.


DO plant native plants in your gardens. Some ornamental plant species are not adapted to our local climate and may require extra water to maintain. Check with your local garden centre for native plant species that can act as ornamentals for gardens. They will not require any special care because they have already adapted to our climate.


DO use natural fertilizers. Apply natural fertilizers, such as compost, manure, bone meal or peat, whenever possible. Ask your local hardware and garden supply stores to stock these natural fertilizers. You can also buy a composter at a garden supply or hardware store, or by mail. Composting decreases the need for fertilizer and helps the soil retain moisture.


DO disconnect your downspouts. Disconnecting downspouts can redirect rain gutters and downspouts to soil, grass, or gravel areas instead of into the city's sewer system. For more information, visit the City of Toronto's Downspout disconnection/ rain barrel program.


DO your landscaping with vegetation, gravel, or other porous materials instead of cement. Also, planting vegetation at lower elevations than nearby hard surfaces allows runoff to seep into soil.
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Maintaining your car:

DO recycle used motor oil. If you change your own motor oil, avoid pouring waste oil into gutters or down storm drains, and resist the temptation to dump wastes onto the ground. A single quart of motor oil that seeps into groundwater can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water. In Toronto, motor oil can be taken to a hazardous waste depot.
When you buy motor oil, ask if the store or service station has a program to take back waste oil and dispose of it properly. Keep up with car maintenance to reduce leaking of oil, coolant, antifreeze and other hazardous fluids.

DO wash your car the "green" way. Hand-wash your car on the lawn with a bucket of soapy water, rags and a hose. Just turning off the hose between rinsing can save up to 150 gallons. Or, if you don't want to do it yourself, choose a car wash that recycles its water.
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At the Beach

DO use the garbage cans and recycling containers provided. Keeping Toronto's beaches free from garbage will go a long way to help keep our water clean. Garbage is the most visible sign of environmental pollution - it feeds pests such as rats and mice and spreads germs and diseases.

Most people think water pollution comes directly from a factory or other known source, a type of pollution known as "point source pollution." Because of laws passed in the 1970s, most of those sources of pollution have cleaned up their act. Today, the biggest source of pollution is us - you and me. This type of pollution is known as "nonpoint source pollution" because it can't be traced to one single source; we can't tell how much pollution is coming from where.

Answer 2

Stop putting waste into streams lakes and rivers! They can not use chemicals on their plants, gardens and lawns because when it rains those run off into our water supply. Keep the streets clean. Not burn things you aren't suppose to. Keep your driving to a minimum because the little particles that are in the air can be pushed by wind into water.

Answer 3

Educate them as early as possible about water pollution and tell them the risk or the damage it can make to our environment.

Answer 4

phosphorus free fertilizer. follow examples set by responsible adults.

Answer 5

don't throw garbage in the water