5 Ways To Help Protect the Great Lakes This Year

It's a new year and we're on a mission!  More than 35 million people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, jobs and their way of life.  More that 6 million peoples visit the Great Lakes every year.  But the Great Lakes face many different kinds of threats.  Salty Salmon is dedicated to help stop those threats.

Here's how we can make a difference in 2018:

1 ~ Laundry
One load of laundry can release hundreds of thousands of tiny plastic fibers from cloths made out of fleece, acrylic, nylon, and polyester.  This pollutes our waterways and disrupts the food chain. What to do? Wash full loads in cold water with liquid—not powder—detergent. You get extra credit if you install a washing machine filter that will capture these microplastics! Amazon sells these filters.

2 ~ Fertilizers
Want that putting-green lawn look?  Use phosphorus-free fertilizers.  Too much phosphorus released into our waterways as a result from fertilizer pollution can be deadly.  It can poison the fish and contaminate our drinking water.  Even Scotts agrees!

​3 ~ Medications 
Traces of pharmaceutical drugs—including antibiotics, hormones, and psychoactive drugs—can be found in our drinking water.  Many people flush their unused or expired drugs down the toilet, don't do that.  Throw them away properly.  The EPA recommends incinerating collected pharmaceuticals but allows other methods of disposal as well.

4 ~ Aquatic Equipment
Humans have introduced more than 186 invasive species to the Great Lakes ecosystem. You can help prevent this by rinsing and wiping down your boats, paddleboards, kayaks, and other watercraft after you use them.

5 ~ Vote 
Great energy and conservation policies make a magnitude of a difference to our resources. Vote for candidates who are committed to protecting our water & our Earth's resources.
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