Tips & Resources

Protect Your Coast from Water Pollution: A Homeowner's Guide

Things you can do at home to keep waterways clean.

Along the coastline, water is a palpable part of life. It might be your view from the train on the morning commute, or perhaps you smell salt on the air when the wind blows just right. It could be the source of your favorite dish at that local seafood shack, or the place you go to relax and unwind.

Coastal communities take pride in their waterfronts. But not everyone who lives by the coast realizes that the way you maintain your home could be polluting your precious coastline. A heavy rain can carry fertilizer from lawns, oil from driveways, chemical residues from walls and decks, and pet waste through storm sewers and into the open waters. Don't let your home contribute to the pollution that's being washed into our waterways. Follow the tips below to help keep your coast beautiful.

Start With the Basics

• Read Product Labels: To avoid contaminating local waterways, choose nontoxic alternatives to household cleaners with harsh chemicals. You can use baking soda, for example, to deodorize drains, clean countertops and polish stainless steel. See NRDC's This Green Life and the EPA's Safe Substitutes at Home fact sheet for more nontoxic household alternatives.
• Don't Pour It Down the Drain: When you dump paint, oil, harsh cleansers and other hazardous products down the drain, they can find their way into nearby bodies of water. Contact your local sanitation, public works or environmental health department to find out about hazardous waste collection days and sites.
• Maintain Your Septic System: Have your septic tank cleaned out every three to five years. Such maintenance prolongs the life of your system and can help prevent groundwater contamination.
• Direct Runoff to Soil, Not Street: Rain gutters and spouts on your home should lead to soil, grass or gravel areas, and not blacktop, cement or other hard surfaces. Wash your car on the lawn instead of on the street or driveway. Sweep your driveway and sidewalks, rather than hosing them down.
• Use Natural Fertilizers: Instead of lacing your yard with chemicals, use natural fertilizers such as compost, manure, bone meal and peat.
• Clean Up After Your Pet: Don't leave pet waste on the ground. It could contain harmful bacteria and excess nutrients that can wash into storm drains and eventually pollute local waters. Flush it, or look for signs in public parks that direct pet owners to appropriate trash receptacles.
• Recycle Used Motor Oil: A single quart of motor oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water. Resist the temptation to dump waste oil on the ground or pour it into gutters or storm drains. Inquire about local programs that buy back waste oil and dispose of it properly.
• Keep Up On Vehicle Maintenance: Make sure your car isn't leaking oil, coolant, antifreeze or other hazardous liquids. Bring it to a mechanic for regular checkups.

Take Pollution Prevention to the Next Level

• Make Your Own Compost: Buy composting supplies at a gardening or hardware store and make your own natural fertilizer.
• Install a Water Storage Cistern: Cisterns collect rainwater from rooftops, driveways and patios before it becomes runoff, and they provide you with an extra source of water for various tasks around the house, including watering your garden and washing your car.
• Rethink Your Drive and Walkways: Paving with heavy waterproof materials such as blacktop sends dirty runoff into local waterways. Use permeable pavement or paving stones, or other porous materials, for paving and landscaping around your property.
• Plant a Rain Garden: Water naturally runs toward lower ground, so turn low-lying areas around your home into rain gardens that can filter out pollution from water runoff. Plant trees, shrubs and grasses into layers of gravel, sand and soil. It's a pleasant landscaping scheme that can keep pollution from reaching open waters.
• Xeriscape: You can create a lush garden that won't need constant drenching by using xeriscaping, which includes the use of native and drought-tolerant plants, as well as thrifty drip-irrigation systems, to save water.
• Install a Green Roof: Green roof systems use plants to absorb and slow runoff that would flow from conventional rooftops. They also protect and extend the life of a roof, keep buildings cooler in the summer and conserve energy in the winter.
• Be an Activist: Ask public officials to control polluted runoff and increase protections for your beaches and waterways. Volunteer for a local beach or stream cleanup, a water quality sampling or a stream pollution-monitoring project.