Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
Paved areas can affect quality of water CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There’s no denying it -- the Carolinas are growing fast. With the rapid growth, many trees and grassy lots are being replaced with buildings and parking lots. This could pose a problem with the quality of our water.
Last week we tagged along with Danon Lawson. He is the conservation administrator for Gaston County’s National Resource Department. He takes his message to educate people all across the county about waterways.
Pavement is an impervious surface. That is an area of land that does not absorb rainwater. In fact, it carries toxins like oil from your car, litter and even leaves that are left on the pavement into our storm drains and eventually into our creeks and streams.
Pervious surfaces are more earth friendly. They act like a sponge and absorb rain water.
Grass is a common pervious surface.
The storm water ordinance in Gaston County mandates new construction to add devices like a detention pond on their property. A detention pond is a big area that collects rain water from the pavement. The vegetation and grass at the bottom of the pond acts as a filter and takes out toxins like metals and mercury. The toxins sink to the bottom and clean water rises to the top, eventually going into the creeks and lakes.
It’s important to remember only rain goes down the storm drain. The more we protect our water resource, the cleaner the water we eventually drink.
