Ever see the signs on the street drains that say flows to
stream? We see these everyday near my son’s school and the kids always comment
about them and the little fish picture on it. We have spoken many times about
the meaning of the signs and how we can make sure the fish in the stream are
happy and safe.
This gets me thinking about my home drains which will
eventually get into the streams as well, although they get a bit of processing
first. When water is processed though it is not completely cleaned of
everything, in fact a lot of the yucky stuff gets though. The pollutants in the
water do not only affect the stream, rivers, lakes, and oceans, but also us. This water pollution guide has
some good information. More information on how your actions can affect water
can be seen here. This
is the basis of the water bottle companies arguments we are polluting our own
water so buy their water, which seems absolutely crazy to me. Wouldn’t it be
much easier to stop using all the nasty things that are polluting our water?
This article on detergent
pollutions is a great start to learn about what is in your laundry and dish
detergents. One major concern of dishwashing detergents is phosphates. You can
read more about phosphates why they are bad and what is currently being done to
ban them from detergents
here and
here. Many states have started a ban on phosphates but since that is not
the only concerning chemical in detergents looking at the label closely is
important, unfortunately companies are not required to include ingredients on their
label.
Take a moment now and google your favorite laundry detergent
and/or dish detergent ingredients. If you can find them look up a few of them
and see what you find. There is no reason not to know what you are putting on
your clothes and dishes, especially if you think about your kids who tend to
suck on their clothes or lick the dishes.
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