TIPS OF THE MONTH: Cleaners, drugs and pesticides, how to keep our water and gardens clean?
New York City has some of the best water in the country but we can’t afford to take it for granted. Rather than sending toxic chemicals down the drain, use non-hazardous alternatives like lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda and plant oils for household cleaning, or buy nontoxic cleaning products from the coop. Prescription and non-prescription drugs are released into the environment when flushed down toilets and sinks. Water from the Croton watershed, which supplies New York City with drinking water, contains detectable levels of pharmaceuticals. To find out how to dispose of drugs without polluting our water, visit www.Riverkeeper.org Nobody wants bugs devouring their butternut squash, beetles killing their roses or poison ivy savaging their skin. That said, Roundup and similar pesticides poison our soil, water and air – while supporting the world’s worst agribusinesses. Plant pest-resistant, native species and hand pull weeds. Think of it as exercise!