Volunteering - YOU CAN HELP!
We hope you will share in the positive excitement many of us feel about the meaningful work being done by so many people on behalf of Scarborough Marsh. Your involvement can be as simple as carefully planning how you manage your lawn to as dedicated as helping conserve more open space in the marsh watershed. Both of these activities, and many levels of volunteering in between have real and positive impact. We are currently seeking new board members. We invite you to join us at any level as a Friend of the Scarborough Marsh. You can be part of the essential work to protect the marsh. Contact us about getting involved! |
10 Things YOU Can Do to Help
Tips to Stop Nonpoint Source Pollution:
If you own a business, you can help prevent pollution, too!
- Take care with lawn and fertilizer applications. Better yet don’t use them if your property abuts the shoreline or is within the shoreland zone of the marsh’s tributaries. See Healthy Yards for a Healthy Marsh to learn more.
- Choose garden plants wisely. Avoid invasive non-native species like purple loosestrife, Japanese barberry, bittersweet, rambler rose, Japanese knotweed, and certain shrubby honeysuckles.
- Pick up and dispose of trash properly. Litter can attract unwanted predators and "nuisance animals."
- When boating, observe gentle speeds that are courteous to nesting or feeding birds and are sensitive to the erodable shore and fragile plant roots.
- Educate your neighbors and visitors about this unique habitat and speak up for the marsh at local meetings and public forums. Remember to like us on facebook, too!
- Support upland conservation, by making a donation or granting an easement.
- Respect wildlife - they need solitude and sanctuary. Choose activities which emit lower noise and light levels.
- Promote wildlife habitat in your backyard, workplace or schoolyard: allow native plants room to grow.
- Volunteer with local conservation groups, like us! Join us for our annual spring and fall clean ups!
- Be on the watch for and prevent run-off. We can all do our part!
Tips to Stop Nonpoint Source Pollution:
- Keep roadways, street gutters and walkways swept and clear of soil, grass and debris.
- Use environmentally safe cleaning products that don't contain phosphorus or other toxic chemicals.
- Cut down on car use, check and repair oil or other leaks and take batteries and excess motor oil to auto shop for proper disposal.
- Use a commercial car wash or direct the flow of water into grass clippings or gravel. Never let it flow into the street gutters or storm drains.
- Secure your load on pickup trucks to be sure plastic and trash doesn't end up in the marsh.
- Substitute natural products like compost instead of fertilizer.
- Use biological methods and traps to reduce insects, weeds and fungus instead of toxic insecticides and herbicides. Never apply pesticides or herbicides near wells.
- Plant native plants in exposed soil areas.
- Monitor and maintain septic systems for leaks and overflows.
- Pick up and properly dispose of pet droppings.
If you own a business, you can help prevent pollution, too!
- Educate employees about non-point source pollution and ways to minimize the impact your company makes on the environment.
- Keep facilities clean and swept for debris.
- Check dumpsters for leaks and keep them away from storm drains.
- Recycle water and materials as much as possible. It's likely that your garbage may be useful to another industrial process.
- Control runoff from storage and other areas where toxins are present.
- Ensure that no materials are flowing from your site into nearby storm drains streams or other water bodies.
- Find ways to substitute less harmful products for use in operations and production.
- Develop a good leak and spill prevention program and have a plan of action for accidental spills.
- Use chemicals sparingly and never use more than needed.
- Never use or store hazardous materials near storm drains or water.