Think of your sink as a tributary of the nearest river
ONE of the scariest things ever is flushing a toilet and seeing the water coming up instead of going down.
We rarely think of out toilets, sinks, showers and baths as tributaries to our rivers, but that is what they are. Ultimately it all ends up in the river, the lake or in the nearby sea. What we pour into them or flush out of them has a huge capacity to impact on local water quality and biodiversity.
With all that in mind, the following tips may help reduce further damage to our water ways and the life systems they support.
Avoid any cleaning products with phosphates or bleach. They spoil the good work of your sewage treatment plant or your septic tank, leading to aquatic pollution. Search for eco-friendly products which use ‘zeolites’ instead of ‘phosphates’.
Use the minimum of any cleaning agent. Most of us use overly generous amounts of these pollutants when cleaning. If a product is said to kill ‘all known germs’, then it will wipe out all the good germs that make your septic tank efficient!
Do not use in-sink macerators. They simply move the problem material from the landfill to the waste water treatment plant. Over the past few years such systems have been installed in a number of hotels in Kerry. As an alternative compost your vegetable waste and use it as a fertiliser in the garden.
Any common household product labelled ‘ hazardous’ or ‘poison’, must be treated as toxic waste when you are finished with it. It is essential to dispose of such materials at recycling centres, where these materials are collected separately and recycled. Do not pour these materials down the sink. Recycling centres are located in Killarney, Kenmare, Milltown, Cahersiveen and Dingle.
Keep you garden low-maintenance and low-water dependent. Use native plants and trees to establish suitable local habitats.
Avoid using herbicides, pesticides and the over-use of fertilisers. There are far more beneficial natural ways to improve your garden that will not have a negative impact.
If building near a stream or river, or even simply disturbing soil, be careful that the waterway is not silted up. Silts and soils are a major enemy of aquatic biodiversity.
Control your use of water at home and in the garden. Treat it as the precious substance that it is. There are now a number of products for sale in Kerry which allow householders to harvest rainwater, which in turn can be used in the garden. Hardware shops and garden centres now stock water butts.