How Can I Help?

• Recycling items and properly disposing of items that cannot be recycled keeps them from making their way to rivers and lakes. Even cigarette butts have a dramatic environmental effect when people drop them on the ground at a beach or riverside area.
• Eliminating or minimizing your use of harsh chemicals provides the surest way to protect  waters from chemicals. When chemicals leach into a body of water, they can devastate ecosystems. Nitrogen and phosphorus, commonly used in fertilizers, lead to a surge in algae growth when they enter a water body, killing off existing aquatic life, for example.
• Proper disposal of hazardous materials such as paints, motor oil and pharmaceuticals keeps them out of the water supply. Check out our Hazardous Waste page to find out how to get rid of these items.
• Water that runs down streets after rainfall, or after you wash your car with a hose, carries toxins from streets and yards that eventually may reach waterways. Sweep rather than hose down your driveway if you need to get rid of debris. When washing your car, use a bucket instead of a hose. Having porous outdoor surfaces like gravel, as well as gardens, also minimizes runoff. Check out this program to “Adopt-a-Storm Drain“.
• Pick up your pet’s waste. You’re not just being a good neighbor. Scooping up pet waste keeps harmful bacteria from running into storm drains and water supplies.

• Regulatory certainty: certified producers are deemed to be in compliance with any new water quality rules or laws during the period of certification
• Recognition: certified producers may use their status to promote their business as protective of water quality
• Priority for technical assistance: producers seeking certification can obtain specially designated technical and financial assistance to implement practices that promote water quality

Through this program, the public receives:

• Assurance that certified producers are using conservation  practices to protect Minnesota’s lakes, rivers and streams