Pollution Prevention

Pollution Prevention for Cleaner Production & Products

Pollution Prevention is a "front-end" method to decrease costs, risks, and environmental concerns. In contrast to managing pollution after it is created, pollution prevention reduces or eliminates waste at its source. Once practices are in place, savings from pollution prevention continue year after year.  (Reprinted from the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance)

For more information on Pollution Prevention, visit Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Reducing Runoff From Your Yard

What is stormwater runoff? Stormwater runoff is rainwater runoff that flows over impervious surfaces (driveways, sidewalks, roofs, buildings, etc.), collects in the street system, and drains into storm sewers that empty into lakes and rivers.

Keeping the runoff from your driveway and sidewalk free of yard and animal waste will help reduce the amount of waste that flows into the street and eventually into lakes and rivers.

The following are a list of ways to help reduce the amount stormwater runoff from your property. 

How to Reduce Debris and Runoff From Your Yard

• Keep storm drains clear. Avoid raking debris from the lawn into the street.
• Clean up pet waste and trash.
• Sweep up sand and reuse it next year.
• Put leaves and grass clippings in your compost pile or bag it for collection with other yard trimmings.
• Direct water from downspouts away from your house and paved surfaces, and onto the lawn or into a rain garden. How to design and construct a rain garden.

How to Restore Your Lawn

• Keep newly seeded areas moist for 3 or 4 weeks.
• Remove debris and yard trimmings. Prepare trimmings for yard waste collection or compost.
• Reseed bare spots. If spots are caused by salt, reseed with a salt-tolerant grass mix.

How to Keep Lawn Care Products Out of Runoff

• Always read and follow label directions when using lawn care products and property dispose containers.
• Sweep up and reuse any lawn care products that fall onto the streets, sidewalks, and driveways.
• Wait to apply lawn care products to frozen ground until the ground has thawed and the grass starts growing.

Project Stewardship in Minnesota

Product stewardship means that all parties involved in designing, manufacturing, selling and using a product take responsibility for environmental impacts at every stage of that product's life.

In particular, product stewardship requires manufacturers to share in the financial and physical responsibility for collecting and recycling products at the end of their useful lives. When manufacturers share the costs of recycling products, they have an incentive to use recycled materials in new products and design products to be less toxic and easier to recycle, incorporating environmental concerns into the earliest phases of product design.

Product stewardship encourages manufacturers, retailers and consumers to treat products as resources rather than waste, changing how they think about the products they make, buy and use.  (Reprinted from the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance)

For more information on Product Stewardship, visit the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Mission

To Protect Our Lakes, Ponds, and Rivers
Our snow is finally melting,
And spring rains will soon be here!
All that runoff is funneling down streets
And alleys into storm sewers that carry it
To our lakes, ponds and rivers.