What can you do?
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Discarded cigarette butts end up in the Bay! |
| Place butts in car ashtray. Don't flick out the window. |
| Rubbish and litter washes down drains into the lake. |
| Bag it then bin it! Stop it at the source! |
| Dog droppings contain bacteria and nutrients. When it rains some of this pollution washes into stormwater drains and flows on into the lake and other waterways around Melbourne. (Melbourne's 300,000 dogs produce 90 tonnes of droppings each day!) |
| Clean up after your dog when out walking. Flush droppings down toilet or compost them. |
| Garden debris can block drains and cause local flooding, and rotting organic matter pollutes waterways with excess nutrients. |
| Keep street gutters and drain entrances clear of leaves, compost or mulch them. |
| Increased nutrients from detergents and car washing contaminate the water. |
| Wash your car at a car wash facility that recycles the water and disposes of the wastes correctly or wash your car with minimal amount of detergent on a grassed area. |
| One litre of oil can contaminate one million litres of water! |
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Keep cars well-maintained and don't pour oils or paints down the drains. Council collects oil for re-cycling and Ecco-recycle has collection points for unwanted paints and solvents. |
| Pesticides kill aquatic invertebrates that provide food for our water birds, and they are absorbed by fish and yabbies. Fertilisers wash down drains into the waterways and increase nutrients which promote heavy weed growth. |
| Avoid using pesticides / herbicides when rain is predicted, and keep away from drains. Use environmental-friendly alternatives if possible |