Before the rain returns, consider what you can do to reduce the chance it will sweep poisons into Puget Sound, from your home, your vehicle, or other aspects of your life. We recorded part of “Diver Laura” James’s presentation at Sustainable West Seattle‘s community forum on Monday night, as a refresher course. What to do, and what not to do, is really pretty simple – in addition to what’s in our clip, other advice toplines are ahead:

Natural yard/garden care is vital, including:

*Use compost and mulch to strengthen your soil
*Practice smart watering
*Think twice before using pesticides
*Plant evergreens

*Use commercial car washes, rather than washing your vehicle at home

*Walk, bike, ride (transit, carpooling)

*Pick up trash
*No dumping
*Dispose of everything properly

*Report pollution

Finding sustainable ways to handle rainwater on your property – check out RainWise! – is also vital. Laura is leading the tox-ick.org project, and its site includes more on these recommendations – check out, for starters, the Seven Simple Solutions page.

Meantime, watch for word of Sustainable West Seattle’s upcoming community forums and other events – when they’re scheduled, they’ll appear on the SWS website.