Eleanor McElvaine

I will connect with a local organization or environmental effort, and find out how I can get involved or become a member.

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our Puget Sound and/or Pacific Ocean waterways. I will keep 1 plastic straw(s) out of the landfill per day by refusing straws or using my own glass/metal straw.

I will keep 1 disposable plastic bottle(s) from entering the waste stream, and downstream in Puget Sound and/or the Pacific Ocean, by using a reusable water bottle.

Contamination prevents what is recyclable from being recycled. I will research and recycle all materials that are accepted by my local haulers or drop stations in my community.

I will pick up pet waste on every walk and once a week in my yard, since stormwater otherwise carries it to the Puget Sound and/or the Pacific Ocean.

I will spend 10 minutes learning about local marine laws pertaining to orcas, responsible boat maintenance techniques, and will follow the Be Whale Wise guidelines.

I will pick up and properly dispose of litter on a daily walk through my neighborhood, since stormwater will otherwise carry it to the Puget Sound and/or the Pacific Ocean.

I will sign up for a local CSA (community-supported agriculture) to help keep remaining farmland in farmland, in Puget Sound or Pacific Ocean watersheds, and reduce the trend towards paved over environments.

I will learn where pumpout facilities are in the Puget Sound areas I go boating, and use those pumpout facilities instead of dumping into the Puget Sound or Pacific Ocean beyond.

I will research and donate to an organization providing environmental education to underserved audiences in my area.

I will organize a trash clean up effort with friends, family, and neighbors at my favorite local trail or salmon stream to keep trash from flowing downstream via storm drains to Puget Sound and/or Pacific Ocean.