Shop smart

You can start protecting streams by being a smart shopper. Buy non-toxic. Purchase products that are free of toxic chemicals to clean yourself, your home, and your clothing. Remember: "What kills the stain, goes down the drain!".

• The Women's Cancer Resource Center is an organization that connects the health of our environment to human health. They promote non-toxic alternatives to cleaning products and much more.

• Shop organic. Buy organically grown produce and grains that are free of pesticides, and meat and dairy products that are free of antibiotics, growth hormones, and other artificial substances. The watershed will be healthier with fewer chemicals and lower inputs of waste. Visit www.localharvest.org and www.landstewardshipproject.org.
• According to retail clothier Patagonia, cotton farming accounts for 10% of the 5 billion pounds of harmful pesticides used worldwide in modern agriculture. Certified organically grown cotton does not produce toxic farmlands and waterways. For more information, visit www.sustainablecotton.org.
• If you fish, buy non-lead sinkers and jigs to protect loons, waterfowl, and other birds that ingest lost terminal tackle and quickly die from lead poisoning. For more information visit www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/nongame/projects/leadout.
• Buy products and services from businesses that manufacture in environmentally sensitive ways and that support conservation organizations with proceeds from their profits.

Opportunities abound, ranging from toothpaste to telephones. A couple of examples: Tom's of Maine, a toothpaste company, has initiated a National River Awareness program. For more information visit www.tomsofmaine.com. A long-distance telephone carrier, Working Assets, donates millions to nonprofit organizations. Go to www.workingassets.com.

Hear Sandra Steingraber Ends up in the river Read the text