We’re celebrating Puget Sound throughout the month of May — Join us!
What does “Puget Sound Starts Here” mean? It’s a reminder that our everyday actions impact the health of Puget Sound which connects habitat, wildlife, and humans.
The photo to the left captures a snapshot of how water connects us all: a chum salmon returns to Piper’s Creek in Carkeek Park. Every year, salmon return to our creeks in Seattle – Piper’s, Thornton, Longfellow, Taylor and Fauntleroy Creek — to lay eggs and spawn. Salmon carcasses and eggs become food for urban wildlife like racoons, river otters, eagles, osprey and more. Salmon also feed microbes that break down salmon tissue into nutrients for the surrounding trees. The trees and other plants then work to slow, capture, and filter polluted stormwater. This cycle has repeated for thousands of years, and we are seeing it today because of our dedication to environmental stewardship in Seattle.
Water gives life to our city — literally! It also shapes our region’s values, history, and culture. We need to be mindful that the actions we take on land will affect our waters. When it rains, polluted runoff can make its way from our roofs, lawns and streets to our streams, lakes, and rivers that connect to Puget Sound. This May, pledge to protect our waters and make sure a healthy Puget Sound Starts with you.
Take the Pledge to Protect Our Waters and get free Chinook Book mobile coupons (while supplies last)! Coupons for car care, pet waste bags, and native plants from local nurseries will help you keep your pledge to prevent water pollution.
Make sound choices like:
- Garden without pesticides. Pesticides can wash off into streams, harming aquatic life, fish, and birds. Choose natural lawn and garden care methods instead.
- Take your car to a commercial car wash to prevent soapy water from draining to our waterways.
- Install a rain garden or cistern. Rain gardens and cisterns prevent flooding, add attractive landscaping, and can provide water for summer irrigation.
- Care for trees that naturally slow and filter stormwater runoff. Join a Trees for Seattle work party to care for Seattle’s urban forest.
- Keep your car and our waterways healthy by signing up for a FREE Auto Leaks class to find and fix car leaks.
Did you take the pledge? Let us know by tagging us on Twitter or Facebook.
We’ll be posting Puget Sound Starts Here blog posts throughout the month of May, so stay tuned!