Visit us at:
568 Tempe Wick Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
Mail us at:
P.O. Box 300
New Vernon, NJ 07976
Call us at:
(973) 538-3500
FAX:
(973) 538-5300
Conservation Tips
We all have an effect on the environment every day. Here are some tips on reducing our negative impact that you can try:
- Buy a pre-existing home to save open space.
- Live near your work; car pool or take public transportation; lobby your elected officials to provide adequate public transportation facilities; ask your employer to organize van pooling, telecommuting, and so on.
- bring a bag or shopping basket to the store. Many supermarkets now re-cycle plastic bags or give you a small credit for re-using them.
- Buy energy efficient, refillable and/or rechargable products for your house and your office.
- Leave the clippings on your lawn when you mow it. Most mowers and tractors can be outfitted with "mulching" attachments that cut the clippings into smaller, more easily biodegradable pieces. You will need less chemical fertilizer and you won't need to water your grass as much in hot weather.
- Other yard waste and food scraps can be turned into compost for lawns and gardens.
- Restore bird habitats on your property by shrinking your lawn and replacing it with ground cover, shrubs and trees. Use less pesticide — or none at all: a healthy bird population will take care of huge numbers of insects.
- Don't pour toxics and waste oil down the drain or in the storm sewer; recycle them.
- Lower your water heater temperature; fill up the dishwasher before running it; install toilet damps; use low phosphate detergents to stop algae blooms in waterways and lakes.
- If your driveway isn't paved, leave it that way. A gravel drive may be a bit harder to shovel in the winter, but it will absorb rainwater and it won't leach petrochemicals into the watershed the way asphalt does.
- Set up a community pollution watch or other volunteer conservation group, or join an existing group (like us!). Long before recycling became state law, volunteer groups were collecting waste materials such as bottles and newspapers. The state environmental agencies are perpetually over-worked and under-funded. You can help out.