Boating

• Safely dispose of boating trash on land.

• Don’t discharge boat sewage into the bays.

• Use gas and oil with caution to avoid spills.

• Marina owners: make it easy for boaters to clean out holding tanks and safely dispose of other boating waste.

Cigarette butts

• Cigarette butts are litter, too.

  • It can take seven years for a cigarette butt to break down in the environment.

• Use portable ashtrays.

• Properly dispose of cigarette butts.

Fertilizer

• Follow Sarasota County’s ordinance.

• Use only as much fertilizer as you need.

• Don’t fertilize during rainy season.

• Homeowner associations, make sure your landscape company is IFAS-certified.

• Find details at Fertilizer Management.

Hazardous material disposal

• One quart of used motor oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of water.

• Sarasota County has three hazardous waste disposal sites: Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota, Jackson Road, Venice and at the landfill in Nokomis.

• Associations: make it easy for residents to dispose of hazardous waste properly.

NEST

In Sarasota County, Neighborhood Environmental Stewardship Teams (NESTs) identify environmental projects to enhance the watershed in their own neighborhoods. County staff coaches, assists and provides expertise to groups.

Green Business Partnership

This county-sponsored program encourages environmental stewardship and recognizes businesses that make an extra effort to operate in an environmentally responsible manner.

• Find details at www.scgov.net/greenbusiness

Landscaping

• Partner with Florida Yards and Neighborhoods.

• Choose Florida-friendly plants, grasses.

• Remove invasive species.

• Limit turf grass to 50 percent of usable land.

• Find more tips at http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu

Lawn maintenance

• Leave grass clippings on the lawn.

• Don’t throw them in streets or storm sewers.

Litter prevention

Everyone:

• Volunteer with Keep Sarasota County Beautiful (KSCB).

• Participate in clean-up days.

Homeowner associations:

• Create and participate in your own clean-ups.

• KSCB is more than a cleanup program – find out other ways you can get involved.

• Learn more at www.scgov.net; click on County A-Z, then scroll to Keep Sarasota County Beautiful.

Low-impact development

• Manage stormwater through small, cost-effective landscape features on your own lot, new developments, urban retrofits and redevelopment projects.

• Decrease the amount of water leaving your property through bioswale retention areas, rain barrels, cisterns, green roofs and pervious surfaces.

• Low-impact development storm water management systems can actually reduce development costs by reducing or eliminating conventional stormwater conveyance and collection systems.

• Builder/developers: don’t clear-cut and pack soil. It makes effective landscape practices very difficult.

Storm drain marking

• Create visual reminders that “only rain goes down the (storm) drain.”

• Everything that goes into a drain eventually winds up in a bay.

Pesticide

Use sparingly, if at all.

Pet waste disposal

• Always pick up after pets.

• Pet waste carries disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

• Homeowner associations, make it easy for residents to dispose of pet waste properly.

Water use / conservation

Indoors

• Everyone:

  • Use only as much as you need.

  • Turn off the tap to brush your teeth;
    shorten showers;
    use full loads for laundry and dishes;
    maintain toilets and faucets; repair leaks.

  • Install low-flow fixtures and toilets.

• Homeowner associations: Share water conservation information with new members.

• Businesses: Use only as much as you need; instruct employees on water conservation; conduct water use audits; maintain equipment and plumbing; check for leaks.

• Builder/developers: Design and build with water-conserving fixtures (e.g., low flow toilets).

Outdoors

• Everyone:

  • Use only what your landscape needs.

  • Follow adopted water restrictions; use timers on your sprinkler systems.

  • Turn off sprinklers when it rains.

  • Skip a week of irrigation during the dry season; install drought-tolerant landscape plants and lawn grasses.

  • Use rain barrels or cisterns for watering.

• Homeowner associations: Provide water use and water conservation tips to new members, particularly new residents from out of state.

• Businesses: Install and maintain drought-tolerant landscape plants and lawns. Instruct your employees about ways to conserve water; it may also help reduce your costs.

• Builders/developers: Design communities and homes using drought-tolerant landscape features; install low-flow fixtures, use reclaimed water systems (where available) for irrigation of golf courses and community landscape areas; design facilities to capture stormwater for re-use.

Waterfront landscaping

• Create plant buffers along water courses.

• Choose plants that will slow runoff, filter rainfall and soak up nutrients and pollutants.