Friends of Cortes Island Society is just beginning a new Water Stewardship project. The community consultation program will work with you to assess your fresh and waste water issues and provide you with economical and innovative options for local, environmentally sound septic alternatives that meet the needs of individual homeowners, as well as larger developments.
by Kathy Smail
Like our garbage, a large proportion of our poop on Cortes Island is regularly trucked off-island to Campbell River. This means that, after trucking, ferries, and dumping into a secondary treatment facility to be aerated, settled and clarified, the solids (sludge) are piled up in a field and the liquid is sent down a big pipe into the ocean that feeds us.
"Hmmmm" you say, "This sounds a bit wasteful. I have my own septic system that works great. Haven't done a thing to it in years!"
You're right; the methodology is out there that will allow us to take care of our own sewage. In fact some of it is happening right here at home under our own noses.
"You bet!" you say, "I can smell that septic field a mile away… I know where my poop is going!"
And if you realize that the old field might very well run out toward that well, or the lovely sparkling stream that supplies you and everyone else downstream with drinking water, or that overly rich, green sea bed that your neighbours use for clam digging, then yes, you know where your poop is going. A little maintenance of that tank and field will let that poop cleanly disappear so your nose and neighbour will be happy.
In fact Friends of Cortes Island Society is just beginning a new Water Stewardship project that will help you get that tank and field in shape. Our community consultation program will work with you to assess your fresh and waste water issues and provide you with economical and innovative options for local, environmentally sound septic alternatives that meet the needs of individual homeowners, as well as larger developments.
And it's not only poop that's a problem. Most septic waste is contaminated from phosphates, heavy metals and other toxins that result from all that other stuff we pour down our drains or spray over our yards and fields.
Our "Toxic Smart" team will help you keep that sludge, and the run-off from your yards and fields, clean as a whistle. As part of this year's Cortes Environmental Youth Initiative, we will be hiring and training young folk to staff information booths offering material drawn from the Georgia Strait Alliance "Toxic Smart" program, the Upper Island Environmental Health Department, and local shellfish grower associations. On the spot and home consultation will be available regarding the use of, and alternatives for, household cleaners, pesticides, paints and preservatives. They will also have some great ideas for practical methods of water conservation.
Water Stewardship community presentations will kick-off our project and inspire you to jump right in and get involved. Events for this summer cover timely topics such as: 'Pulp to Poop, Toxics in the Sea'; 'Water Stewardship'; 'Nimby Notes (Not In My Back Yard, Not Over There Either)' aka Community Poop Handling 101; and the revival of the Cortes Oyster Festival; an historic outdoor community event that honours local production of seafood and celebrates co-operation in maintaining a clean and healthy aquatic environment.
We aim to work on clean water and waste water issues. Our plan is to encourage and support individuals and groups to self-monitor their home environments, steward water ecosystems, and participate in long term liquid waste management planning. We all live in a watershed, let's share the responsibility and the benefits!
* Special thanks to programme funders: BC Gaming Commission; EcoAction Community Funding; and the Regional District of Comox-Strathcona.
* For more info contact the FOCI office: (250)935-0087, foci@island.net
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[From WS April/May 2002]