5 Ways to Protect Water in 2026
Every year, there are articles written to improve your life through New Year's resolutions.
Resolving to protect water in the new year doesn’t just improve your life; it improves the lives of your neighbours, your community, and the millions of people who rely on your local watershed.
1. Reduce Salt Use
Salt is a major polluter of freshwater ways across Canada. Some estimates suggest that over 5 million tonnes of salt are used on Canadian roadways yearly. Salt can have detrimental effects on plants and animals in freshwater systems. Additionally, salt corrodes and damages infrastructure and is difficult to remove from drinking water. You can learn more about the impact of road salts here.
2. Reduce Plastic Waste
Plastic waste is a growing problem globally. Reducing single-use plastics and choosing natural materials like cotton, wood or metal over plastics and synthetic materials to reduce microplastic shedding can help reduce your impact and reduce your personal exposure to microplastics.
3. Choosing Better Options for Personal Care and Sunscreen
Many personal care products, including shampoos, sunscreens and cosmetics, contain ingredients which can degrade our water quality. Whether they enter our water bodies directly through swimming or via our drains and combined sewer overflows, these chemicals can be detrimental to our local waters. Switching to reef-safe alternatives or reducing your use of these products can help contribute to a healthier watershed.
4. Reduce Your Water Use
In Canada, clean water is often taken for granted. Though our nation is plagued with dozens of drinking water advisories, clean water is often an afterthought in our major cities. The seemingly limitless supply of fresh water from our taps comes from a resource-intensive water treatment process. Excess water not only wastes these resources, but also flows down our drains and into combined sewer systems, where it must be treated again, or could contribute to combined sewer overflows. By reducing your water use, you are reducing the load on the water treatment system and conserving clean drinking water.
5. Increase Your Water Literacy
The best tool to help protect water is knowledge. Learning more about your local waters and the threats they face can help you become more aware and make better decisions. Swim Drink Fish has a few resources to help you begin this journey:
6. Support Local Causes
You're not alone in caring for your local waters. Research local groups and causes in your area and get involved. Attend their events, sign up as a volunteer, or donate to help support their efforts in protecting your local waters.
Swim Drink Fish has a few ways you can get involved:
Much like New Year's resolutions, protecting water takes time, dedication and commitment to see progress. Make 2026 the year you and your loved ones take a stand for clean water!
