Tag: Pollution Prevention (P2)

Pollution Prevention: The Foundation of Sustainability

Pollution Prevention (P2) means reducing or eliminating pollution at the source so that it never enters the environment in the first place. Instead of managing pollution after it has been created or at the “end of the pipe,” P2 focuses on first eliminating waste; then if the waste can’t be eliminated, try to find ways …

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UCAIR Isn’t Blowing Smoke with Its Wood Stove Exchange Program

By Bailey Toolson, Guest Blogger  DEQ invites guest bloggers to share their thoughts on issues that impact our environment. We appreciate their insights and the opportunity to broaden the conversation with others in the community. Our mission at UCAIR is to make it easier for individuals, businesses, and communities to make changes that improve our air. …

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Water Quality: Keeping Pollutants from Going down the (Storm) Drain

By Harry Campbell You may have noticed a lot of water rushing into storm drains during the heavy rains this past month. This storm water runoff comes from homes, city streets, parking lots, industrial facilities, and construction sites and often contains sediment, fertilizer, pesticides, oil, gasoline, pet waste, or hazardous waste. And because storm water …

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DEQ Helps Businesses Be Green, Stay Green

By Paul Harding Increasingly, businesses are integrating environmental sustainability practices into their long-term strategies. They find that sustainability is not only good for the environment, it’s good for their bottom line. So what does environmental sustainability look like for businesses? It can mean reducing waste, cutting energy use, or recycling materials. I work in DEQ’s …

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Hazardous Waste: DEQ Protects the Public through Inspections, Education

By Alex Pashley Almost everything we do creates some kind of waste. While many wastes are relatively benign, some are hazardous and need to be regulated to protect public health and the environment. As a hazardous waste inspector for the Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste (DSHW), I evaluate the hazardous …

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Pollution Prevention: A Cornerstone of Sustainability

 By Frances Bernards and Paul Harding As environmental scientists with DEQ’s Business Assistance Program (BizHelp), we help businessesrealize the environmental and cost-saving benefits of pollution prevention, known as P2. National Pollution Prevention Week, held Sept. 15-21, 2014, celebrates P2, the practice of reducing or eliminating pollution at the source. P2 became America’s official policy in …

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Make Your Own Household Cleaner

By Frances Bernards You don’t have to be a mad scientist to either make your own household cleaner or purchase cleaners that are good for you and the environment. It’s very confusing to choose the best cleaners when confronted with labels that say “natural” or “environmentally-friendly” in the grocery store; how can you distinguish between …

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