The Dog
Blue-green algae in Lake Okeechobee can make a liver or nerve poison. A dog can gulp the water, then swallow poison from his coat while cleaning himself.
Field Manual No. 12
There Is No Away
Companion to the Action Army Special Report "There Is No Away" - a crisis report on the water in South Florida and Southern California.
Inside the Manual
There is no away. There is only the water.
There Is No Away is a printable Action Army field manual about what happens after something is thrown away, flushed away, or hosed away. It follows the water to the animals, who become the smoke alarm.
The manual starts with a walk-around of your own yard, driveway, and storm drain, then turns that view into seven moves, one fill-in page, and one neighbor.
Remember the four words: there is no away.
The three smoke alarms
What the water is telling us
The Manatee
In the Indian River Lagoon, nutrients clouded the water and seagrass died. The manual connects that loss of food to the manatee starvation crisis.
The Sea Lion
Domoic acid from an ocean plankton bloom travels up the food chain into the brain. The sea lion is a sentinel species, a smoke alarm.
A water-detail field guide
What You'll Find Inside
- Start Here: the one rule, how the manual works, and the four words.
- The Three Smoke Alarms: the dog, the manatee, and the sea lion.
- Where Your Water Actually Goes: storm drains, septic tanks, and the everyday sources that move downhill.
- The Seven Moves: pick it up, go easy on fertilizer, keep the storm drain for rain, care for the septic tank, use the toilet correctly, pick up one more thing, and protect your animal.
- Protect Your Animal: the field checklist for wrong-looking water, a dog that went in, and stranded wildlife.
- My Water Numbers: a fill-in page for septic, fertilizer, motor oil, medicine, vet, and wildlife contacts.
- The Honest Page: what is known for certain and what is still being studied.
- Marching Orders and Who to Call: the house standard, one-neighbor action, local wildlife contacts, and the Action Army hotline.
Put it to work
Walk out to your own curb
Find your storm drain and say it out loud: "That goes straight to the water." Fill in your local water numbers, including the septic schedule, fertilizer rules, used-motor-oil collection site, medicine take-back box, vet, and marine mammal or wildlife stranding hotline.
Use the field checklist when water looks or smells wrong. Leash your dog and walk away, believe posted warning signs, rinse a dog with clean water before he licks himself, and call your vet without waiting for symptoms. Keep at least fifty yards from stranded wildlife and let professionals do their job.
This week's marching order is to tell one neighbor where their storm drain goes and walk to the curb with them.
Free printable resource
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