Swim Drink Fish shopping tips for the holidays

"X-mas Zoo" by CityPines.

It’s December along Lake Ontario’s shores but with this unseasonable weather, you couldn't tell the holidays are just around the corner. But believe it or not, the annual shopping scramble has begun!

While you’re jumping from store to store, it’s quite easy to forget the little things that make a big difference to our waterways.

To help you while you’re out and about, here are 4 quick swim drink fish reminders:

1. Body wash: To gift or not to gift?

Microbeads and microplastics are wreaking havoc all over the Great Lakes and waterways around the world. To start remedying this massive problem, consumers need to make informed decisions. Before deciding which body wash or lotion to purchase, take a moment and look at the product’s ingredients list. Our Microbeads Rule of Thumb is: If there’s an ingredient that starts with “poly,” assume the product contains something synthetic. Try going with another option.

2. Baby gift baskets bearing baby wipes

Baby gift baskets are great gifts for new parents. Diapers, baby bottles, toys, baby powder, baby jammies – what new parent wouldn’t appreciate these things? But if you are a new parent and you receive baby wipes, even if they’re labelled “flushable” please remember to not flush them in the toilet. Flushable wipes and other non-flushable items cause a lot of costly damage to wastewater treatment facilities across Canada. There are only three things that should go down the toilet. Wastewater expert, Barry Orr calls them the 3 Ps: pee, poop, and (toilet) paper. Everything else goes in the garbage.

3. Road Safety: Which road salt to choose

Even though there hasn’t been much need for road salt yet, we all know winter is coming – eventually. And icy roads are good for no one. So before grabbing a bag of salt for your driveway, learn what makes one kind of road salt different from another. And learn which road salts place more stress on our waterways. After all, what ends up on the roads will most likely end up in the water. Generally, consider road salts made of magnesium chloride and potassium chloride as they tend to be less aggressive.

4. Still need a gift idea?

Finding the perfect gift can be a challenge. So consider sharing your love for swimmable drinkable fishable water with our new toque and our very-loved T-shirt. We’ve stocked up, but inventory does go fast!

The holidays are a wonderful time of year. But let’s not forget how the purchases we make can have an impact on the waters we love.

Why not make every purchase count?