Buff your boat, spiffy your sloop: Before heading to area lakes, reservoirs or the Atlantic, consider the environmental impact your craft will have on the water and the critters living in it. Some precautions are no-brainers: Don’t toss trash, including fish innards or cigarette butts, overboard and don’t flush your sewage tanks into the waterthat’s what the marina’s pump stations are for. Although the law allows you to discharge some treated sewage, it’s still ill-advised. And dumping raw sewage is a federal crime. Think about it: Would you let someone crap in your yard?
As for protecting your boat, soy-based lubricants and degreasers and agricultural oil-based waterproofers will keep petroleumand its rainbow sheenout of the water. Info: www.nccoastalmanagement.net/Marinas/BoaterGuide2004.pdf, www.njcleanmarina.org/docs/soyproductsmarineuses.pdf.
