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Pollution Prevention |
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Muskegon Lake Community Action Plan
Overview Pollution prevention (P2) is perhaps, the single, most effective tool, to improve and protect natural resources in the Muskegon Lake Watershed. Implementing P2 at all levels of the Muskegon Lake community now and in the future will provide a strong, sustainable approach to the management of waste sources into the lake. Pollution prevention requires the foresight to look for possible problems before they occur. It requires the willingness of individuals to exchange behaviors and other routine practices for those with less impact to the environment. Practicing pollution prevention has far reaching consequences that address many of the social, economic, and environmental issues that are important to sustaining the Muskegon Lake ecosystem and our economy for future generations. Pollution prevention activities reduce or eliminate problems before they occur. Like all other social, economic, and environmental systems it is more efficient and less expensive to prevent problems before they occur rather than try to correct them after the fact. What it is Pollution prevention is the elimination or minimization of the generation of waste at its source. Waste treatment, control, management, and disposal are not considered pollution prevention. Effective P2 also includes environmentally sound on-site or off-site recycling or reuse of those wastes that cannot be eliminated. The patterns of P2 traditionally demonstrate a proactive, voluntary stewardship toward the protection of natural resources through such programs as household hazardous waste collections and curbside recycling. In recent years, however, the P2 paradigm has shifted to a broader vision of sustainable practices. Water use, energy consumption and process waste streams are now a major focus of P2 activities.
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