Did you hear the Orleans Select Board stepped up to make a difference to local waters? It voted unanimously on June 15 to prohibit the use of fertilizer in town.

Regardless of being a homeowner or store owner, don’t we all want to protect our waters on Cape Cod?

The Select Board in Orleans is following what Nantucket just did, they voted to write a Home Rule Petition: An Act prohibiting the application of fertilizer in Orleans, except on farms. The issue will now go before fall town meeting.

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There is sound scientific evidence proving that nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilizers are connected to the pollution of fresh and salt waters. When fertilizers are applied on land, much of it runs off from irrigation and rain causing the algae in ponds to grow more than usual, which causes harm to the health of ponds. This growth affects drinking water, shellfishing and even recreational swimming.

I know we all love to swim in local ponds during hot months, and recently we’ve seen many ponds with signs up saying they are too unhealthy to swim in or allow dogs to drink from or to even fish in. This is due to excess bacteria growth — fueled by nitrogen and phosphorus — called cyanobacteria.

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Humans are negatively impacting the health of ponds with the use of fertilizers. We all can volunteer to not use fertilizer, taking one negative product out of the equation, right? That’s the simple way to help, then cumulatively we could make a big difference.

A simple change in your land management plan is to add an inch of leaf compost in the spring on lawns and gardens instead of fertilizers. Granted there is still some nitrogen and phosphorus in leaf compost, but it is a much less, which decreases the nutrient load in sandy soil and seeping into waters we rely on. Remember, using animal compost has high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus.

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We live here for the beauty that surrounds us.

We cannot put one product above protecting the health of our water when we know the use of the product could be harmful.

The responsibility of select boards throughout Cape Cod is to protect the economy and environment for us all. I hope other Cape Cod towns will follow the select boards of Orleans and Nantucket.

On Oct. 17, 2022, the fertilizer prohibition will be an article at town meeting to be voted on by townspeople. We will see how that goes. Regardless, many people will see that their town board is trying to make a difference by removing fertilizer use.