After evaluation of the current state of the reef, Pollution Preventation has come up with three major solutions to overcome the issues it is facing.

 

​Solution 1:

One method that can ensure the safety of our countries finest treasure is by abandoning the usage of pesticides completely and introducing dung and manure as an alternative product to be used on farms. These can be extracted from existing cattle or acquired for a cheaper price than pesticides. If 35 tons of cattle manure were spread over an acre of land, the available rate would be approximately 105 pounds of nitrogen for immediate crop use. If that amount of nitrogen had to be purchased, it could cost more than $68 per acre.  Think about how much money you could save per month by adopting these simple methods and utilize it in some other way such as buying better equipment to use on your farm. Composting cow manure has several benefits, in addition to eliminating harmful ammonia gas and pathogens that deteriorate the quality of your soil and weeds that suck out the nutrients from your soil that are meant to be used by the crops. Composted cow manure will add generous amounts of organic matter to your soil. By mixing this compost into the soil, you can improve its moisture-holding capacity. Soil scientists report that for every 1 percent of organic matter content that is present in the soil, the soil can hold 16,500 gallons of plant-available water per acre of soil down to one foot deep. This allows you to water less frequently, as the roots of plants can use the additional water and nutrients whenever needed. Thus use save energy as well as water in your farm. Fertilizers can alter the fertility of the soil by increasing the acid levels in the soil when overused as they contain toxins in them thereby decreasing every successive yield that your farm can give out. Thus unlike manure which can sustain your farm on a long term basis fertilizers are like cancer to your farm.

 

 

​Solution 2:

Generally you should avoid spraying pesticides when 50mm of rain is expected within three days of application as the rainwater carries away the pesticides sprayed on your farm into rivers that flow into the Great Barrier Reef and affect it as well as decreases your farm’s productivity. Wind is the weather factor that influences spray drop.There is another factor which has a big influence and that is the spray droplet size, which essentially is the way in which use apply the pesticides on the crops. You should spray your pesticides close to your crops as if the hose if far away from the plant then while travelling to the plant the air carries with it a certain amount of the chemicals from it which may land in the Great Barrier Reef. You should also change the nozzle to make sure that the pesticides come out in larger drops so that they don’t drift away with the wind as easily as smaller drops of the same. This is an easy thing to change as it requires nothing but a change of nozzle on your hose and it benefits not only the ecosystem, but also your crops as the pesticides are retained on your crops, rather than the majority of it being washed into the ocean, damaging the organisms that reside within them. It also causes variations in the food web and increases or decreases the rate of growth of certain organisms which is not good for the environment. Thus in the interest of both your financial stability and the natural world outside you must watch the weather program each day and make sure that the forecast which includes wind speeds, direction, temperature, and atmospheric stability is clear enough  for you to spray your fertilizers. A wind gauge can also help you, wind gauges are used for recording wind speeds and direction, you can look at it and decide whether or not you want to spray pesticides that particular time of the day and if so then in what direction should you spray it in order for your plants to receive maximum retention of the pesticide.

 

 

Solution 3:

It is already an established fact that pesticides harm our environment and affect the health of the Great Barrier Reef which is one of the most beautiful ecosystems on the planet. Though many of us condemn the fact that the farmers are polluting the Great Barrier Reef, we are all to blame, and not just the farmers who spray pesticides. As long as we keep buying their food they will keep spraying their pesticides and herbicides on the crops in order to protect the plants and make them grow. We can stop this cycle of abuse by simply boycotting food from companies whose farms abuse the environment by spraying excess pesticides. This will not only result in a healthier reef, studies show that less pesticides and herbicides mean fresher and healthier crops and foods. This may not seem as easy as it sounds, nonetheless, the companies who decide to invest in sustainable growth of crops that are free from the use of pesticides or decide to use different fertilisers that are more eco friendly or with less toxic substances in them will be benefited with a large tax cut. This will also make sure that the end product, such as your bread or your apples, aren’t over priced as a large proportion of a farmers expenditure is spent on fertilizers and that financial burden is then passed onto you . If you have your own land you should also be considering not spraying herbicides and pesticides as although you are not a farmer, the run off from your garden has some effect too. You should also avoid golf courses that are situated by the coastline as most of them have a average pesticide usage of almost seven times that of a farm. It is in such ways that your daily choices can affect the health of the Great Barrier Reef.