Dispose of Waste

No matter how hard we all try to live "green" and be environmentally friendly, we always seem to end up with some hazardous products in our homes. Many of the products we use for polishing, painting, cleaning and waxing are considered hazardous and need to be treated accordingly. Fortunately, sometimes we can substitute natural products for chemical cleaners, but when we can't, we do need to understand how to handle our hazardous household products.

Hazardous Household Products

1. Identify hazardous waste in your home. Check the garage, garden or pool shed, and the area where you store cleaning products.

2. Note that computer and other electronic equipment contains hazardous waste, as do some light bulbs.

3. Here's a list of some common household products that could be considered hazardous. Keep in mind this is by no means a definitive list.

· Aerosol cans

· BBQ and camping fuel

· Chemical lawn fertilizers

· Cleaners (toilet, oven or drain)

· Gasoline

· Insect repellent

· Leftover paint

· Paint brush cleaners / solvents

· Some furniture polishes

Using Hazardous Products

1. Read labels and learn what is in the products that you buy. Compare the ingredients and if 2 products can do the same job, try to choose the less hazardous one.

2. Buy only quantities you need and can use. You may save a few cents per ounce on the larger size, but if you don't need it all, you're going to have to get rid of it.

3. Find out about natural products that can be used in place of chemicals. For example, vinegar can get rid of lingering odors and clean soap residue, while garden-grade diatomaceous earth (available at pool supply and garden stores) works great at keeping slugs and crawling insects away from plants in your garden.

1. Consider using non-chemical options. A metal snake for unblocking drains will clear out a drain as well as-if not better than-a chemical cleaner with the added bonus that it will never harm the environment.

1. Share your hazardous products if you have too much. Lawn fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are all products that can be easily shared with a neighbor.

6. Learn what can be recycled. Used motor oil, transmission fluid and car batteries are all recyclable. Many garages will recycle your old oil and some communities also have recycling programs for just this purpose.

Disposing of Hazardous Products

1. After you've tried reducing, reusing and recycling your hazardous products and you're still faced with getting rid of some, do it responsibly.

2. Store your hazardous products until your community's next hazardous waste collection day or take them to a designated site for safe professional disposal.

3. Read and follow the label directions on how to dispose of leftover products if you're disposing of them yourself.

Kitchen Towels & Cleaning Towels

Kitchen towels have a way of getting downright grungy. Whether its grease, stains from spills and sauces, or they have soured, those nice kitchen towels can be saved with a few cleaning tips. While using commercial cleaners will take out most stains and grime, they can also take out some of the color, leaving kitchen towels "washed-out clean" instead of vibrantly clean.

Kitchen towels that are not cleaned properly can be a source of food contamination, a serious safety issue. Most people have a several sets of kitchen towels, which ultimately wind up being used for all sorts of clean-up tasks. This creates excessive grime and stains on your kitchen towels which may give them a dirty appearance, even when they're fresh out of the dryer. To remedy this, use a plastic or Rubbermaid style basket (available at dollar stores) and place all stained, "dirty-looking-when-clean" kitchen towels in it. Consider these cleaning towels instead of kitchen towels, and use them for cleaning throughout the house. You may have to purchase a couple sets of new, "true" kitchen towels designated for the kitchen only.

Wash your kitchen towels separately from other dirty laundry. Depending on how large your family is, consider washing your kitchen towels once a week. Before placing exceptionally dirty towels or towels that have potentially staining substances on them in the dirty laundry, apply a pre-treatment such as Spray-N-Wash. One of the best pre-treatments is a product called M-30, which can be purchased at many dollar stores; the consistency is somewhat like a paste, which you rub on and allow setting prior to washing. When you're ready to wash, use a presoak cycle and hot water for the wash cycle. For white kitchen towels, you may wish to add 1/4 cup of bleach to the wash cycle prior to adding kitchen linens.