photo credit: Lenny Montana
With the green living trends here to stay (hopefully), an increasing number of people are turning to eco-friendly household cleaners. While it is all for the best, one question remains: what do you do with the conventional cleaners containing harsh chemicals that you already possess? Well, there really is no good green way of disposing of them since simply pouring them down the drain is quite harmful to aquatic life but suing them can be risky to the health of your family and pets.
The most recommended disposal method is taking them to the local household hazardous waste (HHW) center. Most such places accept anything characterized as ‘toxic’, ‘poisonous’, ‘corrosive’, ‘flammable’, ‘combustible’ or ‘irritating’ as well as products with labels such as “Poison,” “Danger,” “Warning” or “Caution”. Fortunately, this includes nearly all of the most environmentally damaging and unhealthy cleaners, including but not limited to oven and toilet cleaners, chlorine bleach and ammonia products and caustic drains.
However, there may be some products that the waste centers will not take, for instance tub and tile cleaners or laundry detergents. So what can you this in such cases? Well, if the product in question does not cause some kind of adverse health reactions, continue using it since the small amounts of the cleaner are not as bad to the environment as draining nearly a bottle of the chemicals and flushing them down the toilet. But make sure the area is well ventilated and keep children and pets away until the chemical evaporate and surfaces dry.
Last, but not least, use common sense in either finishing conventional cleaners you have before switching to the safer and greener varieties or disposing of them and the containers they came in.
