Green Clean Up Your Act: Homes, Not Businesses, Are Today's Big PollutersUse this search feature to quickly find the information you’re looking for. Green Clean Up Your Act: Homes, Not Businesses, are Today's Big Water Polluters. If you use more than water to clean your home; to exterminate ants, aphids or fleas; or to wash your car, you are probably a water polluter. Whenever you pour leftover pesticides or oven or toilet bowl cleaner down a drain in your home, it can flow untreated into local waters. And when you wash your car in the driveway? Guess where that soapy water ends up. Thirty-eight years ago, the Clean Water Act was passed to establish a legal framework for the restoration of the nation's waters by setting standards for the protection of wildlife, recreation and drinking water sources. Let's just call it the "Green Act". The primary target of greening was industry -- those smog-spewing processing plants that were the worst water polluters in the early 1970s. The Green Act has been successful -- businesses have made great strides in reducing the amount of pollutants they release into waterways. Problems Closer to HomeNow, however, there's a new focus in the fight against water pollution: changing the habits of the average homeowner to a greener hue.Today, residential pollution is a major source of fouled waterways. Pollutants get into the creeks, deltas, lakes, bays and the ocean in two ways: through storm drains, which carry pesticides, soaps or auto fluids washed off our lawns and driveways untreated into waterways; and home drains, which empty into treatment plants that were only designed to treat human waste. Safer Cleaning Alternatives
The green clean solution to toxic home cleaning products?Start with vinegar. Plain, clear, distilled white vinegar is an excellent example of a good alternative to harsher cleaning products. More important than the products in a home is how they are used. Try a less-toxic alternative cleaner first, but if you need to use more toxic products, make sure you use and dispose of them properly so they avoid our waterways. And take a pass on home-use pesticides. Instead, pour boiling water down the hole outside; and caulk to keep ants and other unwanted insects from wandering in. The best solution is to keep them from coming inside in the first place. Baits and traps work for stubborn pest infestations, because you can just toss them in the trash. However, if you must use pesticides, inside or out, buy ready-to-use instead of concentrates. And try the least-toxic products, such as dehydrating dusts, insecticidal soaps, boric acid powder, horticultural oils and pyrethrin- based insecticides first. Clean and rinse all equipment over your lawn or garden, not on paved surfaces or down indoor drains, where they can flow freely into waterways. And if you're spraying outside, or you've hired someone to come out, be aware if rain is in the forecast. If so, cancel your appointment or plan to spray yourself later. Pesticides can be easily washed off your garden greenery and flow down the nearby storm drains. Inspecting Your Garage
In the garage, choose metal drip pans, which can be moved and cleaned up safely if our car is leaking.The proper method of disposal: Soak up the spill with sawdust or cat litter, sweep it into a bag and put it in the trash. Repair a leaking vehicle promptly to help keep fluids out of storm drains - don't hose down the area to clean it up. Any materials that are washed off the ground and into gutter and storm drains enter local waterways untreated. What about washing the car? Instead of sprucing up your wheels on a driveway or street, where soapy water may flow to a storm drain, wash your car on a lawn or unpaved surface. Then dispose of leftover soapy water in a sink or toilet, not on your driveway, where it will flow into the street and down the storm drain. If you use a commercial car wash, choose one where water is recycled. And for those paint touch-ups: choose latex paint whenever possible. This water-soluble variety makes paint thinner and solvents unnecessary. Whatever type of paint you're using, simply cover the brushes at night when a job is in progress, saving a thorough water wash for when the job is complete. Clean latex paint from brushes and containers in a sink; filter, settle and reuse thinners and solvents for oil-based paints. Dispose of unusable paints and thinners, thinner residue and paint strippers at a household hazardous water collection site. There are no right or wrong products for preventing water pollution, just correct or incorrect methods for using and disposing of them. Preventing Water Pollution at Home-- Send dirty cleaning water down a sink or toilet, not into a street, gutter or storm drain.-- Clean up spills, lawn and yard clippings with a broom, not a hose. -- Make sure trash can lids are tightly closed and recyclables are secured to prevent them from blowing into storm drains. -- Dispose of any potentially toxic products - such as leftover pesticide and yard chemicals, oven cleaner, drain cleaner, motor oil or paints - at a household hazardous waste collection facility. Never pour potentially toxic products down in- door drains or street gutters. -- Recycle or dispose of oil and other automotive fluids properly. -- Rain and overwatering wash chemicals off lawns and yards into storm drains. Spray only when rain is not in the forecast, and turn off sprinklers. -- Control pool algae by regulating chlorine levels and by using a pool cover to block sunlight. Don't use copper-based algae control products. -- Pick up animal wastes and dispose in a garbage can or a toilet. How To Store Your Cleaning Supplies
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