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• Information about environmentally safe cleaning products: many cleaning products contain dangerous chemicals even though they're rated as safe to use in your house. They can effect your lungs, and may have other less noticeable effects. There also effect the environment. Many end up going down the drain where they can end up in Puget Sound. There are some very effective, safe cleaning products, and more becoming available all the time. Many stores now have entire sections of environmentally safe products, and often put them on sale. The safer products used to be significantly more expensive, but that's often no longer true. If you buy them on sale they can even be cheaper than the big name products. Check your favorite stores to see what they have. And you can check Good Guide to see how your favorite product rates, and perhaps to find a better alternatives. And this applies not only to cleaning products, there are some very potent chemicals in perfumes, feminine products, make-up, hair care products, detergent and more.
• Does it bother you when you request a doggie bag from a restaurant and they give you a very nice, durable Styrofoam container? Some restaurants are now using biodegradable containers [you can encourage this by asking for them] which is nice when you can get them. But there's no reason you can't bring your own doggie bag. Grab a couple of small [or medium if you think you'll need it] stackable plastic containers and bring them with you. When you're ready to go you bag your own food. Some things like unbuttered bread can even be wrapped up in a napkin to take home, then you can put the napkin in the compost bin.
• Plastic bags are a horrible drag on the environment. For more information about that see our Tip Article on the dangers of plastic bags. But there are alternatives. You can now get plastic bags made from corn starch and other biodegradable material. In fact, the King County Library System uses them for people who need to carry out a large number of books. One of our members took one home and tested it against a regular plastic bag. She loaded both up with books and tested them for strength. Both bags eventually tore or developed some holes, but the strength was about the same. Then she filled them with water. Both leaked through the holes, but the green bag sealed itself up if the holes weren't too large. The bags are durable enough to be reusable, and when they're done, they can go out with the compost. You can get green grocery bags, yard waste bags, dog waste bags and more. Check out our Tip Article about green disposable containers.
• Recycling electronic equipment isn't as easy as it seems, even when it's free. Not all recyclers are equal. Some do it properly and some still send things overseas where they become part of the problem. The hard part is telling who is who. Fortunately there is information if you dig for it. http://www.ban.org/index.html is a good place to start. There's more information in our December tip.