Spring Cleaning: Green Style

Spring is in the air! Now what do you do? Clean up, that's what! What is a better way to kick off spring than a good spring cleaning? Green style at that! For most people spring cleaning consists of throwing out a lot of belongings they no longer want or do not need. However, in an effort to stop further pollution and save our environment, we need to rethink how we spring clean.

For decades people saw the only way or at least the quickest way to be rid of unwanted items is to throw them away. Others simply weren't educated or informed on what to do with unwanted items. Following my guide on how to spring clean by going green will show you what to use and what to do in your "Eco-friendly" inspired spring clean.

Open the windows

The first step in your spring clean is to open the windows to let the fresh air in. Letting fresh air come through to air out trapped odors is just as good as a bottle of Frebreze. Besides the fresh air is free! Oh, and that's one less air freshener bottle in the trash!

Cleaning products

We all know that chemical cleaning agents can be harmful to us and the environment, but we have a hard time imagining cleaning without them. There are natural products that do the job just as good as chemical products, if not better. Lemon juice, baking soda and vinegar are inexpensive, excellent for cleaning and eliminate odors, not just mask them like some cleaners.

You can find natural cleaning recipes on www.bastyrcenter.org or at www.eartheasy.com . These cleaner recipes are what our mothers and grandmothers used before all these chemical products were invented. Considering the damage that chemicals have done to our environment and the filling up all of our landfills, maybe we should get back to basics.

If these cleaning recipes are of absolute inconvenience to you and you still prefer to use store bought chemical cleaning agents, then consider buying cleaner refills. Many companies are now offering powder and liquid refills packs so you can utilize the same bottle over And over. If more people would at least take advantage of this practice, it will cut down on waste significantly.

Green cleaning agents

Another route you can go is to buy natural cleaning products, instead of making them yourself. Eco-friendly products are a little more expensive, but are better for your health and environment. This new trend have drawn in many marketers to falsely represent their products as "Green" or "Eco-friendly" just to cash in on big bucks! Therefore, it is recommended that you investigate the company. Reading the label is not sufficient considering that according to "MSN money" and www.thedailygreen.com , labels are misleading or flat out falsified.

Most recommended Green cleaning products are "Green Works" by Clorox and "Simple Green". Both have good reviews and are made from natural products. For more information on these products, go to www.greenworkscleaners.com and www.simplegreen.com .

What to do with all your unwanted stuff

Electronics

Electronics contains hazardous chemicals like mercury, lead, and cadmium which has impacted our environment when tossed out in landfills. Due to advances in technology old electronics accumulate at such a fast pace in landfills. Old, broken electronics are considered to be "E-waste" and has become such a problem that there is government involvement to resolve it. If you go to www.epa.gov I am positive you will be impressed with all the E-waste services available. Many major retailers such as Best Buy, Office Depot and T-mobile offer to take old computers, televisions and cell phones. There are many government supported donation and recycling programs on this website, including places that you can mail in your unwanted items for free. There are also websites that will pay you for your recyclable electronics; www.gazelle.com and www.buymytronics.com are two of those places.

Paper, glass and plastic

Many waste management companies have provided residents with curbside bins and service for their paper, plastic and glass items. This option should be used to its full advantage. If this service is not available in your neighborhood, get your community involved by calling your county department of public works to request such service. Many states now offer community drop-off centers. You can also call 1-800-CLEANUP for recycling information in your state.

Clothing

Old clothing is one of the easiest things to recycle, yet people toss them out all the time. Clothing makes the best cleaning rags and should be used instead wasting paper towels for cleaning purposes.

Other things to do with unwanted clothing:

Sell or donate them to second hand stores.
Give them to ladies who does patch work or make quilts.
Drop off in one of the many neighborhood Planet Aid clothing collection drop boxes.
Take them to a homeless shelter.

Furniture

Thrift stores and charities are more than willing to come and take old furniture off your hands if it is not broken or have numerous rips and tears. You also get tax-deductions for donating your used furniture. Freecycle is a place where you can get rid of your furniture fast, post it on www.freecycle.org .

If the furniture is in such bad shape that is has to be thrown out, make sure to call the city first to schedule for them to pick it up, rather than letting it sit on the street for a week. Furniture sitting on the street is very unattractive and is a haven for mice and animals. Another idea is scrap it for its wood, metal and aluminum. Look in your phone book for places that will buy the steel and aluminum.

Spring cleaning your house the "Green" way shows you are actively promoting a safer, greener environment. It also brings awareness and advocacy to green issues, particularly with spring cleaning.