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Many fruits and vegetables are grown with pesticides to get rid of bugs. Although nobody wants to find a creepy crawly thing in a peach or tomato, according to the Environmental Working Group, even small doses of pesticides can adversely affect your health and are worrisome, not well understood, and in some cases completely unstudied.
Fortunately, you can drastically reduce your exposure to pesticides and bacteria found on produce with a thorough vinegar and water wash. Experts found that a white vinegar and water wash kills 98% of bacteria and removes pesticides.
You can concoct your own vinegar/water mixture at home to save money. You’ll probably spend less than 20 cents to make a homemade vinegar and water rinse, compared to around $4 for a premade produce wash. Plus, you can use the same bottle many times when you make your own wash!
Good Green Habits for Washing Produce
- Mix 3 parts water to 1 part white vinegar (3:1 ) in a spray bottle.
- Spray on fruits and veggies to get rid of pesticide residue.
- Rinse with water after spraying.
-OR-
- Fill a bowl with water and add 1/8 to 1/2 cup of vinegar, depending on the size of your bowl.
- Place your fruits and veggies in the bowl.
- Soak for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Rinse with water.
Note: GGH loves the second version because we think it’s easy and quick!
You can help protect the Earth for future generations by remembering to recycle used motor oil from your car, truck, motorcycle, boat, RV or lawnmower. Recycling motor oil keeps it out of rivers, streams, lakes and landfills―and from ending up in ground water supplies and your drinking water.
Reasons to Recycle
Here are several smooth reasons to recycle your unwanted motor oil:
- Motor oil contains toxic substances such as benzene, lead, zinc and cadmium that can harm people, animals and the planet.
- One pint of oil can produce a one-acre oil slick.
- One gallon of oil can ruin the taste of one million gallons of drinking water.
Fortunately, used motor oil can be reprocessed into fuel that can be used in furnaces for heat and in power plants to generate electricity for homes, schools and businesses. It can also be used in industrial and utility boilers, blended for marine fuels, and other uses. And, it can be re-refined into lubricating oils that meet the same API specifications as virgin motor oil.
Good Green Habits for Motor Oil
You can take these eco-friendly steps to ensure oil is legally and safely recycled or discarded in your area:
- Contact your garbage company. Many haulers now provide oil jugs and collect used motor oil for their curbside customers. To get started, call your local garbage service and ask if used oil is picked up on service day. Some haulers will provide jugs for just this purpose.
- Ask service stations and repair shops. Many types of automotive business will accept used oil and used oil filters.
- Check with county or state government offices. They can provide locations for recycling centers in your area.
- Visit earth911. Visit earth911.com to find oil collection centers by zip code.
ECO FACT Recycling two gallons of used motor oil can generate enough energy to run an average household for 24 hours. For more information, visit recycleoil.org.
Wondering what to do with your collection of expired and unwanted pills after you clean out your medicine cabinet?
Well, if you’ve got the feeling that you shouldn’t flush these prescription and over-the-counter drugs down the toilet or throw them in your garbage cart—your eco vibe is right on target. These items are considered household hazardous waste.
Improper medication disposal—pills, capsules, liquids—can definitely mess with the well-being of people, animals, and the environment. Drugs of all types can pollute soil and groundwater.
And, since most wastewater treatment plants don’t remove man-made chemicals from medications, the chemicals in them can contaminate water supplies, including drinking water! Fortunately for the future of our planet, you’ve got green options.
Good Green Habits for Medications
Take these steps to dispose of unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications to keep environment healthy:
- Visit NoDrugsDownTheDrain.org for disposal locations.
- Watch for advertised medication take-back events.
- As a last resort, place them in your garbage cart* using these eco measures:
- Keep pills, capsules and liquid medications in original, non-breakable containers with tightly secured lids.
- Mark out personal information on medication containers.
- Pills and capsules in blister packs should be wrapped in several layers of durable tape.
- Hide containers inside paper bags, boxes or plastic tubs.
- Place wrapped, concealed containers in garbage cart.
Ten billion plastic cards (ATM cards, credit cards, video-store cards, drivers’ licenses, library cards, plastic gift cards, etc.) are placed in circulation each year. As they expire or are spent, the unwanted plastic cards usually end up in the trash, since they aren’t accepted in most recycling programs. As a result, about 100 million pounds of PVC plastic (polyvinyl chloride, a toxic substance) from plastic cards land in America’s waste stream each year. You can help reduce the amount of PVC in landfills with these steps:
- Sell, buy or trade unwanted but usable gift cards at—CardAvenue, PlasticJungle, or SwapaGift.
- Request your favorite stores and banks make their cards from earth-friendly recycled PVC—supplied by Earthworks Systems.
- Ask stores to reuse or recycle spent or expired gift cards—instead of tossing them into the trash.
Eco-fact: Stores can contact Earthworks Systems to inquire about recycling their used, expired, unwanted and leftover plastic cards—and making new ones from recycled plastic!
Take the Pledge―Do your best to recycle, reduce waste, reuse, and compost!
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