Ten Ways to Be Toxic Free and Energy Efficient: The Spring Cleaning Edition
May is here and Spring is in full force. What better time than now to discuss how your Spring cleaning can help ensure you have a green and healthy home? Here's a list of ten quick and easy tips to be toxic-free and energy efficient with your Spring cleaning:
- As a general rule of thumb, try to use non-toxic cleaning products when spring-cleaning. One easy and effective recipe can be achieved by mixing white distilled vinegar, dish soap, and water.
- Clean out the dust from your windowsills with this mixture or just plain vinegar.
- Toss out unused prescription pills and expired pain medications. With fewer pills lying around, your kids will be safer at home. Questions about disposal? Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222
- Wash your curtains, and open them up to let in daylight. Longer days mean less use of electric lights. This saves energy costs while eliminating any toxins that can blow onto your curtains from outside.
- Clean your light bulbs to conserve energy. Dust can cut light output by as much as 25 percent.
- Use baking soda before you vacuum to clean your carpet and area rugs. Spreading baking soda over carpet helps eliminate moisture and odors, absorb dirt.
- Get rid of old boxes! Roaches and other pests love them and come summer time, it's their favorite hiding place for lounging around and laying eggs.
- Clean your clothes-dryer lint filter after every load. Clogged filters drive up the drying costs and can be a fire hazard.
- Clean the burner pans on your stove. When clean, they will reflect heat more efficiently back up to pots and pans.
- Clean out food particles from your microwave. Without dust and left over food particles, it will cook food more efficiently.
In addition to this list of toxic-free cleaning tips, EHC can help with more tips and education. EHC also offers Healthy Homes kits which come complete with non-toxic cleaning supplies, roach traps, lead check swabs, and much more. Best of all, these cleaning kits are absolutely free if you qualify and sign up for a Healthy Homes Visit. For more information and help setting up your home for toxic-free cleaning, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at 619-474-0220 ext. 163.