100 Ways To Save The Enviornment Part II (Home and Yard)

In Your Home – Reduce Toxicity

1. Eliminate mercury from your home by purchasing items without mercury, and dispose of items containing mercury at an appropriate drop-off facility when necessary (e.g. old thermometers).
2. Learn about alternatives to household cleaning items that do not use hazardous chemicals.
3. Buy the right amount of paint for the job.
4. Review labels of household cleaners you use. Consider alternatives like baking soda, scouring pads, water or a little more elbow grease.
5. When no good alternatives exist to a toxic item, find the least amount required for an effective, sanitary result.
6. If you have an older home, have paint in your home tested for lead. If you have lead-based paint, cover it with wall paper or other material instead of sanding it or burning it off.
7. Use traps instead of rat and mouse poisons and insect killers. [Note-Do not use traps that kill or hurt the creature and be sure to release it into the wild afterwards.]
8. Have your home tested for radon.
9. Use cedar chips or aromatic herbs instead of mothballs.

In Your Yard

1. Avoid using leaf blowers and other dust-producing equipment.
2. Use an electric lawn- mower instead of a gas-powered one.
3. Leave grass clippings on the yard-they decompose and return nutrients to the soil.
4. Use recycled wood chips as mulch to keep weeds down, retain moisture and prevent erosion.
5. Use only the required amount of fertilizer.
6. Minimize pesticide use.
7. Create a wildlife habitat in your yard.
8. Water grass early in the morning.
9. Rent or borrow items like ladders, chain saws, party decorations and others that are seldom used.
10. Take actions that use non hazardous components (e.g., to ward off pests, plant marigolds in a garden instead of using pesticide).
11. Put leaves in a compost heap instead of burning them or throwing them away. Yard debris too large for your compost bin should be taken to a yard-debris recycler.
    Source: seql.org