Q&A: What to do with un-green cleaning products

Your eco-questions answered:

Question: If traditional cleaning products (ie: 409) are so bad for the environment, what should I do with them if I want to throw them out and start over with green ones? Should I dump them, or is that just as bad for the environment? Should I just use them until they are gone and then buy green ones next time I need new cleaning supplies? -- Kelly

Answer: Ah -- This is the small but tough conundrum we environmentalists heart stressing about! My sister in St. Louis has been wondering about the same thing.

First, let's rule out dumping them -- that's definitely not a good solution. The real question is: Should I take the remaining cleaning products to the local hazardous waste facility, or use up the remainder before getting green products?

There is no "correct" answer to this, because basically, you're choosing between producing more gratuitous waste (in the form of empty bottles and the products within them) and landfilling it (albeit slightly more safely), vs. putting some harmful chemicals more directly into the environment.

Grist's eco-advice giver Umbra, for example, votes for NOT using up the toxic cleaning products -- but then confusingly says small amounts can be dumped down the drain (um, if you're gonna do that, why not get a little use out of the stuff first?) or that larger amounts can be given away (perhaps philanthropic, but doesn't actually take the toxic stuff out of circulation).

My general advice to people is to use the remainder of the products -- then use the empty bottles to make your own cleaning products. This way, you can at least assuage some of your eco-guilt by reducing and reusing a bit.

The other reason I advise this is that most people just don't take their old cleaning products to the hazardous waste facility. YOU might, but few, except the most eco-committed, do. And I figure, if that stuff's going to be entering the environment anyway, we may as well use it to clean things up a bit first.

Of course, other mitigating individual circumstances enter into the equation too. If you're suffering from allergies, asthma, or other health problems, I suggest you get thee to your nearest hazmat facility ASAP. Your old cleaning products might be exacerbating -- or even causing -- these health issues. Or if you have kids or pets that might get into the stuff, again, go the hazmat route.

Most of all, whatever you decide to do with the remaining un-green products you have, the bigger issue here is what you plan to do next! Focus on the green steps you are taking in the future. The green cleaning you'll be doing in the years to come is the thing to focus on. Give yourself a green pat on the back.

Earlier: Green Cleaning week

Top photo by Beatrice Murch via Flickr; bottom photo by Jasmin Malik Chua

Comments

[todbrilliant]

Truly a tough call. I keep promising myself to take things down to the hazardous materials center (45 minutes away), but have only actually done so ONCE in the last decade.

Reusing the containers? Absolutely solid advice. Not only for the reasons you state, but because once you start making your own products, your household consumption of toxic products decreases (I know you imply this). Getting into the HABIT by reusing the containers in invaluable.

Thanks, Siel, for the reminder.

[m]

...I am all for reusing things, but is it really ok to reuse containers that once had cleaning solutions in them that one would consider having to dispose of at the hazardous waste center? What cleaner will clean the old (un-green) cleaning residue away? Is a swish of vinegar enough? Most of the cleaning fluids I've seen are in number 2 plastic. Could some (non-green) cleaners seep into the number 2 plastic and taint your green cleaning solutions?