Creating a green and healthy home: Shun toxic products

• Choose non-toxic cleaners: Find eco-friendly alternatives to harsh chemical cleaners, which can cause health problems and pollute the environment as well. Several brands of non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning products are available at both natural grocery shops and chain stores. Or make your own: Baking soda is a cheap and effective all-purpose cleaner, scourer, polisher, and fungicide. Switch to natural disinfectants such as tea tree oil or citrus oils. Try borax and white vinegar as a toilet bowl cleaner.
• Use cloths instead of cleaners: Skip the cleaning products altogether and switch to micro fiber cloths designed to attract dirt on their own. Used damp, the cloths clean most surfaces like glass, stainless steel, brass, wood, and ceramics. When dry, they give off a natural positive charge, which attracts dust. Simply wash the cloths after each use, and you can reuse them again and again.
• Give bug spray the flick: "You want to minimize the use of pesticides in your home - and that's what insect repellants are," says Philip Landrigan, MD, chair of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and co-author of Raising Healthy Children in a Toxic World: 101 Smart Solutions For Every Family. Instead of using repellants, Landrigan says to keep insects out by sealing cracks and holes around doors, windowsills, and baseboards. And keep food stored away and kitchen and eating areas as clean as possible.

Creating a green and healthy home: Grow a greener garden

• Plant an edible garden: Grow your own salad greens, veggies, and herbs. A garden can help reduce soil erosion and reduce air pollution. Aim to plant a plot that doesn't use a lot of water and tend your garden without using toxic pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Instead, purchase organic and earth-friendly garden products at your garden store.
• Compost kitchen scraps: Eggshells, tealeaves, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peelings - pretty much any organic matter can find a home in a compost pile or bin. Mix with yard trimmings and add water and presto - you have a nutritious soil enhancer, and you're doing your part to reduce landfill waste.
• Water wisely: Water your garden in the early morning or evening when it's cooler - water evaporates more slowly when it's cool. Water that's been used in sinks, bathtubs, showers or the washing machine - known as gray water - can be used again to water the garden, if it contains only biodegradable soaps.
• Leave grass clippings on the lawn: Grass cuttings act as natural fertilizer when they decompose. So take advantage of them.

Creating a green and healthy home: Beyond paper, plastic, and glass

• Use durable goods: Ditch disposable razors for reusable ones. Swap plastic cups and paper plates for ceramic ones. Choose reusable food containers over plastic wrap. Choose rechargeable batteries over the conventional single-use kind.
• Buy recycled products: Look on labels for products - like writing paper and toilet tissue - with the greatest percentage of post-consumer recycled content. Choose food items like cereals and crackers packaged in recycled cardboard.
• Find creative ways to recycle household goods: Donate used toys to a worthy organization, or start a toy library in your community, rather than tossing them in the trash. Host a clothing swap for grown-ups, and set up a kids' clothing exchange. Do the same with books. Before you toss that cardboard box in the recycling, let your child turn it into a space ship, robot, dollhouse, or secret hiding space for hours or even days of earth-friendly fun.

Create a green and healthy home: Conserve water

• Wait for a full load: Don't turn on the washing machine or dishwasher until it's full. Each washing cycle uses more than 25 gallons of water; make sure that every drop counts.
• Save baths for special occasions: A shower uses about half as much water as the average bath - as long as you keep it to less than 5 minutes. An egg timer suction-cupped on the shower wall is a good way of keep track.
• Fill the sink to do dishes: You'll use a fraction of the water that's used by leaving the faucet running. Ditto on the rinsing front. If you don't have a double sink, use a tub for rinsing.
• Think before flushing: Don't waste water flushing tampons, condoms, or flushable wipes down the toilet, where they can block the sewage system. Dispose of these items in the trash, and save flushing for when you really need to (hint: not after every pee). Up to a third of the drinking water that comes into the typical Western home goes straight down the toilet, says Yarrow, which is a terrible waste of this precious resource.

Create a green and healthy home: Household hazardous waste

Inside nearly every household's garage, basement or kitchen sink cupboard lurks harmful substances like old paint cans, used motor oil, garden pesticides and weed killers, used batteries, old computers or electronics, harsh cleaning chemicals, or pest killers. If you dump this noxious stuff down the drain, you'll pollute the water supply. And if you dispose of it in landfills, they'll leak dangerous chemicals. Instead, do some research to find the best way to dispose of your household toxics. Some cities or counties have monthly or annual pickups. Others have special drop-off sites. Call your local government to learn more.

SOURCES: Philip Landrigan, MD, professor and chair, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. Gina Solomon, MD, PhD, senior scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council; associate clinical professor of medicine, University of California, San Francisco. NRDC: "NRDC's Guide to Greener Living." Yarrow, J. 1,001 Ways to Save the Earth, Chronicle Books, 2007. U.S. Department of Energy: "A Consumer's Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: "The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality." EPA: "Do's and Don'ts Around the Home." EPA: "Household Hazardous Waste."

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