EARTH HEROES UNITE! :: Be the real change you actually want to experience in your world.

So I recently took my own advice and paid more attention to all the things I've been buying. I also went to throw away an old bottle of some 3-in-1 Gardening and Planting Spray, something I bought long ago to stop bugs from eating my hibiscus plants. The product was recommended by a person working at a plant store.

Having recently seen both the KPBS show mentioned above about water/soil pollution of the present and the "Earth 2100" Dickens-esque vision of the future. I decided before I threw out the bottle, that I would see what it was that was in it.

Normally, when I sometimes clean out other bottles (such as soda bottles or a spaghetti sauce bottle), I'm inclided to give them a very quick rinse. And for a moment I was tempted to do so with the bottle of Gardening Spray, but I didn't, I wanted to see what it was before I got in anywhere near my skin or my household surfaces.

So I peeled back the label -- it was one of those glued-shut labels that you have to peel open like a book to read the info. Well, turns out the stuff is very toxic to water. The description of such was written in strange jargon. The bottle was referred to not as a bottle, but as something else -- equipment. I had to read the label like four times to understand what they were saying. In short, they were saying that the main chemical or ingredient in said product is very very bad when mixed with water. And very very bad for humans (our bodies are mostly water) and water related living creatures like sea animals and ocean plant life.

What a second! I thought. I may have just thrown this bottle out into my trash! I may have just washed it out in my own sink or bath or front yard, IF I WASN'T PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS! That means toxicity for us all because water moves in a CYCLE. Because what runs off of my driveway and gets poured in my drains will one day connect by pipe or rain to the same body of water I love to swim and go surfing in.

And so yesterday I started a new plastic lined bin that will now collect all my POSSIBLY TOXIC HOUSEHOLD BOTTLES and CANS. This goes for all cleaning related products, all gardening products, all painting products and anything else that seems potentially toxic. Such as I recently did with my old computers and other e-waste. I will now collect these toxic household products of old and recycle them properly at a local recycling center.

Why?

Because I love water, whales, dophin and sushi!

Amazing Eco Tips