Spring cleaning: Earth-Day style

Avon Lake Municipal Utilities (ALMU) treats all Avon Lake wastewater, including the water used when cleaning your house. While ALMU can remove much of what humans put into water, there are chemicals, such as Triclosan (widely used in personal care products such as antibacterial soaps, toothpaste and cleaning products) that we cannot. While scientists have not yet determined Triclosan’s environmental impact, replacing chemical cleaners with natural ones is an easy and much less expensive way to keep it out of the environment in the first place. Here are a few examples:

• Vinegar is a natural deodorizer, disinfectant and germicide and can be safely used everywhere, including counters and floors. It is acidic and cleans streak freewithout leaving a residue. To clean with vinegar, mix equal parts of plain white vinegar with water and put in a spray bottle. Don’t like the way it smells? Just let it dry. Vinegar dries odor-free.
• Baking soda is a good abrasive cleaner. Use it alone or with water and/or vinegar to get rid of dirt and grime. Make it into a paste and scrub caked on gunk off the sink or stove. Add to your laundry as an added deodorizer and to give your detergent an extra boost of power.
• Lemon juice has the same antiviral/antibacterial effect as vinegar. Half a lemon tossed in the garbage disposal will deodorize and clean odor-causing build up. Lemon juice bleaches and removes stains, especially when placed in the sunlight.

Earth Day Facebook “likes” score Earth-friendly freebies ... and the virtues of reusable water bottles

If nothing else, Avon Lakers can be eco-friendly by going no further
than their computer. A “like” between now and Earth Day (Monday, April 22) on Avon Lake Water’s Facebook page will score likers a free plant (plants create more oxygen, their roots prevent erosion), or a reusable, recyclable water bottle. (Spoiler alert: The production of each single-use plastic drinking water bottle uses five times more water than the bottle itself will eventually hold. But, wait, there's more. The cost of your average 20 oz. bottle of drinking water? $1.50. The cost of that much tap water? A tenth of one cent.)

Avon Lake Municipal Utilities provides drinking water to more than 200,000 people living in a 680-square-mile, seven-county area, and wastewater services to 30,000 northeast Ohioans. Avon Lake Municipal Utilities’ goal is healthy customers and a healthy environment through sustainable water management. Caring for Lake Erie is our business. Thanks in advance for everything you do to help save the planet.