Cleaning the basement or garage can make a big green difference

Tag : paint driers

Few household chores provide the visceral satisfaction of cleaningand organizing the basement or garage.
What a relief to finally say goodbye to those chairs that neverreally worked out, the tire chains from two cars ago, and thosecans of paint from a previous owner's 1970s psychedelic remodelingjob. While you're at it, why not make your garage or basementcleanup even more rewarding and turn it into a green makeover?
Give it up
Start by simply gathering together all the stuff in the basementand garage you want to give away or sell. Unless you have itemsworth more than $100 apiece, it may not be worth the time andtrouble to sell them.
Once you have a pile, use newspaper or online classified ads andexchanges to find a home for your items, offer them to family andfriends, or donate them to a charity. To find charities that willaccept them, consult the "Miscellaneous Household Items" section onKing County's "What Do I Do With... ?" Web site.
Don't donate items that need repairing, as most charities lack theresources to deal with those. But offer them to people who mightfix them, or you can consider creative reuse options. For example,turn the long handles from broken tools into garden stakes, andbring an old inner tube back to life as weatherstripping for abasement door.
Pick your poison
When you have so many pesticides, paints, polishes and powders thatyou lose track of them, it's time to take a stand. First, organizeyour chemicals by type, such as lawn and garden, auto, cleaning andpaint. Then pull out the ones you will never use.
For standard household chemicals such as cleaners, ask yourneighbors if they want them. When they use them for their properpurpose, it can avoid the purchase of a new product. Take the restto a household-hazardous-waste disposal center. Never dump themdown the drain or put them in the garbage.
If you have leftover latex paint, however, you can dry that out andput it in the garbage, since solidified latex paint is not aproblem there. King County's Local Hazardous Waste ManagementProgram collection facilities no longer accept latex paint.
Corralling the clutter
Setting up an efficient organization system is one of the greenestthings you can do in the garage or basement, since it reduceswaste. When you just store stuff helter-skelter, it tends to getdamaged, or you forget what you own and buy new products you don'tneed.
But you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy storagesystems, despite what some organizational experts say. If you purgeunneeded items and commit to buying less stuff in the future, muchof your existing shelving may work just fine.
If you do need to buy new storage racks, choose wire shelving,since it easily lets you see what's on all the shelves and doesn'tcollect dust. Group your items intuitively, by use and season.
Seattle basement problem
Another likely cause of waste in your basement is simply the factthat it's in Western Washington. Few basements here stay completelydry, and many of us have had to throw away things from ourbasements because they got damp, musty or totally soaked. Thesestrategies can help avoid that in the future:
• Address the basic problem. Fix the gutters, slope the gradeof soil away from the house, or install a new drainage system tokeep your basement dry. Make sure the clothes dryer is ventedoutdoors.
• Keep everything at least 4 inches off the floor. Even ifwater doesn't seep in from outside, a washing machine hose or sumppump line could burst.
• Choose alternatives to cardboard boxes for basementstorage. Moisture — not to mention bugs, rats and mice— easily gets into cardboard boxes. The experts at Mrs. CleanNorthwest, a Lynnwood-based housecleaning company, recommend usingonly airtight, waterproof containers.
Paint it green
Finish off your garage or basement green-up with a fresh coat ofpaint. If you find enough leftover latex paint, mix several cans ofsimilar colors and use that.
Or try MetroPaint, the low-cost, 100 percent recycled latex paintnow sold in gallons at Second Use Building Materials in SouthSeattle. Metro, a regional government agency in Portland, makesthis product from paint collected at household-hazardous-wastecenters. Guaranteed for five years, it comes in various colors withevocative names, just like regular paint. How about Crater Lake forthe basement and Espresso for the garage?
Tom Watson is project manager for King County's Recycling andEnvironmental Services. Reach him at tom.watson@kingcounty.gov,206-296-4481 or www.KCecoconsumer.com .