The "Clean Up Your Act" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Opened the wrong side of one of our kitchen cabinets and a few containers of pills fell to the floor.  Pain pills that I had a few years ago before I had my first back operation.  And, more pills I had before the second and third operations.  So it's save to say I should have thrown most of them out years ago.  But, I didn't.  Bet you have pills somewhere  in your cabinets or drawers that are no longer any good and should have been thrown out years ago.  Well, I found a website that told me what to do to dispose of them and also listed other items and what to do to dispose of these items.  

As far as the pills, don't flush them down the drain and contaminate the drinking water.  Take them to an official collection site to discard them.  In my area the police department has a drop-off site for medicines that are no longer needed.  Some other items that should be discarding are plastic or glass containers that have a recycle code 3 or 7, since these may contain BPA, a hormone-disrupting chemical that gets into food as the container ages or during heating in a microwave.  Always check to see if containers do not have the codes 3 or 7.  Same goes for expired food cans.  If you have had canned tomatoes or fruit for more than 18 months, pitch them.  Canned meat and vegetables have a five year shelf life.  And remember, if you shouldn't be using them, don't donate them to a food bank somewhere.  Another website I visited told me about discarding old containers of spices.  Most blended spices last from one to two years while whole spices are good for up to four years.  

The spice rack in our pantry probably has many outdated spices which while they won't make you sick, won't add any flavor to your food.  Check your garage for cans of paint that have dried up or no longer match the colors in your house.  Dispose of these at a recycling hazardous material site.  In our town we have a landfill site that will take paint, batteries, antifreeze, aerosol cans, motor oil and even old TVs, computers and phones and dispose of them as hazardous waste.  You must have some of these items sitting around that you should have disposed of years ago.  Two items you will find in your bathroom that should be disposed of properly are makeup and contact lens cases.  Most eye makeup has a shelf life of a couple of months once opened.  Lip gloss can last 6 months and foundation can last up to a year, but get rid of it to prevent infection from bacteria.  A contact lens case should be replaced every one to three months as well as being cleaned and air-dried daily.  Make sure you throw out the soaking solution daily and use new.  Can't imagine what could happen to your eyes if you don't follow these precautions.   Another thing that should be tossed is your pillow you use to sleep.  Can't imagine how much spit and drool is on my pillow.  Doesn't matter if you have a pillow case on it or not.  The stuff will still soak through and give you some kind of disease.  The rule of thumb is if your pillow is older than 18 months, it should go.  Probably has dead skin, fungi and dust mites throughout the pillow.  Now that's one thing I must do soon since my pillow has to be ten years old.  Finally, the germiest item in your house is the kitchen sponge.  Bacteria thrives on it!  You should microwave your sponge DAILY in an inch of water for a minute on high heat.  Every time we run the dishwasher we place the sponge in with the dishes.  If it smells, it should go.  Well, have you seen a few items you have that should be discarded?  We've cleaned up our act after learning what I just posted and here's hoping you might do the same.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary day.