Shopper's Guide

Want to learn more about the products you use?
Find a safer alternative?
Explore these websites, printable materials, and other shopper information.

	Home, office, and schools
	Pets
	Food and fish
	Lawn and garden
	Green building and paint
	Labels
	Consumer alerts and recalls
	Product certification
	Environmental purchasing for governments and schools

Home, Office, and Schools

• Household products database (National Institute of Health)
• Tox Mystery house (US National Library of Medicine)
• EcoConsumer (King County)
• Tips on finding the safest household products (King County)
• Household products and healthy alternatives (King County)

• Healthy Homes and Lead Hazards Control Office (US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development)

• Consumer Reports Greener Choices (Consumer Reports)

• Green Seal certified products (Green Seal)

• Compact fluorescent lightbulbs - frequently asked questions (Energy Star Partnership)
• Tour a virtual house and find out what you can do (Children's Environmental Health Coalition)
• Environmentally preferred purchasing for art departments, schools, maintenance depts., public buildings, etc. (INFORM, New York)
• Pesticide Information for Kids, Students, and Teachers (US EPA)
• Mercury in home products (Thurston County Environmental Health)
• Healthy home information and materials (Thurston County Environmental Health)
• Breathe easier do-it-yourself environmental checklist (Thurston County Environmental Health)
• Household Chemicals: The Basics (Cleveland Clinic Foundation)
• Household chemicals chart: What’s in my house? (Cleveland Clinic Foundation)

Cleaning Tips and Recipes

• Household cleaners and alternatives for around the home (US EPA)
• Green cleaners, hazardless home handbook (Portland Metro, Oregon)
• Green cleaning methods (Public Health Seattle & King County)
• Non-toxic cleaning tips (Seattle Public Utilities)
• Tips for non-toxic cleaning (Thurston County Environmental Health)
• Green cleaning kit recipes (Tacoma Pierce County Health Department)
• In the Home + Garage, Safer Alternatives: Reducing the Risk brochure (Clark County, Washington)
• Green household cleaning recipes (Dakota County, Minnesota)

Pets

Household Hazards and Poisons

• Poison helpline (24-hours/day, $35 fee) (University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center)

1-800-213-6680

• Poison helpline (24-hours/day, $50 fee) (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ASPCA)

1-800-213-6680

• What you know about household hazards brochure (American Veterinary Medical Association)
• Read the label first - protect your pets (US EPA)
• Safer products store (Children’s Health Environmental Coalition, CHEC)
• Common household dangers (Humane Society of the United States)
• Pet owners guide to poisons (American Veterinary Medical Association)
• Healthy pets, healthy people (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC)
• Household toxins for cats and dogs (Veterinary Information Service and VetInfo Digest)
• Play Cooper the Careful Canine game and remove household hazards (ASPCA)
• Hazards in the garage and yard (Animal Planet, Discovery Channel)
• Holiday hazards (Animal Planet, Discovery Channel)
• What you should know about flea and tick products (Humane Society of the United States)
• Pets and poisons – common household items (ThePetCenter)
• All types of pets and household toxins, diseases (Foster & Smith, Inc.)
  • Poisonous household items
  • Teflon toxicity (PTFE toxicosis) in birds
  • Mercury exposure: health concerns, clean-up and disposal
  • Prevent poisonings from pesticides, insecticides
• Lawn care products and dogs (Randy Kidd, DVM, PetStyle.com)
• Pet safe household cleaners (Randy Kidd, DVM, PetStyle.com)

Disease, Health, and First Aid

• General illnesses and diseases (American Veterinary Medical Association)
• Hyperthyroidism in cats (Veterinary Information Network, Inc.)
• Pet health (US National Library of Medicine)
• First aid for pets (American Red Cross)

Pet Product Recalls

• Product recalls; sign up for email notices (Consumer Product Safety Commission)
• Pet food recalls (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ASPCA)
• Pet food – the lowdown on labels (US Drug and Food Administration)

Food and Fish

• Fish Facts for Health and Fish Advisories (Washington Dept. of Health)
• Healthy Fish Eating Guide (Washington Dept. of Health)

Lawn and Garden

• Children’s Pesticide Right to Know Act (RCW 17.21.415) (Washington State Legislature)
• Pesticide Information for Kids, Students, and Teachers (US EPA)
• About Pesticides (US EPA)
• 10 Tips to Protect Children from Pesticide and Lead Poisonings (US EPA)
• Consumer Alerts for Pesticides (US EPA)

Green Building and Paint

• Green building resources in your area (Washington Dept. of Ecology)
• Built Green of Washington
• Sustainable building products and materials (Minnesota Building Materials Database)
• MetroPaint 100% recycled (Portland, OR Metro government)
• Environmentally preferred purchasing of recycled latex paint (King County)
• Recycled latex paint fact sheet (California Integrated Waste Management Board)
• Green Home online resource for purchasing home products (Children's Environmental Health Coalition)
• Build green schools (US Green Building Council)

Labels

• Read the Label First! Campaign with free materials on protecting kids, pets, your garden, and households (US EPA)
• Eco-labels center (Consumer Reports)

Consumer Alerts and Recalls

• Full listing of recalls and sign up to receive notices (US Gov't.)
• Spanish (US Gov't.)

• Consumer Alerts for Pesticides (US EPA)

Product Certification

• Design for the Environment (US EPA)

• Green Seal certification (Green Seal)

• Independent review of organic products intended for use by organic growers, manufacturers, suppliers (Organic Materials Review Institute)

Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP) for Governments and Schools

• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program (Washington Dept. of Ecology)
• Environmentally preferred purchasing of recycled latex paint (King County)
• Fact sheets about mercury in fluorescent lights (INFORM, New York)
• EPP for art departments, schools, maintenance depts., public buildings, etc. (INFORM, New York)

 

For more information, please contact us.

ToxicFreeTips@ecy.wa.gov

Toll-free: (866) 939-9991

Monday - Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

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The Washington Department of Ecology funds this website with State Toxics Control Account funds and Worker-Right-to-Know fees.