Green Tips
The Commission strongly believes in practicing environmental stewardship at home, at work and in our community. You can start practicing green living at home by participating in and using some of the Commission’s programs:
- Recycle paper products and plastic, metal and glass containers through your community’s curbside or drop-off recycling program.
- Properly dispose of Household Hazardous Materials such as paints, pesticides, cleaners, oil and fluorescent bulbs.
- Recycle your electronic waste such as computers and televisions.
- Instead of buying new cleaners, lawn care and automotive products, take slightly used items from the Commission’s Exchange Facility.
- Take reusable grocery bags to the store each time to reduce the amount of plastic and paper bags that have to be produced.
- Use compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs in your home instead of incandescent for energy savings. These bulbs contain mercury, so be sure to properly dispose them through our Household Hazardous Material program. Click to find out how to clean up a broken CFL.
- Buy energy efficient (Energy Star) appliances and be sure the old are properly recycled.
- Keep tires on your car properly inflated to achieve maximum fuel efficiency. When replacing tires on your vehicle, be sure the old are recycled. They can be made into tire-derived fuel or used in landscaping, on playgrounds, tracks and athletic fields.
- Report littering and illegal dumping by calling 1-888-NO LITTR, a service of Keep Iowa Beautiful and Iowa DOT.
- If you’re part of a group or organization, you can adopt an area to care for, maintain or improve throughout the year with our MAKE it YOURS program.
For more green tips and resources, visit these websites: