It is the time of year when we all like to do a little Spring cleaning to ready ourselves for a beautiful summer. Most of us spend our time cleaning and organizing the inside of our homes, but does that extend to our garages?

Garages are a great place to store all those products, or household hazardous waste, we don't want inside our house. These products may include (and are not limited to) automotive fluids, paint and lawn care products.

Now is the time to spring clean and rid your garage of these household hazardous waste (HHW) products and, where available, replace them with more environmentally friendly products.

Motor Oil can be disposed of at dealerships or vehicle repair shops.

Fertilizer for lawn care can be replace with certified organic products. Ask your local garden center for any certified organic products they may carry.

Pesticides can be disposed of by contacting your local sanitation department. An alternative to this HHW would be a less toxic product that can also be found at your local garden/yard center.

Paints should not be kept for long periods of time and can be disposed of at designated areas of your local sanitation department. New paints can be purchase with a low VOC (volatile organic compound) content.

If you're unsure of how to properly dispose of the Household Hazard Waste found in your garage, contact your local sanitation or fire department.