The H&H editors have been scouring the country for the best new sustainable cleaning products. From biodegradable packaging to refillable glass containers, check out some of our favorites below!

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Every month in House & Home, we share our favorite products that are good for you and the planet in our regular column, The Healthy Home. Scroll down to see a complete list of these finds. 

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Give the gift of green with our curated selection of eco-friendly products. From a cool candle company with a mission to help forests thrive to plant fertilizer made from Pacific Ocean kelp, you can feel good about these sustainable gifts. Think fast to capitalize on Black Friday deals!

Scroll down and get shopping!

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Designer Lisa Kooistra recently gave her client’s dated home in South Burlington, Ontario, a sustainable makeover. Lisa explains how you to make the switch to sustainable design in five decorating categories and advises choosing low VOC paint, LED lighting, and locally sourced furniture. Lisa sourced bedding that won’t give off gas chemicals, recyclable materials like wallpaper and concrete sinks, and nature-derived products like lime wash paint and natural clay tiles. Get all of her tips and tour her client’s healthy, happy home here!

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In her first book, Houseplant Oasis: A Guide to Caring for Your Plants + Styling Them in Your Home, (Page Street Publishing, 2022, $23) Toronto plant influencer and designer Melissa Lo of @houseplant.oasis dispenses advice on plant care and styling. Melissa’s eye for plant display is keen, so she not only covers basics to keep the most popular houseplants healthy, but also shows off inspiring rooms filled with greenery. “As humans, we are wired with a natural affinity to nature and living things. Being in and around nature has a mood-boosting and calming effect,” writes Melissa. “Surrounding yourself with plants can ease your state of mind and help reduce stress, anxiety and negativity, making room to increase motivation, productivity and creativity.”

Scroll down for more for her practical advice on keeping plants thriving and beautiful!

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Feel good about your Spring cleaning by taking a sustainable approach to de-cluttering. If you discover signs of pest infestations during your spring cleaning, you may look for pest control services that use environment-friendly ways of controlling pests. You can ask them for these type of alternatives whenever you call pest control services, and that way you’ll be sure to hire the right one for you.

Not sure what to do with burnt-out light bulbs and used paint cans that are piling up around the house? These items, as well as household hazardous waste items like pesticides, flammable liquids and gasoline can be recycled! With hundreds of drop-off locations across Canada, Product Care Recycling is a non-profit organization that allows you to get rid of items you didn’t know you could recycle — without the hassle. In addition to recycling some of your household items, you may also support businesses that use coastal and marine recycled plastic textiles in their products. Some of these products can be used to improve your home’s interior design.

How Produce Care Recycling Works 

1. It’s FREE! Drop off your items in their original containers (they must also have a sealed lid and original labels) at any one of Product Care’s 1,300 locations in Canada. Click here to find one closest to you and learn which products each site accepts.
2. It gives back. Paint is either recycled as new paint, used in the manufacturing process of other materials, or donated to the public.
3. It responsibly manages materials. Lights are broken down in a safe environment, and any hazardous components are responsibly managed. For example, radioactive components from smoke alarms are processed by licensed technicians. 
4. It repurposes. Some HHW (Household Hazardous Waste) such as flammable liquids, gasoline, and some solvent-based paints are used for energy recovery, while metal and plastic from smoke alarms, lights and paint containers are recycled.
5. It responsibly disposes. Smoke Alarms are disassembled, and radioactive elements are shipped to a licensed radioactive waste facility. Pesticides are sent to licensed facilities for incineration, and corrosives are chemically treated prior to being disposed of. Get a mini skip hire Brisbane to properly dispose the waste.

Yes, They Can Be Recycled!

Lights & Light Fixtures
Program available in B.C., Manitoba, Quebec, and P.E.I. 

Do you have patio lights that have seen better days? Don’t throw away burnt-out bulbs. Some light bulbs may contain mercury. Mercury can seep into the water, harming marine life and contaminating our water supply. Product Care’s program repurposes glass, metal, and other materials from old bulbs, giving them a second life. Note: light fixtures, string lights and ballasts can be recycled in B.C. only. Check here to see what other lights are accepted in your area.  

Fun Fact: 9.5 million lightbulbs were prevented from reaching the landfill in 2020. That’s almost enough to light every street in the country twice. 

HHW (Household Hazardous Waste)
Program available in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario 

Don’t pour HHW products like gasoline, pesticides, and other flammable liquids down the drain or into the garbage. These items can enter sewage systems and landfills, posing a hazard to both human health and marine life. Jadco Container Service collects, recycles or responsibly manages these items to prevent toxins from impacting the environment. 

Fun Fact: Depending on where you live, you can recycle a wide range of HHW products, from paint thinner to pesticides, and even gasoline. 

Paint
Program available in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador 

It’s on rare occasions that you buy the exact amount of paint you need for a project; there always seems to be some paint left over! With that in mind, why not gather those half-empty paint cans taking up space in your basement or garage, and them put to good use?  A wide range of leftover paints — are accepted. Check here to see which types are accepted in your area. Some reusable paints are offered free to the public, through the PaintShare program.

Fun Fact: Product Care recovered approximately 10 million litres of paint in 2021. 

Smoke and CO Alarms
Program available in B.C. 

Although smoke alarms can last up to 10 years, once they’ve been replaced you still need to dispose of the old ones. Whether you bring in one or keep a collection and deposit them all at once, Product Care Recycling has found an environmentally friendly way to safely recycle almost everything, even smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.  

Fun Fact: In 2021, 121,000 alarms were collected — more than three times the height of Mount Robson, B.C. when stacked. 

For more information, visit productcare.org. 

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If you’re looking to dip your toes into sustainable design but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. We’re sharing advice from some of the top experts and designers in Canada — from Goodee‘s Byron and Dexter Peart, to Meg Graham and Andre D’Elia, co-principals of buzzy architecture firm Superkül and designer Kelly Anderson, who coaches homeowners on the art of de-cluttering and decorating.

Scroll down for 15+ ways to make your home more sustainable!

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Introducing a new regular feature about purposeful living, The Healthy Home. In Chapter 1, we’re breaking down why ingredients matter in your furniture and how to shop more sustainably.

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