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.

Printable Materials

	Home, office, and schools
	Product labels and certification
	Green building and paint
	Environmental purchasing for governments and schools
	Indoor and outdoor pests
	Consumer alerts and recalls
	Household products database
	Pets

Home, Office, and Schools

• Household products database (National Institute of Health)
• 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)
• Mercury-containing light bulbs/lamps (Washington Dept. of Ecology)
• Compact fluorescent lightbulbs - frequently asked questions (Energy Star Partnership)
• Green home products (Children’s Health Environmental 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)
• Making Homes Healthier for Families (US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development)

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)
• 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)

Product Labels and 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)
• Read the Label First! Campaign with free materials on protecting kids, pets, your garden, and households (US EPA)
• Eco-labels center (Consumer Reports)
• Buying Green Guides (National Geographic)
• Pesticide Information Center On-Line (PICOL) for labels (Washington State University)
• Wild vs. Farmed Salmon (Washington Dept. of Health)

Green Building and Paint

• Green building resources in Washington (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)
• Green Home online (Children’s Environmental Health Coalition)
• Build green schools (US Green Building Council)

Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP) for Governments and Schools

• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing - Product Fact Sheets (Washington Dept. of Ecology)
• Environmental Purchasing - Products (King County)
• EPP for art departments, schools, maintenance depts., public buildings, etc. (INFORM, New York)
• Tox Mystery house (US National Library of Medicine)
• EcoConsumer Waste Calculator (King County)
• Green Screen for Safer Chemicals (Clean Production Action)

Indoor and Outdoor Pests

• 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)
• Hazards of Bug Bombs (Washington Dept. of Health)
• Controlling Pests at home, schools, childcares, multi-family housing (US EPA)
• Children’s Pesticide Right to Know Act (RCW 17.21.415) (Washington State Legislature)

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)

Pets

 

Household Hazards and Poisons

• Poison helpline (24-hours/day, $30 fee) (Washington Poison Center)

1-800-222-1222

• 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

• Protecting Pets – Pesticide Health and Safety (US EPA)
• 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)
• 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)
• First aid for pets (American Red Cross)
• All types of pets and household toxins, diseases (Foster & Smith, Inc.)
  • Teflon toxicity (PTFE toxicosis) in birds
  • Mercury exposure: health concerns, clean-up and disposal
  • Prevent poisonings from pesticides, insecticides

 

Pet Product Recalls

• Product recalls (US Food and Drug Administration)
• Product recalls; sign up for email notices (Consumer Product Safety Commission)
• Pet food – the lowdown on labels (US Food and Drug Administration)

 

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.
Or leave a message 24 hours/day

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