Just like every other thing you possess, at some point of time even boats will be worn out, and they need to be disposed off. Proper boat disposal is part and parcel of clean boating practices! So, why should we concern ourselves with the proper disposal of unwanted vessels? These old vessels pose environmental hazards that need to be avoided.

So if you possess a boat that can no longer be used, don’t just let it sink by itself! You might wonder as to why you shouldn’t sink your unwanted vessel! Sinking of unwanted vessels is not only illegal, and it also causes harm to the water resource. So beware! If you are found sinking an unwanted vessel, you may be charged with a fine of up to $1500 as per section 525 of the Harbors and Navigation Code. Here are a few things that you could do to dispose your used vessel.

• You can think of donating your used boat to some charity, which will accept unwanted vessels as tax-deductible donations. But make sure that your boat is in a good condition when you donate it! Clean your boat’s bilge by using eco-friendly bilge cleaners such as the Oil Gone Easy S-200 for oil cleanup.

• Another way of boat disposal is by reselling your used boat or rather its reusable parts. Certain salvagers or used boat parts dealers will be able to make money from your used boats by reselling them. But the charges for dismantling your boat will be deducted from the total value of the useable parts. There are a few dealers who place certain constraints on the length and the vessel type that they accept. So if you’re looking for a used boat parts dealer, you can get help from your local yellow pages.

• If you think that your used vessel is totally out of condition, then you can look for dealers who dismantle and dispose the vessel. The marginal cost for enlisting these waste disposal services is somewhere between $15 and $20.

Practice proper boat disposal methods and ensure that you keep the waters clean!

Home heating oil spills can occur due to many reasons. One common cause for such oil spills is that there might be a leak in the storage tank or the storage tank might overfill and end up in a spill. Although it’s quite a common issue, responding to it at the earliest is essential!

Why do home heating oil spills require a quick response? It’s simply because there are chances that such spills can contaminate your drinking water! Also, these oil spills pose threat to your safety as the fuel is combustible. And also your house might smell unpleasant because of the odors emanating from these spills.

Here is what you should do if you happen to come across a home heating oil spill:
• As oil is combustible, to be on the safe side, it is wise to turn off all ignition sources. Also, avoiding smoking or lighting a match in the affected area.
• React immediately! You can get the help of your local fire department. Your next move should be to call up the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) 24-hr hotline and inform them about the oil spill.
• You should open up windows and ventilators to get rid of the odor and fumes.
• Do not breathe in the oil fumes or have any physical contact with oil. Rubber boots or gloves can be used to safeguard yourself!
• And finally you can use eco-friendly products such as the Oil Gone Easy S-200 to ensure effective oil spill cleanup. The Oil Gone Easy S-200 is an environmentally safe product to deal with oil spills, and it works by bonding with oil and breaking it into water and carbon dioxide.

Follow these simple steps and protect your family and yourself from the ill effects of home heating oil spills!

Most of us fail to realize that the effort to foster pollution prevention should begin right in our homes! A small action of ours in this regard can bring about a real positive difference. So how can you go about preventing pollution in your home? Here are some areas that you need to focus on to have a clean home and a cleaner environment.

Reduce waste

The first step in pollution prevention at home is to cut down on the waste that is being created. A simple key to this approach is to go for reusable products, such as rechargeable batteries, paper towels, and cloth bags. Rather than merely disposing yard and kitchen waste into the trash bins, you can think of composting it.

Conserve Energy & Water

Here are a few tips:
1. Look for energy efficient appliances. Also, proper maintenance is required to improve the energy efficiency of your appliances.
2. Ensure to keep a constant check on your car’s emission.
3. Never forget to turn off the lights while leaving your room.
4. Last but not least, take some effort to preserve our precious resource – water! Remember to turn the tap off when not in use.

Use Environmentally-friendly Products

It’s good for you as well as for the planet, if you opt for eco-friendly household products. For instance, you can choose to use baking soda and water to clean your clothes rather than using bleach. If you change your own engine oil see to that you recycle the used oil at a nearby service station. In case, there is an oil spill, use eco-friendly products such as Oil Gone Easy S-200 to cleanup oil spill in a safe way without the use of chemicals.

Proper Disposal of Hazardous Wastes

Disposal of toxic products such as mercury from thermometers and paints, solvents, and batteries needs some special attention. You can inquire a local government environment official and find out the nearest hazardous waste disposal site for proper disposal of the waste.

Just keep it in your mind to follow these simple tips that can aid in pollution prevention to a great extent!

The oil spill that occurred in the Michigan River has been declared as the “largest oil spill in the history of the Midwest.” With more than 80,000 gallons of oil being released into a creek and making its way into the Kalamazoo River, a state of emergency was declared in southwest Michigan’s Kalamazoo County.

Morrow Lake a recreation spot between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo was also contaminated because of this oil spill. As with any oil spill birds and fishes have also been affected. The spill has also led to the evacuation of few homes and relocation of about two dozen people.

Jeff Spoelstra, coordinator for the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council, said that this disaster has further pushed back the effort that was being taken to cleanup the already polluted river. Crews were dispatched for oil spill cleanup by both Enbridge Energy Partners and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. To limit the oil’s spread into the surrounding wetlands, skimmers and 28,000 feet of boom were also set up.

At the Ceresco Dam, downstream from the leak, workers used vacuum trucks to cleanup the oil spill from the water. When the air near the oil spill was tested, cancer-causing chemical benzene was found present. As it was only in trace levels, it was termed harmless to the residents. Groundwater testing was also proposed, to check if the oil might have seeped through.

People have been advised by the Michigan Department of Community Health to stay away from the river during the oil spill cleanup. Although oil spill containment has been done, it is expected to take months to completely clean up the oil spill. The oil spill has been contained, but for further cleanup of the remaining oil, the officials can give heed to the recommendation made by State of Louisiana to use Oil Gone Easy S-200 for effective oil spill cleanup.

Whenever there is a traffic incident, the safety of responders, victims of the incident, motorists, and the environment from the hazardous material spilt has to be the pressing concern. But why is traffic incident management and managing hazardous material spills so important? It’s simply because, by properly managing hazardous material spills, you will not only improve the safety of the responding personnel, but also minimize the possibilities of a secondary crash!

So as a responder what should you do as soon as you come across a traffic incident? You should first begin assessing the field conditions so as to determine what kind of actions would be required. It is also absolutely essential that you check the incident location for the presence of any potentially harmful materials. Do you think just identifying is sufficient? Definitely no! Once you identify that there is an oil spill or any other hazardous spill, you should immediately look at the alleviation measures to remove the possible threat. You might come across anything from vehicle fluids to cargo contents that are being transported.

The key to successfully remove a hazardous spill is to acquire adequate knowledge about the safety, clean-up, and disposal guidelines. Knowing these guidelines would help eradicate the threat effectively. But, beware of any water sources that may be nearby the area of incidence. Responders should also make a note of the vehicle type or the labeling as they would help the personnel to determine the amount and type of the material spill. In case it’s a cargo oil spill, then the responders can make use of the hazardous material placards to assess the incident.

Larger oil spills or engine fluids are exempted by few states, provided the oil spill has been contained on the pavement. For effective oil spill cleanup, responders can resort to environmental friendly solutions, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200. Oil Gone Easy S-200 acts as a bioremediation accelerator and an agglomerator, which bonds to oil and breaks it into water and carbon dioxide.

Hurricanes are giant, free-wheeling tropical storms with a wind speed of over 160 miles. Responsible for more than 2.4 trillion gallons of rain on a single day, hurricanes can possibly flood a region with a single hit.

The Alex Hurricane has kick started the official hurricane season in the United States. With the oil spill cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico still under progress, environmentalists fear that hurricane Alex might push the oil spill to other parts of the coast. On the other hand, a few believe that the hurricane might help oil spill dispersal.

Generally, a hurricane will span around 200-300 miles, which is greater than the current size of the oil spill. Therefore, the hurricane’s impact on the oil spill will be minimal but the movement of the hurricane will influence the spread of oil. The storms might carry oil near the shore along with the contaminated debris from the Deepwater Horizon.

The good news is that powerful hurricane winds can tear into the slick, turn it into globules of oil, and accelerate the biodegradation process. The oil-eating microbes can function more effectively on droplets of oil rather than a big pool of oil. In addition, when large sheets of oil are broken down they can be easily weathered by oxygen, which can change the properties of crude oil. The broken down oil globules evaporate at a faster rate from the water surface, aiding the oil spill cleanup.

The use of biodegradable dispersants like Oil Gone Easy S-200 in the cleanup operations would pave way for oil-eating microbes to function efficiently. The Alex hurricane could be a blessing in disguise, as powerful winds could help break up and disperse offshore oil, giving a boost to the stalled oil spill cleanup operations.

Pros:

Here are some advantages of using oil spill dispersants

• Oil spill dispersants change the chemical and physical properties of oil so that it mixes better with water.

• Oil spill dispersants when used efficiently can prove to be a effective method of oil spill containment.

Cons:

Though using dispersants may seem like a fair idea, it has several drawbacks

• First and foremost, once dispersants break down oil in the deep water, the oil gets to the top surface, which is then contained using booms. But, what makes their use not advisable is the fact that they cannot be used near the shore. If used, they might be even toxic than the oil itself. For instance, Corexit, the dispersant being used in the containment of the recent Gulf oil spill is a kerosene-based dispersant and can be considered hazardous. Also, EPA recommends the use of this dispersant only at depths of 75 meters or deeper.

• Dispersants can be effective only when used within 1 or 2 days after an oil spill, after which natural weathering makes the oil more complex to disperse.

• Dispersed oil also stands the risk of entering the food chain as there are chances of the oil being consumed by planktons.

• Viscous oil cannot be dispersed effectively using chemical dispersants since the oil may run off into the water even before the solvents can penetrate.

Since chemical oil spill dispersants’ cons overweigh pros, you can think of using eco-friendly cleaners, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200, which works using bioremediation technique, to cleanup oil spills.

Granite being durable and long lasting has become a popular flooring option in many houses. Even though granite flooring is scratch and heat resistant, it requires proper maintenance to keep it looking as shiny as it was at the time of purchase.

No matter how careful you are, spills on your granite flooring are unavoidable. Here are some useful tips to handle different spills on your granite floor:

• Can you even imagine a mark on your new elegant granite floor? Definitely not! Laying down a protective mat on your granite flooring that is exposed to sand or any gritty soils may considerably reduce the chances of getting a mark. Also, instead of using hard brooms and vacuums to remove the gritty soil, try mopping the floor with clean water.

• Food spills on the granite countertops in the kitchen are quite a normal scenario in every household. Cleaning can be as simple as just removing the remaining food with the help of a spoon, drying up the spilt area with a white cloth, spraying with a stone cleanser, and wiping it dry.

• One more spill that is very common in the kitchen is oil spill. Cooking oil and butter mainly contribute to this problem. Oil spill clean up on countertops is a daunting task. The spills can turn into oil stains if they are not cleaned immediately with appropriate cleaning materials. Cleaning up a granite oil stain is easier than before with Oil Gone Easy S-200. This product works as a bioremediation accelerator and agglomerator. It bonds to the oil and breaks it down into water and carbon dioxide, thus cleaning the oil stains completely.

Preventing oil spills and oil stains on the granite floor is a good option, but it is not possible all the time. So, be prepared to tackle it with Oil Gone Easy S-200.

Oil spills on highways; most of us would never have given a second thought to them. But, once you just get a glimpse of their damaging effects, the impact will remain in your minds for a long time. In case of an oil spill on highways, not only are the people who live and drive in the nearby area exposed, but also the ocean’s, which may seem many miles away, are affected.

Here are some of the major impacts of oil spills that occur on highways:

• Highways are probably one area that is filled with a variety of toxic chemicals, including fuel and brake fluids. But how many of us are aware that the fuel spilt as a result of accidents and leaks from vehicles, reaches the nearby rivers and drains, when it rains? As estimated, the amount of oil leaked from highway runoff from a single large city is almost equal to that resulting from a tanker spill.

• Oil spill on a highway has one more profound impact; it makes the driving surface extremely slippery. The conditions get even worse when it rains, especially in areas with lower rainfall. It’s because of the fact that in such areas oil leaks from cars accumulate over long periods making the roads more slippery when it eventually rains.

• Well, this is not the end! Spills on highway can also affect public health. Apart from causing irritation to human skin, exposure to oil can increase the susceptibility to cancer. Also, since the runoff from highways contaminates the oceans, even marine life is affected and eventually the people who consume contaminated marine food.

Having gotten a fair idea about the effects of small or large oil spills on highways, you’ll no longer wonder about the importance of immediate oil spill containment. So, if you happen to come across an oil spill, then immediate response using eco-friendly oil spill cleaners, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200 may prove fruitful.

What if someone pours gallons of crude oil on you, in your home, and over your entire neighborhood? Petrified by the act? Marine organisms face a similar plight whenever a marine oil spill occurs. Oil spill behavior irreversibly damages the fauna and flora of the marine eco system.

Rapid currents and wind spread the marine oil spill to coastal areas and other waterways all over the world. As the oil spreads, it turns into a sticky mass called mousse. When feathery creatures encounter this, they are soaked up in mousse, and begin battling for life.

Oil by nature has a tendency to keep us warm. When it clings on the feathers it makes birds lose their ability to insulate themselves, forcing them to death eventually. The mousse not only affects birds but also seal pups and otters, whose fur gets sticky and messy.

What is even worse is that the birds and animals try to wipe out the oil from their bodies by licking it! They accidently swallow the harmful oil and poison themselves with the toxins and harmful chemicals in the crude oil.

Marine oil spill also has a devastating effect on the reproduction rate. The Gulf of Mexico is the breeding ground for many turtles and sharks. The vast spread of the oil spill has affected the egg laying season of the marine life, leading to a decrease in the marine population. In extreme cases, the oil spill has adverse effects on the behavior of the marine life, making them even desert their young ones.

The use of chemical-based dispersants in cleaning up the oil spill instead of biodegradable options like Oil Gone Easy S-200 has also proved lethal. The oil that reaches the shore affects planktons and other organisms, depriving sea creatures of their food, which in turn disturbs the food web.