Month: February 2020

In addition to protecting your loved ones with a security system, it’s a good idea to consider how to protect them from other unexpected incidents such as natural disasters.

The best way to prepare for a massive power outage (most often caused by a natural disaster) is to build an emergency kit.

Here’s how:

Consider how many people (and animals) your survival kit will need to support and what their specific needs are. For example, what kind of emergency are you expecting? Does the emergency typically require you to stay in place (at home) or would you possibly need to evacuate? If you think there’s an evacuation possibility, you may want to consider creating a portable survival kit that you can easily throw in your car.

The Essentials for an Emergency Kit

Water: You don’t want to get caught without a clean water supply. Plan on having at least one gallon of water on hand per person per day, for drinking, bathing, and cleaning. You can purchase gallons of purified water at a grocery store or reuse empty juice bottles and fill them with tap water.

Food: When an emergency shuts down the power grid, it also shuts down most grocery stores and restaurants. Be prepared with energy bars, beef jerky, nuts, and dried fruit. You can also add a can opener and include canned foods like soup and vegetables. Don’t forget baby food and pet food if needed. For easy clean-up, include paper plates and plastic-ware.

Information and Light: During a disaster situation, you can’t rely on local news, internet, and mobile phones for updates and information. We suggest adding a weather radio to your kit to stay informed of changes in weather, evacuations, and other important information. Many weather radios also include lights and cellphone chargers, reducing the number of electronics you’ll have to keep in your kit.

It’s also important to also have batteries and flashlights handy.

First Aid: Your emergency kit should include a variety of first aid items such as bandages, gauze, antibiotic ointment, and pain medications. You can also include items like burn cream, elastic bandages, allergy medicine, tourniquets, and other first aid items. Experts suggest putting items in waterproof containers so they stay dry and ready to use.

Shelter and Clothing: Every emergency kit should include at least one extra set of clothes and a blanket for each person. It’s also a good idea to include a waterproof tarp if you need to camp out in the elements.

Comfort and Cleanliness: While it may be low priority, you can’t underestimate the reassuring effects of cleanliness and comfort when you’re under stress. Include personal hygiene items, baby wipes, and garbage bags on hand to keep everyone feeling their best and to avoid sickness that can come from unsanitary conditions.

Important Documents: While it’s not necessary to include these items before an emergency strikes, it’s a good idea to throw them in if and when you have to evacuate.

• Insurance
• Passports
• Birth certificates
• Cash
• Other documents necessary

Tips:

1. Plan for a minimum of three days of survival.
2. Store your kit in a large water-proof storage tub is a good option for most kits. It keeps everything in one place and it’s fairly easy to move if you have to evacuate. For mobile and smaller kits, use a in case you have to grab essentials from your kit and go.
3. Store your kit in a climate-controlled environment (so food doesn’t spoil) where you can access it easily.

Learn more at ready.gov.

Most homeowners accumulate, over the years at least a few things are going to require special methods of disposal. Unlike your basic toss-outs or recyclables, hazardous waste can be harmful to people, animals, and the environment if not disposed of properly, making it extra important to get rid of these sorts of materials the right way.

Below are a few tips regarding how to dispose of hazardous waste safely.

What items are considered to be household hazardous waste?

You’d be surprised to learn that you probably have a lot of these substances in your home already.

• Combustible and flammable materials. Substances that ignite and burn easily.
  • Spare cans of gasoline
  • Propane tanks
  • Oxidizers
  • Liquid with a flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Corrosive materials. Substances—usually liquid—that can corrode metal.
  • All industrial strength cleaners
  • Items that contain common strong acids such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid – like drain cleaners
• Reactive materials. Substances that are unstable and prone to possible explosion.
  • Aerosol cans
• Toxic materials. Substances that can be seriously harmful or even deadly upon contact, consumption, or inhalation.
  • Paint
  • Antifreeze
  • Motor oil
  • Weed killers

How to dispose of hazardous waste

• Research the laws of hazardous waste disposal where you live. Different counties have different rules, so read up on them before you do anything else. Simply search “how to dispose of hazardous waste” + “[your county]” to see what comes up.
• Read the product labels. Many household hazardous materials come with general directions about how to (and how not to) store and handle them.
• Schedule a home pick up. Contact your local waste management company and ask them if they offer home pick ups for hazardous materials. Many do, though you may incur a fee.
• If they don’t do home pick-ups, your local waste management authority might be able to recommend drop off services.
• Many waste management facilities are hazardous waste mail-in recycling kits. These kits are especially useful if you live in an area without home pick-up services. With the mail-in service, the company will mail you a special container to put your hazardous items into. Then you just mail it back. This is useful for properly disposing of used batteries, fluorescent bulbs, and printer cartridges—all of which cannot be simply thrown in the trash or recycling bin.
• Donate. If you can, try to donate your hazardous materials to somebody else who needs them. If you have leftover paint, for example, you may be able to donate it to Habitat for Humanity or a charity that is remodeling their facilities. And your local nursery may be able to put your extra fertilizer to use, while the auto garage can possibly take leftover motor oil.

Other tips for disposing of hazardous materials

• Keep materials in their original packaging. Certain hazardous materials pose a heightened threat when exposed to air or when moved into another type of container than they came in, so always stay on the safe side and leave these types of substances in their original containers.
• Handle empty containers with care. Chemical residue on the insides of containers can pose a hazard even after the material itself is gone. If you have empty hazardous waste containers, they’ll have to be disposed of just as carefully as if they still had product in them.