Your home is your sanctuary, a place where you spend a significant portion of your life. It’s essential to make it a pleasant and healthy environment, and one crucial aspect of that is maintaining good indoor air quality. While we often focus on cleaning the visible areas of our homes, we tend to overlook the less conspicuous culprits of indoor air pollution, such as trash bins. In this article, we’ll explore how to improve your home’s indoor air quality by deodorizing your trash bins and share some fantastic DIY cleaning solutions.
Trash Bin Deodorization: The Neglected Home Improvement
Trash bins may not be the most glamorous aspect of home improvement, but they play a significant role in maintaining a clean and healthy living space. A stinky trash bin not only affects your indoor air quality but can also attract pests and bacteria. Here’s how to tackle this often-overlooked aspect of home maintenance:
- Regular Cleaning: The first step in keeping your trash bin odor-free is to clean it regularly. Empty the bin, remove any remaining trash bags, and rinse it thoroughly with a hose. You can use a mild dish soap or a mixture of water and vinegar to scrub away any lingering odors. Make sure to dry it completely before adding a new trash bag.
- Baking Soda Magic: Baking soda is a versatile household item that can work wonders for trash bin deodorization. Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda at the bottom of your trash bin before placing a new trash bag. Baking soda will help absorb odors and keep your bin smelling fresh.
- Lemon Freshness: Lemons are natural deodorizers and can work wonders in eliminating unpleasant odors. Cut a lemon in half, squeeze some juice into the bin, and drop the lemon halves in as well. The citrusy scent will mask any bad odors.
- Activated Charcoal: Activated charcoal is known for its excellent odor-absorbing properties. You can place a small bag of activated charcoal at the bottom of your trash bin or sprinkle some charcoal granules to keep it smelling fresh.
- Lid Tightness: Make sure your trash bin has a tight-fitting lid to keep odors contained. This also helps prevent pests from getting in and creating more mess.
DIY Cleaning Solutions for a Fresher Home
Maintaining a clean home is essential for good indoor air quality. While commercial cleaning products can get the job done, they often contain harsh chemicals that may release harmful fumes into the air. Here are some DIY cleaning solutions that are not only effective but also eco-friendly:
- All-Purpose Cleaner: Create an all-purpose cleaner by mixing equal parts water and white vinegar in a spray bottle. This solution can be used to clean countertops, sinks, and even glass surfaces. The vinegar’s acidity helps break down dirt and grime while neutralizing odors.
- Natural Disinfectant: To make a natural disinfectant, combine 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide, 3/4 cup of water, and a few drops of essential oil (such as lavender or tea tree oil) in a spray bottle. This mixture is effective at killing bacteria and viruses without the harsh chemicals found in commercial disinfectants.
- DIY Air Freshener: Instead of using synthetic air fresheners that may contain harmful chemicals, create your own natural air freshener. Mix water with a few drops of your favorite essential oil in a spray bottle. Lavender, eucalyptus, and citrus oils work particularly well. Spritz this mixture around your home to freshen the air.
- Carpet Cleaner: For fresh and clean carpets, mix 1 cup of baking soda with 10-15 drops of your preferred essential oil. Sprinkle this mixture on your carpets, let it sit for about 15 minutes, and then vacuum it up. This will not only clean your carpets but also leave a pleasant scent behind.
Indoor Air Quality: A Holistic Approach to Home Improvement
Improving indoor air quality isn’t just about deodorizing trash bins and using DIY cleaning solutions. It’s also about creating a holistic approach to home improvement. Here are some additional tips to enhance the air quality in your home:
- Proper Ventilation: Ensure your home has adequate ventilation. Open windows regularly to let in fresh air and use exhaust fans in bathrooms and the kitchen to remove moisture and odors.
- Reduce Allergens: Regularly clean and vacuum your home to remove dust, pet dander, and allergens. Consider using a HEPA filter in your HVAC system to trap airborne particles.
- Houseplants: Some houseplants, such as snake plants and spider plants, can help purify the air by absorbing pollutants. Place a few of these green companions around your home.
- Control Humidity: Maintain an optimal indoor humidity level (usually between 30% and 50%) to prevent mold and mildew growth. Use a dehumidifier or humidifier as needed.
Conclusion
Improving indoor air quality is a vital aspect of home improvement that often goes unnoticed. By addressing issues like trash bin deodorization and opting for DIY cleaning solutions, you can create a healthier and fresher living environment. Remember that a holistic approach, including proper ventilation, allergen control, and humidity management, is key to achieving the best indoor air quality possible. Your home is your haven, and with a little effort, it can be a clean and refreshing space for you and your loved ones to enjoy.
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles
Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California, situated about 20 miles (32 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles.[8]
Pacific Palisades was formally founded in 1921 by a Methodist organization, and in the years that followed became a refuge for Jewish artists and intellectuals fleeing the Holocaust. The Palisades would later be sought after by celebrities and other high-profile individuals seeking privacy.[9] It is known for: its seclusion and for being a close-knit community with a small-town feel, its Mediterranean climate, hilly topography, natural environment, its abundance of parkland and hiking trails, its 3-mile (4.8 km) strip of coastline, and for being home to a number of architecturally significant homes.[10][11] As of 2021, the community’s population was 22,977.
Pacific Palisades is a largely residential community and does not attract many tourists other than day visitors to Gladstones Malibu, the local beaches, the Getty Villa or the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine.
Nicknamed “the Palisades”, “Lades” and “Pali” by surfers and locals, the 3-mile length (4.8 km) of the Palisades coast spans from after Sorrento Beach in Santa Monica to the south, and ending at Sunset Point Beach and Malibu to the north. Beaches along the Pacific Palisades coast include: Will Rogers State Beach, Sunset Point Beach, and one of the few gay beaches in Los Angeles, Ginger Rogers Beach. The many parks within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area lie along the ridges above the community, along with local parks that include Will Rogers State Historic Park.
The Palisades is bounded by Brentwood to the east, Malibu to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, Topanga and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north.
Etymology
The name “Pacific Palisades” comes from the term “palisades,” a geological formation consisting of a series of cliff-like bluffs situated by a body of water, in this case the Pacific Ocean, and also for the area’s purported resemblance to The Palisades on the west side of the lower Hudson River.[12]
History
Native American period
Archeological evidence shows Native American Indians living in the Santa Monica Mountains and the surrounding area including Pacific Palisades for over 10,000 years.[13] Prior to European contact, the western sections of the Santa Monica mountains were inhabited by the Tongva people.[13] The closest Tongva settlement to Pacific Palisades with a written record is the village of Topa’nga.[14] The village of Topa’nga sits on the western-most edge of Tongva territory, neighboring the territory of the Chumash people to the north.[14] Due to this close proximity to the Chumash, the culture in western Tongva territory contained elements of Chumash influence.[14]
Mexican period
The land that became Pacific Palisades was originally within the boundaries of Rancho Boca de Santa Monica, granted by the governor of California during the Mexican period to Francisco Marquez and Ysidro Reyes in 1839.[14] The Ysidro Reyes Adobe was the first adobe home ever built in Santa Monica Canyon, erected in the year 1838 on land now known as Pampas Ricas Blvd in Pacific Palisades.[15] Sketches of adobe dwelling exist in the collection of the UCLA Library.[16][17] A memorial plaque sits in a boulder on Pampas Ricas Blvd commemorating the adobe house, dedicated in the 1950s.[18] Ysidro Reyes died in 1863. Reyes left his portion of Rancho Boca de Santa Monica to his widow, Maria Antonia Villa, who sold it to developer and railroad magnate Robert Symington Baker in 1875.[19]
1911-1922
In 1911, film director Thomas Ince constructed his film studio, “Inceville“, which was on a 460-acre (1.9 km2) tract of land he leased called Bison Ranch at Sunset Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway in the Santa Monica Mountains. Today this is where the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is located.[citation needed] By the following year, Ince had earned enough money to purchase the ranch and was able to lease an additional 18,000 acres (73 km2) lot in what is now in the Palisades Highlands neighborhood. stretching 7.5 miles (12.1 km) up Santa Ynez Canyon. This was the first major development built in the Palisades since the Mexican rancho era.[20]
This was the first studio in the area which featured silent stages, production offices, printing labs, a commissary large enough to serve lunch to hundreds of workers, dressing rooms, props houses, elaborate sets, all in one central location.
When Inceville was completed, the streets were lined with many types of structures, from humble cottages to mansions, mimicking the style and architecture of different countries.[21] Extensive outdoor western sets were built and used on the site for several years. According to Katherine La Hue in her book, Pacific Palisades: Where the Mountains Meet the Sea:
Ince invested $35,000 in building, stages and sets … a bit of Switzerland, a Puritan settlement, a Japanese village … beyond the breakers, an ancient brigantine weighed anchor, cutlassed men swarming over the sides of the ship, while on the shore performing cowboys galloped about, twirling their lassos in pursuit of errant cattle … The main herds were kept in the hills, where Ince also raised feed and garden produce. Supplies of every sort were needed to house and feed a veritable army of actors, directors and subordinates.
While the cowboys, Native Americans and assorted workers lived at “Inceville,” the main actors came from Los Angeles and other communities as needed, often taking the red trolley cars to the Long Wharf in what is now the Temescal Canyon neighborhood, where buckboards conveyed them to the set.
Ince lived in a house overlooking the vast studio in what is now the Marquez Knolls neighborhood.[22] Indeed, “Inceville” became a prototype for Hollywood film studios of the future, with a studio head (Ince), producers, directors, production managers, production staff, and writers all working together under one organization and under the supervision of a General Manager, Fred J. Balshofer.[23] On January 16, 1916, a fire broke out at Inceville, the first of many that eventually destroyed all of the buildings. Ince later gave up on the studio and sold it to Hart, who renamed it “Hartville.” Three years later, Hart sold the lot to Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation, which continued filming there until 1922. La Hue writes that “the place was virtually a ghost town when the last remnants of “Inceville” were burned on July 4, 1922, leaving only a “weatherworn old church, which stood sentinel over the charred ruins.”
1921–1931
A decade later, the Rev. Charles H. Scott and the Southern California Methodist Episcopal Church bought the land; in 1922, Scott founded Pacific Palisades, envisioning an elaborate religious-intellectual commune.[24] Believers snapped up choice lots and lived in tents during construction. By 1925, the Palisades had 100 homes. In one subdivision, streets were named in alphabetical order for Methodist missionaries (the “Alphabet Streets”). The tents eventually were replaced by cabins, then by bungalows, and ultimately by multimillion-dollar homes. The climate of the area was a big selling point. Temperatures are much cooler than inland Los Angeles during summer, but usually sunnier and less foggy than areas south along the coast (e.g. Santa Monica).
Pacific Palisades enjoyed steady growth throughout the Roaring 20s, but it was still a small, isolated community out on the edge of Los Angeles. It began to become less isolated with the paving of Sunset Boulevard± in 1925, which brought an increased flow of traffic through the community and offered more convenient accessibility to nearby Westwood and Beverly Hills.[25]
1929 would prove to be a pivotal year in the history of the Palisades,[25] and by that time the town consisted of only about 365 homes and about 1,000 residents who mostly resided in the so-called “Alphabet Streets” neighborhood, although residential construction was now expanding into what would later become the Castellammare, Huntington and Paseo Miramar neighborhoods.[26] On August 18 of that year, the cornerstone was laid for the foundation of the Methodist Episcopal Church on Via de la Paz, which at that time was the community’s only church. Directly across the street, planning was underway for the town’s first permanent school building which would later become known as “Palisades Elementary”, which was dedicated on June 12, 1931.[25]
In 1928, the Los Angeles Police Department began renting temporary office space in the now-historic Business Block building for the price of $10 a month. The following year, a motorcycle officer was assigned to make nightly patrols in the area. The Palisades finally acquired its own fire station in 1929, located on Sunset, adjacent to where the local Chase Bank branch now stands in the Village neighborhood.[25]
By the end of the decade, nearly all remaining open areas of Pacific Palisades were being developed, reflecting the areas booming growth and the Palisades’ coastal allure. Golfers were enjoying the already acclaimed Riviera Country Club, opened in 1927. Later in the decade construction started on the Bel-Air Bay Club, opened in March 1930.[25]
1930– present
The Palisades was a refuge for many German-Jewish and Austrian-Jewish intellectuals and artists fleeing from pre-war Germany and, later, from the Holocaust, many of whom associated with the Exilliteratur settled in Pacific Palisades, including Thomas Mann, Lion Feuchtwanger, Theodor W. Adorno, Vicki Baum, Herbert Zipper, and Emil Ludwig. Some of these Jewish refugees had previously sought refuge in the south of France (and had to flee due to the fall of France to the Vichy regime), and were surprised by the similarities with the Mediterranean climate and topography.[27][28] Villa Aurora on Paseo Miramar, the Spanish colonial home of Feuchtwanger and his wife, Marta, became the focal point of the expatriate community, which was nicknamed “Weimar by the Sea”.[29] Some non-Jewish exiles who were married to people with Jewish ancestry chose to settle in the Palisades as well, such as Thomas Mann and his wife Katia Mann who resided at 1550 San Remo Drive in the Riviera neighborhood.[30]
For many decades there was a virtual ban on drinking alcohol in the district, and a Chinese restaurant, House of Lee, held the only liquor license. The Methodist Church created a Chautauqua Conference Grounds in Temescal Canyon.[31] The Presbyterian Synod purchased the property in 1943 and used it as a private retreat center until the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy purchased the property in 1994 to become Temescal Gateway Park.
Though the Palisades had a notable Jewish population since at least the 1930s, it was still largely Methodist until the 1970s. This is when the Palisades began to see an explosion of affluent Jewish migration, accompanied by the opening of a local landmark Mort’s Deli, in 1972. The beloved landmark closed in 2007 after former LA mayor Richard Riordan purchased the deli and converted it to a bistro.[32]
WASH BINS
Address: 15233 La Cruz Dr, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, United States
Call: +1 (833)-927-4246