As part of our environmentally conscious society, you might be concerned about whether the bottles of your favorite cleaning products such as fabuloso can be reused or recycled in order to protect the surroundings.
Fabuloso is a multi-purpose cleaner made by Colgate-Palmolive which is popular for its wide range of scents such as citrus, lemon, lavender, and ocean paradise that leave your home clean and smelling fresh. But what do you do with the empty bottles?
In this article, we will be discussing whether fabuloso bottles are recyclable and other ways you can use your empty cleaning product bottles.
Are Fabuloso Bottles Recyclable?
Just like other plastic bottles, fabuloso bottles are recyclable as they are made of a type of plastic called PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) which can be recycled but is non-biodegradable.
What are Fabuloso Bottles Made of?
Plastic bottles are commonly made of plastic #1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or (PETA), plastic #2 high-density polyethylene (HDPE), or plastic #7.
Most cleaning plastic bottles are made with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is produced from petroleum hydrocarbons. PET is a strong and lightweight plastic that is 100% recyclable. This type of plastic is, however, non-biodegradable which poses a threat to the environment.
It can either be opaque or transparent depending on the compounds used. To form the shape of different bottles the plastic is blown or molded to form the desired shape and size.
How do you Recycle Cleaning Product Containers?
To recycle cleaning product containers, check the label on the container for instructions on how to do it. The recycling label is usually in a black and white or a black and grey label just under or to the side of the product ingredients.
The very top of the label has instructions on how to prepare the bottle. Depending on the product you were using, the instructions could be to replace the cap, ensure the bottle is empty and dry, or empty and reattach the pump.
The arrows in the middle give information on how the item will be accessed to be taken for recycling. It can either be “widely recycled”, “check locally”, “not yet recycled”, or “store drop off” depending on the packaging.
The very bottom of the recycling label has the type of material used in the packaging and the packaging format. For a product like fabuloso, the material is plastic and the packaging format is bottle. Other labels can read “metal can” if your product is packaged in a metal can or “paper pouch” if your product comes packaged in a paper pouch.
To the right of the recycling label, there is usually a link to a recycling website in case you want to read further on the recycling process.
For fabuloso bottles, ensure that the bottle is completely empty then replace the cap before putting it in a recycling bin or in your trash can.
You can also take the bottles to a community recycling center for free where recyclers can pick them up and recycle them for you. The bottle will be taken to a recycling plant where new products will be made out of them.
How to Properly Dispose of Unused Fabuloso in their Bottles
If you have a bottle of unused fabuloso that you do not need anymore and would want to dispose of, there are numerous ways in which you can do this including:
1- Pour Fabuloso Down the Drain
You might be skeptical about pouring your cleaning products down the drain in their concentrated form for fear of damaging your septic tanks and drainage systems. However, most cleaning products, from multi-surface cleaners to disinfectant sprays are water-soluble and will not ruin your septic tanks or your drains.
Fabuloso is not an exception. You can also flush it in your toilet.
Once flushed or disposed of in the drain, it will mix with used water in your localities drainage system and this dirty water will still be recycled by your municipality the same way as if you had used the product during cleaning.
2- Give It to a Friend
Pouring cleaning agents down the drain when they are not used is not a conventional way to get rid of them. You can decide to give your cleaning products to a friend as a gift if you decide not to use them.
This is a less wasteful way of disposing of the products and someone can get a little more use out of it.
3- Donate It to a Charity
Donating your cleaning products to a charity is a good way of disposing of your cleaning products. These charities will take a full or even slightly used bottle to donate to different causes.
Such charities will give the cleaning product to homeless shelters or orphanages that may not have the money to constantly buy new products or purchase from more expensive cleaning brands.
This will ensure that your product gets used while still being able to help others.
What can I do with an Empty Cleaning Bottle?
Reusing a product involves using the object again without having to make alterations to the original form. You can reuse the empty bottles in different ways including:
1- Use It to Refill Cleaning Products
The go-green initiative has made companies introduce selling cleaning products in concentrated forms in recyclable bags that you can pour into a bottle and dilute to make more of that cleaning solution.
Some of these bags are even water-soluble for easier transfer to bottles and to avoid spills. These concentrated solutions help reduce waste from single-use plastics.
You can use the fabuloso bottles to empty out the concentrated solution of either laundry softener or regular cleaning products.
This bottle can be used multiple times to store cleaning products, helping to reduce the plastic waste we throw away.
2- Turn It into Something New
You can convert a used fabuloso bottle into a plant holder or a pen holder.
For a plant holder, cut off the top of the bottle and wash the bottom part thoroughly. Pierce at least 4 holes on the top of the bottle and run yarn through it to have a hanging plant pot or find a bright place to leave it for your plants to thrive.
Caution: Fabuloso can be injurious to plants, so make sure to clean the bottle thoroughly first, and then use it to make a plant holder.
For a pen holder, cut the bottle in half and wash the bottom section thoroughly and place your stationery in it.
You might also decide to get creative and paint the bottle to give it a more pleasing look.
3- Store DIY Cleaners
If you decide to store DIY cleaning products in the bottle, thoroughly wash the bottle with dish soap and warm water to get all the previous ingredients out then rinse it with running water.
A good DIY cleaner would be a lemon cleaning agent. Add a cup of white vinegar to peel from 1-3 lemons, 1-2 tablespoons of liquid soap of your choice, and a few drops of lemon essential oil in a fabuloso bottle. Let this concoction sit for a few days to a week for best results and use it to clean your home.
This mixture is an effective cleaning agent that will leave your home smelling lemon fresh.
If you decide to reuse an empty cleaning bottle, be mindful of what you put in it. For example, using a cleaning bottle that had bleach or ammonia is dangerous as it may react with whatever you decide to put in it and produce dangerous gases or form a dangerous chemical. However, fabuloso does not contain any ammonia in its ingredients. Also, there is no bleach used in its production.
Final Thoughts!
Many people are getting conscious about recycling and using cruelty-free products. Recycling saves resources, prevents pollution, and makes use of products that would have otherwise ended up in landfills. Unwanted products are taken back to manufacturers where they can create a new product or find a new use.
Actively reusing or recycling products will enable you to play your part in making the world a better, cleaner, and less wasteful place to live in.
