Nobody likes a clogged drain. But before you go out spending money a container of chemical drain cleaner, which will only lead to adding more toxins and pollutants to the water system, there are a few options you have that are more sensitive to the environment and sensible for your wallet.

Quite often, your drain problems can be solved by opening up the drain tap in the drain pipe located underneath your sink. Find yourself a wrench and a bucket (placed underneath the trap), open up the trap and see if you can first unclog your drain by running some hot water through the pipe, and removing the blockage by hand. Many times, you'll only be dealing with hair, food particles, or other gunk that simply blocked the pipe.

Another simple option is to use a plunger placed over the sink drain, applied with pressure, enough to create suction which can be used to dislodge clogs. Although this is an obvious solution, many people still head to the hardware store to buy bottles of drain cleaner, which only serves to corrode older pipes, and pollute our waters. If you have a double sink, you'll have to plug the second drain to create your suction effect.

If necessary, you can buy or rent a 15ft snake from your hardware store, which can be placed inside the drain, or the drain vent, allowing you to free up the clog by forcing the debris through the sink trap, or into the larger pipes. This can be a little messy when extracting the snake, so having some rags and a pair of gloves might save you on the clean-up process.

Another interesting solution is called a pressure bag, an invention that hooks up to your sink. The pressure bag goes in the open end of the pipe (where you have disconnected the drain trap), and when you turn on hot water the pressure bag swells, seals the pipe and shoots a high pressure jet of water down line building pressure against the clog. These pressure bags only cost a few dollars, and are also effective on bathtubs.

So while these suggestions might not be the perfect solution to your particular drain clog problem, they might save you some money, and more importantly reduce the contaminants that are flushed down our drain systems into our already delicate environment.