Green Is Clean

Onwards to Earth Day! As promised, here is a quick, user-friendly guide to easing you on your way towards non-toxic, healthier, and greener home cleaning alternatives. 

Got some of these? They're very toxic!

To reiterate the reasons why, here are some basic facts:

• If the household cleaner label has the 'poison' warning logo printed on it, that is too toxic to be around you and your family!
• The average home will have over 150 chemicals. Issues like allergies, cancer, psychological disorders and birth defects among others are affected by these chemicals. Resource: 2006 Consumer Protection Agency.
• Supplies like Clorox, ammonia, toxic supplies for kitchen, laundry, bathroom and windows, all pollute the home, our skin, the air and enter our blood stream. Even if our children don't actually ingest the poison, just being in contact with them is silently harmful.
• Some chemicals are restricted by the government and some quite dangerous ones are not. US government agencies whose job it is to protect consumers have time and time again failed to do the job of regulating products that are sold commercially. 
• Many non-biodegradable and toxic detergents and cleaners are considered hazardous waste that are regularly drains from our sinks, driveways, tubs and washing machines eventually end up in the ocean and harm wildlife.
• Medical research shows that 85% of our illnesses and infirmities in our elder years are directly related to our living habits while we spend our lives. 

There are relatively few choices of non-toxic, natural cleaners available in the market today. Some great examples are products made by Seventh Generation (www.seventhgeneration.com), Mrs. Meyer's (www.mrsmeyers.com) and Method (www.methodhome.com). These companies make household cleaning products that are plant-based, non-toxic and packaged in biodegradable bottles! Strict environmentally safe principles are part of their business plan. Here are some products that I have tried and been using for years:

Seventh Generation Lavender-Mint Natural Dish Liquid 

A joy to use, smells great and honestly gentle on hands. Non-toxic, biodegradable and hypo-allergenic.

Method Multi-Surface Cleaner

If you have been using 409 and Clorox, try this and the difference in how it smells will tell you all about what is really toxic. It does not have that chemical smell because it is naturally-derived (plant-based) yet works and is gentle on most surfaces like glass, wood and countertops.

Both companies offer a host of cleaning and laundry products. You can also make your own, using everyday items such as baking soda, vinegar and lemon. Check out these links for some recipes.

http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/coamerica.htm

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html