Green Cleaning: Indoors

And besides contributing to the spread of stronger bacterial and viral strains, cleaners like chlorine bleach, drain cleaners and all ammonia-based products are incredibly toxic, says Pyun. Seventh Generation was one of the first companies to come out with greener cleaning products. “Chemicals like petroleum byproducts and butane gases in traditional household cleaners give off corrosive gasses,” she says. “This isn’t good for your health, your kids’ health or even your pet’s health.” Instead of using tons of chemicals to clean, make an investment in a really high-end HEPA-filtered vacuum, says Annie Bond, Maid Brigade green living expert and author of the book, Home Enlightenment: Practical, Earth-Friendly Advice for Creating a Nurturing, Healthy, and Toxin-Free Home and Lifestyle. “One of the best investments you can make is a vacuum with several filters to remove the smallest particles from your floors,” she says. “Vacuums with multiple layers of filtration are more effective at removing microscopic particles like dust mites, mold, pet dander and pollen.” Consequences to the Planet While it’s clear that most conventional cleaners are toxic to human health, there are also serious environmental offenders in your cleaning cabinet. Main says if she could get people to stop using any two cleaners, she would recommend they toss conventional dish and laundry detergents because of their devastating impact on waterways. “People tend to think chemicals from detergents get removed in wastewater treatment plants,” she says. “But they don’t get removed as well as biological matter, and they build up in rivers and streams.” Main says chemicals like phosphates, which are banned in laundry detergents but not dishwashing detergents, get washed into waterways and deprive the water of oxygen. This ends up killing all the plants and fish that live in those habitats. Phthalates are also a problem, she says. “Phthalates are used in almost everything,” she says. “They’re also building up in waterways, and they’ve been detected in the fatty tissue of fish. The phthalates end up feminizing the fish and they can’t reproduce, which causes population problems.” Natural Alternatives One of the other common misconceptions about greener cleaning is that it’s more expensive. That’s just not true, says Bond. “Usually non-toxic cleaning is considerably cheaper because you can use kitchen cupboard ingredients for a number of tasks.”

...Continued - Page 2 of 3 ( 1 2 3 )
< Previous Page | Next Page >