Are you interested in greening your lifestyle, but conscious of the cost? Green cleaning is a great place to start. Many household cleaning products can easily be made with a few basic ingredients at a fraction of the cost of the store bought equivalent.
Perhaps a more compelling reason to green your cleaning is the fact that many of the synthetic chemicals found in common household cleaning products contain ingredients that are potentially hazardous to us, our children and the environment. (For more on why children are uniquely vulnerable to these types of exposures, click here.)
Here are just a few examples:
- Dryer sheets: many conventional brands contain chloroform, a carcinogen that is also an anesthetic.
- Dishwasher detergent: most dishwashers contain chlorine, a severe upper respiratory tract and skin irritant.
- Glass & oven cleaners: some brands contain butyl cellosolve, (also known as butyl glycol, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, or EGBE), a neurotoxin that is also implicated in reproductive problems and birth defects.
Try these five tips to green your cleaning:
- Adopt a shoes off in the house policy! This keeps everything from dirt to pesticides out of your home.
- Removing our shoes is a good start, but floors still tend to be one of the dirtiest surfaces in our homes. Try mopping once a week with a gallon of hot water, 1/8 cup of castile or other liquid soap, and 1/8 cup of white distilled vinegar. You’re not baking, so precise measurements aren’t necessary!
- Replace conventional cleaning products with homemade solutions or brands that do not contain potentially hazardous ingredients. Check out this list of recommended safe brands
- Open the doors and windows to let the old air out and fresh air in on the days you clean.
- Naturally remove polluted air from your home with any or all of the following houseplants, proven by NASA to be effective air purifiers: Areca Palm, Boston Fern, English Ivy, Peace Lily, Rubber Tree, Philodendron, Golden Pothos, or Weeping Fig.
Following these tips will improve the air quality in your home, keep money in your pocket, and leave your house clean.
