We had a speaker at MOPS about Green cleaning, and safe cleaning. Since hearing her and doing my own research, I have decided to go green with my cleaning (as much as I can). I'm taking this in smaaalll steps so I don't get overwhelmed. But I have to say, once you change a couple of things it gets kind of addicting and more and more things seem to change.
Yes I made my decision, so that we can do our part to "Save the World" so it will be a better place for our children. However, my main reason to implement this was for the safety of the boys and myself. OMG I did not realize how very harmful all the cleaning supplies were that I was using. Cancer causing.... The amount of cleaning I do every day, I am sure to do some damage to myself if I don't make a change... And more importantly, my boys do a tremendous amount of cleaning and I want them to be using the safest cleaning agents as possible. So, to make a very long story short, this is what I have started doing...
1. Bon ami (www.bonami.com). I'm in love with this stuff... It's cheap, and works great.... with no harmful unnecessary chemicals. You find it in the grocery store right next to those cans of ajax. This is a great thing for me to sprinkle in the toilet and let the boys scrub... I use it on everything....
2. Cleaning bathroom and kitchen with vinegar mixture and hydrogen peroxide.
3. Borax (find it in the laundry detergent section). Directions on box, but can be used as a multi purpose cleaner on everything....
4. MicroFiber
I know a lot of you out there have already gone green so share your suggestions!!
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3 comments:
Yay!!!! Welcome to the Green Team :) It does get addicting.
You might also want to read Living Green: A Practical Guide To Simple Sustainability. It's full of small steps you can take one at a time as you work towards your environmental goals.
Sorry, I'm bombarding your comment box. I do A LOT of work and research in the chemical contamination field. Working on a university campus in the EHS office it's hard not to. Especially considering all the research labs and all the chemicals they work with and dispose of.
If you are concerned about chemical contamination in your home, you may also want to do a little research into plastics and all your disposable goods. Water bottles, soda bottles, lunch meat containers, tupperware, toys, everyday packaging....there are some nasty toxic carcogenic chemicals in a lot of these items that are leached when heated, broken down, and chewed on (something to consider if you have another baby). The scary part is that research has only been done on a fraction of all the everyday chemicals we bring into our homes. There is a lot of stuff out there that is "believed to be toxic" but the funding isn't there to conduct a good study and collect data. Industries keep using them until someone tells them to stop or the chemical becomes regulated. And we keep buying them and maintaining the demand for more chemicals.
Once you start to grasp exactly how high our everyday chemical exposure is you'll want to go live in the trees in some far off remote tropical village. But you wont so you'll do what you can to reduce the chemicals in your current living situation.
Also, take a look at the cosmetic and textile industries. We rub chemicals into our skin everyday, the flame retardant chemicals found in a lot of childrens clothing is also toxic.
Don't even get me started on the pesticides used in our industrial agricultural. YIKES!
You're right, it's overwhelming. Good luck in your endeavors.
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