Four Simple Ways to Green Up Your Cleaning

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How Cleaning Your Home with Green Cleaning Products Can Create a Healthier Home

Your home should be the safest, healthiest, cleanest place in the whole world. Here are four simple things you can do to make your home clean and green. You'll want to start by getting educated about dangerous household cleaning products. Then you'll want to clean out the toxic cleaners and replace them with non-toxic environmentally safe products. Finally, if anyone you love has asthma, be sure to watch the video below on the connection between Asthma and household cleaning products.

Tip #1 Get Educated About Household Cleaning Products

Learn more about what you bring into your home...

To find out what's under your sink, go to the National Institutes of Health Library of Medicine Household Products Database. You can search almost any brand of cleaner you use, find out what's in it, and uncover its links to health effects. Or search by chemical ingredients and discover what brands contain it. The information may shock you.

www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov

More than 9 out of every 10 suspected poison exposures occur at home with household products.

8 INGREDIENTS TO AVOID IN HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS

  • Phosphates, found in dishwasher and laundry detergents, cause algae bloom, which kills fish and aquatic plants, and produces chemicals that are toxic to animals and people who drink the water.


  • Trisodium nitrilotriacetate is a possible carcinogen in laundry detergents. It can disrupt the elimination of metals in wastewater treatment facilities.


  • Chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite), available alone and in detergents and other products, is toxic to fish and can bind with organic compounds in water to form organochlorines, which break down slowly in the environment and accumulate in the fatty tissues of wildlife. Chlorine is especially toxic to organisms that live in water and soil.


  • Napthas and mineral spirits, found in furniture polishes, are neurotoxins and considered hazardous waste. Mineral spirits break down very slowly and contaminate air and water.


  • Formaldehyde, an ingredient in furniture polish and various cleaning products, is a potential human carcinogen and a known cancer-causing agent in animals.


  • Phthalates, found in furniture polish, disrupt hormone function and can cause genetic defects in both animals and humans.


  • Ether-type solvents, methylene chloride, butyl cellosive, and petroleum distillates, found in oven cleaners are hazardous waste and can contaminate the air, water, and soil.


  • Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide, in drain cleaners, can change the pH of water and cause fish kill.




Take an interactive online quiz to see ,What's Under Your Sink?
Important!

Make Your Home A Healthy Home

Tip # 2: Have A Clean For All

Put on the gloves and get rid of the nasty stuff in your home. Responsibly, of course. Your local waste collection service has guidelines for proper household hazardous waste disposal, as well as collection sites for things like paint, batteries, and cleaners. Whatever you do, please don't toss this stuff in the garbage.

Tip #3: Welcome Healthy Into Your Home

Commit to carefully considering everything that crosses your doorstep.

Here are some safe, healthy things to have in your home: Cleaners that are truly cleaner, nontoxic, natural, biodegradable, concentrated, and hypoallergenic. To learn more, click here.

  • Fresh air. Open your windows to reduce indoor air pollution.

  • Essential oils. Use these instead of air fresheners.

  • Plants. Besides being nice to look at, they can absorb harmful gases and help clean the air.

  • Organic cotton bedding. Avoid standard bedding treated with chemicals.

  • Floors made of recycled and renewable resources.
    Healthier paint. That new paint smell can be as nasty as it smells. Choose low VOC paint instead.

Tip #4: Clean Up Our Shared Home

Make the earth healthier for all of us who call it home by using these things in yours:

  • Compact fluorescent lighting. They last a whole lot longer.

  • Energy Star-rated appliances. Save money and energy.

  • A low-flush toilet. Replace the largest user of water in your house. Ultra low flushers cut water use by one-fifth.

  • Low-flow showerheads. Same pressure. Less water.

  • Your flicker finger. Turn off lights and appliances when you're not using them.

  • Gray water system. Install one to recycle used household water for your lawn.

  • Tankless water heater. Save money, energy, and space in the broom closet.

Recommended Books to Help You Green Up Your Cleaning

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The Connection Between Asthma and Household Cleaners

Sloan Barnett's Story

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Hi, I'm Green-Mahma. I'm part of a nationwide coalition of moms committed to making a difference in our homes, communities, and our world. If you'd like... more »

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