House Cleaning - How It Can Be Green

As the focus shifts from our own homes and backyards to global awareness of the environment and our effects on the planet, many homeowners are choosing house cleaning options that are friendly and green. Even if you aren’t worried about saving the planet, you may be worried about saving your new son that is crawling on freshly bleached floors and wondering what steps you can take to make your home a less caustic place.

Toxic cleaners are available row upon row by the dozens in every grocery store across the country. But what sort of effects do they have other than getting your bathtub to sparkle? Are the swirling suds down the drain harmful for the environment? Are the fumes harmful for you? And is there really an effective alternative that can do a similarly good job? These questions can be answered by looking for products that are made with ingredients that are less harsh, but still work as well.

One of the biggest ingredients in house cleaning products that claim to be less harsh and more green is hydrogen peroxide. As an effective anti-bacterial agent used in hospitals, hydrogen peroxide is effective on many surfaces in your home. In fact, using harsh anti-bacterial soaps on your hands and home surfaces can actually help to breed stronger bacteria that are harder to kill off and invade our immune system more easily. These super bacteria are not killed with bleach or ammonia and we end up with more bacteria on our kitchen counter without even realizing it.

Many traditional agents used for house cleaning also contain petroleum and butane gasses. These corrosive toxins can be inhaled by you, your pets or your children and the harmful long-term effects have yet to be discovered. And yet, if you could do something small to prevent your pets or children from inhaling butane, you probably would.

Perhaps the most publicized reason for choosing green products is the effect they have on the environment. Water treatment plants are working overtime to remove chemicals and detergents from water and do not do a complete job. Instead, these toxins end up flushed back into our rivers and streams where they build up and have long-reaching effects on ecosystems and animals. Plants and fish are highly sensitive to changes in their environment.

As such, consider using green products for house cleaning. They work just as well as their toxic counterparts and don’t necessarily cost as much. In fact, you probably have several items in your cupboard right now that could be used to safely bring your tub to a sparkling shine and disinfect your kitchen countertop. Baking soda, borax, lemon juice, olive oil, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and castile soap are all green alternatives to commercial brands that are simple green cleaning solutions.