You Must Know about Eco- Friendly Cleaning Products and How it Affects Our Well-Being and the Planet

We are surrounded by easy-to-use inorganic cleaners, disinfectant, and sanitizers. Whenever you clean your house, you’re being exposed to a number of harmful chemicals. You can experience nausea, skin or throat irritation when exposed for a long period of time. And it’s no secret that these conventional household cleaners have harsh chemicals that’s not great to the environment, and has potential risk to human health.

We need to start making better choices to protect our planet today and for future generation, including the wild inhabitant. If we want to make a world a better place, start it at our home.

It’s a good time to think greening up our household cleaning routine. Through DIY gentle formulations, to switching to eco-friendly cleaning products without harmful or fewer chemicals.

Yes, it’s true that DIY cleaners may require more elbow grease than simple spray on conventional brands. But using store brought cleaners contains unsafe chemicals that can cause mild irritants, and even noxious effect on your health, and to the environment.

DIY Simple and Effective Natural Ingredients for Household Cleaning Products

It’s really true and simple that you can make household cleaners from scratch. The ingredients are all very basic, and can be found in most kitchen around the world. You can use these ingredients individually or in combination of each other.

> Baking Soda or Sodium Bicarbonate

Baking Soda is known as natural deodorizer, and can be used as sanitizer, stain remover, and degreaser. It’s also tough tarnish remover on copper, and brass. Yet it’s gentle, and very safe on delicate surfaces like marble because of its scrubbing powder.

Adding a cup of baking soda to load of laundry, freshens both the laundry and the machine. And by leaving half a cup of baking soda at the back of your shelves, absorbs any lurking odors in your house.

> Vinegar and Apple Cider Vinegar

Vinegar is very good cleaning alternative for just about everything. It’s a natural disinfectant that help removing bacteria, and germs with just a spray. It's non-toxic too, very safe to kids and pets. It sloughs away grease, dirt and particle deposits. And when combine with baking soda it helps to loosen the stuck debris in your bathroom, or kitchen surfaces.

To keep the drains of kitchen and bathroom clean, you can pour a cup of apple cider vinegar, a half cup of baking soda with a cup of hot water on the drain. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then give it a flush of boiling water.

Vinegar can be used also to polish and keep the shines of furniture. Just combine half a cup of vinegar, and a cup of olive oil, these give you result that most reputed furniture polish brand can give.

> Peroxide

Peroxide also helps in disinfecting and cleaning your surfaces. This is great substitute for chemical bleachers. Combining hydrogen peroxide with baking soda, vinegar, and essential oil for scent, make an amazing toilet bowl cleaner.

> Essential Oils

Essential Oils has natural antibacterial properties and awesome scent. Lemon, lavender, eucalyptus, and mint are some of the essential oils that’s widely used in cleaning. They freshen up the air, and fight nasty bacteria, and germs.

> Lemon

The peel and juices of lemon are both use as natural disinfectant and stain remover. Many of the household cleaners prefer using lemon, because of its sweet smell scent.

Rubbing generously lemon and salt to cutting board then rising it off, removes bacterial growth. Also, a mixture of this can remove rust stains, or stubborn grease from pans and pots. While the diluted lemon juice can be used in cleaning laminated countertops. And a mix of few tablespoons of lemon juice with water in microwave safe bowl for 2-3 minutes, makes your microwave clean again.

> Citric Acid

Citric Acid is natural ingredient found in many plants that concentrated to be effective in killing bacteria. It’s great use as degreaser and disinfectant. If citric acid is in a concentration over 0.7%, it kills 99.9% of germs, as referenced by the FDA. It’s tough on mildew and mold. However, as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it's generally safe, but breathing in citric acid for long time can cause skin irritation, and respiratory discomfort. Just take note as EPA says, the chemicals used in homemade cleaning agents can be ineffective, or toxic if used incorrectly.

Nevertheless, using one of this DIY green household cleaners is a win for the earth. And these recipes you can make at home, frequently cost a fraction of the price you pay for store bought cleaning products. It’s easy to make, affordable, effective, and safe to kids and pets.

The degradation of environment is visible every day outside our window. Our ecosystem like water, land, and air are all affected by the choices we make, including the products we are using.

Most cleaning products contain harmful chemicals that affect the environment, and its inhabitants. Like store brought bleachers, disinfectants, and sanitizers can cause harm on both humans (skin, eyes, nervous system) and animals, in addition to being harmful to the planet. That’s why more consumers nowadays are switching to eco-friendly cleaning products.

Tips on Choosing Safe Cleaning Products

> Know the Ingredients

Reading the labels is the best way to choose a product that’s right for you. It’s important to know the ingredients you’ll be using, and make sure they are non- toxic. If the product doesn’t tell what’s in it, don’t purchase it.

Having transparency in a product is essential in this day. Lacking of ingredient list is not worth taking the risk. And if you’re not sure with the product, verify or look them up on EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning.

> Watch for Red Flag Words

According to Environmental Working Group study, just 7% of 2000 popular cleaning products disclosed their contents, the 53% of these contained ingredients known to be harmful to the lungs.

If the product doesn’t display their ingredients that’s a red flag. Avoid poison, corrosive, flammable, or irritant labels, and symbols such as skull and crossbones, it’s a warn about acute hazards.

Harmful Chemicals Found Commonly on Cleaning Products

Toxins may be everywhere but you can simply start on the products you’re using, and knowing which chemicals must be removed from your home.

Below are the toxic chemicals that are harmful on food surfaces, leave residues, and contribute in indoor air pollution. These harmful chemicals can be found in products like all-purpose cleaners, dishwashing, laundry detergents, and glass or window cleaners.

1. Ammonia is a toxic chemical that is seriously strong, that when inhale, touch, and swallow it can harm the body, or potentially deadly when mixed with the wrong stuff.

2. Butyl Glycol, Ethylene Glycol, Monobutyl are common cleaners that’s dangerous in liver, kidneys, and to the nervous system.

3. Chlorine Bleach is dangerous to both lungs and eyes. These chemicals are great mildew removers, laundry bleach and toilet cleaners. It’s very strong and corrosive, you should avoid this whenever possible.

4. Petroleum Solvents are commonly found in variety of cleaning products as surfactants or formaldehyde. Stay away from this too, as this is not sustainably produced.

5. Phosphates are commonly found in laundry and dish detergents. Once it enters waterways it causes freshwater algal bloom release toxins, and diminish oxygen that uses by aquatic life.

6. Phthalates are toxic synthetic fragrances that can be found in shampoo, cleaners and candles. BPA is one of phthalates. If you want clean and safe fragrance, go with essential oils, or those products that label phthalate free.

7. Perchloroethylene or “PERC” is used to clean carpet and upholstery. Inhaling the fumes of this can cause carcinogen as classified by EPA

7. Nonylphenols (NPEs)

8. Sodium Hydroxide

9. Triclosan Anti-Bacterial Cleaners

10. Chemically Fragrance Scent

> Know Better Options

Using eco-friendly cleaning products offered in market can take your cleaning routine to the next level. It can save you money, avoid exposure to harsh chemicals, reduce waste, and protect the earth over time.

You can also actually create your own natural cleaners, that’s versatile, affordable, and easily available in your kitchen. Most common key effective ingredients used includes baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and lemon. These are the most trusted cleaning agents.

> Look for Guidance

It’s better to know some background information on the brand, on how they promote sustainable environment. Like looking to their eco-friendly certification.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certify products through Safer Choice Program, where products ingredients are evaluated to ensure it’s safe on human, and to the environment. Green Seal is another organization that recognizes environmentally safe products. It’s non-profit organization that has higher standards than Dfe label. Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning is also reputable environmental working group you can check on.

As customers it’s important to research the products before buying it. You can ask manufacturers to clarify what you don’t know, and to clarify their green claims.

> Shop Smarter

Find single cleaner that is multi-purpose, it’s more convenient and cost saver.

>Try the Product

If the ecofriendly cleaning products of certain company works to your preference, try it again and their other cleaning products. And if not, don’t buy it. Just ensure you follow the guided instruction of the product.

> Don’t Stress

There are times when heavy duty messes like a 10-year grime baked on oven engage a less eco-friendly workhorse. As Harris says “If you can go green 80% of the time, don’t worry about the 20% of the time when you have no control”.

How to Know which Green Cleaners are Better for the Environment?

There are now dozens of brands on the market offering eco-friendly cleaning products, and some of these businesses use misleading claims. So it’s vital to have eco-friendly conscious mind to look for truly safe and environmentally friendly cleaning products.

Words like natural, plant base, nontoxic, and organic are used regularly on cleaning products. It’s better to look for specific claims like made from “plant-based ingredients” rather than “all natural”, “no phosphates”, “no solvents”, have more specific claim than “non-toxic”.

Why Eco- Friendly Cleaning Products are Expensive?

This question is asked often when it comes to natural cleaning, yes sometimes more sustainable alternative is more expensive. But once you try genuinely eco-friendly cleaning products it’s hard to go back to harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrance of conventional products.

This includes ethical choices that comes a cost, by paying employees a living wage, and use fairly traded ingredients. It is the small local companies that transform the space of greener household cleaning products, that hopefully larger companies will follow.

What is the Environmental Impact of Using Conventional Cleaning Products?

Using commercial cleaning products can affect both indoor and outdoor environment.

> Air Pollution

Most of the commercial cleaning products have VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) that poses harm to human health through air and environment. These compounds have strong artificial odors in the air, and when inhale can irritate nose, eyes, can cause dizziness, respiratory impairment, and even memory loss.

> Water Pollution

Chemicals of conventional cleaning products are washed in waterways, or even in bodies of water that affects marine life.

> Waste Pollution

Most of the packaging of cleaning products are made of plastic that end up in landfills and oceans. That’s why some of the manufacturers made their containers biodegradable if not compostable.

Now many people are being more aware on environmental issues, and make a responsible decision on how to contribute less pollution or carbon footprint on planet.

What Happens if you Make Sustainable Choice?

The decisions we make by choosing sustainable product the better shape the earth will be for us, and for future generation. Zero impact on earth are made from sustainable, and renewable sources.

> Avoid Health Risk

Yes, the risk of health impacts from cleaning products are quite low, but reducing this and attain zero waste, contributes on your health, well-being, and to the planet.

When using cleaning products, it enters the environment through rinsing. It evaporates into volatile compounds and possible residue stock or remain on surfaces. These are chemicals that can irritate your eyes, skin or throat. And for more concentrated forms, it’s even hazardous that it affects your kidney, liver or nervous system.

> Improves Your Well Being

Choosing sustainable cleaning products keep your home safer and healthier place to live, which improves the quality of your life and well-being.

> Make a Sustainable Environment

It lowers environmental impact of carbon footprint and improves waste, air, and water quality.

Why you Should Switch to Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products?

Choosing eco-friendly cleaning products is one of the best ways to combat harmful chemicals and protect the environment.

> Convenient Cleaning

Through reusable and biodegradable eco-friendly cleaning products you don’t need to worry buying again paper towels, sheets, tablets or pods. And most eco-friendly products only use water in cleaning grime or even tough debris on surfaces. No need also to wear protective gloves, and masks for fear of mixing cleaning products, and inhaling it during cleaning.

> Save Money

Using renewable resources are more cost effective. Eco-friendly cleaning products can be made at home, most ingredients are affordable and readily available to most kitchen like vinegar, baking soda and lemon.

And most of these cleaning product supplies are made reusable, like reusable paper towel, cloth, mops, wool dryer, laundry egg balls. In the long run it saves you money while helping saving the planet.

> Safe to Kids and Pets

Healthier alternative for you, your family and earth. it’s made of natural ingredients free from toxic chemicals, safe to use on all surfaces. You can clean the rooms and clothes of your kids, babies and pets without worrying it can harm them.

When switching to eco-friendly cleaning products, you’re creating a safer environment to your home. It simply improves the quality of air and your well-being. No more skin irritations, risk of respiratory infections, and chemical poisoning.

> Helps Stuffs Last Longer

Eco-friendly cleaning products ensures longevity of your items compare with traditional cleaners. This is because of the toxic chemicals tend to affect the texture of household items.

> Clean Fresh Smell

DIY cleaners and eco-friendly cleaning products come in natural fragrances from essential oils that will keep your home smell clean and fresh.

> Better to the Earth

Chemicals from commercial cleaning products are flushed down the drain and can enter waterways. This can result to water contamination that can be dangerous to aquatic life.

By using eco-friendly cleaning products, you’re not just make your home a better place to live, but also promote sustainable environment to protect the planet.

Will eco-friendly products clean? These are the common question we have on our mind when switching to green cleaning products. More and more consumers are turning to green cleaning products as they clean just as well if not better than chemical filled conventional cleaning products. It can save you money in the long term, improves your well-being, improves air and water quality in your home and to the planet.

Characteristics to Look for Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

> Organic

Produced and handled organically. It’s free of chemical fertilizers and preservatives.

> Plant-Based Ingredients

It’s derived from plants that’s not altered chemically, and has positive environmental objectives.

> Vegan and Cruelty Free

It’s vegan and are not tested on animals.

> Paraben Free

> Free of Synthetic Fragrance

If there’s added fragrance it’s not actually green, these are synthetic fragrances that mask the unpleasant smell of ammonia, and other compounds.

> Dye Free

Look for Dye free cleaning products. Dye is from petrochemicals, that may be contaminated with heavy metals such as lead and arsenic. It’s found in most of cleaning products and dish soap. Because it contains heavy metals it can harm nervous system, can cause cancer, and other adverse health effects.

> Biodegradable

Materials are being break down and decompose into elements when exposed to air, bacteria and moisture. Yet, degradation occurs very slowly because landfills are designed to keep out air, moisture and sunlight to avoid contamination with other items. But this is better than non-biodegradable plastic.

> Efficient and Minimal Packaging

Another factor when looking for sustainable eco-friendly cleaning product is their packaging. Because majority of the resources consumed in the packaging.

Look for those with biodegradable or compostable packaging, or those that offers refillable bottles. Also know that concentrated products cut down waste. The small size reduces shipping weight and volume, and decrease carbon emissions in shipping or transportation. Just ensure to follow the instruction in the product when diluting, and handling concentrated formulas.

> Look for 3rd Party Certified Eco-Label like Ecocert, Green Seal, Ecologo

Why Need to Avoid Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is used by company that claims to be environmentally friendly but in fact they’re not. It’s important to do research, and have a list of ingredients that you should avoid. Just because they are marketed as eco-friendly products does not mean they are truly green products.

If you’re thinking in choosing green cleaning products then congratulations you already taken a step in right decision. It will make a big difference in your life.

Learn more about Sustainable Living:

Know the Importance and Impact of Cosmetics Products to the Environment

Importance of Sustainable Clothing Nowadays and it Effects in Future Generation