Mother Earth Monday - Clean Green

Sorry for the brain slip last Monday - it's the end-of-the-school-year brain scramble and I am lucky to remember where I live, let alone a blog schedule!

Tonight I am doing an easy one - "green" cleaning products. I have currently switched almost all of my cleaning supplies over to eco-friendly products. This one was a huge no-brainer for me for several reasons. Here's just a few off of the top of my head-

1. I hate the 'chemically' smell of cleaning products
2. We have a septic tank and well water so whatever I put down my drain goes immediately into the ground
3. My body touches a lot of what I am cleaning and whatever is leftover from cleaning is going to make its way into and on my body

My favorite products are the Method line, found at Target, and the new Clorox Green Works line that I now use for all of my household cleaning. Method has a great cleaning 'soft scrub' that I use for both my bathroom and kitchen sinks plus a tub and tile cleaner spray - both of them come in a eucalyptus scent that smells very minty and clean. I use the Green Works toilet bowl cleaner which has a great lemon scent as well as their surface and glass cleaner. I also like Method's all-purpose cleaner for the kitchen - I have it in grapefruit scent. The great thing about all of these are they don't smell chemically - I hate the bleachy-disinfecting smell.

All of these cleaners are biodegradable - which I feel is very important going into my septic system and there for into my field where my horses feed. They are made of natural ingredients - not petroleum based as many cleaning products are. They are proven to clean the same as 'chemically' stuff and are not tested on animals (another plus - read some time about why animal testing makes no sense for humans - I won't get into that rant).

I also have switched my laundry detergents over to biodegradable, phosphate-free detergent. Right now I am using Simplicity (sold at Wal-mart) in both laundry detergent and fabric softener. Why are phosphates bad? Essentially they cause algae growth in places where algae wouldn't normally grow and excessive growth at that - remembering back to elementary school science, this throws off the food chains and ecosystems and pretty much sends everything out of balance.

I still have a way to go as far as switching things over. I am using the rest of what I have of other supplies and when I run out I will switch those over to 'green' products. I would like to find better dish washing powder for the dishwasher that meets these criteria and I will eventually switch all of our hand soap to non-antibacterial. I have several bottles of 'gifted' soap so I am working on using that before going out to buy new stuff. I also want to have this stuff under way by the time we are ready to have children. I have read some very disturbing studies where some of these cleaning chemicals (as well as chemicals used in plastics) are found in new-born babies bloodstreams. Yikes! No thank you sir!

Of course, alternatives to buying 'green' products are making your own. I do like to use as much kitchen-cabinet cleaning supplies when I can. Clogged drain? Use baking soda and vinegar - yes like a science-fair volcano! Flush with hot water! Vinegar makes awesome window cleaner too! Oh -and of course, don't forget to use your reusable microfiber cloth - no paper towels mind you!! Be good to your Mother!

Method Cleaning Products

Simplicity

Clorox Green Works