It can be tough giving up those chemical cleaners. We’re used to labor saving ways to keep our homes spotless. Plus with the new focus on allergies and bacteria it gets even more difficult to resolve our desire for cleanliness with the pressure to more environmentally friendly. Here are five simple ways to make your cleaning more eco friendly.
- Don’t stress too much if you’re not perfect! This is crucial. Yes in an ideal world everyone would be ‘knitting their own yogurt’ and using organic everything. But back to reality, every little bit you do does help. So don’t use the excuse that you can’t change everything as an excuse to change nothing. Swap one of your conventional cleaning items for a green cleaning product this month. Then who knows–you might change another one next month?
- Concentrate! No you don’t need to sit for any tests, but always buy concentrated cleaning products. Even if they aren’t as green as they could be they will save resources, reducing packaging and transportation. It all helps, and it saves you money and closet space.
- Invest in a few microfiber cloths. These are fantastic as they’ll clean an awful lot without the need for anything more than a little water. And, if you really must put some detergent on them you’ll find that you need far less than you would with a sponge or conventional cloth.
- Switch to a green disinfectant and use it less often. There are some folks that really do need to remove all bacteria from their surroundings but they are few and far between. Most of us are far healthier if we come into regular contact with small numbers of bacteria that help us build up our immune systems. I’m not saying you can let the cleaning routine go altogether but maybe we shouldn’t be too hung up about the odd micro-organism!
- Use at least one completely natural and cheap kitchen item as a green cleaning product. There are loads of things we have in our homes that are far less polluting than packaged, marketed cleaners and they are extremely cheap too. Liquid soap is good for cleaning just about every surface in the home. Salt will disinfect your chopping board. Baking soda will keep your garbage pail smelling fresh and vinegar is the ultimate anti-bacterial surface cleaner.
The most important point is number one. Don’t panic if you are not perfect. This is the easiest reason to believe there is no point, as you cannot give up your bleach habit so why bother doing anything. If all of us do a little bit to make cleaning more eco friendly there will be a lot fewer harmful products out there waiting to damage health and pollute the planet.
Today’s guest post is courtesy of eco-green-cleaning-products.com.
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You couldn’t have said that better, “So don’t use the excuse that you can’t change everything as an excuse to change nothing.”!! I cannot tell you how difficult it can be to get people to understand that.
Bleach is a perfect example. I’ve heard the excuse it’s the “only” stain remover that works. But do your counters and sinks/showers have stains on them 24-7? I am a huge fan of the micro-fiber cloth. How about using the microfiber cloth on a regular basis, and when you come across a stubborn stain that just won’t budge (although I have granite and have never had any stain issues that the micro-fiber cloth can’t take out), then turn to your bleach. People have a hard time understanding how much better it is for their health (and their family & pets). The less exposure the better! Just make sure not to keep your micro-fiber cloth away from the bleach! :)
Suzanne