Are you looking for easy ways to lessen your ecological footprint? One way is to clean your home using green cleaning products. It’s simply a matter of choice. If you’re going to buy laundry detergent, stain remover, dish soap, dishwasher detergent, glass cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, tub/tile cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, and floor cleaner anyway, why not shop green?

Why Clean Green?

You may ask yourself why you should bother buying green cleaning products. Namely, because we're part of a large ecosystem and everything we do (including washing our dishes) affects the world around us. Buying and using eco-friendly cleaning products makes a difference—and not just to our own health but to the health of the entire planet.

I used to hate cleaning the bathroom, largely because of the noxious fumes from conventional cleaning supplies. And while I won’t pretend that cleaning the bathroom using green cleaning supplies is now a favorite activity, it is (by far) a much more pleasant task. Additionally, I get a kick out of knowing that while I’m cleaning the tub, I’m also doing my part to protect the environment.

The Consumers Guide to Effective Environmental Choices (published by the Union of Concerned Scientists), states that cleaning products and services are the leading source of toxic air pollution in our homes. They can leave unhealthy residues on household surfaces and they cause significant amounts of water pollution.

Every little bit helps, and it all adds up. According Seventh Generation, “If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 100 oz. 2x ultra petroleum-based liquid laundry detergent with our 100oz. 2x ultra vegetable-based product, we could save 460,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 27,0000 U.S. homes for a year.” How’s that for motivation!

Overcoming the Obstacles

There are four main reasons consumers typically don’t take the green-product-plunge: price, availability, skepticism, and brand unfamiliarity. Fortunately, none of these reasons are insurmountable barriers to making the switch to green in today’s marketplace.

The Money Factor
The good news is, with greater numbers of eco-friendly cleaning products on the shelves it’s getting easier to buy green products that don’t break the bank. Clorox recently unveiled Green Works, their new eco-friendly line of cleaning products, competitively priced from $2.99 to $3.39. Also, many green products also come highly concentrated, so consumers are getting more for their money than the packaging, at first glance, might suggest.

Availability
Lack of availability at large chain supermarkets is also, largely, a thing of the past. They may not stock the variety of products you would find at health food or specialty stores, but they do have at least one or two green choices on their shelves. And some large chains, like Whole Foods Market, carry an extensive choice of green cleaning products.

Do They Really Work?
Most environmentally friendly products clean just as well as their non-green counterparts, though a few require a bit more elbow grease--don’t worry, I’ve been using green cleaning products for over ten years, but I still need to go to the gym to tone my upper arms! For extra heavy dirt, time is on your side; just let the product sit for a few minutes before wiping or flushing it away. Most green products require no extra time or effort to obtain at least the same level of cleanliness.

If you use a septic system, not to worry--many green household cleaning products are safe for septic systems, just check the label. Use a cleaning service? No problem, it’s your home and perfectly reasonable for you to specify what type of cleaning products you want used in it.

Getting to Know Them
Want more information before trying a new brand? Check out Consumer Reports for head-to-head tests between green and non-green products. Another informational resource is The Green Guide published on the web by the National Geographic Society. For consumer feedback ask your friends, family, and co-workers if they have any favorite green cleaning products—nothing beats a personal recommendation.

There’s nothing to fear in trying a new brand. It's a $2-$10 dollar investment and if you are not satisfied, just return the product for a refund or exchange it and try another brand. Green cleaning products are small purchases with the power to make a huge difference for your heath and the health of the planet. So, go on—give them a try!

What to Look For

How do you know if a cleaning product is safe and eco-friendly? There are ten easy ways to tell. Read the label and be sure the product lists at least a few of the following:

1. No Phosphates
2. No Chlorine
3. No Petroleum Based Cleaners
4. Non-Toxic
5. No Animal Ingredients
6. No Animal Testing
7. Biodegradable (Quickly and Completely)
8. Renewable Plant-based Ingredients
9. Dye and Fragrance Free
10. Packaged in Recyclable Bottles

Also check that there are no signal words on the product’s packaging such as "Danger," "Poison," "Warning," or "Caution." When gauging ecological terms, look for specifics like “Biodegradable in 3-5 days,” versus just “Biodegradable.” Most substances will eventually break down given enough time and the correct conditions, so claiming something is biodegradable is not indicative of its environmental safety.

Don’t be fooled by green-sounding buzzwords. Just because a product says it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s non-toxic. The terms “natural,” “nontoxic,” “eco-safe,” and “environmentally friendly” are undefined and unregulated by the government and can be applied to just about anything including plastic (which comes from naturally occurring petroleum!). At the same time, these terms can be equated with safety when are backed up with specific ingredient information or if a third party has verified their claim.

For more information on how to decipher labels, please see the Consumer Reports Greener Choices Eco-Label Center and look for products that give a full list of their ingredients. Lastly, look for the EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) logo, which indicates that all product ingredients have been screened for harmful effects to humans and the environment.

Armed with this new information, take the next step and try some green cleaning products. You will be pleasantly surprised at how well they work and how much nicer it is to live in a home free of toxic, smelly conventional cleaning supplies!

For more information on the benefits of cleaning green, click here.

~Amanda Miller

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