Mom Goes Green

Going green can be a long process…it certainly doesn’t happen overnight, in a week, or even a month, without massive changes and a lot of expense.

You can’t just take everything from the cupboards, cabinets and under the sink and toss them.  (Wouldn’t that be contradictory… just blobbing it all down the drain!) And sometimes it’s really difficult to leave behind those products that you’ve given your loyalty to for so long.  But don’t you just wonder… what have I pledged my allegiance to?

My dear husband (yes, he’s finally catching on… if I could just get him to turn off that perpetually running faucet!) told me about a brand new fab site he discovered called the GoodGuide.

They have researched, reviewed and rated over 61,000 (!) personal care and household chemical products for safety, health and green criteria, so they’re making it easy to find products that are right for you and good for the planet. Can you believe no one else has done this! You can “verify” manufacturer claims, “identify” the content and make a “green-ified” decision… Finally, a central resource for seeing what’s behind the label instead of trusting what the label tells us we need to know!

And they don’t just pan some products…they actually give you alternative choices. It’s really hard to explain how much great info they give you, but they even rate the companies that manufacturer the products – if their products are good, but their business practices stink, they let you know.  You really have to try it…

Isn’t it great to sometimes land on the ground floor of something new and cool.  Congratulations… you have landed!

(if you feel compelled, this is a video of the creator of GoodGuide talking about the site at TechCrunch50 earlier this month — Click here.)

Honestly!  I am lovin’ the laundry products…especially with my pretty new washing machine!!!

I’ve always envied my mother-in-law’s laundry because it smells absolutely incredible.  We used the exact same products (until I made new eco-choices), but somehow I could never duplicate that fab aroma. I always wondered if it has something to do with the washing machine or the dryer and how it scrubbed and tumbled the laundry.  Maybe?

Anyhow, back to my point.  Did I mention I love Method laundry products?!?!  They are so eco-friendly and come from a really green company. The items I’ve been trying lately are the detergent and softener infused dryer cloths.  The detergent is phosphate-free, bio-degradable and HE (high efficiency) for my new washer…but don’t give me a hard time about the dryer cloths.  They can be used twice and are actually compostable!  And they contain mainly renewable plant oils.

They really meet my eco-criteria, but above that….damn, they smell GREAT!  Both are “water lily + aloe.”  And they smell soooo good, I just want to chew on my laundry like a teething baby with a wet wash cloth!!!  (Was that too much information?)  I don’t know what it is, but besides being a very visual person, I appreciate my sense of smell and just like great smelling laundry…but with a consciousness too!

If anyone else has tried any of their products, I’d love to know what you think.  If not, warning….you, too, may want to gnaw on your laundry!

One of my latest “green searches” has been to find a replacement for all of my current detergents – laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid and dishwasher detergent. A friend told me about all of the super harsh (and harmful) ingredients in Cascade and it really got me thinking.

The problem is this: many of these detergents contain phosphates - it’s a naturally occurring substance, but if too much of it gets into waterways, algae and phytoplankton feed on it and reproduce in massive numbers, causing an algae bloom. I don’t want to get too technical, but what it boils down to is that the algae produce neurotoxins and these toxins may have severe biological impact on wildlife and they pollute the water supply.

As if that isn’t foul enough to convince me, I took into consideration that additives, like perfumes, color and brightening agents, increases the toxicity of detergents. And this is the stuff I’m using to wash my dishes, glasses, silverware…my clothes, my CHILDREN’S clothes. I think about the residue and consuming those toxins or having those things linger in our clothes.

So, I’ve switched to a line of products called Seventh Generation. My husband is annoyed by them (back to that “no aroma so they don’t smell clean” issue…but he tolerates them…followed by a head shake and an eye roll!) They’re readily available in my local, chain grocery store and, since I’m signed up for the grocery store discount card, the register often kicks out coupons for the products to the tune of $1 to $4! Niiiiiice!

These products are made of naturally derived cleaning agents. They are non-toxic, biodegradable and hypo-allergenic – no perfumes or dyes. And they work(!), as well as the other brands I just left behind.

On the back of every bottle they even give you some food for thought in this example: If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 50 oz. 2x ultra petroleum based liquid laundry detergent with our 50 oz. 2x plant based product, we could save 233,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 13,400 U.S. homes for a year!

They’re safe for the environment and they’re safe for my family. That’s all it takes to convince me.