Mom Goes Green

Today I’m going to keep it nice and simple…

If you want to “buy” greener, just “concentrate”… buy concentrated formulas of anything and everything, that is.  It helps to eliminate a lot of packaging waste, even if it happens to be recyclable.  As much as I hate math… it’s simple math.  Less volume = less packaging.

Another tip is to buy in bulk.  Sure, you’re buying a bigger package, but it’s still less packaging than what is needed for multiple smaller sized packages versus the one larger size!

Final tip… avoid excess packaging.  Over-wrapping and over-packaging results in excess waste, recyclable or not.

So “concentrate”, “go big” and “keep it as skimpy as possible”… wow, this post has gone someplace else entirely…

Undoubtedly, any one of us could look in a cupboard and under the sink and find bottles and cans of household cleaners that contain the harshest and most toxic of chemicals.  But do we really need them?

Don’t get me wrong… I want my house clean and germ-free too, but what if the means to that end requires us to spray, scrub and wash surfaces that we touch… that our kids touch countless times every day… with harsh chemicals? Kinda sounds like we’re defeating our purpose!

Knowing the worst household offenders is the best place to start making this change.  So here is the condensed rap sheet on those “bottled criminals”:

• Bleach – can cause irritation & burns, and edema or coma if ingested
• Mold & Mildew Cleaners – contents include known carcinogens and chemicals that can cause fluid in the lungs, memory loss and shortness of breath
• Oven Cleaners – can cause irritation & burns, and effect reflexes and tissue if ingested
• Ammonia – damaging to eyes, respiratory tract and skin
• Air Fresheners – commonly contains formaldehyde, a known carcinogen
• Dishwasher Detergent – contains highly concentrated/highly poisonous chlorine in a dry form
• Laundry Products – contains elements that can cause liver damage and can irritate and/or burn skin, eyes, mucous membranes and the respiratory tract
• Carpet & Upholstery Shampoo – contains a known carcinogen that damages the kidneys, liver and nervous system, plus irritants & burning contents
• Toilet Bowl Cleaners – contents can damage kidneys and the liver, irritate skin and eyes, and cause edema or coma if ingested
• Drain Cleaners – contains elements that can damage kidneys, liver & the digestive tract, and depress the nervous system

Are you scared yet?  I know I am! If you want more details and the actual chemical contents, click here, but I assure you, you won’t like what you read.  It convinced me that I really, really need to give up a bunch of these commercial cleaners!

So… what to do? I say the answer is in three little words: distilled white vinegar.  It has more uses than you can imagine — it’s safe, it’s environmental and it’s inexpensive.

We already know that it can clean a clogged drain like a champ, but did you also know it can: cut grease, brighten your laundry, remove mineral deposits and stains, clean tarnished metals, remove carpet stains, clean the floor, remove stains from clothing and (what we all want)… kill germs and sanitize!

VinegarTips.com will give you 75 ways to use and formulate vinegar for everyday cleaning and 20 tips for using vinegar with your laundry!  I’m impressed!

The only other thing that comes to mind is “do they sell vinegar in barrels” (!?!).

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.