Making the switch to all eco-friendly cleaning products goes a long way toward improving the air in your home and the health of everyone who lives there. Using eco-friendly cleaners as opposed to chemical and synthetic cleaners greatly improves air circulation, cuts down on pollutants seeping into the air, and even improves your sleep since you are breathing in less hazardous chemicals. If you have babies or young children in your home, using eco-friendly cleaning products is integral to keeping them healthy. Here are some of the simplest ways you can make the change and improve your home.
1. Remove all products that are labeled “DANGER” or “POISON” – Look under your bathroom or kitchen sink. All the bleach, toilet cleaners and drain cleaners probably have these words on them somewhere. This is absolutely the most important step you can take to ridding your home of dangerous chemicals. If you wouldn’t keep a giant jar of cyanide next to your sugar and flour canisters, you shouldn’t keep poison anywhere else in your home.
How to get rid of them – Don’t dispose of these by flushing or draining them down the sink. Contact your local recycling center and find out their policies on disposing of hazardous wastes. Flushing or draining these products causes pollution in the water and soil and doesn’t affect your environmental effort of getting them out of your home if you plan to flush them anyway. Most recycling and waste centers will pick up hazardous materials and safely dispose of them for you.
2. Use old rags and t-shirts as sponges and scrubbers – Instead of purchasing bulk amounts of sponges, use your old t-shirts that are no longer wearable as well as towels and wash cloths that are tattered. Sponges fall apart much easier and are much less cost-effective than using old fabric you would just throw away.
3. Stock your pantry with lemon, baking soda, vinegar and olive oil – These items can get just about any cleaning job done. Sprinkling baking soda over kitchen counters, cutting boards, sinks, and bathtubs and scrubbing it with a lemon cut in half will get rid of water stains, bacteria and scum build-up. Vinegar and olive oil works as a great floor cleaner and shiner.
4. Purchase natural, eco-friendly products – If you’d still rather have actual cleaning products in your home rather than making your own, purchase items that are organic, all natural and made with minimal ingredients that are not dangerous or poisonous. Sun & Earth is a brand that makes gentle yet abrasive and powerful cleaning products made of natural oils and cleaners without added chemicals. They make cleaning products for just about any surface, so you can inexpensively find products that are all natural and safe for you and your family.
5. Purchase biodegradable cleaning gloves and storage bags – Instead of reusing plastic bags obtained at the grocery store (a reusable shopping bag will bring these to a halt), purchase bags that are made with natural ingredients and biodegradable. Check bags, gloves and other frequently reused items to see if they are biodegradable within several weeks or months, preferably less than a year. Once they need to be thrown out, you can get rid of them knowing they won’t harm the earth with chemicals and plastic being dumped into a landfill.
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