Easter is behind us, so I can now turn my attention to another annual rite of the season: Spring Cleaning!!! Every one's idea of a clean house is likely associated with a particular smell - for me it's ammonia and sadly, ammonia can be toxic. I would like to change how I think of clean by associating it with a pleasant smell, so I am trying to make more environmentally sound choices when it comes to my cleaning products.
My initial hang up was, what does it mean when we say something is "clean"? A question not to be asked while standing in Target with your arms full of Method products, and your husband saying "none of these are antibacterial". My reply was, "so, we haven't always had everything antibacterial", but inside I wavered. I had to make a clear determination of what clean means, and here it is. "Clean" is the result of all the day to day wiping we do in order to prevent bacteria and germs from occurring in the first place. Disinfecting is what we think we're doing when we use sanitizing or antibacterial cleaning products to kill existing germs. I say "think" because few of us read the directions for our products and fail to realize most disinfectants/antibacterials must be left on a surface for 2 - 10 minutes to be effective. What this means is, we have fallen victim to brilliant marketing and now find it difficult to believe our homes can be clean without disinfecting every square inch! The Method company (link below), which makes environmentally friendly cleaning products does a nice job of countering this marketing by explaining why their products are not antibacterial (yes it's still marketing, but at least we get some balance). If you need a little extra courage to go against what we've been brainwashed to believe, go to their site, click "support" at the bottom of the page and then click "antibacterial".
So when is cleaning okay and when do we really need to use something stronger? It seems we don't need to be constantly disinfecting our homes unless someone is ill or has a compromised immune system. Further, when we do disinfect, it does not have to be the entire house. Do we really need to disinfect our dining rooms, bedrooms, or even living rooms? Probably not. But we probably want to do our kitchens and baths. Even within rooms, do we need to disinfect things like the walls, doors, and trim, or is it enough to do just the door knobs, sinks and toilets? Every individual will have their own level of comfort, just keep in mind we need most things to be clean, not necessarily disinfected.
This also holds true for antibacterial soap. It seems that antibacterial soap is no better at cleaning hands than soap and water; it is the act of washing your hands that kills the germs. Again, this is great marketing that cost the consumer more money. There does however seem to be a consensus that antibacterial gels are a good option for when soap and water is not available. There is one concern about antibacterial soaps/gels that the FDA is currently looking into and that is the effect of the ingredient triclosan. According to one article on http://www.webmd.com/, a FDA "committee heard some evidence that two common antimicrobial agents, triclosan and triclocarban, accumulate in groundwater and soil. That could make them a risk for contaminating drinking water and farmed food and giving rise to potentially dangerous resistant bacteria. The risk of resistant bacteria is theoretical. But several experts cautioned that even the potential risk of resistance may not be worth continued mass marketing of soaps that have no proven benefit to consumers. Drug-resistant bacteria are considered a major health threat by public health experts. Some strains, including S. aureus (staph), have alarmed experts with increased levels of resistance to multiple antibiotics". Inconclusive, but interesting and a little scary!
In choosing your products you want to remember what is best for you, your family and pets. Opt for environmentally friendly products when you can and harsh products when you must. The following are some other things that can make a difference:
My initial hang up was, what does it mean when we say something is "clean"? A question not to be asked while standing in Target with your arms full of Method products, and your husband saying "none of these are antibacterial". My reply was, "so, we haven't always had everything antibacterial", but inside I wavered. I had to make a clear determination of what clean means, and here it is. "Clean" is the result of all the day to day wiping we do in order to prevent bacteria and germs from occurring in the first place. Disinfecting is what we think we're doing when we use sanitizing or antibacterial cleaning products to kill existing germs. I say "think" because few of us read the directions for our products and fail to realize most disinfectants/antibacterials must be left on a surface for 2 - 10 minutes to be effective. What this means is, we have fallen victim to brilliant marketing and now find it difficult to believe our homes can be clean without disinfecting every square inch! The Method company (link below), which makes environmentally friendly cleaning products does a nice job of countering this marketing by explaining why their products are not antibacterial (yes it's still marketing, but at least we get some balance). If you need a little extra courage to go against what we've been brainwashed to believe, go to their site, click "support" at the bottom of the page and then click "antibacterial".
So when is cleaning okay and when do we really need to use something stronger? It seems we don't need to be constantly disinfecting our homes unless someone is ill or has a compromised immune system. Further, when we do disinfect, it does not have to be the entire house. Do we really need to disinfect our dining rooms, bedrooms, or even living rooms? Probably not. But we probably want to do our kitchens and baths. Even within rooms, do we need to disinfect things like the walls, doors, and trim, or is it enough to do just the door knobs, sinks and toilets? Every individual will have their own level of comfort, just keep in mind we need most things to be clean, not necessarily disinfected.
This also holds true for antibacterial soap. It seems that antibacterial soap is no better at cleaning hands than soap and water; it is the act of washing your hands that kills the germs. Again, this is great marketing that cost the consumer more money. There does however seem to be a consensus that antibacterial gels are a good option for when soap and water is not available. There is one concern about antibacterial soaps/gels that the FDA is currently looking into and that is the effect of the ingredient triclosan. According to one article on http://www.webmd.com/, a FDA "committee heard some evidence that two common antimicrobial agents, triclosan and triclocarban, accumulate in groundwater and soil. That could make them a risk for contaminating drinking water and farmed food and giving rise to potentially dangerous resistant bacteria. The risk of resistant bacteria is theoretical. But several experts cautioned that even the potential risk of resistance may not be worth continued mass marketing of soaps that have no proven benefit to consumers. Drug-resistant bacteria are considered a major health threat by public health experts. Some strains, including S. aureus (staph), have alarmed experts with increased levels of resistance to multiple antibiotics". Inconclusive, but interesting and a little scary!
In choosing your products you want to remember what is best for you, your family and pets. Opt for environmentally friendly products when you can and harsh products when you must. The following are some other things that can make a difference:
- Choose products in containers that are recyclable in your area (this is a good habit for whatever you buy).
- Look for concentrated products that can be mixed with COLD water. They use less packaging and energy.
- Stay away from products with bold warnings that they are poison or toxic.
- When choosing a disinfectant, stick with the mildest ingredients like citrus or hydrogen peroxide (as opposed to chlorine).
- Check that the product is biodegradable.
- Buy products that are phosphate free (.5% or less). Phosphates have a terrible effect on our waterways.
- Avoid products that contain any of the following, listed as: APEs, glycol ether, VOCs, or EDTA
- When you discover a product that works well, let others know. (I did buy some Method products and have so far used the daily shower spray [which smells like eucalyptus and mint] and the hand soap [which smells like pink grapefruit]. Both work well and I'll keep you posted on whatever else I try).
Here are links to some of the numerous companies that make environmentally friendly products (they also do not test on animals): http://www.methodhome.com/, http://www.seventhgeneration.com/, and http://www.mrsmeyers.com/. They are also available at area stores and you can find one near you when you visit their websites. You can also peruse the shelves at your local stores (grocery, discount, health food), for environmentally friendly alternatives. No doubt about it, some of them will be more expensive, but a lot of them are on par with mainstream products (ensure you are comparing apples to apples when figuring cost, especially when looking at concentrated products). Also, it may be a trial and error process to find out what works the way you want. Having said that, changing even one cleaning product can make a big difference by letting companies know we want something better than what meets the minimum standards for safety they can get away with.
In the end, if you have the option of something that cleans well, smells great, is better for the environment and is comparably priced, why wouldn't you use it?!!
1 comment:
You rock hard!!!!
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