I am a crazy, concerned mom. I confess it. For the past few years I have been reading more about chemicals (in foods, cleaning products, our air) and I now am convinced that so much of our ailments, sleeplessness, or lots of other body issues come from all this pollution that we put into our homes and bodies. Pollution sometimes is caused by cleaning products. Hence, I have attempted to cut out all chemical cleaning products. One of the best books I read on the topic is Green This!: Greening Your Cleaning By Deirdre Imus. The book gives many examples of body burden studies and other forms of research which proves how much of the junk our bodies absorb. A really scarey one (that made me give up all teflon) was a study done in 2001 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that found "PFCs-a likely human carcinogen-in the blood of the vast majority of the human population." And here's the kicker...it was in "96 percent of the 598 children test," not to mention, "the umbilical-cord blood of newborns." (Imus, 102)
Speaking of cord-blood, that's what did it for me on chemical cleaners. The "Body Budern: The Pollution in Newborns," also done by EWG in July of 2005 noted some frightening things are in our babies at birth. Look for yourself. OH, and clorox? Yea, don't get me going! Same with ammonia. There are tons of studies that will scare your socks off. (And make you wonder why on earth we still use this stuff.) Imus drew from one study titled, "Chlorination, Chlorination By-Products, and Cancer: A Meta-Analysis," American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 8, No. 7, pp. 955-63. There are things out there showing chemicals linked to everything from childhood cancer to asthma, from autism to obesity. We really should think about what we are putting into our (and our children's) bodies.
So, what's a body to clean with, you ask? I am fond of Seventh Generation products to clean dishes and laundry with. I use distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, and Dr. Bronner's soaps daily. And I can't praise essential oils enough. (And you can mix these up...vinegar is an awesome fabric softener and it helps your towels absorb more water . And! try "bleaching" with peroxide. It'll work without compromising your fabric.). That's mostly it. It's amazing how much you'll save and how much better you'll feel when you switch to more healthy things. My list of things to clean with is not exhaustive. But I want to encourage all out there to give it a try. There are tons of books and sites on the web that will give you recipes and simply, organic cleaning ideas. Go forth and green thy home!
**the top pic my laundry pic (minus peroxide). next is L. with our "all purpose" stuff. next, the bathroom cleaners (which L. helps with). lastly, my "everything i own & use" pic. enjoy!
3 comments:
I totally agree. Good for you for getting the word out. I've thought of doing an "ode to non-toxic cleaners" blog, and now maybe I will.
I can't thank you enough for the "Clean This!" book - it's a great eye-opener and motivator. Everyone should check it out, and do a little of their own research.
Good job!
Sonya,
YEAH!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to read all of this. My mother-in-law told me about the Imus book last year...she was sharing all sorts of tid-bits, most of them we already incorporated into our home. I clean with white vinegar all the time! I love using BIOKLEEN for washing our laundry.. it's got a wonderful citrus (essential oils) scent. I love 7th Generation too. I also went to a recent book signing of "The Everything Green Living Book: Easy Ways to Conserve Energy, Protect Your Family's Health, and Help Save the Environment" by Diane McDilda - it covers almost anything you can think of.
Anyway, kudos to you my good woman! Take care.
~Kate
I adopted mostly green cleaning products while I was pregnant, and I haven't bought any other cleaners since then except for some Mrs. Meyers all-purpose, because I like to have something on-hand to squirt. By the way, Mel passed the Imus book on to me, and I enjoyed reading it, even though parts of it are a little scary. I would refer anyone to the fact that she had re-done hospital cleaning regimens when they say that essential oils and vinegar don't clean enough! Way to watch out for your babies!
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