Green Cleaning Products
From ClimateNetworkWiki
This page is part of the Purchasing section of the Knowledge Base
This page is meant to be a brief look at some of the aspects of chemical trespass, and how we can help avoid it, both in our homes, and at our schools
Contents |
Why are Chemicals Harmful
From the Labour Alliance of Canada: "JUST TWO GENERATIONS AGO, cancer was a word hardly mentioned outside medical journals. And in those days, the environment and environmental issues weren’t even part of the common vocabulary. The world has changed dramatically. Today, cancer is a regular topic of conversation, a subject for talk shows and everyday news. Millions of people, their families touched by cancer, participate in fund-raising activities to raise money for cancer research. Much the same is true of environmental issues — thousands more people are aware of the need for action to protect the environment and many environmental organizations speak with an international voice. What hasn’t yet become an everyday issue is cancer prevention — and the close link that exists between our own health and the environment. That’s what this booklet is about. Over those same two generations, tens of thousands of new chemicals have come into use, in industry, in the workplace, in our homes. They’ve revolutionized industrial processes and changed the way we clean our homes. But many of those chemicals have also brought with them a variety of toxic effects to human health and the environment."
Alternatives at your School
There are many toxins and cleaners we can be exposed to without even knowing about it at our schools. If it was a workplace under Work Safe BC we would have the right to know what chemicals are in use, and what effects they have on our health. Not so as students. There has been a strong movement to reduce chemicals in the public school system. Check out Toxin Free School campaign At the post-secondary institution level, the place best to start working on reducing chemical is through working with the facilities department or the Occupational Health and Safety program(ask your institutions Human Resource Department to find out more)
A Case Study at TRU
At Thompson Rivers University reducing our chemical footprint was one of the environmental movements first rallying points and successes. Out of concern for the harmful effects perfumes and other chemicals have on the numerous students, faculty and staff who are chemically sensitive the Joint Occupation Health and Safety Committee started the We Share the Air campaign. This campaign lead to the formation of the Environmental Health and Safety Committee, which is now the [TRU Environmental Advisory Committee.]] Because of the active interest in reducing chemicals, the Facilites Department did a pilot project using green cleaning products in one building. The project was successful. In the fall semester of 2007, the Facilities Department at Thompson Rivers University started switching to more eco-friendly cleaning products and bathroom supplies. The paper towel and toilet paper dispensers and going to be using [www.wpbaywest.com|Ecosoft 100% reycled paper] products that are Green Seal Certified. This also goes towards LEED-EB Certification. All janitors switch clean products to start using Green Seal certified products. The main products will be Calcium Lime & Rust Remover and Heavy Duty Cleaner/Degreaser. These products also are Environmental Choice certified and Envirodesic Certified. For more info on the products, check out [www.chemspecworld.com] They are also going to be switching to a green seal handsoap as well- [www.wpbaywest.com|Optisource]
Alternatives For Your Home
By Green Living Online Cleaning alternatives that really work. For most cleaning around the house, it’s not hard to add some green to your routine.
Vinegar and water does nearly as good a job cleaning windows as any ammonia-spiked spray, and borax and baking soda are your allies in the fight to keep your kitchen and bathroom spick and span. But some cleaning projects -- getting that tile grout in the shower white again, removing oven-baked grease or getting out laundry stains -- have even people with the best of intentions resorting to polluting chemicals.
So we tried out a handful of products to find out what could replace the most toxic offenders in your cleaning arsenal. We focused on two companies Method, a San Francisco outfit that wants to make green cleaning products mainstream, and Nature Clean, a Toronto-based, family-owned company that’s been making environmentally friendly products for decades -- and put their products to the test in a Canadian home populated by a two-year-old, a dust-sensitive dad and a pregnant magazine writer. Dusting cloths and floor polishes Method’s slickly designed Omop is the hipster’s answer to housewife-pitched products like the Swiffer --you can imagine some guy in Prada pulling this out from his closet. The mop comes with disposable but compostable dusting pads that lick up dust bunnies, as well as a washable pad that can be used wet or dry. The kit comes with a bottle of toxin-free floor polish that Method suggests pairing with the wet mop. The hardwood never looked so good. Oven cleaner Sure, you can use baking soda and a scouring pad to tackle baked-on grime, but conventional ammonia and-lye oven cleaners save a lot of elbow grease, right? Problem is, they also give off toxic fumes and can burn your eyes and skin. Nature Clean offers a barbecue and oven cleaner that’s toxic-fume-free, hypoallergenic and biodegradable (its ingredients include corn and palm-kernel oil, as well as a substance derived from citrus rind). Spray it on, let sit 30 minutes and wipe away. It really works! (Though its strong perfume may encourage the scent-sensitive to prefer bicep-building baking soda.) Tile cleaner For regular tile cleaning, Method’s tub + tile soap scum + stain remover cleans well and has a pleasantly mild, eucalyptus-mint smell. However, for the toughest of shower grime, you might want to whip out your Nature Clean oven cleaner. When paired with a scouring pad, we found it to be the best at getting the shower to look like new again. Stain remover Some conventional stain-removal products contain neurotoxins like benzene and xylene as well as formaldehyde. Nature Clean’s Laundry Stain Remover is derived from a mixture of plant sources such as corn and castor oil and is non-toxic. It works well enough: a toddler’s jacket came out of the wash looking great. But when it came to the daycare T-shirt, laden with dirt, food and washable paint, it still looked a bit like an art project even after cleaning. Dishwasher rinse That electric-blue liquid sure does a good job of keeping the dishes looking sparkly, but it can also send chlorine fumes into your air and phosphates down the drain. Nature Clean offers a biodegradable alternative called All Natural Rinse Agent that, load after load, kept both the cutlery and the glassware glinting.
Try your own green clean off
- There are a number of household ecocleaning brands on the market. Experiment and see what works best for you.Bio-life: This brand-new, affordable line of non-toxic, phosphate-free cleaners is sold exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart.
- Citra-Solv: Citra-dish, Citra-suds, Citra-clear and even Citra-drain are made from orange extracts, are biodegradable and not tested on animals.
- Ecover: This Belgian-based company sells its wide range of green cleaners --from non-chlorine bleach to toilet-bowl cleaner -- in more than 20 countries around the world, including Canada. The company’s environmental policy is that all products must biodegrade after you use them.
- Method: Sleek designs by Canadian designer Karim Rashid and youthful product names have them competing with the major brands - though some Method products are made in China, which means greenhouse-gas-causing fossil fuels are burned to bring these products here. But they are sold at major chains across Canada, bringing green mainstream.
- Nature Clean: All products are local to Ontario and available in bulk at Grassroots stores, giving them extra green points.
- Seventh Generation: Has been selling its green line (shower cleaner, toilet paper made from unbleached, recycled paper and much more) since the late 1980s. Its cleaning products are all VOC- and toxin-free.
