Ever wonder how eco friendly cleaning products really work in creating your home sweet home? After all, cleaning is just a spritz here and there and you wipe it clean, right?
Not so fast. Let's start with a larger view and work back, sort a like you do with your business plan.
Across the globe, it's estimated that about half of today's population will be suffering from water shortages by the year 2025. That's 3 billion folks facing a water shortage crises.
As we witnessed from the talks in Copenhagen, the pressure is on for clean, fresh water. United States has the highest footprint of water use per capita. No surprise there.
Because of water shortages, water districts across the states are putting out calls for mandatory conservation. They are calling on individuals and businesses to take daily actions that can add up to big savings.
There are many sources of water pollution with a major contributor coming from our activities at home. Fertilizing our lawns, oil from the driveways, washing our cars and residues from decking products are just a few ways our activities contribute to water pollution.
One household activity that creates a problem for our water is cleaning! Well, maybe not cleaning by itself but the household cleaning products we use while we are busy creating that shine can be polluting to our drinking and fresh water supplies.
These sources of pollution get washed into our sewers, lakes, rivers and stream causing algae bloom and a whole host of other problems choking the poor duckies and fish and ultimately reducing our fresh water supplies.
Traditional household cleaning products can leave toxic residues in our waters as we rinse our cleaners down the drain. Many of these household cleaning products contain toxic chemicals that pose hazards to our health.
These toxic chemicals can affect the nervous systems of both humans and in animals. These toxins have been associated with cancer and reproductive disorders. At the very least, some of these chemical toxins can irritate our skin, eyes and lungs causing respiratory problems.
Our indoor air is also affected by these products. We may have a shine, but our indoor air quality is about 2.5 times worse than outdoor air quality. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in some extreme cases, indoor air quality is 100 times as bad as outdoor air quality. Yikes!
Some cleaning products and air fresheners ultimately increase the hydrocarbons and terpenoids in the air with reduce the ozone and produce secondary pollutants. So you can see why inhaling them it not such a good idea either.
Three common products that contain ozone-reactive chemicals are general purpose pine-oil based cleaners, orange oil-based degreasers and plug-in scented-oil air fresheners.
Properly disposing the remains of these products is also something to be aware of. Maybe not buying them in the first place is a better answer.
There are many alternatives on the market that can effectively replace the traditional household cleaning products. As new regulations get put into place new products are coming onto the market.
Having a clean house and living in an eco friendly environment is no longer a dilemma. With new non-toxic household cleaning products, cleaning can be safe and effective. This is one area you won't have to worry about anymore.
Cleaning up the water ways can start at home. You can get the shine, reduce your exposure to dust, mold, germs and reduce health hazards to you, your family and the planet.