Eco-Friendly Home Cleaning Brands

Eco-Friendly home cleaning rings in some people’s minds as using a lemon to de-scent your counter top or by using baking soda as a de-greaser. While these techniques are proven and effective, there are bottled and mass-produced solutions for those wishing to keep their house spic-and-span while minimizing their environmental impact. These products use less petroleum in their production which dramatically reduces their carbon footprint as well as lessening the likelihood of toxicity in any part of the product’s lifespan.

A brand regularly stocked at most Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s is Seventh Generation. Seventh Generation provides products spanning from toilet paper through laundry detergent. Seventh Generation’s line of products allow consumers to have a full range of options when wanting to clean and green their home from top to bottom.

Free and Clear Natural All Purpose Cleaner
This non-scented all purpose cleaner is great for everyday spills and messes. The lack of scents and masking agents lets you know far less potentially harmful chemicals have gone into making this product. Many other main market cleaners will have a strong smell to make it seem like the surface is clean and disinfected when in reality I may not be.

Free & Clear Natural 2X Concentrate Laundry Liquid
This laundry soap is also unscented and utilizes plant-based surfactants and enzymes instead of solvents and harsh chemicals to get out stains. Allergic reactions and rashes will occur far less with this product as it has been tested to be hypoallergenic. Additionally because this product is biodegradable, the affects of detergents in water supplies will not be an issue.

100% Recycled Bathroom Tissue
80% post-consumer paper products go into this recycled bathroom tissue. Using a non-chlorine based whitening process, there are no chemical products used in making this product. Also this product is completely septic system safe and ideal for use in low flow plumbing systems. Using more recycled paper products reduces the need for virgin pulp and will decrease demand for deforestation.

Natural Dish Liquid
No detergent and no toxic chemicals make this product safe for everybody’s hands and greywater systems. This product has just as much grease dissolving power as most dish washing detergents but has left out most of the ingredients that make dish washing a yellow rubber glove affair.

Seventh Generation is just one company that is attempting to enter the market as a viable alternative to petroleum based products. Not only is using non-toxic and petroleum based good for general health, a nation wide adoption of these values will be another step to reducing our dependency on foreign oil. Today’s eco-friendly cleaning and household products are an example of how consumer’s quality of living does not need to go down in order to make ecologically smarter buying choices.

Resources:
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Free-and-Clear/All-Purpose-Cleaner
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Laundry-Detergent
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Recycled-Toilet-Paper