Decorating & Design - Green Living

Quick tips for green cleaning

By: Adria Vasil

E-mail It

Quick tips for green cleaning

Environmentally friendly cleaning practices that will leave the house sparkling from top to bottom.

Previous
Page 1 of 1
Next

The days of using harsh chemicals to clean your home are over! With so many environmentally friendly cleaning products on the market, there's no need to damage the earth (or your lungs!) to keep your home looking and smelling fresh. Here are a few tips to get you on the right path to a greener, cleaner home.

Make your own cleaning products with simple, natural ingredients. You’ll save yourself the $200 to $300 a year on cleaning supplies otherwise forked out by the average household, according to Industry Canada.

Reach for 100% natural, plant-based cleaners that tell you they’re free of bleach, phosphates, ammonia, phenols, triclosan and more.

Pick products that list all their ingredients on the back.
If there are no ingredients listed, look for trusted third-party certified logos like the EcoLogo environmental Choice stamp.
Snag scent-free options or brands scented with essential oils to avoid hormone-disrupting phthalates in conventional perfumes. And don’t be a sucker. It may smell like green apples or have a flower on the label, but that doesn’t mean it’s natural.
Look for natural concentrated cleaners you can dilute at home (this saves on packaging over time).

Advertisement

Excerpted from Ecoholic Home Copyright © 2009 by Adria Vasil. Excerpted by permission of Vintage Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved.

Join the Ecoholic Nation on Facebook.

Read more in Decorating & Design and Green Living