Keeping your home clean is about so much more than it simply looking good. Maintaining a clean home gives you and your family a safe and healthy environment in which to live, and this is even easier to achieve when you adopt green cleaning methods.
But what exactly is green cleaning?
Beneficial to both the health of you and all inhabitants of your home, as well as the planet, green cleaning is simply an eco-friendly way to keep your home clean.
Understanding green cleaning in its entirety, means knowing what cleaning products to use within your home that are non-toxic, and environmentally safe. Traditional methods of cleaning typically involve the use of harsh chemicals, such as bleach and ammonia, whereas green cleaning uses natural ingredients, such as baking soda, vinegar, lemons and essential oils.
You should also try to use cleaning tools that can be reused and which reduce the amount of water used, along with disposing of all waste safely and responsibly.
Why should you adopt green cleaning methods?
Tackling home-cleaning using non-toxic products has a wealth of benefits for both you and the environment. Especially significant if you share your home with children, pets or anyone with respiratory conditions like asthma or allergies, non-toxic cleaning still eliminates bacteria and germs, but without introducing anything even remotely toxic into your home.
Below are the some of the main benefits of green cleaning:
- Reduces exposure to harmful chemicals
- Enhances indoor air quality
- Isn’t harmful to the environment
- Doesn’t cause damage to any surfaces in the home
How to clean green
Natural cleaning ingredients are essential for green cleaning, and some of the most popular and effective solutions include:
- Vinegar
This cheap pantry item is great for cutting through grease and removing stubborn stains such as mold and mildew
- Baking soda
Another pantry essential, baking soda is ideal for surfaces that require scrubbing and to neutralize unpleasant odors
- Lemons
The juice of lemons can be used as a natural, sweeter-smelling disinfectant
How to properly dispose of cleaning products and/or recycle them
A key aspect of green cleaning, all products and materials used while cleaning the home, should be disposed of responsibly, or recycled where possible. You should try to follow all local guidelines for getting rid of any materials that might be hazardous, and where possible, recycle all containers and packaging.
Of course, true green cleaning doesn’t use any hazardous substances or materials.
What to look for when choosing green cleaning products
You need to be able to decipher the labels on cleaning products to determine whether they qualify as being green, or not, and here’s how to do that:
- Look for labels in which the ingredients are clearly listed, and avoid any that use ambiguous terms such as ‘dye’ or ‘fragrance.’
- Try to find products that have EPA Safer Choice, Green Seal, or Ecologo certifications, indicating that they have been rigorously tested to comply with sustainability and safety regulations
- If a product states that it is non-toxic, plant-based, or biodegradable, you should try to verify these claims where possible
Understanding cleaning product labels is the first step towards clean greening, so that you can be sure what you’re using in your home is truly eco-friendly, but using natural ingredients is by far the cheapest and simplest way to clean your home in a green manner. With the majority of home-cleaning companies using sustainable products and methods of cleaning, it’s even easier for people wishing to promote sustainability, to do so within their own homes.
Not gone green yet? Now that you know how to do it, the rest is simple!