A few years ago when my daughter started crawling, I started to baby proof my house.  I scoured my parenting books for tips on safeguarding her against all the hidden dangers in our home.  I bought covers for our electrical outlets, locks for the toilet seats, cupboards and fridge.  I put up all of my breakables and made sure any medicines and vitamins were stored safely out of reach.  I also made sure that all of my cleaning products were stored in the highest cupboard in my kitchen, as was suggested in my baby care encyclopedia.

At the time, most of the products I used to clean my home were highly toxic.  The labels were covered with warnings and instructions on what to do if someone were accidentally poisoned.  This was my first clue…if these products were dangerous for me, then they were likely also dangerous for the environment.

I could tell you stories about wasting my money on products that didn’t work.  I could talk about buying things that were marketing themselves as eco-friendly, but really were not.  Or one of my favorites is my story about the huge pail of homemade laundry detergent I made that turned in a slimy, gooey, stinky, mess.  We could be here for a while though, so I’m going to try to sum it all up in two parts.

Option # 1 – Make your own cleaning products

I did this for quite a long time and effectively cleaned my home.  A quick Google search of “homemade cleaning products” will give you countless options for recipes.  Most of them involve easy to get and environmentally friendly ingredients like: lemon juice, vinegar, borax, washing soda, baking soda, salt, vegetable oil and soap.  You can get fancy and add essential oils for scent, or even antibacterial purposes.

Overall, this method worked for me, but it wasn’t convenient.  It was a pain in the neck to try to dissolve the washing soda before I washed the floors.  It was so much easier to just dump in some cleaner and go.   Making my own laundry detergent was time consuming….it worked (eventually) but again, it was so much easier to just buy some and just pour it in the washing machine.  I want to be green…but I’m not Laura Ingalls.  It just wasn’t working for me so….

Option #2 – Buying environmentally friendly cleaning products

I found myself in the enormous aisle of a big box store searching for non – toxic cleaning products.  I didn’t stay long.  The ridiculous number of bottles and shelves that I had to wade through was overwhelming and the lack of environmentally friendly options was frustrating.  I left and headed for my local health food store.

The health food store had significantly less options.  There was one shelf dedicated to household cleaners as opposed to a city block, but they were all non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning supplies which was the whole point, so I bought them.  Then I choked on the bill.  Most of the items were significantly higher in price than what I was used to paying.  Nevertheless, I took them home and promptly realized that I hated the dish soap.  It didn’t make a lot of suds, it didn’t cut through grease very well and I didn’t like the smell.  I wasn’t happy.  And you know what they say about momma not being happy.  So for a while I used regular dish soap and felt guilty every time I filled the sink.

Today there are a huge variety of brands and products available that have made my life easier.  I still check labels religiously.  I recently picked up a bottle of laundry detergent that claimed to be “green”.  After reading the label, I realized that this meant that the detergent could be used with cold water, and the bottle could be recycled when it was empty.  That doesn’t equal green in my books.

So what do you look for?  Words like non-toxic, biodegradable and naturally derived are good.  Also, look for certification from a third-party (I.e..e. – Green Seal, EcoLogo, EPA)  And make sure that you can recycle or reuse the bottle that it comes in!

Some of my favorite brands:

Method:  these cleaning products are amazing!  They work well, and it’s like aromatherapy every time you clean.  I love the french lavender all purpose spray.

Nature Clean: more great products.  I particularly like their dish soap.

Seventh Generation: these guys make my favorite laundry soap.  They also offer a variety of things from cleaning products, to household paper products, to feminine hygiene products. Plus, I love the quote on the back of the bottle.

Attitude:  this is my most recent discovery.  I looked forever for a dishwasher detergent that was environmentally friendly and actually worked.  I’ve been using their tea tree and lime detergent and love it!!  I also love the fresh, clean smell in the kitchen when the dishwasher is running…sure beats the heavy chlorine smell that so many other detergents give off.

I’m off to scrub down the kitchen.