Years ago, "green" was simply what you got when you mixed yellow and blue. Today, however, the word "green" can mean "environmentally friendly." Green products are lining store shelves, and the Internet is abuzz with tips for green living and step-by-step instructions for making your own "earth-friendly" household cleaning products. But are commonly used cleaning and other household products bad? Should we use cleaners without any chemicals? Are so-called "green" and "natural" cleaning agents really the best? The amount of information out there can be overwhelming. We try to make sense of it all in a world where lots of nonsense overshadows reality.
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Cleaning Green Also Means Cleaning Responsibly. It's a Piece of Cake.
Cleaning products are more than just the sum of their parts. Think of the ingredients in a cake. Individually, flour, salt, baking powder, egg, etc. taste nothing like a cake and in fact, most of those ingredients don't taste good at all alone. But, put them together in the right order and right ratios and viola! Cleaning products work the same way. Manufacturers combine ingredients not only to create effective cleaners but also to minimize potential hazards. As an example, some ingredients may be irritating to the skin if used alone so manufacturers blend in other ingredients to reduce irritation (like using lemon juice blended with sugar to give the desired lemon flavor without the undesired sour taste). Consumer product manufacturers consider not only the potential hazards of the individual ingredients but also the complete product recipe and how it is used. The product label is the best indication of how hazardous a cleaning product is to you, the user. Always read the product label carefully and follow all directions for safe and effective cleaning.
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We Sift Through The Sensible and Nonsensible For
A Reasonable Approach to Green Cleaning
Do you think "going green" means replacing household cleaners with baking soda, lemons, and vinegar? Well, that may be a good idea in some instances, but caution should prevail to ensure that the health of you and your family is not compromised.
A homeowner must be aware of natural threats to good health around the house, and use cleaning agents strong enough to eliminate them but not overly so that additional chemical threats are created by the agents themselves. Understanding what's good and what's not can be complicated and confusing, but nevertheless essential in order to maintain an equilibrium between a clean, healthful home environment, and the agents used and practices followed in achieving that balance.
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White Glove's Green Cleaning Policy: An Introduction
Arriving At a Realistic Position
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As part of our commitment to responsible, environmental friendly operations, White Glove thoroughly evaluates issues and debates in order to maintain a realistic Green Cleaning Policy.
We seek only for facts that can be verified by credible sources. We weed through the hyperbole, unfounded rhetoric, obvious lies, and sales pitches that are far from the truth. It is quite obvious that a large number of organizations and businesses tout their agendas sometimes in deceptive ways because they have a great deal to gain from influencing the public. As a result, facts may be falsified and the truth distorted in an effort to make people believe what they want them to believe.
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| Green cleaning refers to a growing trend of using environmentally friendly ingredients and chemicals for household, commercial, and industrial cleaning. But, since there are no specific definitions of what is "environmentally friendly," when a company touts that it is "going green," perhaps consumers should ask, "By whose definition?"
As for consumers using home cleaning services, it is important to be aware of the basics of green cleaning in order to evaluate the companies they use. Is the company really environmentally responsible? Are their cleaners really removing health risks with cleaning agents that do the job but without undue chemical risks?
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Arriving At a Realistic Green Cleaning Policy: Part 1
Why Keep Your Home Clean?
Before deciding how to clean, know why it's important and your expectations.
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Arriving At a Realistic Green Cleaning Policy: Part 6
Being Green and Being Realistic
Real cleaning for a sanitary and healthful environment requires a sensible balance of what's safe and what's effective.
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