Green clean home
The challenge
Read the pdf document below to find out what the Eco Family are up to in May:
Clean green home challenge (PDF)
Eco Family diary
June’s eco house challenge was to switch to environmentally friendly cleaning products. The task wanted to encourage us to make some differences in the way that we use certain cleaning products which contain chemicals such as phosphates, which can cause damage in the environment if they reach high levels.
The challenge set up alternatives to clean your house with neutral products. Most of the products were things that we already had in the home, but didn’t think twice about using them as cleaning products. The importance for us as a family was to reduce the amount of chemicals that we were using (although most chemicals are removed from the waste water from our toilets and sinks when it goes through the waste water treatment works, but some will still enter rivers, lakes and seas hence the reason why It is imperative that we chose a more natural product where possible.
We as a family did try alternative eco friendly products. Initially I thought this was a challenge in itself, as I was so used to using reputable brands for cleaning my floors, windows, washing the clothes and other household chores. I felt a little reluctant at first, but was greatly surprised at the cleaning products in the supermarkets that you can use. In my local supermarket I purchased cleaning product for the bathroom and also for the laundry, which again the cost for these was reasonable and had emphasis on helping to reduce water pollution, energy consumption and waste production.
Again, I was very surprised especially with the laundry product, as I am very particular about effective cleaning on clothes. I was impressed with the fabric conditioner, the lovely smell and natural ingredients such as cotton and almond all working in harmony with the environment.
Not forgetting that we had cooking ingredients in our kitchen too that we could use. I tried vinegar in an unused spray bottle. I diluted with water and used on my windows with newspaper to clean with and they came up squeaky clean. Other uses in the kitchen that could be used are lemon and baking soda.
This challenge was interesting as it gave me the chance to experience natural cleaning products in the home, which I don’t think I would have done otherwise. I still have my branded cleaning products in the home, and will phase it out eventually as I am planning to stick with the laundry products and bathroom cleaner. I would recommend we all try at least one product (natural or store buy). To do our bit for the environment and to see what’s on offer. You may be surprised, I certainly was.
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