How to keep your house clean and green.

Living an earth-friendly life is important for many people. The clue is to use green cleaning products, keep pollution on minimal level and live in harmony with nature.
Natural cleaning products are substances used to clean, deodorize, and/or disinfect which have natural substances as their active ingredients. In some cases, natural cleaning products may be less damaging to the environment and safer for humans and pets than conventional cleaning products. But do all off them are "natural," "green" and "safe to use"? Ever wondered whether ingredient X or compound Y is really environmentally friendly? Look for an ingredients list and go to Household Product Base located on www.hpd.nlm.nih.gov if product look suspicious. This is a resource for the consumer to find information regarding a product's effect on health and the environment.
By using more ecologically-friendly products, including green cleaning formulations and products, consumers may be able to reduce human health risks by reducing exposure to these and other harmful chemicals. Couple of examples how harmful regular products can be. Glass cleaners may contain Isopropyl alcohol which can irritate the skin, eyes, nose and throat, and ammonia which can irritate the skin and eyes and cause coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. All-purpose cleaners may contain 2-butoxyethanol which can cause headaches, dizziness, lightheadedness and confusion, in addition to irritating the eyes, nose, throat and mouth. Bathroom cleaners may contain Sodium hypochlorite/chlorine which can severely irritate the skin; may cause eye damage, coughing or shortness of breath.
After cleaning your home with green products a nice finishing touch will be to use essential oils instead of regular air refreshers. Air fresheners and aerosols are a common source of volatile organic compounds. Recent investigation of 14 common air fresheners by the National Resources Defense Council uncovered phthalates, which are known to cause birth defects, as well as interfere with the production of testosterone, in 12 of them-even products marketed as "all-natural" and "unscented."Many essential oils, including lavender, ylang-ylang, patchouli, clove, vanilla, and peppermint may already be found in any ordinary garden or in your kitchen cabinets and may be use as freshener as well. Burn a soy candle, place sachets of organic herbs (such as lavender) in drawers and closets or just simply open the windows and ventilate your home when the air outside is clean. Be good to yourself and your planet. Go green.


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