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May 30, 2007
Green Cleaning: What's Going Down The Drain?
When I heard that California Sea Otters are dying due to a parasite found in flushable cat litter, I started thinking about all the stuff that goes down the drain in the average household.
Recent studies have found that fish populations are greatly affected by the estrogen hormones being flushed down toilets as a result of women taking birth control pills. All the great pills we pop eventually find their way out into waste water plants, which only remove certain chemicals before discharging the waste water back into the oceans and the environment. We might not want to have big families, but we certainly want wild fishing populations to have them. Right now we appear to be doping up male fish so they start looking and acting like girls. Clearly we need to address some of these hormones and chemicals during the treatment phase, because banning meds is not an option.
My Shark Hormone Haiku:
Popped The Pill And Peed
Sharks Take To Dressing In Drag
No More Jaws Sequels
After thinking about all the lovely stuff we humans send down our drains, I decided that it was time to do an audit on all the bad stuff washing down our drains at home. I consider us a pretty green household, but I was rather freaked out when I started counting all the stuff going down the drain. Waste water comes from five main sources in our house: sinks, showers, toilets, laundry machines, and outside in the yard.
Kitchen Cleaning Products
Seventh Generation and Simple Green seem to be some of the most easily accessible "green" brands and has a variety of general purpose cleaners you'd normally use on a regular basis. You can get these products at places like Whole Foods, some mainstream grocery stores, and online at places like Amazon Grocery. Costco carries Simple Green. The Seventh Generation line ranges from cleaning products to laundry and paper products. They also have specialty products for babies and women.
Sometimes you have to hunt more for green specialty products, like Earth Friendly Products Dishwasher Rinse Aid. Earth Friendly Brands also goes by the ECOS label, and includes a line of products that overlaps well with Seventh Generation and others. Ecover also makes a rinse aid and other dishwasher and laundry products.
If you're looking for something a little more posh, Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products have great scents and are a nice green choice. Mrs. Meyers is sold at specialty kitchen stores and online places like Amazon, etc.
Laundry Cleaning Products
When it comes to laundry, I go with the bulk strategy and buy a giant container of concentrated low-sudsing detergent that is dye-free, etc. I buy it from Costco and I just found out its also High-Efficiency washer compliant. That said, when switching to a private septic system, you have to be more careful, and perhaps everyone, even people on city water like us, should keep to those precautions. There are a number of eco-friendly laundry products out there and the various brands I've mentioned before in the cleaning area all have laundry products as well. Also, these greener laundry products often have scent-free versions for people who are sensitive to such things.
Chlorine bleach is something you're going to avoid. Companies like Seventh Generation have a Chlorine Free Bleach.
Bathroom Products
I personally like Method Brand liquid soaps in the bathroom. They smell good and are biodegradable, etc. Their packaging is made from recyclable materials and they don't test on animals. They are also available in cheap three-packs at Costco, so I like them for that, too.
Glass, mirror and bowl cleaners are available from a variety of green brands, including Seventh Generation and Earth Friendly Products. Lesser known brands like Naturally Yours also have tub and tile cleaners, toilet cleaners, and bleach products.
Pet Products
Pet litter is a tricky topic. Firstly, many litters are very bad for the environment and for the animal. Wood litters like cedar shavings are toxic to the animal. Since our rabbits tend to chew on their litter and nest in it, we have to use something non-toxic. We use Yesterday's News which is made of recycled newspaper. Yesterday's News also comes in cat, ferret, rabbit and small animal (guinea pigs, mice, rats, etc) versions.
In colder areas where people sometimes keep kitty litter in their trunks in winter in case they get stuck in the snow and ice - make sure you get eco-friendly litters. Better yet, bring dirt instead.
You also want to avoid flushable cat litters. As I said before, the same parasite (Toxoplasma gondii) that causes doctors to warn pregnant mothers away from cats and their litter boxes is now being flushed down the toilets and ending up in the bays and killing sea otters.
Outdoor Cleaners
Outdoor cleaners like carwashes and deck cleaners often go straight into the ground, or where we live, they go down the drain and flow straight out into the Monterey Bay. The water is not treated like the water you flush down the drain is. Therefore it is even more important that you turn a critical eye on these sorts of products.
Simple Green seems to focus more on liquid cleaning products that are non-toxic and biodegradable. They have the normal line of cleansers, plus some very useful ones I haven't seen in many other green brands: car/wheel wash, DIY pressurewasher stuff for deck, siding and driveways, paint cleanup (replacing stuff like paint thinner), bbq and carpet cleaners.
Companies like BioShield have products like eco-friendly paints and stains as well as cleaning products. I have not found a good supplier of these guys yet, but you can get their products online.
Lawn and Garden Products
Pesticides, fungicides, etc. are very prevalent in garden products. Home organic gardening products and tactics are certainly more Earth-friendly. Consider checking out a book like The Green Gardener: Working with Nature, Not Against It or another guide like it for some alternatives.
Other Health and Household Products
Shaving Cream, toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoos and conditioners, hairsprays. Nowadays there are natural and organic alternatives to many standard brands. Check out the National Geographic Green Product Guide for greener brands of your favorite personal care items.
Method Brand also has some specialty products like Granite & Marble Countertop Spray and Leather Cleaner.
And now for my green cleaning haiku.
Primordial Goo
Disinfected, Nothing Grows
Mr. Clean Prevails
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Posted by sorsha at May 30, 2007 12:18 PM
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Comments
You mention some of these can be had from the likes of Costco or Amazon. Does that mean they are now competitively prices with big, mean, brands?
One thing that often comes up is product performance. Does it clean as well? Can it really do what chlorine bleach does? etc. Is there any good source for this? Many may be very similar, and maybe even the same active ingredient, but without the bad process or some other unnecessary ingredients. Any way to tell?
Haikus!
Posted by: Shane Conder | May 30, 2007 8:48 PM
In my pricing tests, I was looking at online prices and much of the time, the greener products came in at more expensive than generic brands but less expensive than name brands. Brands like Simple Green pride themselves on being affordable.
You're right, though, I did not go into the fact that if you have to use 10x as much, is it really better for the environment?
In the case of cleaning fluids, the answer is usually yes. Because these things biodegrade and don't poison the environment, whereas the other stuff does. It's a matter of being toxic and poisonous to the environment or not being so.
That said, green cleaning products seem to be holding their own nowadays in terms of effectiveness.
And when you can't use a green product, limiting the amounts of non-green products like bleach to spot treatment instead of a whole laundry load can substantially reduce your household waste production.
Posted by: Lauren Darcey | May 30, 2007 8:55 PM
Before any product, green or not, "natural" or not, "organic" or not, is touted at the answer to the world's problems, everyone should look at the product ingredients, many of which are the same from brand to brand -- whether we like to know that or not.
Anyone seen a product listing on Simple Green's spray bottles? I haven't. Wonder why.
Curious
Posted by: Curious | December 5, 2007 12:28 PM
From Simple Green website: pretty slithery if you ask me. Ingredients are all secret, folks, so how do we know it's "safe" or "nontoxic"? If we can't pronounce the ingredients or they are something our grandparents never heard of, is that a standard for "green"?
Ingredients - What are the ingredients in Simple Green?
All-Purpose Simple Green is made of water, surfactants (surface-active-agents), wetting agents, emulsifiers, green colorant and fragrance. Simple Green does not contain chlorine (bleach), ammonia, formaldehyde or petroleum distillates.
Ingredients - Why aren't the ingredients listed on the label?
Simple Green is non-toxic. Sunshine Makers, Inc. has had the required independent laboratory tests conducted to verify this. Therefore, it is not required by law to list the ingredients on the label. Simple Green's unique formula is protected under the US trade Secrecy Act. Simple Green complies with all current labeling requirements for ingredient disclosure on cleaning products. Some disclosure of ingredients will be given on a case by case basis as required by physicians, veterinarians, or highway safety agents.
Posted by: Curious | December 5, 2007 12:33 PM
You are right, Curious, that we should still be paying attention to the ingredients of "green" products and watch out for greenwashing.
However, I do not necessarily agree that just because ingredients aren't listed on some product, that it's for sinister reasons. Sometimes it's for protecting formulas and the like. That's how the laws of the land currently stand.
All the more reason to push for powerful labeling and certification programs that actually protect the consumer AND company secrets.
Products like Simple Green might not be perfect, but so far, they seem to have the right idea of improving the environmental track record of cleaning products.
Simple Green is considered non-toxic and I'd rather have a non-toxic product that works than an ineffective product claiming to be green or a toxic product.
I think we have a long way to go in the green cleaning market, but if we don't support the products now, they may end up being just a trend.
Posted by: Lauren Darcey | December 5, 2007 6:08 PM
ECOS laundry detergent is also at Costco. It is a phenomenal product! It is all plant based with a soy based softener so never a need for softener or dryer sheets. It is so safe it can be used for babies and people with sensitive skin or eczema.
It cleans so well! It is made by Earth Friendly Products who also make a full line of cleaning products. They can be found at Whole Foods as well.
Posted by: Vicki | March 22, 2008 2:35 PM