My Mom has a great saying…America is a “throw-away society” and I certainly was part of it. I still am in some areas I never gave a thought to what went in the garbage, where it went, or what went down my drain. I was in LOVE with bleach thinking it was keeping my family healthy and germ free. I used paint with the most awful chemicals in it and never looked back.
Then my world changed. My son started losing his hair to a “benign” disease known as Alopecia Areata. The exact cause is not known, but since that time we have found that he is a Celiac that is allergic to gluten and that may be it. During the week that my son’s hair started falling out, I started to look for causes and solutions. I first took a look at my cleaning products in the house.
Have you ever looked at the ingredients? Sit down and look at the warnings on the labels. It is scary reading. At this point I had no idea what had triggered his hair loss, nor to this day can we be 100% about the cause, but I decided that our home would be less toxic.
I bought “Green Cleaning for Dummies” and I would highly recommend it. It is targeted toward professional cleaners but its message works for all of us. I changed to Seventh Heaven and Whole Foods 365 Brand Cleaners, eliminated bleach and any antibacterial agents except for hydrogen peroxide in key areas. I also have experimented with my own mixes, but I’m a bit lazy and have not gotten there yet. The new Clorox Brand Green Works are getting good press and they work great, but I’m still looking into their manufacturing process. (any comments???) Their prices are certainly VERY competitive.
As a result, my allergies have improved and we are just as clean as before. We have not gotten sick any more. In fact, we had less colds this year after giving up bleach. Oxygen Bleach and hydrogen peroxide will get your laundry white with much less environmental impact.
Do you REALLY need that antibacterial soap or will regular natural soap clean those hands. The germs going down the drain don’t have to be dead.
