How to choose green cleaning products

What to avoid
The most important issues associated with household cleaners include: Health concerns — strong chemicals give a product cleaning power, but may also increase potential health risks. Always read the instructions to avoid over-exposure that may cause respiratory problems or skin irritation. Keep chemicals out of reach of children. Ingredient disclosure — Ingredient lists rarely contain information about the percent composition of different ingredients. In addition, some disclosed ingredients are generic eg. ‘fragrance’ – making it impossible to tell whether it contains the chemical you or your child is allergic to. Environmental concerns — Cleaning products are typically washed down the drain to be processed by sewage treatment systems and then discharged into surface waters. Some widely used cleaning agents (like alkylphenol ethoxylate surfactants) bio-degrade into persistent compounds that may pose ecological risks. Over two-thirds of the streams sampled by the US Geological Survey have detectable concentrations of persistent detergent metabolites (as well as disinfectants) that originated in cleaning products. Waste reduction — Most cleaning products are now packaged in plastic bottles that can be recycled. However, many consumers dispose of these bottles as trash, adding to their community’s solid waste management challenges.What to look for:
Look past the marketing slogans on the packaging and look for one of these logos, which show an independent organization has investigated the product’s ingredients, manufacturing process and disposal process and has deemed it to Each organization has a product finder on its website so you can check which products available to you are up to standard, and read information on the findings.

