How to Green Your Cleaning

Dig Deeper Into TreeHugger

Here is a sampling of relevant topics and products TreeHugger has covered. Also take a dip into the TH archives for more on almost any topic you can think of. If the answer you are looking for is glaringly absent, feel free to drop a TreeHugger writer an email and raise the issue.

• A TreeHugger survey polls the electorate on their use of green cleaning products.
• A look at two specialty cleaning services that employ eco-friendly methods.
• TreeHugger roots into the question what do I do about clogged drains? and offers a more natural alternative to busting out the Drain-O.
• Pots, pans, plastic: all are possible causes of Toxic Shock Syndrome. This Canadian report looks at over 4,000 common chemicals and their links to your health.
• Good advise on taking care of your floor the way grandma used to.
• Conventional dry cleaning is anything but green. Carbon dioxide and Green Earth are two friendly alternatives that get the job done.
• TreeHuggers give their thoughts on Seveth Generation’s book, Naturally Clean, by CEO Jeffrey Hollender.
• TreeHugger interviews Gregor Barnum, Corporate Consciousness director for Seventh Generation.
• In the battle between hand washing and machine washing the dishes, who really wins?
• Some products for keeping the pool naturally clean.
• A how-to guide for the laundry room.
• Kyeann Sayer shares some tips on how to sweat without staining.
• Zeolite is a natural mineral that absorbs odors and moisture.
• Some valuable techniques on how to use tea tree oil around the home.
• Most of us share our home with dangerous substances--here is a review of some of the pertinent knowledge and how to steer clear.

Books we’ve covered:

• Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living
• Clean Sweep: The Ultimate Guide to Decluttering, Detoxing and Destressing Your Home
• Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home
• Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe & Healthy Non-toxic Cleaning

Dig Deeper Into Other Sources

• The Union of Concerned Scientists has a thorough list of definitions for common household cleaning products, including an explanation of what makes them harmful and alternative options.

• This National Institute of Health web page allows for searches on a variety of products, including cleaning products and their health and toxicity ratings. The database includes a multitude of companies but is limited to information provided by company reports.

• Under the LEED certification system, a building can receive as many as fourteen points for green cleaning products and cleanability.

• Grist offers tips on how to get your cleaning crew at work to switch to safer products.

• GreenBiz.com provides in-depth reports and articles on the business breakdown of a green approach to cleaning.

• The Children’s Health Environmental Coalition offers great advise on how to make your own cleaners that can handle just about any corner of the home and lays out the five products needed to clean just about anything.

• What’s the difference between a sanitizer, disinfectant, and a sterilizer? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Antimicrobial Pesticide Product page will clear that up for you. Its Green Cleaning Products page also lays out the basics of why cleaning chemicals can be so harmful.

• CleanerSolutions Database is a free online tool for evaluating surface-cleaning products.

• The Center for a New American Dream offers advice on how to change the cleaning products used by your custodial staff as well as the statistics to back it up, and they also offer reports from cities that have greened their cleaning practices.

• Environmental Choice is an international organization that certifies green cleaning products and other home and office products.

• The Ashkin Group advises cleaning services on greening their cleaning.

• Green Seal is another standardization organization that is certifies cleaning products among other things.

• Green Earth is one of the most widely available ecologically preferable dry-cleaning systems.

• Seventh Generation’s Making a Difference Newsletter provides regular doses of sound advice.