Along with other volatile compounds, aggressive cleaning products are responsible forpoor indoorairquality, leading to various health issues.
Another significant environmental issue with household chemicals ispackaging.
Sowhat makes an eco-cleaning product?Lets find out.
What Are Eco-Cleaning Products?
Although their concepts and designs can vary significantly, all eco-cleaning products share several common features.
The form of these products may also be different.
Last but not least, cleaning tools can also be labeled environmentally-friendly (or non-friendly).
Cleaning tools that arefully biodegradableand made fromnatural materials, and/or are long-lasting is the broadest way to define them.
We can make further distinctions based on the materials, their lifecycle, and the impact on the environment.
Lets check out some of the best cleaning products in each of these categories.
If its chemical composition is favorable, why should it matter what its packaging would be?
In the case youve overslept the past couple of decades, Earth is choking in plastic pollution.
Most plastic pollution washing up on the worlds most beautiful beaches and choking waterways worldwide comes from single-use packaging.
Unfortunately, not all plastic packaging can be recycled or the recycling doesnt pay off.
That is why all eco-friendly products should strive to reduce or avoid plastic in their packaging altogether.
Earth Hero cleaning product selection is a perfect case study to comprehend what ideal zero-waste cleaning products look like.
Here are some interesting examples from the stores cleaning products selection.
Castile dish soapis an ancestor of our common liquid dish detergent.
Additionally, this particularMelioras Organic Castile Dish Soapis made from organic coconut and sunflower oil and comes plastic-free.
When you consider that aspect, the price will not seem that high as it might initially.
The soap is applied by rubbing a wet sponge or dish brush.
The cleaning tool will get soapy effortlessly, and the soap is easy to rinse.
It is basically a dry carpet shampoo based on natural ingredients such as baking soda and organic essential oils.
Natural Carpet Cleaning Powder comes either in a reusable stainless steel dispenser or as a refill with minimum packaging.
On top of it all, Earthy Edith claims to be a zero-waste factory.
The solution works for floors, walls, countertops, and pretty much all surfaces in your home.
Melioras All-Purpose Home Cleaning Spray is non-toxic and made from natural ingredients.
Melioras Gentle Home Cleaning Soft Scrub is a substitute for classic abrasive powder scrubs that may contain harmful chemicals.
Instead, this product is based on low-impact ingredients such as baking soda.
That means it covers all the surfaces in the kitchen and the bathroom, which get oily or grime-covered.
Either the surface or the sponge needs to be wet.
It is derived fromfood waste (97%), with most of it coming fromGoogles office in Manhattan.
Velesmanufacturing process is a closed-loop key in and resource-negative.
A little spoiler: Veles is an old Slavic god of beasts and nature.
Conventional Eco Cleaning Products
To me, zero and low-waste cleaning products listed above are genius inventions.
But lets face it humans are creatures of habit.
That is why eco-cleaning products that look more conventional on the outside are important.
French family-owned companyLe Briochinuses natural ingredients and traditional formulas.
Their most notable product isSavon Noir the black soap,made from linseed in a traditional manner.
Le Briochin partially practices the zero and low-waste concepts you have seen with the zero-waste cleaning products.
This reduces the amount of both packaging and chemical pollution.
Le Briochin also offers apersonal careline of products.
Froschs active substances are plant- or mineral-based and biodegradable.
Products are efficient but mild in terms of their impact on the environment and health.
The companys philosophy is: good for humans, animals, and the environment.
Their plastic is 100% recyclable and nearly 100% derived from recycled plastic.
Frosch also sources their ingredients as locally as possible, lessening their emissions when it comes to transportation.
Typical sponges are not environmentally friendly.
The most common ones are made from non-biodegradable plastic foam.
Because their tiny holes make an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, we need to replace them often.
The specific structure makes them efficient cleaners that are not prone to getting moldy.
To make dishwashing more fun, Three Bluebirds dishcloths have various cheerful prints in water-based ink.
Loofah or Lufa Sponges
Most talk on sustainable scrubbing utensils is how to make an environmentally-friendly sponge.
But did you know you’re free to actuallygrowa sponge that is fully compostable and biodegradable?
Meet theLoofah squash, the fruit of the squash speciesLuffa aegyptiaca, orLuffa acutangula.
When the sponge has been wasted away, just throw it into the compost heap.
Clean Planetwares Heirloom Mayan Loofah Scrubbersare grown by one Mayan family in Guatemala unprocessed and chemical-free.
If you want to avoid plastic, they are a viable option, although I have some reservations.
That will make you replace your brushes probably more often than you imagined.
Fortunately, there are alternatives.
Eco Egg
Eco Eggis a compact egg-shaped capsule withnatural mineral pelletsinside.
These pellets are the secret ingredient that washes your clothes instead of a detergent.
The egg goes inside the washing machine drum with the laundry.
Different capacities are available, from 40 washes to 210 washes, with70 washesbeing the most commonly sought-after size.
70 washes with the Eco Egg saves you 40 plastic bottles from traditional detergent.
The Eco Egg replaces both the detergent and the fabric conditioner.
You may be a bit reserved about the Eco Eggs efficiency as it looks a bit eccentric.
Another perk of this product is that it ishypoallergenic.
If you have sensitive skin irritated by regular detergents, thats another potential reason for trying out the egg.
That also makes it a certified hypoallergenic detergent.
It is also cruelty-free and vegan, made without animal ingredients or animal testing.
Laundry detergent in strip form also takes up much less space than a standard one.
TruEarth Strip Laundry Detergent is produced in Canada.
Common household items can be used for cleaning your living space and with great results.
