How Green Cleaning Benefits Your Family and The Planet

Let’s face it, your home is a hectic place. On any given day, arriving back from work means you’re immediately faced with cooking dinner, cleaning up, doing laundry, helping the kids with their homework, making sure everyone is ready for tomorrow’s activities… the list goes on. Add to this energized children and pets running around the house means you have no shortage of things to worry about. Who could blame you for feeling a little stressed out?

The health of your family is one thing you shouldn’t have to be concerned about. One way you can do this is by using cleaning products you know are safe and won’t harm your loved ones.

But aren’t all cleaning products made of the same stuff?

Put simply, no. Canadian law has no requirement for cleaning companies to disclose the ingredients or hazards in their products. In the industry, Consumer Ingredient Communication Initiative (CICI) provides some regulation for companies that opt to participate. However, there is still no standard for ingredient or chemicals naming on product labels. This means that your bottle of all purpose spray could contain anything from water and essential oils to sodium laureth sulfate and butoxydiglycol.

So what are the benefits of a cupboard stocked with natural cleaners?

What is in your household supplies?

But by avoiding no label products, you can choose green household cleaning solutions - like AspenClean natural cleaners — that use plant-derived ingredients like organic essential oils and citric acids for cleaning power. These are natural degreasers and have antimicrobial properties. They are harmless to the human body, which makes them especially suitable for use around small children who are prone to putting their hands onto anything.

Over 75,000 synthetic chemicals have been developed since the Second World War, yet less than half have been tested for toxicity to humans. Fewer still have been examined for their long-term effects. So why take the risk if you don’t have to? To be on the safe side, green cleaning solutions help avoid these concerns. Being able to put your food safely on the kitchen counter after cleaning your kitchen is one less worry for you.

Are chemical cleaners affecting the air quality of the room?

Have you ever entered a hotel room or Airbnb apartment only to be overwhelmed by the ‘clean’ smell that greets your arrival? Many household cleaners give off strong chemical odors that are unbearable for some people. In addition, allergy or asthma conditions may worsen with exposure to fumes from these products. Chemical household cleaners introduce toxins to the home whenever they are sprayed, and can even emit toxins slowly when stored. Natural cleaning products avoid the presence of artificial chemicals like chlorine in your home. For more tips on how to improve the air quality in your home, you can check out some of our other articles.

Teach your children about the environment through cleaning.

Taking care of our environment is a responsible way of looking towards the future. Set an example by using green cleaning products to maintain an eco-friendly footprint. For household cleaners that use chemicals, proper disposal and storage is a huge concern and poses a risk for households. Green cleaning products, meanwhile, are easy to manage safely - the containers are recyclable and the ingredients water-soluble, like in our zero-plastic laundry detergent pods collection. This means they will simply biodegrade into nature over time.

As we said earlier, knowing the difference between green products certified, the ones that aren't but still have a "green logo" can be tricky. Reading the labels and all the ingredients as well, but fortunately we are here to help you and we are telling you everything to know about EWG Verified for cleaning products.

Our guide to the best all-natural disinfectants for your home can also be helpful. When using cleaning services, make sure the products they use are certified by credible organizations. If you have any other questions or if you are just curious to learn more about green cleaning products, check out AspenClean blog for any updates.