Challenge 9: Detox your Home

This week we discovered that most of us still pitch our used batteries in the trash. The problem? While household batteries make up less than 1 per cent of landfill, they’re responsible for up to 70 per cent of the heavy metals found there — nasty things like cadmium, lead and mercury, a neurotoxin that has made eating more than one serving of tuna a week tantamount to drinking nail polish.

Those are just one of the myriad of toxic substances we stock in our homes. There’s paint, paint thinners, pesticides, even our basic detergents — the things that are supposed to clean our homes!

Many of those bad things end up in the air, water or land, poisoning the wildlife and water supply.

Why would we keep them around — especially when there are non-toxic replacements that are easy to find? Sure, the science still isn't clear as the vast majority of the industrial chemicals on the Canadian market haven't been tested. But why take the chance? My 2-year old might not be hit jay walking across Bloor Street, but...

The Challenge: Get rid of all toxic cleaners in your home.

The Motivation: Indoor air pollution is now worse than the toxic brew you breathe outside. In part, that’s to blame for our skyrocketing rates of asthma and cancer.
There are thousands of industrial chemicals manufactured and sold in Canada, and only a handful have been tested for their health and environmental impacts. Many are in our cleaning products. Tilex Total Bathroom Multipurpose Cleaner, for one, contains 2-Butoxyethanol — a reproductive toxin the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says causes birth defects in animals.
That, like other cleaning products, is made to be dissolved in water and sent down the drain. Hormone-disrupting chemicals from antibacterial soaps and cleaning agents were recently found in San Francisco Bay during a year-long study by the Environmental Working Group, an American non-profit agency. One of the chemicals, triclosan, has been shown to feminize fish. Also, when exposed to sunlight, it converts into a type of dioxin — deadliest pollutant ever made.

Process: Check under your sink and in your laundry room. You’ll find a lot of bottles with a lot of corroded hand symbols, skull and crossbones, and instructions to phone the Poison Control Centre if the product was swallowed. All of those are definitely toxic. Take them all to the nearest hazardous waste depot.

Then, you enter a trickier terrain. Health Canada doesn’t require companies to list ingredients on cleaning products. The assumption is they are used in such low doses, they're not harmful. My approach: Better safe than sorry. If they do have any ingredients listed, the basic rule of thumb is: avoid anything with an ingredient ending in “ene” or “ol”, or with “phenol,” “chlor” or “glycol” in its name.  Check out the list of cleaning products typical to most homes the Labour Environmental Alliance Society researched, checking for only eight toxic ingredients. Now imagine: there are more than 23,000 industrial chemicals in Canada, the vast majority of which have never been tested.

Next, go to health food store and stock up on eco-friendly, non-toxic replacements. Any product you have now will have a competitively-priced green equivalent — even toilet bowl cleanser. Even cheaper would be to make your own, by buying the basic all-natural cleaning ingredients: baking soda; baking power; borax; vinegar; and some essential oils. That’s all humans used for centuries before inventing synthetic chemicals, after all. 

Cost: Around $60 for new clean products. But would have had to buy replacements at some point anyway. Included in that is cost of green clean guide, like Annie Berthold-Bond’s Clean and Green:The Complete Guide to Nontoxic and Environmentally Safe Housekeeping or the newly-released Green Up Your Cleanup, by Jill Potvin Schoff.

Savings: None — except your family’s health.

-- Catherine Porter

Comments

[BeachGrove Paul]

Hi Catherine: Thanks for your reminder today about the many toxic substances we have under the sinks and in our sheds and garages.

I was involved a number of years ago with an 'indoor air cleaning' company, and between poorly tuned furnaces, filthy air ducts, low levels of carbon monoxide, and far too many household chemicals stored everywhere, it's no wonder asthma and cancer rates are skyrocketing.

Regretfully, indoor air quality at home and in the workplace has been largely ignored...too bad, because we are inside for far greater amounts of time, than outside.

[Sarah Doucette]

On Wednesday, March 19th from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. the Swansea Town Hall is hosting one of the Community Conservation Fairs. We are located at 95 Lavinia Avenue south of Bloor Street between Runnymede and Windermere. Come and see how easy it is to go green. Admission is free.

Sarah

[Sarah Doucette]

Five years ago I cleared my home of all harsh chemical cleaners and started using Melaleuca products. I have found that my family gets far less colds and bugs and seem a lot healthier. It is not just cleaning products that people have to be aware of but other general items found throughout our homes. Such as shampoos, lice treatments, health items, make up, air fresheners the list goes on.

As you mention a lot of products do not have to provide a full list of ingredients so we do not know what is really in them and what they can really do to our loved ones.

Sarah

[Gary Dale]

I know you are struggling with space limitations, but the better reason for avoiding antibacterial soaps is that they have been demonstrated to contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. And they are no more effective than plain soap in sterilizing your working surfaces, hands or whatever.

The irony of advertisements trying to scare people into buying products that produce the very dangers they are warning people about seems lost in the modern world. It is precisely our irrational fear that has led us to this overly-clean environment that itself has been implicated in a host of autoimmune diseases.

And then there are endless arrays of totally useless household pollutants like the air fresheners, scented candles & sticks, and plug-in fragrance dispensers. Some people don't seem to care what they put into their lungs.

The problem is that our governments allow products to be used unless they are shown to be harmful - and then only restrict them after lengthy lobbying campaigns. A more reasonable approach would be to ask manufacturers to demonstrate product safety before allowing them to be sold.

[Melanie Whitehead]

Melaluca and the green alternative cleaners are a good beginning to going green at home, but it still leaves residue on your surfaces, which can aid in growing new bacteria. Plus, the melaluca purchase program isn't often condusive for small families or single people to participate in in a cost effective way.

A better alternative is with a company called ENJO. They make a cleaning fibre which uses only cold water and exclusive fiber technology to clean every surface of your home, inside and out! I've been using this product in my home and my classroom (I'm a Kindergarten teacher) for almost a year now, and have seen tremendous changes in my own health and the health of my very small students! There are tons of scientific research studies that have compared ENJO cleaning fibers with other chemical and "green" alternative methods. ENJO has come out significantly on top in each study in terms of ease, cost and effectiveness. In many cases, ENJO leaves your surfaces 100% antibacterial, and because it leaves no chemioal residue behind, it is safe for your kids and pets to be around.

I've really seen a difference in my home... Check out the website if you have more questions, and don't hesitate to contact them. www.enjo.net

It was the best thing I've ever done towards lessening my footprint, and ensuring the health of may family!

[Sylvie]

Catherine,

An other idea to detox your home from cleaning solution that contains chemicals is that you can use vinegar instead. For your windows, mirror, counters, etc. It does work nicely.

[Elissa]

Strawberry stains -I have had success with removing strawberry (and any other fresh fruit) stains by stretching the clothing over a bowl and pouring boiling water through the stain.

I have been trying non phosphate dishwasher detergents(nature clean products) and my dishes (unfortunately, they are white) aren't getting very clean - residue on the dishes,streaky glasses and dull stainless cutlery. I found an old recipe(from the brief green phase in the 80's) for detergent made with borax - has anyone tried and been successful with any homemade dishwasher detergents? Straight baking soda seems to work - any disadvantages to this?

[GN]

This, for me, is trivially easy. You can't reasonably reduce it much more.

My home contains:
Ammonia; big jug. Chlorine Bleach, big jug. White Vinegar, big jug. Dish Soap, huge jug, Savon de Marseilles, a kind of soap made from vegetable oil and burnt animal bones (and nothing else), and Zero Dark Wash laundry detergent.

Add a few kitchen staples, like salt, lemon juice, and corn starch.

In the garage, we have denatured Alcohol, Kerosene, and Lacquer Thinner. Also, TriSodiumPhosphate, which in the Paint Store is called TSP and at the grocery store is called Spic N Span. It's cheaper at the grocery store, which is unusual enough to be worthy of mention. Compare that to the usual situation: eg: 2 oz Ammonia, 10 drops dish soap and 1 liter of water, which costs you 10 cents but sells for $3 as Household Window Cleaner.

Judicious use of those and you are fine. You can destroy viruses, bacteria, and insects. You can make windows invisible; clean carpet and upholstery stains; remove sticky labels from anything; remove paint; clean every part of the car, the lawnmower, and every tool known to man; degrease the walls; disinfect the cutting board; wash your body and hair; keep ants at bay; and wear clean clothes doing it all.

I realize that it's not totally "green" but my list of chemicals is pure and complete you don't need anything else no matter how delicate, how tough or how industrial the job. Most single-purpose cleaners have more ingredients, and my list contains no pesticides, like Lysol does.

The Savon de Marseille, by the way, is awesome soap. No skin irritations, no need for moisturizers in the darkest winter months, no perfumes. French women wash their hair with it and use flakes of it for their laundry. I highly recommend it.

[Joanne Darling]

I just read your article about "greening up" your workplace and agree with all your suggestions. Thank you for trying to get the message out there.

As for the strawberry stains on your daughter's t-shirt, have you tried good old sunshine. I've had a lot of success with stain removal by just pre-scrubbing the spot with whatever laundry detergent I use, then washing in the machine (hot water works best for whites with stains) and then drying it out in the sun. I find that drying in the dryer sets the stain. I find this works well for most "red" stains.

Good luck!

[Elaine]

I buy all my cleaning products bulk at Grassroots on Bloor and Spadina. I bring giant bottles from the economy sized condiments my parents buy and fill them up with all purpose cleaner, baking soda, etc. People also leave empty bottles in a bin in the store, so don't really have to bring your own. They have pretty much everything you need to keep your home clean in bulk.

[Perfumes]

Blog entries like this make me wonder. the blog entries i like to read typically tie up the story or ramblings of the writer into a definitive meaningful point....