What is Green Cleaning?
Broadly speaking, the term “green cleaning” is a method of cleaning that is safe for the environment, human beings, and animals. This cleaning method uses products and procedures that emit no pollutants or minimal waste. By applying green cleaning from now, we can avoid the exposure of dangerous chemicals from conventional cleaning products. Which is, has a high potential to cause permanent damage to our bodies, water, air, and ecosystems.
Starting from Home
Applying green cleaning is highly recommended to start at home, considering that most cleaning activities occur in the household. We can replace chemical cleaning products with natural ones, such as baking soda, vinegar, and lemon. But, we can also replace them with commercial products that do support green cleaning.
Normally, these products do not contain chlorine, phosphate, artificial aroma, and artificial color, and are packaged in biodegradable packaging. In addition, most of the products use ingredients that are grown organically or using sustainable farming methods. However, there are also products that support green cleaning that still uses chemicals, but the company channeled some of its profits for environmental causes.
Eco-Friendly Cleaner at Home
The following are all-purpose eco-friendly cleaners we can find at home:
Lemon
Lemons are known to have many benefits, one of which is as a natural cleanser. Lemon juice is proven to be able to remove mold, oil, and rust effectively and efficiently. Very good for cleaning cooking utensils made of copper and iron. Besides being effective as a cleanser, lemon also provides a fresh and clean aroma. If you don’t have lemon, you can replace it with lime.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is definitely a must at home! As a cleanser, baking soda is on top of the game. Starting from cleaning your foods, cooking utensils, to the bathroom. We can rub the baking soda into fresh fruits or vegetables that are consumed with its skin before we eat or cook them. You can also mix baking soda with mustard as a dishwashing detergent.
In addition, baking soda is widely used to clean various surfaces in the bathroom, such as faucets and sinks. Mixing it with salt will be highly effective in removing stains on the stainless steel surface. For continuous use, we can make a liquid cleaner made of 1/4 cup of baking soda, 2 liters of water, and 1/2 cup of vinegar.
Vinegar
Vinegar is a very effective mold remover, especially those on the walls in our house. Just mix it with water, spray it on the moldy area, let it sit, and rinse. The liquid can also be used to remove stains on fabrics, such as sofas, carpets, and clothes, in the same way.
If vinegar is mixed with baking soda and lemon juice, it would be effective in cleaning the toilet, as well as eliminating unpleasant odors. FYI, vinegar-based cleaners are not recommended to be used for wood and marble surfaces.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is great for cleaning wood surfaces. Just apply and wipe gently on the dirty part of your wooden stuff. If the dirt is a bit difficult to remove, you can mix olive oil with lemon juice. In addition to wood, olive oil that has been mixed with baking soda is also good for cleaning marble surfaces.
Tea
Tea is another cleanser good to remove rust. Just brew some tea, then soak the rusty stuff in it, let it sit for at least 1 hour. The rust will then be easier to clean.
Advantages of Green Cleaning
By applying green cleaning, there are various advantages that we can get. Among them:
1. Maintain indoor air quality
FYI, the use of conventional cleaning products results in higher pollution indoors than outdoors. It is because the harmful chemicals in these products are released while being used and will last a long time in the air. So, by switching to green cleaning, the air quality at home will be maintained. We can also avoid some diseases, such as kidney and nervous system damage.
2. More economical
We surely can produce eco-friendly cleaning products ourselves at home. Starting from detergents and fragrances for clothes, kitchen utensils cleaners, to bathroom cleaners, which are made from natural ingredients. That way, spending on cleaning products is automatically reduced. If you can’t make your own at home, don’t worry. With the rise of sustainable lifestyles, there are more companies selling eco-friendly cleaning products these days. As they compete to steal the hearts of consumers, some of these products are even sold cheaper than conventional products.
3. Home is safer
You may recognize the warning signs in the packaging of conventional cleaning products indicates that they are flammable and contain toxins. Highly vulnerable to children and pets. That’s why you need to switch to products that do not contain harmful chemicals to minimize the risk of accidents at home.
4. Maintain a healthy body
By applying green cleaning, the health of our bodies will also be maintained. Because, there are many harmful chemicals in conventional cleaning products, such as carcinogens, neurotoxins, mutagens, or teratogens, which are in direct contact with us while being used. Sneezing, coughing, skin rashes, and headaches will disappear when you switch to green cleaning.
5. Cleaning just got easier
The best product to use in the green cleaning method is a multi-purpose one. As the term implies, one product can be used to clean various things at home. We can produce this multipurpose cleaner ourselves, for example, vinegar and lemon, or use commercial products. By using fewer products, cleaning becomes easier, hassle-free, and efficient.