The Real Reason to Use Green Eco-Friendly Cleaners
One advantage of Clorox’s “green market” entry is that the general population (as opposed to the environmentalists) is being made aware of the advantages of eco-friendly cleaners. But the real reason for Moms to use green cleaners may surprise you. In fact, I discovered this quite by accident the other day, when an accident of another sort – the juvenile variety – struck my bathroom tub.
There was a time when I would have groaned and hustled my little darlings out of the way while I dumped copious amounts of Ajax, Clorox, Mr. Clean, and what-have-you into the tub, waited for the noxious fumes to dissipate, and then quickly wiped everything away before my eyes started to tear and my throat began to burn.
But with eco-friendly cleaners, you no longer have to worry about the fumes. The fact that their plant-based ingredients are healthy for you and healthy for the Earth means that you can involve your darlings in messy clean-ups without any worry of health effects. For a generation of kids that seem to have largely escaped household chores, this is a revelation.
My son gleefully pushed the trigger button of the “friendly cleaner” and asked what else he could do to help. I was thrilled that together we got the cleaning job done in a fraction of the normal time. He was so eager to help that together we cleaned the entire bathroom. My husband was in shock when he returned home (he always worries when I clean of my own volition, thinks I’m coming down with a fever, been abducted by space aliens or something of the sort).
So there you have it – give those kids some responsibility – give them a “friendly cleaner” and turn them loose!
— Lynn
Copyright OrganicMania 2008
8 Responses to “The Real Reason to Use Green Eco-Friendly Cleaners”
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Oh, I so totally agree about the kid-friendly factor! It’s so nice to have those tiny fingers itching to help out. My one year old already pretends to clean when I hand him a rag — and the 4 yo really cleans the table before we have meals. Green cleaning products rock! I’m pretty partial to vinegar and baking soda, myself, but I swear that’s just laziness, I buy enormous quantities and then we’re set no matter what needs cleaning.
Sounds great! You’re lucky! — Lynn
Many times I have shunned my children everytime I clean, even when they just wanted to help, because I didn’t want them expose to the fumes that cleaning products produce. With eco-friendly cleaner I can be comforted by the fact that my children will be safe even if sometimes I forget to lock the cleaning supply cabinet.
Hey, the slogan should be – take a break, Mom – let the kids clean!
But don’t let them get into it…I’m sure ingesting this stuff wouldn’t be a good idea. — Lynn
hellboy loves to clean the toilet (no, i am not making this up), and now that there are cleaners out there that hopefully won’t asphixiated him in the process, i feel a whole lot better!!!!
Yeah, let him go to it, Sher! Kick back. — Lynn
We did this today! My daughter loved helping out.
Great! By the time she’s a teenager, the gig will be up, so enjoy it now!
Thanks for the product suggestion! I have been wanting to find cleaners that would allow the kids to help more. They really want to help, but I just don’t feel comfortable with them using the regular cleaners. I’ll definitely have to pick these up!
Great, Angie! Thanks for stopping by. Let me know how it goes! — Lynn
I couldn’t agree more about getting kids involved in the household chores and I have had similar experiences as the other readers with my two kids. It would be nice to let the makers of eco-friendly products know that consumers will continue to support their efforts with product purchases. Voting with your pocketbook is an effective method to affect a change.
Absolutely! Oh, they’re taking note! Green is becoming a huge business opportunity. — Lynn
The other reason eco-friendly cleaners are good, at least for me, is they don’t burn my lungs with unnecessary fumes and toxic smells. I wrote about this a while back in my blog, and since then have cleaned out our whole cleaning closet, and replaced the old supplies with Seventh Generation products.
Exactly! That’s why I always kept the kiddos away from the cleaning supplies! As far as I’m concerned, I consider it a negative – one less excuse as to why I can’t clean!
— Lynn
Great point!
I first switched over to natural cleaners when I was pregnant with my daughter. If I was too afraid to use those nasty chemicals while I was pregnant, why would I use them around a little one?
Exactly! Great point, and great blog name too…granola + yuppie = gruppie! Thanks for stopping by! — Lynn