I have chosen this week to rid my home of all synthetic chemical-based cleaners. Synthetic chemicals are chemicals that are made in a laboratory. Natural chemicals are chemicals that come about naturally in the world without human interference.

The first day of this week’s challenge I celebrated by cleaning out my trash container, bathroom floors, and toilets using only BAKING SODA (found in mineral springs) and VINEGAR (fermented fruit/corn). It totally got rid of the nasty smell my trash container had due to the fruit and other food scraps that leak through my paper trash bag (see week 2: No more plastic grocery bags). The baking soda and vinegar also cleared black marks and other build-up on our bathroom floors very well!

Here’s how to clean your toilet with baking soda/vinegar:

Dirty———————————————————————-Clean!

I also used hydrogen peroxide (water with extra oxygen) on our carpet to remove a black dirt stain- it worked!

This week was kind of a bummer for me. Other than the first day of cleaning I wasn’t really doing any other replacement of cleaners such as my detergent, hand soap, or dish soap. I had even had a couple slips on the last 2 week’s resolutions.

So it felt really serendipitous when my friend Kevin invited Colby and I to a documentary/discussion event as his friends house to learn about chemicals in our everyday lives. I thought this was a perfect way for me to learn about this week’s resolution and talk about what more I can do with my resolution of no more synthetic chemical cleaners with like-minded people!

We watched a GREAT documentary called ‘Unacceptable Levels’ .

Please watch this movie if you’re at all concerned about your health, the health of your family (or future family for that matter), what your putting into your body or are exposed to on a daily basis. It’s SO educational.

Kevin also introduced me to a new brand of all-natural, organic, and toxic free products for cleaning, beauty, personal care, and health & wellness. It’s called Healthy Home Company

I’ll definitely be buying some cleaning products to replace the 'bad’ ones I’ve stopped using.

I think I’ve decided to give my synthetic chemical cleaning products away to someone I know would choose to buy them anyway. I don’t want to throw them away because that might be just as bad as using them, and I don’t want to just leave them sitting in my home. I was thinking about taking them to the City of Phoenix’s Hazardous Waste collection event but I don’t think they collect all types of cleaners unless it states it’s hazardous. I figure if I give it away, it’s one less bottle of cleaner they’ll have to take off the shelves and further support those toxic chemical companies. Unless anyone has any other suggestions…?

Here are some of the cleaners I had in my home, the chemicals found in them, and the potential harm those chemicals cause.

My friend Kevin also showed me an awesome website called Environmental Working Group. On this website you can type in the product you’re using and it will give it a grade (A-F) based on how harmful it is to you and the environment. It’s also FILLED with helpful insights on buying products and can probably answer any question you have on becoming a green consumer.

Cleaners that claim to be “Natural:

Ology: A

Low/mild asthma/respiratory/skin irritation concerns as well as some concern for water pollution due to the Sodium coco-sulfate and cocamidopropylamine oxide.

Seventh Generation Fabric Softener: D

Moderate asthma/respiratory/environment concern and some concern for attributing to cancer.

METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE and BENZISOTHIAZOLINONE cause a high concern to water pollution

Note: The website states to avoid fabric softeners altogether as they are unnecessary, coat your clothes with a layer of chemicals, most commonly “quats” (short for quaternary ammonium compounds), and the fragrances have found to cause asthma and allergies.

Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid: C

Although it has a pretty good grade on EWG’s website… It’s got that crazy, water-polluting METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE and BENZISOTHIAZOLINONE as well Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

According to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews,6 research studies on SLS have shown links to:

-Irritation of the skin and eyes

-Organ toxicity

-Developmental/reproductive toxicity

-Neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, ecotoxicology, and biochemical or cellular changes

-Possible mutations and cancer

No thank you….

Purex Natural Elements Laundry Detergent: D

Take this claim of "Natural” with a grain of salt…

“On a cleaning product, the word “natural” can mean anything or nothing at all – there is no regulation of the word’s use. Some manufacturers use the term to mean that some or all of the ingredients come from plants or minerals rather than petroleum, but they rarely disclose how much or little of those ingredients is present. The term “natural” can mislead consumers to think that a product is safer or more environmentally friendly than it actually is.” -EWG

It has several above mentioned chemicals in addition to ALCOHOL ETHOXYLATES (C10-16) which has been found to cause developmental/endocrine/reproductive effects, damage to DNA, respiratory effects, digestive system effects, nervous system effects, skin irritation/allergies/damage, damage to vision, acute aquatic toxicity.

Straight-up Synthetic Chemical Cleaners

Since, in my world at least, these cleaners are obviously harmful to our environment and bodies I won’t go into as much detail on what the chemicals are (you can see a list of cleaners and chemicals on EWG’s website: http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners). Instead I’ll list the products I have and the effects of the ingredients found in these products.