antibacterial soap

I’m what you might call fairly germ obsessive, but probably not in the way you think. My aunt probably is a little germ obsessive in the way you might think – she ALWAYS uses those paper toilet seat covers, never drinks off other people’s drinks, and loves her anti-bacterial hand wash and bleach cleaners. Actually this is likely not germ obsessive now that I think about it. I’d say it’s normal for Americans. Here in America we buy untold amounts of dangerious cleaners each year along with mountains of sanitizing products and paper towels all meant to do one thing – protect us from germs.

paper towels to fight germs

I’m germ obsessive in an opposite way from most people. Germs fascinate me because of how they’ve captured everyone’s attention. Germs astound me because people are so freaked out by such a little organism. Most of all though germs make me laugh because although people must know that germs are everywhere, that they touch us all, that we absolutely cannot win a war waged with germs, still many people try.

It’s not like I don’t take basic germ precautions. I wash my hands and make my son wash his. I wash food well (even organic) and use a tissue when I have a cold. That said I also don’t condone anti-bacterial products or bleach and other harsh cleaners. I use cloths not paper towels to clean with. I guess you might say I have a lackadaisical approach to germs – yeah I know they’re there. Yes I know some can be very dangerious. But overall, I ignore them because I know they outnumber me. Why bother fighting to the max?

My lack of issue with germs started when I took Microbiology for health sciences in college. We swabbed for germs and other icky stuff on ‘clean’ cafeteria trays, money, library books and a slew of other seemingly harmless everyday objects and guess what – everything, and I do mean everything had some sort of icky germ on it. After seeing that germs are always with us the two positions available were freak and become a total germ-a-phobe or take basic precautions and try not to worry. I choose the second stance obviously.

Why bring it up? Keep on reading this post!

Tagged as: antibacterial soap, clean home, eco home, fight flu, germs are everywhere, Green Family, green family blog, green living, greenfamily, hand-washing, healthy kids, healthy living, scary germs, spread germs, wash-your-hands

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Washing your hands seems simple enough – rinse, lather, hum happy birthday as you scrub, then rinse. Easy! However, there’s a green way and the not so green way to wash your hands. Below are some common barriers to greener hand washing – this by the way is a perfect first green step for little kids because it’s easy, necessary, and a good way to open up a conversation about green living.

green hand washing

BARRIER one – you lather up with antibacterial soap: Antibacterial products are all the rage but many are not so green or even necessary. Many antibacterial products contain nastytriclosan. Triclosan (pdf) is a synthetic, broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent found in products such as deodorants, toothpastes, cosmetics, fabrics, plastics and of course antibacterial soaps. The downside; according to Beyond Pesticides is that, “Studies have increasingly linked triclosan to a range of health and environmental effects, from skin irritation, allergy susceptibility, bacterial and compounded antibiotic resistant, and dioxin contamination to destruction of fragile aquatic ecosystems.” There is zero current data that demonstrates any extra health benefits from having antibacterial-containing cleansers, over basic soap and water, for either hands or other items in a healthy household.
Keep on reading this post!

Tagged as: antibacterial soap, clean home, eco home, fight flu, Green Family, green family blog, green living, greenfamily, hand-washing, healthy kids, healthy living, spread germs, wash-your-hands