by Jennifer on February 25, 2010
Review summery: An excellent toilet bowl cleaner with few negatives – find out why this is one of the RARE green cleaning products I’d suggest buying over making a homemade version yourself.
Product: Emerald Cypress & Fir Toilet Bowl Cleaner from Seventh Generation
Use: As you might have guessed this toilet bowl cleaner, is surprise, used for cleaning your toilet. Shocking I know. The perk is that this product manages to clean and deodorize without the harsh fumes, harmful chemicals, or dyes that are found in most other toilet cleaners.
Cost: The best deal I’ve seen online is to buy Seventh Generation Toilet Bowl Cleaner in bulk at Amazon which works out to about $4 per 32 oz. bottle. It’s usually a little more costly at my local grocery store although it does go on sale from time to time. Seventh Generation also offers coupons at their website.
Ingredients: Aqua (water), lactic acid (plant-derived demineralizer), polyglucose, coceth-7, coceth-4 and deceth-5 (plant-derived cleaning agents), xanthan gum (natural thickener), peg-15 cocomonium chloride (plant-containing cleaning agent)*, essential oils and botanical extracts** (citrus aurantifolia (lime), abies balsamea (balsam fir), calilistris columellaris (emerald cypress).
Eco-perks:
- Non-toxic & biodegradable
- Does not create harsh fumes
- Safe for septic & greywater systems
- Not tested on animals
- Kosher-certified
- Bottle is recyclable and they place a “Please recycle reminder” on the bottle.
What I think: Keep on reading this post!
Tagged as:
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Seventh Generation Emerald Cypress & Fir Toilet Bowl Cleaner,
store bought green cleaner,
toxic cleaners
by Jennifer on February 7, 2010
There’s a lot to be said for using greener cleaning products. Conventional cleaners come with a slew of issues ranging from health concerns, to home and planet pollution, to death. Following are ten problems and hazards of conventional cleaners to consider.
1) We really have no clue what’s in most cleaners or what the full negative effects of said cleaners may be…
- About 3 decades ago Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TCSA) but to date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tested only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds developed for all sorts of products used in the home; cleaners included.
- The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has found that one-third of the substances used in the fragrance industry are toxic which includes those fragrances found in air fresheners. However, chemical formulas of fragrances are considered trade secrets, so companies don’t have to list fragrance ingredients on labels of products, they only need to label them as containing “fragrance.”
2) Conventional cleaners are not well tested or regulated for safety…
- Neither cleaning product manufacturers or the EPA have to prove a chemical’s safety as a condition of use in the home. Safe or not, any old cleaner can be sold on the market. The funny part is you’d think they’d try harder since the EPA also notes that the following conventional cleaning products should be of concern when it comes to your child’s health; bath and kitchen disinfectants and sanitizers, including bleach, household cleaning or maintenance products, such as drain cleaner, paints, or glues, automotive products stored around the home, such as anti-freeze or windshield washer fluid, products used to kill mold or mildew.
- The National Research Council notes, “Less than 20% of chemicals in every-day use products have been tested for acute effects and less than 10% have been tested for chronic, reproductive or mutagenic effects.“
3) Conventional cleaners affect your health & safety… Keep on reading this post!
Tagged as:
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exposure to indoor airborne chemicals,
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