How clean is your home?  Think about that question because I don’t mean your bathroom sink or your kitchen countertop.  I mean the things you can’t see, like the air in your home and chemicals in your furniture and carpets.  Now, look in the cabinet under your sink.  How many harmful, potentially “fatal if swallowed” chemicals do you have lurking under there?  More than you thought, huh?  Well, this is the first place to start.  Greening your cleaning.  Start by ditching your toxic chemicals and either making your own or purchasing organically made, non-toxic, all-natural alternatives.  There are so many wonderful brands out there and they are often the same price as the chemical cocktails.

The thing that hit home for me was finding out that there really is no one looking out for your safety when marketing these mainstream toxic cleaners.  There are two potentially fatal chemicals that most people have in their homes at this very moment.  When combined these chemicals form a deadly gas.  Yet, both of these cleaners are sold on the shelf at your local supermarket and are often used in the same room.  When you clean your bathroom you mostly likely use a window/glass cleaner for your mirrors and then a tub and tile or surface cleaner for the toilet and shower.  Well, the window/glass cleaner is ammonia based and the tub and tile is chlorine based or in other words, it contains bleach to disinfect.  When these two chemicals are combined a deadly gas is formed.  This gas is undetectable to the eye and can cause severe damage to the lungs or death depending upon the amounts used.  So, why are these chemicals sold as household cleaners and why are they being utilized in the same room with just a small warning label on the back?  Now think about this, how can you trust the companies who manufacture these products and market them, not to chemists, but to the populace?  Wouldn’t you rather use products that do not carry warning labels or images of skulls and crossbones?  Vinegar and baking soda can clean just about anything.  Add some essential oils and they are pretty much all you need to clean your entire house!  Clogged drain?  Don’t reach for one of those products that use sulfuric acid or lye, use baking soda, vinegar and hot water!  It works!  Or, use a plunger.  These options are much, much safer and you won’t have to worry about going blind or suffering from serious burns.  Enzymatic cleaners are another eco-friendly option, they contain bacteria cultures and enzymes that eat away at organic material without harming your pipes or your septic system.  Conscious living means thinking about the effects of our actions with every step we take and always being aware of where the chemicals we utilize are going to end up.  Most of these end up in rivers and streams and ultimately in the oceans where they cause algae blooms.  So, it’s a new year, how about a new cleaning routine?  Check out the Nexyoo providers for tons of natural cleaning products.