Easy Earth-Friendly Cleaning Tips
Making the switch to earth-friendly options benefits not only the environment but can result in a safer home for children and pets, cuts down on waste and rubbish inside, and promotes a healthier microbiome. If you are worried about costs, don’t: the swap to sustainable cleaning often helps your budget.
Let's go over a few easy tips you can implement in your house for earth-friendly cleaning.
1. Ditch the Paper, Avoid the Plastic
One of the easiest and quickest eco-friendly cleaning switches is to reconsider your use of paper and plastic-based cleaning materials and tools. Think paper towels, dusters, and sponges. All of these are highly manufactured products with manufacturing processes that can damage the environment, especially when designed to limit reusability.
Households go through rolls upon rolls of paper towels. Make the switch to reusable cloth or options engineered to biodegrade quickly when they are disposed of. For reusable cleaning cloths and towels that wash up easily by hand, the dishwasher, or can go into the washer and dryer with the rest of your laundry, look for cotton or bamboo.
For dealing with those stuck on stubborn stains, instead of reaching for the standard household sponge or steel wool, opt for scrubbers made of natural fibers.
As plastic products break down, they break into tiny particles that pollute water sources and can wind up ingested, causing long-term health issues. Loofah sponges give you the scrubbing power you need without the health and pollution side effects.
While there are various cleaning products available for purchase, you can make both of these swaps even more earth-friendly by making them yourself. Cotton tee shirts that have outlived normal wear can have a second or third life by being cut down into rag cloths for household use. And loofah plants are easy to grow and process into an abundance of sponges that will last you the entire year.
2. Mix it Up
We have talked previously about the best homemade cleaning solutions that you can use. Making the swap from harmful toxic chemicals found in most store-bought cleaners to natural earth-friendly options is not only better for the environment but is cost-effective as well.
With just a little bit of effort, you can mix up your own homemade cleaning solutions that sanitize and clean surfaces just as well as store-bought chemicals. Whether or not you have young children and pets in the house or it is all adults, you can rest a little easier knowing that surfaces and cleaners won’t harm your health.
Some of our top choices for homemade cleaning solution ingredients are items you probably already have on hand. So you won’t need to go on a great hunt to find them or break the bank tracking down an obscure ingredient. If you have any of the following, you are well on your way to earth-friendly cleaning:
- Vinegar - Clears stains and is generally a great all-purpose cleaner.
- Baking Soda - Natural deodorizer that can absorb on its own or mix into cleaners.
- Borax - Gentle cleaner that won’t damage paint or finishes.
- Cornstarch - Mixes to a paste for polishing smooth surfaces.
- Rubbing Alcohol - Highly disinfectant for bacteria.
3. Reuse the Single-Use
Don't toss out all your old containers and spray bottles as you work on mixing up your custom earth-friendly cleaning solutions. Wash them out thoroughly and give them a second life holding your new cleaners.
Single-use plastics are one of the most significant contributors to environmental pollution. Giving these items a longer lifetime lessens that impact. When they finally wear out, opt for longer-lasting containers made of glass.
If you end up with plastic bags from your shopping trips, save them to use while spring cleaning to hold trash or items for donation. They are also great options for small trash cans in the kitchen or bathrooms instead of buying dedicated small-sized trash bags.
4. Support Sustainability
Don’t worry if you are short on time or energy to DIY your home cleaning products on top of needing to clean. There are many sustainable, earth-friendly products and companies out there.
Just watch out for companies engaging in Greenwashing. Unfortunately, there are many manufacturers who advertise products as natural or environmentally friendly when they aren’t.
Some general guidelines when purchasing cleaning products are:
- Reduced packaging materials and containers made to be filled or used again
- Natural components like cotton and bamboo
- Avoid toxic chemicals like ammonia, chlorine, perchloroethylene, and phthalates
Don’t be fooled by green packaging or fancy slogans. Do your homework on the manufacturer selling it, the ingredients in the product, and the product itself. If you see a reputable label on a product, such as The Carbon Trust Standard and Fair Trade Certified, it is a good sign the product is as advertised.
Professional, Earth-Friendly Cleaning
Located in the Asheville area, Greenlife Professional Cleaning combines expertise with the best methods of green cleaning to provide the best results for all of our clients. We provide residential and commercial maid services for commercial and residential environments.
We treat every project as if it were our own property using primarily organic cleaning solutions, providing a healthy, eco-friendly, non-toxic, and effective solution for our customers. Contact us today online or at 828-424-7384 to get started on your free estimate.