Good Clean Fun: A Look into Nontoxic Housecleaning

On average, an individual spends 9,672 hours cleaning during their lifetime—that’s the equivalent of 403 days!

Whether you like cleaning and find it to be a cathartic, productive use of your time, or you view it as being an arduous, obligatory task, I’m sure if there’s one thing we can all agree on it’s that we don’t want to expose ourselves, our loved ones, or our environment to unnecessary toxic chemicals whilst cleaning. Ironically, in cleaning our homes using conventional cleaners, we are doing just that—exposing ourselves and others to toxic chemicals and polluting our surfaces, air quality, waste streams, and waterways in the process.

Green, nontoxic housecleaning recipes and products offer a safe, environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional chemical-laden, toxic cleaners. 

One of the greatest benefits of greener cleaning products is their ability to improve your home’s air quality. The average person spends 87% of their time indoors, but according to the EPA, the air inside a typical home is 200-500% more polluted than the air outside due in large part to toxic household cleaning products.

Additionally, more than 184,000 tons of household cleaning products are dumped down the drain each year nationwide. That’s equal to over 1,000,000 pounds per day of cleaners containing toxic chemicals that can subsequently pollute our water table, kill wildlife, and pose health risks to the people and pets living in your home.

53% of chemical cleaning products contain ingredients that can harm your lungs. While conventional chemical-based household cleaners are effective and efficient, they are also poisonous if ingested, harmful if inhaled or touched, and contribute to indoor air pollution. Their convenience comes at a price that is too high—both for your personal health and wellbeing and the health and wellbeing of our environment.

Making the switch to alternative green cleaners offers a multitude of benefits such as reducing exposure to airborne toxic chemicals, reducing the incidence of respiratory issues caused by chemical allergens, and reducing the negative environmental impact of toxic household cleaning products. If you choose to make your own green household cleaners rather than purchasing green cleaners, you gain the additional benefits of saving money and reducing packaging waste by reusing spray bottles and containers.

This week, with help from my fellow environmentalist-at-large sister, Kim, I transitioned my household from conventional chemical cleaning products to green alternatives. Kim spearheaded the homemade cleaners while I purchased green alternatives from the store. In crafting homemade cleaners, Kim utilized a copy of Amy Kolb Noyes’ Nontoxic Housecleaning of the Chelsea Green Guides series. This book provides recipes and tips for making your own green cleaners including air freshener, all-purpose kitchen spray, appliance cleaner, bathroom spray, dish soap, disinfecting spray, furniture polish, glass cleaner, scouring powder, and wood floor polish.

Kim started her DIY cleaner journey by purchasing two spray bottles—one for glass cleaner and one for kitchen cleaner. (Note: you can also re-purpose conventional cleaner bottles as long as you rinse them out thoroughly).

For the all-purpose kitchen spray, she mixed:

1 Tablespoon castile soap
3 cups water
1 cup vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

For the glass cleaner, she mixed:
¼ teaspoon castile soap
1 ⅔ cups water
¼ cup vinegar

Both cleaners have worked great! The all-purpose kitchen cleaner has gotten a lot of use. The vinegar component of it cuts through grease, and the lemony scent leaves our kitchen smelling nice and clean.
As an additional waste-saving measure, use reusable dish rags for cleaning rather than single-use paper towels.

With the glass cleaner, using a small swath of old newspaper, a squeegee, or a lint-free cotton cloth are all viable alternatives to wasteful single-use paper products. I used newspaper when using the glass cleaner and
it left my mirrors squeaky clean and streak free. Best of all, I didn’t feel panicked when some of the spray dripped onto my hands and sprayed into my face.

When searching for the best soap to use in your homemade cleaner, Dr. Bronner’s is an ideal brand of castile soap because it is widely available, made with organic oils, is certified fair trade, is not tested on animals, and is available already scented with essential oils (if using unscented castile, soap, add 8-10 drops of your favorite essential oil per batch).

Generally speaking, main ingredients you need for household cleaners include baking soda, white vinegar, soap, borax, lemon juice, water, club soda (great for getting out stains on clothes, carpet, and upholstery), and salt. You can look to a guide like Noyes’ Nontoxic Housecleaning or find a lot of ideas and recipes on the internet.

If you’re not one for doing it yourself, you can also seek pre-made green cleaning products in stores. This week I purchased green dish soap and dishwasher pods. The key in searching for green cleaners is to look for products that are dye and fragrance free, chlorine free, phosphate free, made from plant-based ingredients (rather than petroleum-based ingredients), and are biodegradable. If the products contain warning labels such as “Caution!” “Danger!” or “May cause burns” they are neither green nor safe to bring into your home.

For additional insight, information, and product recommendations, consider taking a look at this Green Guide to household cleaning supplies from the Organic Consumers Association

Our homes should be places of solace, respite, safety, health, and relaxation—not places coated in and polluted by caustic, toxic cleaning agents. A clean home is a happy home, but a green/clean home is a happier home!

I encourage you to make the switch to green cleaning agents—not only for the environment, but for your health and wellbeing as well. Reducing your waste and exposure to chemicals by making your own cleaning products or investing in green alternatives feels immensely satisfying. It’s a switch we should have made years ago, but it’s better late than never.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts, experiences, homemade cleaner recipes, and more in the comments section below. Nontoxic housecleaning is just one step, but an important one, on the journey toward greener living. 

Join me next week as I endeavor to green my hygiene routine: from beauty products, to water usage, to toilet paper—it’ll be a blog you won’t want to miss!

~Sam

The Great Napkin Debate: Cloth vs. Paper

The napkin. A commonplace element of daily life that many of us don’t think twice about. When we get some food on our hands or face, we reach automatically for a napkin to clean ourselves up. We may even preemptively handle spills and protect our clothes by tucking a napkin into our shirt or draping it across our lap before eating.

The world of napkin etiquette is admittedly a mystery to me. I come from a “non-napkin” family where I became accustomed to wiping my hands on my pants, the kitchen chair, or an errant dish rag while eating. It’s not that my family was opposed to napkins, we just used them rarely. On the occasion when someone would need a napkin, we’d simply head to the roll of paper towels and make do. When we’d have guests over or be hosting a party, a pack of paper cocktail napkins would inevitably appear, pulled from the depths of some drawer. While my personal experience with napkins may be a bit thin, I have still had enough experience to identify paper napkins as being an avoidable source of waste in our daily lives.

As with many single-use disposable paper products, a lot of energy and resources go into the production of paper napkins. When you factor in harvesting the material, processing and bleaching, packaging, shipping, and transportation to and from the store, paper napkins are about twice as energy-intensive and create more greenhouse gas emissions than their cloth napkin counterparts, according to the Mother Nature Network. Despite all the energy that goes into this product, paper napkins are used only once for a matter of mere seconds or minutes before being thrown away.

And paper napkins ultimately should be thrown away. Yes, paper napkins are made of paper (no surprise there), but because they come into contact with food waste, grease, and possibly bodily fluids and cannot be adequately “cleaned” during the recycling process, they should not be recycled.

So, we once again find ourselves in the position where recycling and reusing are not viable options to combat this source of waste. That leaves us with reducing! And the best way to reduce paper napkin use is to avoid it altogether by switching to reusable cloth napkins instead.

My first experience using cloth napkins (aside from encountering them in restaurants) came, appropriately, while I was participating in an immersive abroad program in college focused on sustainability. There were roughly nine of us living in an old farm house, and we each had a clothespin labeled with our name in the kitchen on which we hung a reusable cloth napkin. The napkins were collected and washed weekly and then redistributed to be used again. It was great! However, due to my family’s “non-napkin” tendencies, I hadn’t thought to implement such a measure at home until now.

When I decided to initiate the switch from paper napkins (or in my family’s case, no napkins supplemented by the occasional paper product) to reusable cloth napkins, I spent some time trying to figure out which cloth napkin was the best choice.

Factoring in water resources used and gas emissions produced to grow the raw materials, manufacture the napkins, and launder them weekly (for the cloth napkins), setting the table with a year’s worth of paper napkins produces 7.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and uses 24.5 gallons of water. Alternatively, using cotton napkins produces 3.9 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and uses 43.3 gallons of water, while linen napkins produce only 1.9 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and use a mere 8.9 gallons of water.

Ultimately, these calculations from environmental consultant and columnist Pablo Paster conclude that linen napkins are the most sustainable option. This is due in large part to the fact that cotton is a highly irrigated crop with heavy pesticide use as compared to linen that is made from the more eco-friendly flax plant. Unfortunately, linen napkins are also the most expensive option. However, for a one-time investment in something that you could use every day, it may be well-worth your money to invest in the pricier but more sustainable linen option.

Given my circumstances (living at home with limited income and a family that generally does not use napkins), I opted to purchase a 12-pack of vibrant, colorful cotton napkins. I know my family will be washing these much less frequently than once per week, so some water usage will be saved there. It’s also important to note that how you choose to launder your reusable cloth napkins does have an impact on how much they reduce your resource consumption (see my previous blog on greening your laundry routine). Generally speaking, to make the greatest environmental impact with your cloth napkins, they should be washed in cold water, using eco-friendly biodegradable detergent, and should be air dried.

I ordered my napkins from Amazon, which generates additional waste in transport and packaging, so ideally you would buy your reusable cloth napkins from a local store (declining both the plastic bag and the receipt if offered). In my defense, I did try to do this, but the one kitchen/linens store near me did not have any cloth napkins in stock. For the craftier among us, cloth napkins can also be made from recycled fabrics/textiles.

When my napkins arrived in the mail earlier in the week, I was ecstatic! I opted to buy a colorful pack and was greatly encouraged when my dad, a previous cloth napkin naysayer, asked excitedly, “Can I be the yellow one?!”

My napkins also arrived just in time for the holidays (in which feasting is generally a main event). I’m excited to add some style and sustainability to our traditional Thanksgiving meal this year when I set the table with my new reusable cloth napkins.

That’s another great aspect of cloth napkins—they can spruce up and fancify even the simplest of meals, adding a classy and stylish touch to your everyday eating. You can also take your cloth napkins on-the-go to avoid generating waste while eating out.

Overall, I have really enjoyed making the switch to reusable cloth napkins. As infrequently as we use napkins, my family now has an environmentally-friendly alternative to paper napkins that will help us reduce our waste over time. If you decide to join the winning side of this debate and switch your household from paper to cloth napkins, remember to shop locally, purchase linen napkins, and wash responsibly to have the greatest impact in reducing your waste and resource consumption. If you are unwilling or unable to forgo paper napkins, then consider switching to using napkins made from recycled paper.

Whatever you end up doing, let me know how it goes in the comments below! And stay tuned next week for my look into greener cleaners as I try out homemade all-natural cleaning products.

~Sam 

'Tis the Season...

As the weather turns colder, the snow begins to fall, and the calendar creeps ever closer toward December, it’s official: the holiday season is upon us!

At its best, the holiday season is a time steeped in tradition, family, and the act of giving. At its worst, this season is a time marred by capitalism, greed, excess, and waste.

From Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste increases by more than 25%. Food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows, and ribbons used and discarded during the holiday season account for an additional 1 million tons of waste being sent to our landfills, weekly!

Whether you’ve waited eagerly all year or you already cannot wait for it to be over, the holidays are a time both to honor old traditions and embrace new ones. This year, I encourage you to embrace and incorporate sustainability as a new tradition—and there is no better place to start than with the simple act of gift wrapping.

In the U.S., annual trash from gift wrap and shopping bags alone produce 4 million tons of waste.Traditional wrapping paper is often dyed and laminated in a way that makes recycling difficult. Any wrapping paper that is metallic, has glitter on it, or has velvet flocking cannot be recycled and should instead go directly into the trash. Simple wrapping paper without such additives can and should be recycled, although recycling your wrapping paper is a last resort and should be utilized only after first attempting to reuse or reduce paper use altogether.

Reusing wrapping paper is a viable option if your are willing to unwrap presents carefully so that the paper remains in pristine condition. You can then save money and reduce waste by reusing your carefully collected wrappings in your future gift wrapping endeavors. Wrapping paper that cannot be recycled can also be reused in a variety of crafting projects, as padding around fragile items you may be boxing up, or to make ornaments/decorations for next year’s holiday season. Check out some creative ideas and instructions on how to reuse your wrapping paper.

Better than both recycling and reusing, is the option of reducing your wrapping paper use by avoiding the product altogether. I’ll admit that traditional wrapping paper is often irresistibly fun and festive, but other materials you have on hand such as paper bags, newspaper, old maps, and different sorts of cloth can be used to cover your presents as a unique, creative, and sustainable alternative to single-use wrapping paper.

You can also utilize reusable gift bags, boxes, baskets, or reusable gift wrap made of stretchy/stylish fabric such as Wrapeez.

I haven’t yet used such products myself, but they are reviewed positively as being easy to use, looking professional, and saving time and resources as compared to traditional wrapping paper. One reviewer aptly suggested using these only for gifts to immediate family members or close friends so he can take the wrapping back, but other reviewers found the wrap could be passed on and reused by the recipient of their gifts and seemed unbothered by the prospect of not getting the wrap back. Other companies, like Wrag Wrap offer a range of recycled fabric gift wrap and bags as being an “ethical alternative to wrapping paper.”

You can also decorate old sheets, blankets, or clothing to be used as a reusable gift wrap option. There was even one year at Christmas when, much to my family’s chagrin, I simply draped some sheets and blankets over their gifts. Admittedly, that was more motivated by the pressing time constraints of having the gifts ready to go for the next morning rather than a desire to be more sustainable, but it just goes to show you that when it comes to alternatives to single-use, disposable wrapping paper, it’s alright to get creative!

Not just around the holidays, but for all my gift wrapping needs, I frequently turn to brown paper bags or old newspapers lying around my house. You can put as much time and effort into decorating these wrappings as you want, and you can watch the recipient tear open their gift with unbridled glee, your conscious no longer weighed down by contributing to the wasteful, single-use, disposable culture that so often accompanies our gift-giving occasions.

Of course, wrapping paper is but one source of avoidable waste this holiday season. If you’re looking to commit to a more comprehensive sustainable holiday season this year, consider incorporating some of these tips as well:

1. Bring reusable bags when you’re shopping for those holiday feast items, Black Friday deals, or last-minute gifts

2. Consider buying gifts with an environmental message, such as a reusable water bottle or thermos, a canvas tote, or items made from recycled materials

3. If you’re receiving tons of unwanted magazines or other holiday promotional mail this time of year, call the company’s customer service number and ask to be removed from their mailing list (and be sure to recycle the magazines, letters, etc. you do receive)

4. Send electronic cards or purchase cards made from recycled materials


5. Use reusable cutlery/plates/cups when entertaining


6. Make recycling easy and accessible for your guests

7. When you dispose of your tree, make sure it is either being composted or chipped into mulch rather than being deposited into a landfill (each year in the United States, 50 million Christmas trees are purchased, and of those, 30 million end up in landfills)

8. Alternatively, consider investing in a live tree that can be planted outdoors afterwards or a cost-saving artificial tree to be used year after year

9. Turn off holiday lights when you go to bed to conserve electricity, use energy-efficient LEDs, or consider stringing popcorn and cranberries instead of lights

10. And of course, wrap your gifts in a reusable alternative to single-use wrapping paper 

So, as the holiday season inevitably progresses this time of year, by all means celebrate however you want to. Enjoy your time off with family and friends. Eat, drink, and be merry. But, consider making a commitment to a more sustainable and environmentally-conscious holiday season this year. Whether it be investing in energy-efficient holiday lights, putting out a recycling bin at your holiday party, composting your food scraps, or bringing a reusable bag with you on your shopping trips, I urge every one of you to adopt at least one sustainable practice this holiday season. And, if nothing else, wrap your gifts in something other than single-use, disposable, non-recyclable wrapping paper.

As you embark on your sustainable initiative this holiday season, feel free to let me know how it goes. Also, if anyone has other tips or earth-friendly traditions they’d like to share, please do so in the comments section below.

In the meantime, have a happy holiday season and stay tuned next week for my look into reusable cloth napkins as an alternative to single-use, disposable napkins.

~Sam 

"Would You Like a Receipt With That?"

Receipt paper is widely used every day. In this capitalist society rooted in consumption, how could it not be? However, these paper receipts, while a tangible source of waste and environmental destruction, are also more subtly nefarious in their troublesome toxicity.

Before beginning my week of investigating the realities of receipt waste reduction in daily life, I thought I had it all figured out. Step 1. Refuse a receipt whenever possible. Step 2. Recycle any receipts you do receive.

Simple enough, right?

Well, as it turns out, the majority of receipts are printed on thermal paper, which is coated in a material formulated to change color when exposed to heat. The printing develops from the heat without requiring any ink to be physically applied to the paper. Thermal paper is commonly used in devices such as cash registers and credit card terminals. The material coating these receipts is the chemical Bisphenol A, commonly referred to as BPA for short. BPA is a known endocrine disrupter (meaning it disrupts our bodies' hormones) and has been linked to cancer, obesity, type-2 diabetes, reproductive issues, and some neurological disorders.

Individuals working as cashiers or in occupations involving regular receipt handling have been found to have higher levels of BPA in their body fluids than other occupations, according to a report by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. This is because the BPA used in thermal paper is unbound, meaning it wipes off easily onto hands and whatever else it may come into contact with.

According to a study published by the American Chemical Society, BPA is found in 94% of receipts. Subsequently, recycling these receipts contaminates recycled paper products including napkins, toilet paper, and food packaging with toxic BPA.

Unfortunately, for this reason, receipts should not be recycled or composted.

Receipts printed on regular paper with ink are recyclable, but they’re becoming less and less common as merchants use thermal paper for a quicker, quieter, more affordable, ink-free receipt-printing process.This thermal paper is often quite thin, appears to be smooth and glossy, and discolors easily when scratched with a coin or paperclip. If your receipts fit this description, then handle with care!—or ideally, not at all.

As someone who regularly handles receipts in my field of work, I was appalled to learn that these seemingly benign slips of paper are essentially coated in toxins that can be absorbed directly through the skin.

If you handle receipts regularly, I suggest reading more into safe handling practices recommended by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

And, if you happen to run a business that involves receipts, as many businesses do, consider switching to a digital system or at the very least using phenol-free receipt paper from Appvion Alpha Free and Koehler Paper Group, which use ascorbic acid and Pergafast 201 as substitutes for BPA. These phenol-free receipt paper alternatives are slightly more expensive than their thermal paper counterparts, but increasing market demand is making them more cost competitive. 

As if their impact on human health isn't reason enough to do away with paper receipts, paper receipts also have severe environmental implications. Annually, receipt production in the United States consumes over 10 million trees, 250 million gallons of oil, and 1 billion gallons of water, generating 1.5 billion pounds of waste.

The simple act of choosing not to receive a receipt is undoubtedly the best solution to the issue of wasteful and toxic paper receipts.

In today’s age of near-ubiquitous technology, digital receipt software programs offer a convenient alternative to toxic and wasteful paper receipts. Programs like Square offer convenient, low-cost digital systems and allow customers to have receipts sent to them via email.

As consumers, if you are prompted “Would you like a receipt for that?”—either by a cashier or by a computer—just say no! If you’re using a credit card, your transaction history will be available online. Alternatively, if you need to track your expenses, utilize your phone and jot down the amount spent and merchant information in a note.

Bottom line: beware of receipts! They can’t be recycled, they are toxic, and they are completely unnecessary in today’s digital age. Avoid and go without a receipt whenever you can. Utilize digital receipts whenever possible. If you do end up getting a thermal paper receipt, make sure to dispose of it in the trash and wash your hands after handling it.

Hopefully, you feel more informed and more determined than ever to reduce unnecessary sources of waste in your life. Like me, were you shocked to find out that our receipts are laced with toxins and are not, in fact, recyclable? How do you manage to avoid receipts in your daily life? Or are you a receipt loyalist who always gets a receipt, no matter what? Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below!

Stay tuned next week as I explore alternatives to single-use wrapping paper—just in time for the holiday season!

~Sam