Non-Toxic Cleaning

In honor of our Non-Toxic Home Workshop coming up Wednesday evening from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., we thought we'd share with you some of our non-toxic cleaning products to use during spring and everyday cleaning.

According to health e times magazine, there are 80,000 chemical compounds in use today and only about 400 have been tested for their potential link to cancer.  Even without testing them, experts estimate that almost 10% of the total are likely carcinogens. Beyond that, toxins can certainly cause other problems for our organs, muscles, and nerves, and can irritate the eyes and airways as most of us have firsthand experience with (just walking through a cleaning aisle usually makes me feel dizzy).

Unfortunately, in last few decades, we've been exposed to many of those chemicals right in our own homes when we're "cleaning" them.

Here's the bright side: there are alternatives.  Nature is a powerful force for mean, green cleaning.  

Greenwood Naturals has an all-purpose cleaner (15.99), dish soap (9.99), and countertop spray (8.50) that are all biodegradable and made with lavender from the Sierra Foothills along with other natural goodies. The best part: the products are made by folks from Greenwood School in Mill Valley, California and the proceeds go toward tuition assistance there.

We've also got Begley's Best all purpose cleaner (5.50) made by our own green Angeleno, Ed Begley, Jr.  He's recently gotten famous for caring about the environment with his book, Living Like Ed, and his new TV show, but he's the real deal who's been involved in the movement for decades.

Finally, we carry the oldie but goodie, Dr. Bronner's Magic Castille Soap (small; 8.99) that can really be used for almost any cleaning as hand soap or dish soap or baby bath time soap.  I've used it to get out stains as tough as blood and it's worked.  It is also completely natural and can be diluted and can refill a glass pump bottle or other container over and over again. (After the cleaning's done you can rent the film about the soap's quirky inventor, too.)

We hope you will make the switch (if you haven't already) to cleaning alternatives that are from nature for nature and for our own health.