Green Up Your Clean Up!

In sticking with our theme of spring cleaning, we can't go without mentioning actual cleaning.

There are many reasons to "green up" the way we clean up. The chemicals in our cleaning supplies can be harmful to our health {and environment!} - we are talking respiratory irritants, carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and more. Yikes. This sounds a little bit like what is going on with our food, right?

We don't mean to scare you into making non-toxic choices, but there are products out there with scary ingredients. Some of our most toxic household cleaners are corrosive drain cleaners, oven cleaners and acidic toilet bowl cleaners. And guess what, if it goes down the drain, where do you think it might end up?

Our solution? Let's take the same approach as one of Michael Pollan's Food Rules, by cleaning with household cleaners that our {great}grandmothers would recognize. Or we could take it a step further, and use products that wouldn't scare the crap out of us if a child were touching {or, heaven forbid, putting in their mouth}. Do you think Baking soda, lemon and vinegar would be on that list? Yep. An added bonus, is that these non-toxic cleaners are cheap and most likely already in your house. Winning! 

Baking soda is my go-to-guy. Honestly, I probably over-use it, but I love that it seems to clean up anything. I use a baking soda paste to: clean my sinks and tub, wash our stove top, get crayon off the wall, whiten my teeth, zap a zit, remove stains from our carpets, remove odors and to brighten our loads of laundry. Thank goodness it can be bought in bulk!

Here are some non-toxic brands we can get behind: Norwex, The Honest Company, Ecover, and Mrs. Meyers. Do you have a favorite brand or "self-made" cleaner that you love?