Starting out
To start this process, I grabbed all of the cleaning products in the house and checked them on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Guide to Healthy Cleaning. Why EWG? Well, the US isn't great about regulating what goes into our cleaning products. A longer, more detailed explanation can be found here. EWG evaluates products based on the following:
- Asthma, respiratory issues
- Skin allergies
- Developmental and reproductive toxicity
- Cancer
- Environmental concerns
Each product gets rated from A to F based on the ingredients. Our household landed C to F. This activity, while mildly horrifying, drove home the point that I need to be more informed about the ingredients used in my daily household products (e.g. formaldehyde, sodium borate, ethanolamine). It also reiterated the fact that not every product within a brand is created equal.
As I began the quest to transition our home from F's to A's, I suddenly found myself with more questions than answers:
As I began the quest to transition our home from F's to A's, I suddenly found myself with more questions than answers:
- Many of the "A" products still include ingredients that cause acute and chronic aquatic toxicity. Does our water treatment process address this?
- If I really want to be environmentally-conscious, I need to consider HOW the products are made, packaged, and distributed. Is an "A" product that uses all new plastic better than a "C" product that is made in a solar-powered building?
- If I buy an "A" product from a company that is part of a larger conglomerate that also produces "F" products, what does that really mean? Is it, in some way, helping to send a message to this larger conglomerate that more "A" products should be produced than "F" products?
It's a rabbit hole, people. A really long rabbit hole from which I have not emerged, except for some occasional sunlight that my mother shines my way.