April 24, 2010

Going Green: too hard to change or just habit?

By:  Larry Rickman
April 24th, 2010
Dream2clean.blogspot.com

Going green has never been easier yet I have noticed that even many of my closest friends still use toxic cleaners in their homes; around their toddlers, on the floor where they play, on the counters where they eat, and in the dishwasher where they clean.  I have asked them the reasons over the past year and as you can imagine have heard various excuses why they have not made the change to green cleaning products. We hope to dispel the reasons here today and get them moving in a healthier direction. 



As you can imagine the most compelling reason heard is that its more expensive to buy green products.  True or false?  FALSE.  While many of the products you can purchase off the shelf at your local store may cost more the alternatives that are online or that can be made are anything but "expensive".  The key is to buy green cleaning products that can be diluted.  For example - Shaklee sells a product called Basic H2 that can be diluted into 3 different products; window/mirror cleaner, all-purpose, and degreaser.  In a normal home environment the $16 kit will last 18-24 months.  That's only three bottles of off the shelf 409 (which is really not good for you) and how quickly do you use a bottle?    Further you can make you own cleaning products in your home.  We've blogged about this before so go check it out.  Vinegar and water make a fantastic glass/mirror cleaner and its cheap but more importantly it works as good if not better than that nasty toxic windex product you buy off the shelf.


The other reason we hear is its not convenient; recycling is a hassle, buying green cleaning products takes time, making better decisions regarding food ingredients is time consuming, and I'm already strapped for time.  We would argue that you DO NOT have the time to buy toxic products; you'll spend more time visiting the doctors office as a result of using bad chemicals in your home.  Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC's are items in your home that are known dangers.  Many of the cleaners used in homes today increase the amount of VOC's in your air and therefore can impact your health and the health of your loved ones.  Some of these VOC's depress the immune system making it easy for you and your family to get ill.  Spending more time sick; missing work, school, or play time means that toxic cleaners actually take more of your time.  There is a simple solution; ask.  At Dream2clean we are here to help you make better choices for your family - choices that will improve health and save you money at the same time.

The last issue is a bit more difficult to overcome because it falls in the category of habit.  Changing habits is one of the most difficult things to do.  As we get older we become more resistant to change.  It is said that a habit takes 30-45 days to change and since this is the case each of us would have to make a concerted effort to change.  Instead of reaching for Tide (that your mother used) reach for the laundry ball that you bought online which will save you a ton of money in the next 12 months and prevent toxic products from being on/in your clothes.  Removing toxic cleaners from your home is like stopping smoking.  It won't happen overnight and you will have to put effort into it.  The great thing is there are companies out there that will make your transition easy; just ask.  We all habit ourselves into health issues; we eat poorly cause its habit, we don't exercise because its habit, we smoke because its habit, and we don't clean up our home because we either don't know any better or its habit.  

Going green is not only the right thing to do for your families health its the right thing to do for mother earth.  Many folks talk about leaving a legacy of debt behind for the next generation and while that is a concern it will be moot if we don't take care of the one thing that matters most - Mother Earth.

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