Environmental Information

Many people think that with all that goes on in the bathroom, it’s the  germiest place in your house. Well, you are wrong! In fact, the kitchen has  far higher rates of germs. This article from WebMD details all the places  bacteria is hiding in your kitchen, and how to get rid of them!

Zap away bugs.
Kitchen sponges are the No. 1 source of germs in the whole house. Why? The moist, micro-crevices that make a sponge such an effective cleaning device also make it a cozy home for germs and more difficult to disinfect. Wiping your counters or dishes with a dirty sponge will only transfer the bacteria from one item to another. “Wet your sponge and then pop it in the microwave for two minutes to eliminate the germs that lurk inside the crevices,” says Neil Schachter, MD, medical director of respiratory care at Mount Sinai in New York City, and the author of The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu.

Wipe away germs.
Faucet handles, refrigerator door handles, and doorknobs are next on the list of kitchen culprits that aid and abet germs. Use disinfectant spray or wipes on sink faucets, refrigerator handles, stove handles, cupboard handles, trashcans, doorknobs, and any other area that you touch with your hands. “These sprays or wipes kill germs on contact,” explains Schachter. “This is really important and should be done several times a day before and after touching these objects,” he says. “Don’t forget to wipe down the telephone,” adds Charles Gerba, PhD, a professor of microbiology at University of Arizona in Tucson. “A lot of times, someone is cooking and has a question for the original chef, so he or she calls their parents to find out how to make it and the bacteria gets slopped on the phone and it grows.”

Clean the cutting board.
Cracks and crevices in your cutting board provide plenty of space for bacteria to grow. “The average cutting board has about 200% more fecal bacteria than the average toilet seat,” Gerba says. “People don’t disinfect cutting boards,” he says, and they should. “Don’t cut up chicken and then salad on the same cutting board without disinfecting it,” he stresses. Better yet, “use separate boards for raw meat and making salads.” Plus, he says it’s important to clean and disinfect inside the fridge, microwave, cupboards and other surfaces that come into frequent contact with food.

Dust out the drain.
The drains in both your kitchen sink and bathtub provide yet another moist hideaway for bacteria. “To kill these bugs where they live use baking soda and an old toothbrush to get rid of stains, grit, and grime around drains,” Schachter says. “Disinfect drains regularly as you would any other surface.”

With Christmas less than 3 weeks away, now is the perfect time to consider what steps you are willing to take to give yourself a truly ‘green’ Christmas.  Below are 12 Steps to help make sure both you AND the environment enjoy this holiday season:

1.    Purchase an “Environmentally Responsible” Christmas Tree
I completely believe that nothing says “Merry Christmas!” like walking into a house and being overwhelmed with the smell of fresh balsam.  And while some green enthusiasts may believe they are doing the environmentally responsible thing by purchasing a fake tree, artificial trees carry a gigantic carbon footprint, the PVC used to make them is NOT biodegradable, lead is often used as a PVC stabilizer. So, when you’re shopping for a tree, look for a green certified, cut tree. If you need help looking, the Coalition of Environmentally Conscious Growers can help you find one.

2.    Re-use Christmas tins and fill them with baked goods
Every year, we all get tins upon tins of Christmas baked goods, fudge, and popcorn. Instead of throwing the tins away, fill them with your own, homemade baked goods and give this new package to your loved ones.

3.    Need teacher presents? Give the gift of green, recycled toilet paper, paper towels, & tissues
While it is never expected to give teacher gifts, if you plan on doing so, why not give them something they can use in the classroom and most likely do not get funding for?

4.    Give the gift of green clean to Mom & Dad with a year’s green cleaning service
One Christmas, I prepaid a cleaning service to clean my parents house for an entire year.  To this day, they still say it was the best gift they ever got. And as you select your service, make sure the cleaning service uses green, natural cleaners and practices.

5.    Give vintage or used gifts
Vintage gifts are undeniably trendy – so as you hunt for gifts such as purses, furniture, or even books, don’t be afraid to check out a vintage shop. You’ll come away with one of kind gifts!

6.    Purchase fair trade, ethical products
As you make your list and check in twice, be sure to look for fair-trade products. These products are manufactured  in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world and provide low-income artisans and farmers with a living wage for their work. Check out the Fair-Trade Online Store for great gift ideas.

7.    Be conscious of your added electricity usage
As your house glimmers with its impeccable display of lights, be aware of this  added electricity usage. As you turn your outdoor lights on, why not turn the indoor ones off?  Try lighting some candles or your fireplace – the effects are magical!

8.    If you need to purchase new Christmas lights, buy energy-efficient LED Christmas lights
These energy efficient Christmas Lights are Energy Star approved and have an endless list of perks  including 95% energy reduction, capable of lasting 100,000 hours, fire safe, and the strings stay lit even if one burns out.

9.    RECYCLE RECYCLE RECYCLE all of the Christmas wrap, boxes, tissue paper, etc

10.     Use Green Cleaning Products & Recycled Trash Bags when getting your house sparking clean
As you get your house in tip-top shape for the holiday season, don’t forget to use green, natural and biodegradable cleaning products and recycled trash bags. In fact, make this your New Year’s resolution to make the switch to green cleaning products permanent!

11.     Send electronic Christmas cards
When you send out your family Christmas cards this year, skip the old fashioned way and do it electronically. It will not only save you postage, but it will reduce paper waste and fuel emissions in the process.

12.    Buy local for your holiday get together’s
Why buy tomatoes from foreign counries when there are fresh ones in your local area? Buying local helps promote local businesses and farms, reduces fuel emissions, and promotes sustainability. So the next time you go to purchase carrots for your holiday spread, remember the average carrot travels 1,838 miles before it gets there.

Looking for the ingredients in your cleaning products may now be much easier  thanks to the folks at SC Johnson & Co.  Nine months ago the company, who’s brand portfolio includes Nature’s Source, Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles, Drano, Fantastik, Glade, Pledge, Shout and many more, launched a website to host the ingredient list for all of its products. This type of website and this type of transparency is the first of its kind in an industry that has come under much flack recently for products containing potentially harmful chemicals.

To date, there are over 200 products listed on the site, WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com,  including 126 air care products and 76 home cleaning products manufactured by SC Johnson. Additionally, there are explanations of all 169 ingredients found in these products.  You can search for the product lists by name or by use, making finding which ever product you are looking for a breeze.

Kudos to SC Johnson for their innovative and groundbreaking efforts in encouraging product transparency and for letting the public know what you’re made of. We hope other major manufacturers will soon follow suite!

In short – YES! The green cleaners on the market today are much more powerful (while still natural!) than when they were first introduced. As the green cleaning products category gained a larger following and big name brands (Clorox, Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles, etc) started to invest in their green product lines, the quality and effectiveness of these eco-friendly cleaners increased as well.

Now, most of the green cleaning products on the market are in line with their traditional counterparts. In fact, Good Housekeeping couldn’t ignore this segment any longer, so they recently unveiled their “Green Good Housekeeping Seal” to help designate the green products that pass their normal standards, PLUS an additional set of green practice requirements.   Nature’s Source cleaning products, a new line of green & biodegradable cleaners made from 99% natural ingredients, was the first group of products to earn this highest regarded designation.

One of the bigger problems most green enthusiasts worry about today is not whether or not the products are effective, its actually whether or not their ‘green’ products are truly ‘green’. Since the FDA & EPA has yet to designate a complete set of green product standards, hypothetically, anyone can call their products ‘green’. When purchasing green cleaning products two of the most important factors to look for are a) Whether or not it is biodegradable and b)What the ingredient label says.  While there are many other factors to consider (such as if the company has a strong sustainability policy or if the products come in recycled plastic bottles), these two factors relate the most to the ‘greenness’ of the actual product.

I hope this helped answer some of your questions about green & eco-friendly cleaning products.  If you have more questions, please don’t ever hesitate to shoot me an email – I’d be happy to answer your questions!

Whether this is your first time pregnant or you’re expecting the 5th addition to your family, one question you may have during your pregnancy is whether or not you can clean while pregnant?

In answering this question, keep in mind the basic principal of safe pregnancy – anything you come into contact with your baby is potentially exposed to it as well. Your child’s development (especially during Trimesters One & Two) is crucial, extremely sensitive, and no two women’s pregnancies are the same.

In general, it is safe to clean with GREEN, NATURAL cleaners
With lots of cleaners these days claiming to be green & natural, the most important feature to look for is a NON-TOXIC cleaner. Take a quick look at the ingredients list on the label and if there is anything you wouldn’t feel safe exposing your baby to, ask for someone’s assistance on that task. Two chemicals that most doctors agree will NOT cause harm to either your or your child are ammonia and chlorine.

Wear elbow-length gloves and a breathing mask while cleaning
The gloves will protect your body from anything that could potentially get into your skin in the area that will most likely have the most exposure to the products while cleaning. The breathing mask (the ones worn by painters and in hospitals) will help filter the air.

If you decide to hire a cleaning company, make sure they are using GREEN, NATURAL cleaners as well
Just because someone else is doing the physical work for you, doesn’t mean you can’t still be exposed to the harsh fumes and residues left behind long after the cleaners have left. Make sure all of the window cleaners, carpet cleaners, disinfectants, aerosols, & air fresheners the company uses are non-toxic and free of harsh chemicals. For a listing of green cleaners, visit the International Janitorial Cleaning Services Association’s Directory of Green Cleaning Services.

Please remember, these are recommendations for the average pregnancy, but you should always speak with your doctor about conditions relating to you specifically. For a listing eco-friendly cleaners, please visit the Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products section of CleaningProductsWorld.com.

According to Nutrion Business Journal, sales of green cleaning products are up 35% and continuing to rise.  While most users can rattle off a laundry list of positive reasons for using these natural, eco-friendly cleaners, here’s one more reason we may sometimes forget: They’re safer for our pets too.

Pets have the most contact with places we clean, sanitize & disinfect
They walk with their bare feet  on the floors we clean, lay on the surfaces we disinfect, and rub their bodies on the coffee tables and chairs we sanitize; all which are things normal humans don’t do.  This increased exposure puts them at a higher risk for allergic reactions, nausea, vomiting and other long term effects such as kidney, liver, heart damage, and cancer.

Pets’ immune systems are more at risk for the adverse effects of traditional cleaning products
Since their bodies metabolize and process things differently than humans, they are more at risk for the harmful side effects of traditional cleaners.  This factor, combined with their increased exposure to the chemicals, can be a potentially extremely harmful combination.

Pets like to lick – that means the chemicals too
Think about how many times we’ve seen our furry friends eat treats off the floor or lick their coats after rolling around on the floors we’ve just cleaned.  When they do this, they are essentially eating the chemicals.

How to fix the problem – Use Safe, Non-Toxic Chemicals
The solution to this problem for our dogs, cats, hamsters and other pets is simple – switch to green, natural, non-toxic cleaning products in your home.  When searching for new green cleaners, the most important thing to look for is to make sure the chemicals are non-toxic. They don’t contain the potentially harmful substances of traditional cleaners, ensuring they live their 7 lives to the fullest and healthiest.

Congratulations to Clorox Green Works’ Natural Bathroom Cleaner for being one of the first products to be awarded the new Green Seal of Approval from Good Housekeeeping!

I’ve been a big advocate of Green Works since its launch in 2008.  Unfortunately though, due to the lack of regulations in the Green cleaning products segment, I’ve seen some reluctantly from consumers to try various green cleaning products for either fear of the products not working as effectively or for not being “green” even when the products claim they are.

This new Green Seal by Good Housekeeping solves both of those problems.  In order for products to earn the Green Good Housekeeping Seal, they need to first meet all the requirements and pass all the same tests of a regular Good Housekeeping Seal product.  Additionally, Good Housekeeping has established an additional set of criteria (ranging from chemical composition to corporate social responsibility policies to banning animal testing) that the Green Seal products must also meet.

According to Good Housekeeping, their new “Green Seal” was established for 2 reasons:
1)    Give customers a reliable guide to products that are truly environmentally sound
2)    Encourage manufacturers to adopt more green practices into their composition, production, packaging, distribution, and use

So if you are looking for a completely unbiased guide to green products, remember to visit the Green Seal section of GoodHousekeeping.com.

In appreciation of our customers’ continuous commitment to protect the environment, all orders placed this week on CleaningProductsWorld.com will receive a free reusable grocery bag.  When shopping, these green reusable bags will help reduce the 12 million barrels of oil and the 14 million trees a year that go into the production of plastic shopping bags.

Simply place your order by Friday, 9/11 at 5 pm to receive your free bag!  Also, check out our Eco-Friendly Products section to continue shopping green.

Thank you to all who have already made the switch to these green & eco-friendly cleaning products!

*Bags will be shipped separately from order; Please allow 1-2 weeks for delivery.

As a result of the success of last week’s blog post (What to Recycle in the Bathroom – The Forgotten Items), I decided to cover another overlooked area in the home, office, and restaurant – our beloved kitchens! There are countless recyclable items in the kitchen, but we may often times find ourselves saying What can I recycle? Here are a few of the most commonly forgotten kitchen items:

Flattened Food Boxers & Liners
When you finish a box of cereal or a snack crackers, both the box and the plastic liner can be recycled. Simply separate remove the plastic bag and flatten the box.

Pizza Boxes
As one of America’s favorite comfort foods, we’re thankful we can recycle this box!

Broken Glass & Plastic Dinnerware & Cups
The next time a glass or dinner plate break, instead of tossing it, recycle it! We recommend placing the broken pieces in a brown paper bag first to help protect the sanitary workers handling the collection bins.

For more details, visit your city’s local website for specific details on their recycling program. Looking for other ways to go green? Visit our special Eco-Friendly section of CleaningProductsWorld.com for low prices and fast-shipping on all of your green needs.

C Fold Paper Towels are a type of parallel fold towel that create six panels with two parallel folds in a spiral fold configuration (Read – they fold inward!) This fold is also commonly used for bi-fold, tri-panel brochures and letter folds.

To allow the panels to nest inside each other properly, the folded in end panel is usually 1/32″ to 1/8″ narrower than the other panels.  C-Fold paper towels are extremely common in commercial and public restrooms as well as quick service restaurants and cafeterias.

Features/Benefits of C-Fold Hand Towels
•    Dispenses a large, fully-opened, absorbent towel, one at a time
•    Unique fold allows towel to be pulled without touching dispenser, reducing risk of cross contamination
•    Interfold design cannot be loaded incorrectly to prevent mis-feeds and reduce maintenance time
•    Optimum stacking ability

Looking for a great C-Fold Hand Towel?  Try Windsoft C Fold Paper Towels – they’re environmentally conscious, made from recycled paper, and yet are still thick, strong, soft AND absorbent.  What more could you ask for in a paper towel?