When choosing and using commercial household cleaners, many of us forget that whatever we pour down our drains ends up in our water supply, reservoirs, oceans, rivers and groundwater where the chemicals released pose serious threats to marine and wildlife. In addition to our outdoor environment, the toxins in typical commercial cleaners also pollute our indoor air and in fact, our own bodies. It is an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality we have adopted in which we think whatever we discard is “gone”. The truth of the matter is, whatever is washed away or thrown away never really GOES anywhere, it is simply moved from one place (our homes) to another place on our planet (our waterways or landfills). So it is for those reasons that I created a green cleaning web page back in 1997. It was a labor of love during which I taught myself basic HTML code (having no web creation software to do it for me back then). After weeks of learning HTML, designing the page and researching and compiling the “recipes”, it was finally ready for it’s web debut, being one of only a scant handful of green pages on the Internet. Since then, many new green sites have emerged and I am very encouraged by the new surge in the environmental movement.
So follow the link below to my original collection of favorite environmentally friendly natural homemade cleaning formulas, concoctions and witches brews. The majority are safe and nontoxic, with a few exceptions which are clearly noted. Use the ingredients listed when making your own alternative cleaners, most are inexpensive and you probably already have many of them in your kitchen cupboards. All can be found at your local supermarket, natural food store or drugstore. Used individually or combined, these cleaners are safe for both our environment and for our bodies in addition to being effective and cost-efficient.