 Most surfers equate
"clean" with high quality surf conditions. Clean and glassy waves are what
we need to survive. But that is not enough. We all know we need clean
water to surf in, and we can start by reducing the sources of pollution
right at home.By some estimates the average American uses 40 pounds of toxic cleaning products per year. Household cleaning products we buy pollute the oceans, surface and ground waters, the air, our health, and the health of wildlife. Contamination occurs through the manufacture, use and disposal of the products. They contain many types of pollutants- from the heavy metals, to a variety of petrochemical compounds and detergents-all which can be found in most cleaning products in the local chain supermarket, and probably in your own home. The fate of toxic pollutants discharged to sewers is not over after the effluent is "treated." The toxic stuff we put into the drain may get treated and the acute impact will be less, but it doesn't just disappear. On the contrary, all the data from treatment plants from around the US indicate that persistent toxic substances like heavy metals and solvents pass through the treatment plants to the air, water, and soil (e.g. toxic sludge is applied to our food crops). Breakdown products of some surfactants (like APE's-alkyl-phenol-ethoxylates) disrupt the endocrine systems in fish, birds, and mammals. Phosphates travel from septic systems through soils to pollute streams and ponds far away. You can keep your home clean without polluting the environment by using low toxic cleaning methods. My diverse background is working as an environmental engineer in urban runoff and water quality, to the building trades, and lately I've been working with a professional low-toxic house cleaner, cleaning and consulting, and I know that it works. It pays well too. At home and on professional cleaning jobs, I use vegetable-based soaps, water, baking soda, washing soda, and occasionally vinegar. These products are low or non-toxic, have very few ingredients, are low-cost and cruelty-free, and contain no animal ingredients. The methods I describe below are the 'greenest' and least toxic that I know of. But the key for truly effective cleaning, low-toxic or otherwise, is in the tools and techniques. Anyone in the building trade understands the importance of having the right tools hanging from their tool belt for professional, efficient work. All you surfer women out there can now tell their men to get a tool apron ready with the following: Your Essential Cleaning Tools:
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| Many chemicals used in household cleaning products are new and have not been studied sufficiently to determine the effects on our health or the environment, but it's clear that there is cause for concern. A fifteen-year study showed women who worked at home are twice as likely as working women to develop cancer and the study pointed out that many carcinogenic materials are found in cleaning products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission report on our homes found 150 different chemicals that are linked with cancer allergies, psychological abnormalities and birth defects. More and more people are coming down with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) as a result of our increasingly chemical laced environment. With asthma and household-related allergies on the rise, heath experts are urging persons with these symptoms to reduce triggers, including keeping the home free of dust, mold, and animal dander and finding alternatives to using toxic household cleaning products. |
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