Saturday September 6th, 2008
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Shouldn't Clorox be stopped? Everyone PLEASE read.
Posted by Catherine Swinford on December 25, 2007 - 2:15pm.
When even American auto companies - notorious for being a little stuck in the past - are trying to green themselves up it's disturbing to see that a company whose focus is small-scale home hygienics seems to be trying to UN-GREEN every home they can. Anyone who hasn't seen an ad for Clorox's cleaning wands should go take a look. Go ahead - I'll wait.
Did you see it? So now not only are we to use bleach on everything we possibly can (don't EVEN get me started on the "play with my poops in the potty" ad or the "protect your little mermaid with bleach" ad), we're also gonna use an entire sponge-full of bleach on a stick, then dispose of the thing after a single use for fear of touching germs that originated from our own bodies to begin with. I'm not saying go lick your toilet or anything....but let's not go overboard with our phobias here, hmm? Nor should we let companies who benefit from these fears plant said fears without questioning their motives.
So, how many times a month do you clean your toilet? Let's do some simple math here......
I clean my toilet twice a week. 2 bleach-filled sponges x 4 weeks = 8 per month in the trash and 8 x12 months= 96. I would be putting 96 bleach bombs in the ground per year. Now, if there are 12 families in my block/apartmet building and they ALL use this product as often as I do, then 96 x 12 = 1152 bleach pods in or on the ground. Great. Expand that to cities, states, and beyond. Ok, we who visit Lime probably aren't gonna use em once we're aware. But aren't we in the process of undoing past follies and aren't there people out there who are still out of the loop? Can we shovel our past mistakes out the back door faster than companies like this can spoon them in the front? Refuse to buy this product and tell everyone else, please. And if you agree with me write to the Clorox company and tell them how you feel. We have enough problems to solve as it is, but we also have enough caring people to prevent them if we start soon. This company is old enough and rich enough to push their market in a new and healthier direction, so why don't they???
(By the way, if you don't know what the problem is with bleach, please visit the Seventh Generation website and read up. They are very knowledgeable. Also the production of bleach is very dangerous to us all. Find an article on the disaster in Apex, North Carolina if you doubt.)
People who care are the only ones who can stop things like this. Thanks for reading.
---Cate
I have 4 toilets in my house, and it is insane in my mind to expect them all to be "germ-free" at all times. I will fess up to using spray- bleach products to get things looking clean but the idea of germs never bothered me.
I am trying to find alternatives to my 409 and tilex. Any suggestions?
White vinegar and baking soda. Pour in toilet, let bubble away. Clean and leave it. It's not going to hurt anything.
Sure, the bathroom smells like a salad for a little while, however the environmental benefits far outweigh the smell.
I use them and no one minds the smell here. Granted they're usually out at school & work or just hanging out when I clean. I add Borax to the bowl when I want to scrub.
Over the holiday, I picked up "The Naturally Clean Home" by Karyn Siegel-Maier.
I've always known the power of baking soda and vinegar but still went for the bleach (if it smells strong and like bleach then it's clean right?!!) Okay...maybe not.
One of the recipes included in the "Clean Home" book for cleaning the toilet includes vinegar and baking soda, but it also includes some essential oils that are natural disinfectants. I made up a batch one evening, intending to clean the next day. I took the jar to the bathroom to put it away, and curiosity got the best of me. I ended up cleaning both of my bathrooms. They smelled divine, are shiny, and have absolutely no residue. I LOVED it!
Here is the recipe:
1 cup borax
1 cup vinegar
10 drops pine or lavender essential oil
5 drops lemon or lime essential oil
You can combine it all at once and dump it in the toilet and then scrub or let it sit until morning.
I doubled the borax and oils and mixed them in a bowl. Then I put them in a jar to store under the sink. I scrubbed everything (shower, sink, toilet) with them and then rinsed with vinegar.
If you would like a serious germ killer, then eucalyptus and tea tree oil would be good essential oils to use.
Happy Cleaning :)
Litza
I stopped used then because I and my mother were getting
very sick from the smell,I was getting dizziness and migrianes
and so is my mom.
I just used vinegar and buy baby wipes to clean the rest of
toilet and by the away toiled should be clean everyday, be-
cause it does not accumulated bacteiras and when you
have kids and your kids friends come in over,I taking the
safe away and do it everyday and also door knobs...More
if I see this kids picking their nose...it is so gross, so I hope
I did not over writing....Matane.
One thing to consider is bleach use in restaurants. They use it to sanitize and clean and it leaves a residue that ultimately gets on your food. Ask about ozone water systems - the only organic method of disinfecting bacteria that is organic compliant and safe for the public and the planet. The only company I know of that has a system for restaurants right now is called Eco-Safe Systems. They're still new to market, but hopefully will get widespread distribution soon. Their website is www.ecosafeusa.com and it's the best I've found for killing things without any by-products. Oh, and rumor has it that some of the Whole Foods markets are already using them on their food surfaces. Yeah WF! We won't get change without creating a demand, and truthfully I think restaurant owners want to save a buck more than a tree.