The cocktail of hazardous substances that we rely on to make our bathrooms sparkle or our floors shine is truly obscene.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the air inside the typical home is on average 2-5 times more polluted than the air just outside—and in extreme cases 100 times more contaminated—largely because of household cleaners and pesticides.
So, Worldwatch is pushing a different approach to Spring cleaning. You guessed it: green cleaning products.
Keeping our homes clean and avoiding toxic cleaners don't have to be mutually exclusive, says Worldwatch.
Green cleaners can also be made from a range of safer substances we might already have around the house.
You won't just be making your house healthier.
How about healthier streams? In a 2002 U.S. Geological Survey study of contaminants in U.S. stream water, 69 percent of streams sampled contained persistent detergent metabolites, and 66 percent contained disinfectants.
You knew that dishwashing detergents often contain phosphates that pollute the groundwater, right?
Didja know that eleven U.S. states have banned phosphate from detergents sold within their borders?