Trade It Thursdays.... Would You Like Some Cancer or Nerve Damage With Your Clean Counters?

I am starting a new weekly topic for Thursdays.  Trade It Thursdays!  I will be posting and having guest posts about Trading It for something better.  Some of the topics or Trades might be: non organic for organic, processed for homemade, clutter for organization, etc, etc, etc.  

Today I am going to tell you why we have traded absolutely all chemical cleaners in our house for much more natural and completely harmless products.  I have read how many people use only the same things I use, but they rarely explain why.   

One of my rules/dreams once we moved into our house  (we've been here for about 14 months) was that there would be no chemicals used in the house.  My husband, who is a self-proclaimed clean freak on the verge of OCD, was not quite sure about that idea.  So many people grow up thinking that clean should smell like Pine Sol and bleach.  Gross!!  My clean house smells like vinegar!  HAHA!

Here is why we will not ever bring any cleaning chemicals into our home:

---  "According to the EPA, indoor air pollution is one of the nation's most pressing personal health concerns. Peak concentrations of 20 toxic compounds - some linked with cancer and birth defects - were 200 to 500 times higher inside some homes than outdoors, according to a 5-year EPA study that surveyed 600 homes in six cities. 

     Residues of more than 400 toxic chemicals - some found in household products and foods - have been identified in human blood and fat tissue. See a list of hazardous ingredients in household products.

     Symptoms such as runny nose, itchy eyes, a scratchy throat, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, skin rash, and respiratory infections are all common reactions to indoor air pollution. Left untreated, long-term exposure to indoor pollution can result in lung cancer, or damage to the liver, kidney and central nervous system. Young children are especially vulnerable to impaired lung function and respiratory infection.

     In 1990, more than 4,000 toddlers under age four were admitted to hospital emergency rooms as a result of household cleaner-related injuries." -quoted from the Cancer Prevention Coalition.   

--- Why would we need to use chemicals when other natural products work just as well, if not better?  I will show and tell you how well they really do clean next week!  Why would I also spend tons of money on products that are "green" when what I use works great?  And... why would there be sooo many new "green" products if the old ones were acceptable and healthy and good for the environment?  Well... they obviously aren't!!

--- I want my daughter to help clean the house and I refuse to hand her a bottle of window cleaner when some of the ingredients are: Amonia (can cause bronchitis, pneumonia and chemical burns), Butyl Cellosolve (damages body's ability to make blood, central nervous system, kidneys and liver; neurotoxin readily absorbed through skin) and Methanol (severe skin and eye irratant, neurotoxin (affets nerve cells and tissues) and can cause blindness).  I cannot give her something like 409 because it has Ethylene Oxide (known animal carcinogen and suspected human one), Butyl Cellosolve  (see above) and Sodium Hydroxide (can be fatal if swallowed; can burn skin, eyes and internal organs; corrosive)  

--- Not only are we touching and breathing those chemicals directly, but we are flushing, washing and pouring them down our drains... into our water supply... into the water the we drink... into the water that waters the grass that feeds the cows that we eat (*and the root in the hole and the hole in the ground and the green grass grew all around all around and the green grass grew all around*)... and waters the soil that grows our veggies we eat!!  It's just such a bad cycle.  And one that can so easily be stopped. 

Wow!  My mouth literally dropped open when I read some of those things!  Just so you know, we are not perfect at all... we have products and use things that I am working on "Trading".  It is not something you can usually do over night and our journey is nowhere near done!  I hope that working on these posts will not only inspire you but also inspire our family!  Oh and my clean freak husband... he now proclaims that we only clean with vinegar!  :)     

Sooooo....  

Trade your overpriced-store-bought-killing-your-body-and-your-family's-bodies-chemical-filled-"cleaners" for something natural like vinegar & baking soda!! 

Start Small....

Make a trip to The Dollar Store/Walmart/Target and buy a couple spray bottles, a huge jug of white vinegar and a couple boxes or so of baking soda.  Then, meet me back here next Thursday to get some awesome tips on how to use them!