Chemicals in my home – back to basics and reduce our carbon footprint
Did you know that the chemicals in our home, end up down the drains and in the wastewater treatment plant? Some chemical constituents of the products that we use every day even end up in the rivers because they are not removed in the treatment process.
What chemicals do we use in the home? I use a lot of different products.
The bathroom is where the shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, shaving foam and so on is used. In the kitchen bleach, anti-grease agents, detergents, tile cleaner among many other products are used in cleaning and will end up down the sink or drain. Other chemical products are used in cleaning windows and glass, cleaning the oven, toilet etc. The list of products and their uses in my house is lengthy and varied. These products are chosen for their particular application. However, many are damaging to the environment. It is worth considering if there are natural alternatives to these commercial cleaning products.
My mother swears by baking soda for cleaning the tea stains from the inside of cups – and vinegar in warm water to clean the windows (followed by a lot of elbow grease and a ball of newspaper to give that super shine). There are so many more. I have lots of rosemary in the garden, so I am trying this as an all-purpose cleaner.
Ingredients:
- One part vinegar
- One part water
- Lemon zest
- Rosemary
Combine the above ingredients together, pour into a spray bottle, shake, and then let sit for a week before using.
The bottom line is, if we use less chemicals in our homes, we improve our air quality but mostly we reduce our carbon footprint linked to the production of these chemicals and remove them from our wastewater.