Oct 3 2008

Healthy Cleaning

For the month of October, we will be discussing Green Cleaning and products that don’t pollute your Home or harm your indoor air quality. So feel free to email suggestions and stories to me at paige@blueridgeecoshop.com.

The average American spends 90% of their time indoors. And indoor air quality in most cities, is far worse than outdoor air. We create the poor air quality in our homes by using toxins including cleaners and paints, as well as tracking in chemicals on our shoes and body’s everyday. Improve your indoor air quality by rid your home of cleaners that are toxic to your health containing bleach, ammonia, formaldehyde, and many other harsh chemicals. Non-Toxic cleaners clean just as well and don’t subject you and your family to unnecessary chemicals.


This week I am highlighting one of my favorite green cleaning products: BioKleen’s BacOut.


Haven’t ever used BacOut? Try it. It’s by far one of my most popular cleaning products. BacOut is an enzyme based cleaner. It is perfect for any of your organic spills and stains that need to be gently cleaned. The enzymes in the cleaner literally eat the organic material and remove the stain.


Great uses for BacOut:
  • Pet Stains - With cats, my couch, bamboo floors, rugs, pretty much everywhere, gets sprayed down with BacOut regularly to remove pet problem areas. I’ve found on upholstery, the best way to lift the stain is to spray the stain with BacOut, then lay a wet towel over the stain. As the towel drys, it lifts out the stain.
  • Bathroom Cleaning - The enzymes will also eat uric salts. (A nice way to say dried urine). Spray the outside and inside of the toilet bowl and let it sit to remove fowl odors.
  • Mold Cleaning - BacOut also works great in the shower removing soap scum and mold.
  • Laundry Stains - Pre treat laundry stains when they happen. It is gentle enough to spray and throw into the hamper until the next time you do wash. My favorite food stain story is when I inevitably spill coffee on myself at the shop. I have literally sprayed BacOut on my coffee stained paints, continued to wear them, and by the afternoon the spill has vanished. No water added. I simply sprayed and continued on with my day!
  • Smelly Sinks - Spray BacOut in your sink or down your kitchen sink drain when foul odors arise!
  • Cloth Diapers - Many of my Mom customers swear by BacOut for getting out cloth diaper stains and odors. Even old stains!
  • Kitchen Compost Bins and Trash Cans - Remove stains and smells from your kitchen compost bin by spraying the bin with BacOut after emptying it.

I am not the only fan of BacOut. Many hotels in town buy BacOut for cleaning rooms. It works.

 
Posted by Paige at 1:18 PM 2 comments
Oct 16 2008

Green Cleaning - Good for the Economy?

I’m sure you’ve all heard how Green Jobs and recycling create more jobs here in the U.S. and boost the economy more than non-green jobs. But, did you know Green Cleaning can also boost the economy? How you might ask? By putting your dollar back where it belongs–in YOUR pocket. Thus having the cash flow to spend in other areas. It might be a stretch but it’s true.

Here’s why it’s true: Fundamentally, Green Cleaning is about using less. This means:

* Less product–by having higher concentration levels, you literally aren’t using as much of the actual product. At home I use the BioKleen Liquid Laundry detergent. It costs about $15 per 64 oz. It is three times concentrated and that one bottle gives you enough detergent to wash 64 loads. I also have a front loading high efficiency (HE) washer, so my bottle of BioKleen detergent goes twice as far since HE washers don’t need as much detergent to wash clothing. My one 64oz bottle gives me 128 loads of laundry! I do 1-2 loads per week and have been on the same bottle of detergent for over one year. Tide and other non-green cleaners can’t compete. Although I pay $15 up front, I don’t need to buy another bottle except for about ever 14 months. I remember going through normal detergents once a month growing up. This is because they dilute their formulas with water. Which leads me to my next point,
* Less Water–Green Cleaning products use less water. Most non-green products add water to their formulas. This makes one bottle of cleaner not go as far. Concentrated or not, green cleaning products omit the extra water. Why should we have to pay for extra water that weakens the formula and makes you need to buy it more frequently? This also means you need to clean differently. I apply product directly to my cloth, sponge or brush when cleaning. Spraying the surface you are cleaning actually uses more product, which isn’t needed. Squirt the toilet bowl cleaner directly on the toilet bowl brush and notice how much further your bottle will go. I promise it will clean just as well. With traditional cleaners we are also paying for the larger packaging since the water takes more volume, which is the next point,
* Less Packaging–Green Cleaning products, at least the products you will find at the Blue Ridge Eco Shop, are higher concentrated, without unnecessary water, which means less packaging. This saves you $$ by not having to pay for extra packaging, but also saves unneeded resources, usually more plastic or cardboard. Generally speaking, Green Cleaners can be refilled. It isn’t necessary to continue to purchase ready to use products, when after you buy your first one, you can either refill the existing bottle from bulk bins (look for this service coming soon to the Blue Ridge Eco Shop!) or buy refills which tend to be less expensive (such as glass cleaner). The Green Cleaning brands we carry, such as BioKleen and Earth Friendly Products, also are deliberate in their packaging. Using less wrap, boxes and plastic in the packaging of the product. This save you money in the long run.

Just using Green Cleaning products saves you money and helps the economy by keeping money in your pocket to use outside of your essential needs. You can save even more if you want to. How? By buying your cleaning products in bulk. I know we are all familiar with the idea, but cleaning products are the perfect products to buy in bulk due to the extended shelf life. The Blue Ridge Eco Shop offers Laundry Powder in 50 lb. boxes, All Purpose Cleaner, Glass Cleaner and Bac Out in 5 gal jugs, just ask! Product packaging makes up half of all U.S. municipal solid waste by volume. (Believe it or not in regards to food, more of your grocery money goes toward packaging than to the farmers who produce the food.)

One last tidbit to put it into perspective, if 10,000 C’villers reduce the packaging of the products they buy by half for just one day, we’ll avert the weight of 349 grocery shopping carts in waste. (Ideal Bite) Pretty remarkable.

In short, Green is sustainable.

Posted by Trent at 1:28 AM 2 comments