By Gary L. Walker
 
      Do this today—take the King of Green Cleaning Challenge. Look under your sink at home, the janitorial closet at work, or wherever it is that you keep your cleaning chemicals.
      What products are you or others using to clean your environment? What is in those cleaning chemicals, and what negative health effects do they cause? Are you toxic?
      According to The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, more than seven million accidental poisonings occur each year, with more than 75 percent involving children under age six years old. A child is accidentally poisoned every 30 seconds at home, according to the U.S. Poison Control Centers. But adults aren’t immune from the effects of chemicals. Cancer rates have increased since 1901 from only 1 in 8,000 Americans, to 1 in 3 today. By the year 2010,  cancer will affect one in two people at some point in their lives, according to the American Cancer Society.

Chemicals are Getting Stronger
      I have noticed that every year they are making chemicals stronger, and not just in “heavy-duty” cleaning products. This trend is reaching into more common household cleaners, including laundry soap, dish soap and kitchen cleaner. Even glass cleaner is super charged!
      Do we really need blue color in our glass cleaner to make it work? No, it is just more dyes in our lives that we don’t need. The blue was just great marketing, and now we think that it’s necessary to make it work. In many of the products we use today, we have been conditioned to expect color, super-sized packages and strong fragrances. All of which is completely unnecessary and is harming us, and the environment we live in.

What are these Ingredients?
      Each American uses between 50 and 100 gallons of wastewater every day and much of it will have some form of toxin in it. The average American will use 25 gallons of toxic hazardous chemical products per year at home. The majority of these chemicals can be found in our household cleaning products.
      I know that when I read the labels, I can’t even pronounce many of the chemicals listed. I am alarmed at what I find. With 20 years of experience in the cleaning industry, I have no idea why they are using some of the chemicals in our cleaning products. Because of that, I have to do even more research to try and find out everything I can about a product.
      For one popular multi-surface cleaner that I did more reading about, I discovered that you need to wear rubber gloves and safety goggles, and that it should never contact food. I know that many people use this product in their kitchens, but they have no idea it is a health hazard.
      We are a nation of speed and convenience. We stand in front of the microwave and tell it to “hurry up!” But do we want to sacrifice our health, the health of those around us, as well as the environment for the sake of cleaning just a little faster?
      
Cleaning Green is Getting Easier
      The exciting fact is that we have had so many advances in cleaning technologies just in the past three years that we can make safe choices and not have to sacrifice speed and quality.
      And because of the interest in green now, supply and demand has driven competition. Moving your home and your business toward green cleaning is now one of the most cost-effective and quickest ways to help our environment.
      This move to green will have immediate and long-lasting positive effects on the environment. So I challenge you to read the labels, clean out and properly dispose of toxic cleaning agents and, most of all, take action and be a change agent to more positively impact the environment. Do all of this because it is the right thing to do.
      If you want a more in-depth look into the cleaners you are using, go to www.MSDS.com, and just type in the cleaning chemical name. This site will give you the Material Safety Data Sheet and all of the chemical content and safety information. If you are having trouble locating safety information on any product, stop using it immediately and contact us. We will help you find the information necessary to use the product safely or find a green alternative.
      Over the next several months, I will be writing a series of articles about several different topics, including the green cleaning process, air quality and green vs. natural. Check back in June for “Greening the Air You Breath: Oh, My Aching Lungs!”
      Together we can make a difference. Together we can effect change.
 
Gary Walker, the King of Green Cleaning, is owner of Magic Touch Cleaning Inc. You can reach him at (816) 554-3366 or