Earth-Friendly Household Cleansers

Keep your home clean and fresh, your baby safe, and the planet a little greener by using cleaners free of chemicals, solvents, dyes, and fragrances. Look for products that are labeled nontoxic, chlorine and phosphate free, and that are biodegradable, such as those made by these companies:

• Seventh Generation* is one of the nation’s leading makers of environmentally safe household cleaning products. The ingredients used in its cleansers, dishwashing, and laundry products are renewable, nontoxic, phosphate free, and biodegradable and are never tested on animals.
• Ecover is a Belgium-based company that sells its ecological household cleaners in more than twenty countries. In operation since 1980, Ecover products include a wide array of dishwashing, household, and laundry cleaners for every purpose, and its packaging is fully recyclable.
• Begley’s Best is one of my personal favorite brands of household cleaners. I use this eco-friendly spray cleaner all over the house. Made of extracts of pine, de-acified citrus, maize, fermented sugar cane roots, and olive seeds, this all-purpose cleaner cuts through dirt and grease on any surface compatible with water. Find it at www.begleysbest.com.
• Restore is a Minneapolis company that makes earth-friendly household products for every purpose, from oven-cleaners to laundry detergent to furniture polish. If you live in the Midwest, you can visit one of twenty-five Restore “refilling stations,” where you can fill up your empty bottle instead of buying a new one.

*Note: We are so impressed with Seventh Generation that we’ve teamed up with them to help get the word out about important topics such as VOCs caused by some cleaning products.