Bath soaps, hand soaps, shampoos, conditioners, hand creams, toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, gels, hair sprays, cosmetics, dish detergents, laundry detergents, air fresheners, everyday household cleaners. These are products that we use virtually every single day, and that’s not to mention the occasional car wash, pet wash, sunscreen, bug spray, or countless others! How each of us lives and uses these products has a tremendous impact on our health and the health of the planet.
There are many studies that show an increase in toxins getting into our water supplies and air, and health and environmental issues associated with using non-natural products. Many of these items uses petroleum based surfactants/distillates, chlorine bleaches, and other chemicals that can harm your health and the environment.
So, why natural? Because natural products are derived from plant and natural ingredients, they break down, or biodegrade easier in the environment and are better for your health, with no harmful chemicals to inhale or absorb. Today’s natural products take advantage of modern science and chemistry and can perform the same as, if not better than, their non-natural competitors.
Petrochemicals
Soaps were initially made from animal fats or vegetable oils. These oils are necessary to allow the surface of the material being cleaned to react with water and loosen the dirt. Around 50 years ago these fats and oils were replaced by ingredients from the petrochemical industry, classified as organic chemicals. At the time, little was know about their toxic effects on our health and there wasn't much of an environmental movement to reminds us of the damage caused by the oil industry. These modern synthetics were the perfect low cost solution for the soap industry to mass-produce the large quantities of consumables our population demands.
Organic chemicals are now widely used as ingredients in household products. Skin lotions, wax, and shampoos all contain organic solvents, as do many cleaning, disinfecting, cosmetic, and degreasing products. All of these products can release organic compounds while you are using them, and, to some degree, when they are stored. Studies by the EPA found levels of common organic pollutants to be 2 to 5 times higher inside homes than outside, both in urban and rural areas. Additional studies indicate that while people are using products containing organic chemicals, they can expose themselves and others to very high pollutant levels, and elevated concentrations can persist in the air long after the activity is completed.
How dangerous is the presence of these petroleum compounds in our everyday lives? It really depends on the particular compound used, the level of exposure and length of time exposed. Unlike pharmaceuticals, the petrochemical industry has limited testing requirements and any warnings or outright bans are the result of actual use incidents. Know symptoms of over exposure include eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, and memory impairment. Long-term exposure to some organics can cause cancer in animals and some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans.
Associated health risks from exposure to indoor air pollution or skin absorption is still only half the concern with the use of petroleum compounds in our everyday products. These ingredients originate from crude oil, a non-renewable resource in short supply. Petroleum products pollute the environment first at the source when we drill, transport, and refine it, and then at disposal where it must be absorbed back into the environment. It just makes sense when possible to conserve available supplies for energy and transportation.
For personal care and household cleaning products, alternatives to petrochemical compounds are here. The advancements and techniques used to develop effective cleaning products from crude oil have been applied to plant and vegetable oils allowing soaps and personal care products a return to their natural beginnings. What has emerged is a host of products that work just as well as the familiar brands that still use petroleum-based compounds and these natural products cost the same. As an added incentive, the manufacturers that produce these alternatives are typically smaller than the more familiar multi-nationals and share an equal concern for the health of their customers, their effect on the environment as well as their bottom line.
Chlorine
Chlorine exists in nature, in the form of salt - sodium chloride, a nice safe stable substance found in saltwater and saltshakers. Now take that saltwater, apply an electric charge and you produce chlorine gas, the same poisonous gas used in the trenches of World War I. Mix this gas with sodium hydroxide and water to produce the familiar bleaching agent we use in laundry and cleaning products. Other common uses of chlorine are as a disinfectant for municipalities worldwide to guarantee a clean water supply and to keep swimming pools safe.
In recent years, the use of chlorine has become controversial because besides making our whites whiter, and our water safer, chlorine gas combines nicely with organic matter to produces a class of chemicals called organochlorines. Some 11,000 different organochlorine compounds are currently manufactured around the world, and are found in plastics, pesticides, refrigerants and solvents. Some unintentional organochlorine by-products get created either at production like the bleaching process to make paper products, or disposal, as with incineration of household or medical waste, but most are created on purpose, are generally toxic and extremely persistent in the environment. Anywhere you go on the earth right now, you can find organochlorines in the air, in the water, in the food chain, and in the fatty tissues of animals and humans. They tend to travel since they have been detected thousands of miles from any known source of these chemicals. Even in the Artic, scientists have found high concentrations of PCBs, dioxins, DDT, atrazine and a host of other organochlorines.
So should we use chlorine to clean and sanitizer our homes? Chlorine bleach, or sodium hypochlorite, is not an organochlorine although products containing chlorine bleach usually contain trace amounts of organochlorines and can form more as they are flushed back into the environment. The main problem is that chlorine has become too common an ingredient in many household cleaners appearing by itself as a bleaching or sanitizing agent, or as part of another chemical compound. It is found in so many products that we may tend not to remember that it represents a serious household hazard because the concentration tends to build up in the air to irritate the lungs and respiratory system and can also damage skin, eyes and other membranes. Those with asthma or heart conditions are particularly at risk. Because of its link to organochlorines, our limited knowledge of long-term exposure and effects on the environment, we need to be careful when and how we use chlorine. Laundry - Follow the directions on the label and keep tightly closed. There are also alternative bleaches using hydrogen peroxide that are safer to work with and just as efficient.
Drinking water - If you draw your water from a municipal water supply, treating it with chlorine is the best way currently available to disinfect it and keep it safe to drink as it travels to your home. If there is a strong taste of chlorine, water purification systems that can filter it by the glass at your kitchen sink or as it enters your home to guarantee a chlorine free source for all use.
Swimming Pools - Switch to a non-chlorine product or if this proves cost prohibited, test often to maintain minimum levels of chlorine and run the filter longer than usually.
Household Cleaners - Since many of these products come in spray applicators that result in airborne chlorine particles, switch to one of the many alternatives that clean your home without chlorine. Be aware and read the label before purchasing. If the ingredients are not listed or they include hypochlorite, sodium hypochlorite, sodium dichloroisocyanurate, hydrogen chloride, or hydrochloric acid, select a different product. This includes automatic dishwasher products that tend to heat the chlorinated products to release large harmful quantities via steam.
Sanitizer/Disinfectants- Consideration should be given to the amount of chlorine used in the home for the purpose of eliminating bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recommended that use of anti-bacterial cleaning solutions be discontinued because bacteria are becoming resistant to solutions and will mutate to a strain that will require a harsher solution and the cycle will continue. Chlorine is nondiscriminatory when it attacks bacteria resulting in the elimination of both good (those that allow our septic system to function properly) and harmful bacteria. Any disinfecting should be done to a specific are and for a specific purpose.
Packaging
What about packaging? Take a look around; virtually everything we use comes in some sort of package. Packaging is an essential part of our marketing and distribution system. It can tell us what's in a product; it can have attractive pictures that catch your attention, and it serves to keep products safe until they get to you. The bottom line is, packaging is everywhere - cardboard, plastic, tin, aluminum, glass, and paper.
Many forms of packaging are recyclable, and many cities and towns have some sort of recycling program. We encourage you to think about and make an effort to reuse and recycle. It is our commitment to send items to you in recyclable or biodegradable packaging, including boxes and "peanuts". We also look for high-recycled fiber content packaging in the product containers and shipping materials we send to you.
May we also suggest that buying concentrated products and diluting them as you use them helps save on plastic containers. (it goes without saying that a 32oz container uses less plastic than a 64oz container) Also, buying in bulk when appropriate helps reduce waste.
And by the way, we don't have a catalog that uses lots of paper and harmful inks and dies. Our electronic web store is much healthier for the environment and you.
Use them because they work, use them because you care!
