People are failing to understand quite how badly humanity has affected the planet that they live on, and this has resulted to an apathy that still remains strong in the face of well weighted evidence that we are destroying our home. Many people want to be greener in their lives, but the cost and extra effort means that they do not really make much of a stab at it. If you were wondering how you could improve your eco warrior credentials, then the cleaning is a good place to start, even if it may seem like less of an impacting one than the issues concerning transport and energy use. The issues in cleaning are much the same as the issues with everything else that humans do as they consume. Most of the things that you buy will have been produced in a way that affects the environment, whether through burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, to power factories, or through the packaging used involving plastic, which is non bio degradable, and will sit in land fill sites for millions of years to come. The fact is that you need to be more aware of the choices that you make when you buy things, and with cleaning products, there are many things to consider.First off, what are most of your cleaning tools made from? If your answer is wood and metal, then well done. If your answer is plastic, then you should consider the sustainability of the materials used in the products that you buy. Plastics are produced in a damaging way, giving off noxious fumes, and then they are often disposed of in an irresponsible way as well, as mentioned above. You will find that sourcing locally made instruments like metal buckets, and wooden brushes, is a great way to ensure that you get your cleaning tools to last a long time, without the problem of their production affecting your good will towards the planet.

You will perhaps also be aware of the disposable nature of the items that people use in cleaning. Paper towels, disposable sponges and j-cloths are all made for one or two uses, and they are then chucked in the bin. Whilst paper towels may be bio degradable, they are no recyclable, and mean that trees are felled unnecessarily. You could easily use a longer lasting sponge, a cotton cloth or towel or a scrubbing brush for these jobs, but the effort involved in cleaning them and reusing them will often put people off. Disposable items are meaning a continual chain of energy being extolled for the sakes of one use cleaning, and if you want to break it, then you should look in to longer lasting equipment.The chemicals in cleaning products are very dangerous. You will find that they are often more dangerous for you and your family than the dirt that you are trying to get rid of. With this in mind, it makes sense to stop using bleaches and other terrible chemicals, and to look at eco-cleaners, or natural products like lemon, vinegar and baking soda for your cleaning. These items are often much better for the water systems that you flush them in to, as well as being much safer for you and your family.