Why Green Cleaning Matters

The decision to adopt more thoughtful, healthful, and environ­mentally friendly cleaning practices is a reflection of values. Creating a green, healthy home means putting your and your family's well-being first, but it also reflects an awareness of how your household fits into a larger context. We choose to return to simpler formulas and tools, and we choose to act responsibly.

Turning these choices into concrete actions is the next step. The path to new green cleaning habits starts with choosing nontoxic alternatives to conventional household prod­ucts. Green cleaning is simple, but powerful. By moving toward a more natural way of interacting with the world, you will signal to yourself and to others that we are not help­less in the face of environmental destruction. There is something each of us can do in our daily lives to make a difference — to, as Gandhi wrote, be the change we wish to see in the world.

Green cleaning is both intimate and global. It can transform your home into a place of comfort and health,but its reach is much greater than that. Cleaning green protects local waterways, soil, and landfill. When you reduce your environmental footprint by eliminating toxic chemicals and reducing the waste you create, you promote health for your entire community. When you purchase products manufactured by companies with good environmen­tal business practices, you protect workers from being exposed to harmful chemicals.

Can all this good begin in our homes? Yes. When we change our­selves, we change everything.