As we discussed in last week’s post, you can make your own household cleaning products for a variety of cleaning needs. But, if you’re busy and don’t have time to do that, there must be solutions that are healthier and less harmful than those bought generally, right? Buying healthy household cleaning products doesn’t have to be difficult to help you with having a safer home.
This week, I cover some cleaning (and personal care) products you can buy locally (and online) that are safer, healthier for you to clean your home, and body.
Household Cleaning Products
The path to major department stores is well-worn and they are becoming aware of the need and want by consumers for eco-friendly, fair trade and sustainable home goods and cleaning products. So, you can find several lines of products to clean your home today that are mass-produced and readily available at stores like Target, The Vitamin Shoppe, and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Of those brands, you can find Method, Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers, and Dr. Bronner’s products on the store shelves.
Beyond the major eco-friendly brands above, you can find healthy household cleaning products at Amazon-owned Whole Foods, MOM’s Organic Market and other local grocery chains, too. Make sure to review the ingredients of any brand/product claiming to be “green,” “eco-friendly” or “sustainable” by referencing last week’s blog post with the list of chemical toxins.
If you can’t find what you need at one of those stores, then look to Web for purchasing what you need. Of the brands above, you can find those and more on Google Shopping (which will find a store nearby hopefully carrying the product you’re looking for in-stock), Green Pages, Sun & Earth, Truce and Molly’s Suds.
Personal Care Cleaning Products
In the personal care produce space, your local options are also pretty good at the afore-mentioned brands such as Method and Dr. Bronner’s. But, there are plenty of local options geared toward hair, skin and body cleaning products too.
When you want to truly support local small business, look no further than Truly-Life. Owner Mellenie Runion produces all of the ingredients on her property for the luxurious deodorants, soaps, lip balms and lotions sold on her website with local delivery. Many of these products are geared toward gift-giving but can be used as your day-to-day personal care products for bathroom and kitchen hand soap and Truly-Life’s lotion is solid so it can be carried in your purse or bag without concern for leaks.
If you’re looking for more everyday personal care products, stores, such as Fair Trade Winds, have a local presence and are well-stocked with body and skin care lines that are not only fair trade but also many times are also eco-friendly and sustainably produced.
For the men out there who are trying to buy greener personal care products (or for those trying to help them do so), check out Dr. Squatch products. Also, their commercials are hilarious!
Another way to find quality personal skin and body care products is by visiting your nearest eco-friendly salon. They carry a variety of different skin, hair and body care products that might suit your needs.
Wherever you choose to shop, your goal is to find a balance in quality, convenience, cost and care for the planet.
Green Cleaning Done for You
And for those who are really time-strapped and have the means, there is a new sub-industry that has developed of eco-conscious home cleaners in the Metropolitan Washington DC area.
One that stands out is Mister Kleen’s Green Kleening residential home cleaning services. This company is not simply marketing hype, they are Green Seal (GS 42) certified, which is one of the environmentally-friendly industries’ most rigorous set of standards. There are also green carpet cleaning services
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Finding the right and available eco-friendly household and personal care cleaning products takes some time and research. But, if you can’t make your own, these products and services are certainly the next best solutions to helping to keep your home, yourself and your family safer and healthier.
Let me know in the comments what brands you’re buying healthy household cleaning products and personal care products you use, and where you find them!