Spring Cleaning with a Fresh Start

Spring is here, birds are singing, the sun is getting warmer, the air even feels and smells fresher. So we get caught up in the spirit of spring. We are happier, feel healthier and are more active. Soon, we will all start the yearly ritual of opening the windows to let all that sweet smelling spring fresh air in, and break out the toxic cleaning products.

This year, why not try using all natural, biodegradable and non-toxic cleaning products. There are a wide variety of cleaners and manufacturers for you to choose from. We manufacture and sell Simple. Pure. Clean. all natural cleaning products. People love our stuff, they have been buying it on the web for over two years. Now, for the first time, it is going to be available in retail locations in the North East. No matter what you may choose to buy, Simple. Pure. Clean., another brand or just look on the web to find a recipe for an all natural cleaner you can make yourself, please try these all natural cleaners. They are safe for you and your family, safe for your pets and the environment.

In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined the toxic chemicals found in common household cleaners, often dispersed in fumes, are three times more likely to cause cancer than are other air pollutants. Thus, in 1993, The General Services Administration (GSA) initiated the Cleaning Products Pilot Project to identify specific cleaning products with reduced human health and safety concerns for use in cleaning the more than 7,700 buildings overseen by GSA's Public Building Service. On average, Americans spend about 90 percent of their days indoors. EPA studies indicate that human exposure to air pollutants indoors can be 2-5 times, and occasionally up to 100 times, higher than outdoor levels.

You may ask yourselves, “How can these common household cleaners be bad for me and my family? I read the label and it does not tell me of the harmful ingredients.” Cleaning products are exempt from the full ingredient disclosure on product labels required for food and personal care products due to how the trade secret laws work. According to a survey, 88% of Americans believe that household cleaning products must be tested for safety before they can be sold to the public, and 87% think manufacturers are required to list their products' ingredients on labels. I would be weary of any product that does not fully disclose their ingredients.

Also included in our Simple. Pure. Clean natural cleaning products are pure essential oils to add to the overall “experience” of cleaning. We have a number of cleaning companies and customers who write to us telling of such experiences. Here is one such testimonial.

“I don’t write to companies ever, but I had to make an exception this time. My friend recommended that I purchase your products. I did only because she insisted so much. I was skeptical that non-toxic products could clean as well as my favorite products. To my surprise, your products worked better then my old favorites. Now I can’t imagine using anything but Simple. Pure. Clean. to clean with. Each of the products I bought smelled so good they make me WANT to clean!!!”

The purpose of this article is not to lecture to you or scare you. It is just to inform you that there are other awesome all natural products out there made by a lot of great companies. Please do your own research either on the web or in your local library. We use many different products in our home, but we always make sure to use only all natural products. Switching to all natural non-toxic cleaning products is one way we can all easily get rid of toxins in our home and have a “Fresh Start” this spring.


About the Author

David Zielski started Seaside Naturals with his wife Linda. Seaside Naturals, a leading manufacturer of all natural first aid kits and natural cleaning and personal care products, provides all natural living solutions for health-conscious people. Seaside Naturals markets and distributes through natural food stores, supermarkets, on-line and in mail-order catalogs in the United States. For more information, visit www.seasidenaturals.com.

Spring Cleaning – Clean without the toxins this year

It is hard to believe, almost unthinkable. Everyday we are exposed to so many toxins in our lives. Some are so common and ordinary that we never know or fail to remember how toxic these familiar things can be. For example, most common household cleaners we use everyday contain harsh toxic chemicals. We breathe them, touch them and could accidentally be ingesting them just by cleaning the home we live in. Why are we exposing ourselves and our children and pets to these products everyday?

Whenever I see my child watching me come home with their face up against the window, or when I see my baby crawling bare hands across the floor and now have their fingers in their mouth or even when I spray the counter with all-purpose cleaner and now my family’s hands and food are all over it, I rest assured that there are no toxic chemicals that they are encountering. These scenarios sound very common and very normal. But the problem is that the cleaning products most of us use to clean our homes contain chemicals that can be poisonous and toxic. Why should we expose ourselves and our children and pets to these products everyday?

My wife and I made the conscious decision two years ago to switch to all natural cleaning products. Now, when we clean our home, we can feel safe and have a clean home at the same time. Recently, we purchased the all-natural cleaning business that was making the products we were using so we could continue to share it with other people. Do we only use our own products? The answer is no. There are many awesome all natural products out there made by a lot of great companies. We use many different products in our home, but we make sure to only use all natural products.

Switching to all natural non-toxic cleaning products is one way we can all easily get rid of toxins in our home, however, there are other ways we can get rid of the toxins in our lives. We are going to keep trying day by day to find new ways we can get rid of the toxins. For instance, we will try to buy only organic groceries, even though they may cost more, especially in the winter. We will try to get rid of all the carpets in our home. Some carpets can contain very strong and very long lasting chemicals in them. We can also use low volatile organic chemicals (VOC) paint in our home to reduce the chemical odors emitted in our home.
If we all make a conscious effort to reduce the toxins in our lives, we can start to feel better and at the same time know that we are helping our family and the environment that we all live in. Cancers, asthmas and other chronic diseases are at an all time high and no one knows why. One thing is for sure; we are exposed to constant low levels of toxic products everyday. With a little caring and common sense, we can all live a little cleaner and a little safer.

About the Author

Seaside Dave started Seaside Naturals with his wife Linda. Seaside Naturals, a leading manufacturer of all natural first aid kits and natural cleaning and personal care products, provides all natural living solutions for health-conscious people. Seaside Naturals markets and distributes through natural food stores, supermarkets, on-line and in mail-order catalogs in the United States. For more information, visit www.seasidenaturals.com.

Clean Your House Green for your Children’s Sake

My thirteen-year-old daughter recently called me up to say she had cleaned the whole kitchen and bathroom herself. So many emotions ran through me at that moment. First, I was shocked by the fact that no one asked her to do so. I was also happy that she had done this but anxious at the same time because this was a Thursday afternoon and knowing that during the next 24 hours would come my payback, a ride home from a party or a couple of her friends sleeping over for the weekend. But the one thing I was not feeling was worried that my little girl was exposed to toxic chemicals that most of us use in our homes. Two years ago we made the switch to all natural non-toxic cleaning products.

Up until a few years ago, most household and commercially purchased cleaning products were "petro-chemically" derived or "synthetic". These types of products are literally made from crude petroleum oil. As our use of these cleaners in our homes, schools, and workplaces has grown over the last 60 years, the incidence of diseases like cancer and asthma has grown dramatically as well, and many experts see a clear connection between the two. It’s a picture vividly painted by the numbers: From 1973 to 1998, the overall incidence of cancer increased by almost 25%. In the last 20 years, asthma rates have skyrocketed almost 50%. Americans now spend billions every year to deal with allergic diseases including a brand new one called multiple chemical sensitivity whose symptom is currently reported by 15-30% of the U.S. population.
Children are more vulnerable to environmentally caused diseases than adults. This is because children are of course smaller, and their systems are still developing. A child's ability to flush out environmental toxins is not developed until they are around seven years old so they absorb and retain more toxins than adults. For example, children absorb about 50% of the lead they are exposed to, while adults absorb only 10-15%.

Here are some shocking facts compiled by the City of Boulder, Colorado:

• Indoor air is often two to five times more contaminated than outdoor air.
  
• Childhood asthma has nearly doubled in the last 20 years (American Lung Assoc.) and some cleaners may be triggers to asthma attacks.
  
• The average home contains 25 gallons of hazardous chemicals – a major portion of these can be found in household cleaning products.
  
• In 1999, 92% of all poisonings occurred in the home.
  
• Cleaning products are involved in 11% of poisoning exposure in children less than 6 years of age.
  
• 70,000 synthetic chemicals are in production today. Many are suspected to cause cancer or other health effects, but only 600 have been adequately tested.
  

Many people who are exposed to a variety of petrochemicals in our environment do not reach acute toxic exposure, which leads to cancer or death. However, they may experience an array of subtle symptoms, including headaches, rashes, or breathing difficulties, which, while less dramatic, can be extremely debilitating. These effects are even more devastating in young children. Compounding this problem is the difficulty of isolating which chemicals present in homes, schools, offices or even cars is causing the problem.

The manufacturers of the traditional cleaning products are protected by trade secret labeling laws, which do not require them to list all ingredients. Although chemical information is required by law on products used in the workplace, this toxic information is not currently required on the products we use daily in our homes. Kathy Cooper, Sr. Environmental Law Researcher states: “Most consumers assume that if it’s on the store shelf, it has been tested and it is safe. That is far from the truth. The Government and manufacturers are currently under no obligation to tell us about long-term toxicity of common household cleaners”. Children’s developing bodies are more vulnerable to toxins than those of adults, says Susan JunFish, who used to work for the Environmental Protection Agency. And they’re more likely to get toxins into their bodies. Their hands are on everything and then go in their mouths—an average of ten times an hour, according to one study.

These toxic cleaning products are slowly gaining attention, not only by environmentalist groups but on a City and State level as well. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the city of Seattle have taken the first step towards recognizing the importance’s of Environmentally preferable cleaning products and has awarded contracts to companies that meet certain criteria. These products will have less of an impact on the environment than their traditional counterparts because they are generally less toxic and contain lower concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone depleting chemicals (ODCs), and carcinogens. Environmentally preferable cleaning products must also be offered in recycled-content, recyclable and/or reduced packaging.

Our children are what we live for. We go to great lengths to shelter and protect them from all that is bad in the world. Why subject them to harsh toxic chemicals when there are alternatives available that are both safe and effective. By switching to all natural non toxic cleaners, you will not only be helping your children, you will be helping yourself, your pets and the precious environment we inhabit.


About the Author
Seaside Dave started Seaside Naturals with his wife Linda. Seaside Naturals, a leading manufacturer of all natural first aid kits and natural cleaning and personal care products, provides all natural living solutions for health-conscious people. Seaside Naturals markets and distributes through natural food stores, supermarkets, on-line and in mail-order catalogs in the United States. For more information, visit www.seasidenaturals.com.