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Green Cleaning Products: Advantages and Disadvantages

Cleaning kitchens, bathrooms and other parts of the house or business is a never ending struggle to keep things clean and germ free without exposing family or co-workers to a multitude of dangerous chemicals. Some of the individual chemicals used in cleaning products are well researched and will have warnings about safe usage of the product. However, other ingredients in a product may be unknown or incomplete in the studies of possible effects on human and animal health. Worse yet, by using more than one product to clean, there may be a combination effect that would not be present in each product used singly.

Price

Green cleaning products claim to be less harmful to the planet and its inhabitants, but the products also tend to cost more and are sometimes more difficult to obtain. Those who are trying to be environmentally conscious and good citizens of Planet Earth may find that the cost of comparable products considered 'green' is prohibitive.

Safety Levels

Different companies that reside in the 'green' cleaning product niche have different standards of safety for the products used. Some companies have banned products with known toxicity levels or those that have been identified as being dangerous, but the different company lists do not always coincide. A second issue with safety levels is the level of usage of the product. If a particular product should only be used in a well-ventilated area, one can understand that it could be dangerous if used in a small bathroom without proper ventilation. But even a 'green' cleaning product used in a confined area may be harmful to the lungs and respiratory system.

Combinations

If you were to use only one cleaning product, whether it's a 'green' product or not, it may or may not be a problem to you and to the environment. When, however, you combine two or more products in performing cleaning duties, the combination can be dangerous or even lethal. This can be true of so-called 'green' products as well as the more traditional products. Many people know the danger of using bleach and ammonia together, but this is just one example of either product being considered safe, but mixed together they produce a potentially lethal gas.

Consecutive Usage

Even if we only use one safe cleaning product in a bathroom, for example, repeated usage of the product may cause a buildup in the tissues that can create effects that are not fully understood. This can be true of environmentally friendly products as well as of those that are more commonly used in households today. Traces of some chemicals which have not been used for years are being found in the tissues of newborn infants.

Elbow Grease

There is little doubt that using 'green' products requires more effort to achieve the same visual results as stronger compounds and chemicals. Sometimes the cleanliness relies on abrasives in order to clean the surface which can provide a positive result initially, but can cause the surface to deteriorate rapidly.

Water Supply

There is growing concern over the quality of the water on Planet Earth. The presence of chemicals and other substances in the water supply is documented. Whether or not the product is green, there will be residue from the product that enters into the water system. Water treatment plants today do not attempt to remove all the harmful ingredients which have made their way into the water supply. Many treatment plants just keep raising the threshold of levels considered acceptable so a higher level of harmful or questionable impurities in the water supply is allowable before action is taken.

Manufacturing Concerns

Not only do cleaning products have an impact on the water and air of the Earth once they are in use, but the manufacturing process can be detrimental to the environment as well. If manufacturing releases chemicals into the air or water that are harmful in the course of creating a green product for cleaning, it can be just as bad for the environment as the use of the conventional cleaning product. Although more and more governmental regulations control and restrict the manufacturing process of many of today's products, there is still a great many unknowns in the interaction of one product with another through the manufacturing process.

Depletion of Resources

While many of the most common green cleaning products are widely available, others rely on products that are relatively rare and could be in danger of being used up. As stated earlier, clean water is becoming harder to find, energy resources are becoming more costly and harder to locate, and the cost is growing to the point where some products--even though they are good quality products and effective in doing the job--are no longer affordable. This is true of both conventional heavy-duty cleaning products and green products which are traditionally more expensive already.

Dispersal Method

Another feature which can affect both conventional and green products is the way in which they are dispersed. Many people no longer use aerosol spray cans, due to the reputed effect on the ozone layer, but alternative methods of dispersal may be just as detrimental overall. Once the cans and or bottles of the green cleaner are emptied, if they are placed in landfills rather than being recycled where appropriate, they can be most harmful to the environment.

Conclusion

Overall, cleaning products with 'green' claims are probably better for the environment than conventional cleaning products. However, you must consider the impact on the environment of the manufacture of the product and the disposition of both the cleaning product and the container in which it is packaged.