ILL EFFECTS OF CHEMICALS AND PESTICIDES
Global warming and infertility of land on account of excessive use of chemicals and pesticides compelled the European and western countries to shift to Bio-degradable eco-friendly cleaning products. Continuous usage of chemicals and pesticides over the centuries has caused havoc to humanity in the form of cancer, deformities, infertility etc. This is also the reason for unseasonal rains, floods & droughts. The European countries have banned the usage of hazardous chemicals in home and agricultural products. This awareness has made them turn to bio products, which are eco- friendly. Thankfully, public awareness on the detrimental effects of harmful chemicals in cleaning products is increasing rapidly.
ENZYMES AND ITS BENEFITS
Enzymes are biological molecules (typically proteins) that significantly speed up the rate of virtually all of the chemical reactions that take place within cells. Enzymes speed up chemical reactions in the body, but do not get used up in the process. Almost all biochemical reactions in living things need enzymes. With an enzyme, chemical reactions go much faster than they would without the enzyme. Enzymes are vital for life and serve a wide range of important functions.
Our human body contains several trillion microorganisms including at least 1000 different species of known bacteria. The bacteria in our gut produce enzymes to breakdown our food particles from complex structure to simple structures to digest the food and converts them to glucose and blood.
The food we eat can be majorly categorized as “Proteins, Fats, Carbohydrates, Starch, Minerals and Lactose”. Different kinds of enzymes are needed to break down each category of food. For example, the enzyme “protease” helps in breaking down all proteins & the enzyme “Lipase” helps in digesting all fats.
The same concept applies to our environment when it comes to the decomposition of all the organic waste. All kinds of dirt, be it soil, grease, grime, etc., can be cleaned very effectively using enzymes and without harming the environment. Millions of gallons of waste water released after cleaning with such enzyme based products can be directly used for watering the plants and the garden without causing any harm to the environment.
Enzyme based cleaning products clean objects by breaking down the complex structures of the dirt & grease into simpler structures. Most importantly using enzymes for cleaning ensures that we are working along with the nature and also helping get rid of various toxic chemicals.
Enzyme cleaners are Green, Eco-Friendly, Non-Toxic, Non-Hazardous, Non-Flammable, Bio-Degradable, pH Neutral, Dries Fast with No Residue and ready to use. This is a unique blend of enzymes and plant based surface active agents with natural salts.
SAY NO TO TOXIC CHEMICALS
A great many cleaning products that are currently widely being sold and used contain toxic & harmful chemicals like SLES, Ammonia, Phthalates, Phosphates, Chlorine, Bleach, etc. Most of these are not only harmful to humans but also to the plant life and marine life in our environment. To make things worse, some are also carcinogenic.
WHAT IS GREEN CLEANING?
Green Cleaning – It’s not “Black & White.”
“Green” is a color. To our children, it’s what you get when you mix the primary colors, blue and yellow. To an Astronomer, it is the portion of electromagnetic radiation continuum with wavelengths of approximately 490 to 570 nanometers. To the EPA “green chemistry” means, “to promote innovative chemical technologies that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and use of chemical products.” Originally “green” meant the ingredients in cleaners were derived from plants and biodegraded easily after joining our waste streams (e.g. water treatment plants).
To the everyday person cleaning their home, “Green” simply means something better for the environment.
Now, to define Green Cleaning we need to understand what “Better for the Environment” and “hazardous” mean. And that is where the confusion and the opportunities lie.
The Environment is a big place – as big as the Planet. Does “Green” mean safe for fish? Made from plants and not petroleum? Biodegradable? Good for the Air (less smog)? No carcinogens? Less waste in Landfills? Energy conservation? Water conservation? Sustainable ingredients?
The answer is Yes to all the above and more, provided the cleaning product still does what it was intended to do – and that is to Clean! A cleaner that does not clean well is not good for the Environment. It is a waste of resources and energy which is very “un-green”.
There are plenty of NGOs (non-governmental organizations), EPA initiatives, non-U.S. country guidelines, etc., that are setting standards and reviewing chemical ingredients and cleaners.
However, there are no standards that, if met, have been proven to be better for the Environment. Also, it is very difficult to prove a cleaner is “hazardous” for the environment. It depends on why, how and how often it is used – not just the ingredients it contains. A useful definition to help us evaluate cleaners is “Risk = Exposure x Hazard.” Any “green” standard that does not take into account exposure is incomplete.
The good news is that Environmental Groups, State legislators, the EPA and Industry are working together on continual improvement of the cleaners we use. Although the term “Green” has been with us for only the last decade or so, developing more environmentally-sound cleaning products has been the norm since the 1950s!
We learned that the biodegradability of cleaning ingredients was important in the 1950s. Industry removed ozone-harming chemicals from aerosols in the 1970s. Laws were passed to limit the use of Phosphorus in household cleaners due to Eutrophication beginning in the 1970s and continues today. All of these are examples of green initiatives that took place long before “green” came into vogue. Cleaning products have been becoming “greener” every decade – we are just finally talking about it and measuring “how green”.
So what is “Green Cleaning?” It is taking all the “yellow” and “blue” nuances of the chemistry, processing, packaging and disposal that go into creating and using a cleaning product and balancing them for environmentally safe and efficient cleaning.
Green Cleaning is the commitment to make, use and dispose of cleaners with People, the Environment and Sustainability in mind.
