15th November 2014 –

Are Cleaning Products as Green as they say?

There seem to be more and more cleaning products every time you turn around. The new trend is for organic, biodegradable and environmentally friendly. But are they all as they declare?

Some products may be greener than others. Environmentally friendly they are almost not. Some packaging may well be.  Environmentally friendly cleaning products, is there such a thing? All those chemicals and environmentally friendly do not go hand in hand.   In fact every thing we use on this planet of ours or produce has some impact on the environment in some shape or form.

Products should contain precise labelling with straightforward environmental information. There are many false claims within cleaning products industry.  Companies often breech the legal guidelines. In Britain under EU law it is legal to use phosphates, which are a common performance-enhancing ingredient. EU countries such as Belgium, France, Holland, Finland and Denmark have all banned the use of phosphates. As a result their water quality has improved.

Cleaning products can be sourced now days worldwide.

So if you want greener products you can import them. Regulations need tightening, and we have to remember that in cleaning items or areas we are will create pollution. For example, we clean the toilets with a liquid toilet cleaner.  We are going to flush those toilets whether that is in 1 minute or the next morning. Where will that contaminated water go? Well with luck, it will end up in the sewage treatment works. Here it should get decontaminated, so that is gets pumped out in our waters at a safe level. We pollute and contaminate constantly. Most of the time we are not conscious of the aftermath. Have you ever seen a fish drink from a toilet-cleaning bottle? Why would you? It is not there natural habitat.

If you are a business, or run an office and you want try to do your bit to be greener, speak to your cleaners. They can then change the products they use to suit your requests. Just remember to do your homework, as everything might not be, as it seems. The industry needs to take a Ronseal approach so that products do exactly as it say on the label. If the packaging says the product is biodegradable then it should fulfill the guidelines and if not, it should not say it.

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