The Health eHome Check offers tips for improving your home environment.
We’ll admit, we have a tendency to be a bit germaphobic — regularly scrubbing down the kitchen counters, scouring sinks and mopping the floors. It’s all in the name of a sparkling and safe home … or so we thought. See, a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Seventh Generation now suggests our efforts may be backfiring. In fact, the average American is living dangerously close to a whole host of toxic products, disregarding potential harm to the environment and personal health. Among the survey’s findings:
• Nearly half of U.S. adults can’t name a single ingredient in their household cleaners. (Guilty as charged!)
• 70 percent of adults with kids under the age of 6 store cleaning products under the sink. (Yup, that’s us.)
• While more than half of adults believe that household cleaning products substantially damage the environment and think products containing dyes or fragrances can be harmful to their health if used daily, only 21 percent of parents opt for cleaning products with natural ingredients. (We are changing our toxic ways immediately—promise!)
In an effort to educate the public, Seventh Generation has joined with WebMD and Healthy Child Healthy World to create Health eHome — a virtual tour where users can visit each room and click on “hot spots” to discover potential hazards (like the dangers of cooking or using worn plastic containers), along with tips on how to get rid of or modify them (such as opting for plastics numbered #1 PETE, #2HDPE, #4LDPE and #5 PP, which may be less toxic).
You can also test the safety of your own home with the “Health eHome Check,” and then get an action plan for making your space safer. Some of the tips we got: Cook with glass, stainless, ceramic and cast-iron pots and pans instead of nonstick ones, and get rid of our chemical air fresheners and scented candles. Let us know what you discover about your own home by leaving a comment here — or fill us in on the steps you’ve already taken to improve the health of your home.
Tags: Air freshener, chemical air fresheners, Dry cleaning, Fragrances, health, household cleaning products, manufacturing, plastics, Prevention, store cleaning products, toxic products, United States, WEBMD LLC
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One Reader Comment:
Hello Everyone
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Wow Green is making its national launch in September and is the first of company of its kind. They’ve developed twelve different cleaning products that are made almost entirely from enzymes. The enzymes, some of which we have in our own bodies, break down stains and bacteria into harmless organic matter which you simply wipe away. The exciting part is that they continue to work long after they have been applied unlike chemical based cleaning product which leave dangerous toxic residue on surfaces for up to two weeks.
Don’t work about effectiveness, Wow Green products are proven to work better than any of the leading chemical brand household products and have far surpassed most of the other “Green Brands” on the market. Refill packets are available for most of the products so once you buy your durable spray bottles, you reuse them again and again cutting down on fossil fuel consumption.
What about the cost? Our products are around the same price or cheaper than all leading brands out there. Green normally = $$$ – but not the case here, you won’t be spending anymore then you normally do!
Chemical Product Dangers!
Check out this site for the outrageous dangers that come with chemical cleaners – Visit http://www.unsafehome.com and click on the A-Z section. You will be shocked at what is in your home.
Please check out my website at http://www.wowgreen.net/32230 to learn more about the product and to get the 20% discount through me. Also please forward this email to your friends and loved ones.
Stay Green!
Tim Callahan