Tips: Spring Breakup

Are you in a toxic relationship with your household cleaners?

Image Cred: www.springbreakup.ca

Did that catch your attention? It certainly grabbed mine! So, what's this all about?

We can thank the David Suzuki Foundation for bringing us this funny twist on the spring cleaning theme. Specifically, it's David Suzuki's Queen of Green, Lindsay Coulter, that's launched this month-long campaign to help you and I get out of unhealthy relationships with conventional cleaners.

This is an issue that's close to my heart (I grew up around lots of cleaning chemicals through a family business and am still working on getting my Dad to make the full switch). Cleaners pose a significant threat to our health (the clear links to asthma alone are mega concerning), so it's campaigns like these that will hopefully grab our attention enough to make a change.

More about the Spring Breakup: this campaign has four weeks worth of content ranging from chemical education to advice on what you should be looking for on the product's labels.

I know from experience that most of us are wary of performance and cost when it comes to buying environmentally-preferable cleaning products for our home. The thing is, cleaners have come a looong way since their early "green" days, and there are loads of healthier, effective, and cost-conscious options to choose from. There really isn't an excuse for not making the switch (just admit it, this relationship needs a clean break!).

Also on the Spring Breakup website, you'll find a handy, downloadable shopper's guide to cleaners that you can pack in your pocket or wallet.

The trick to buying truly greener cleaners is knowing what chemicals to avoid, looking for proof that their claims are for real (ecolabels are here to help), and not giving up - your health is too important not to keep at this). I'll definitely post future tips on choosing greener cleaners, but do check out the Spring Breakup site for how to do this.

Here are some of my favourite greener cleaners and check out your local natural food store or green aisle in the grocery store for more:

• Nature Clean
• Attitude
• BioSource
• Baking soda (seriously, this stuff is awesome!) 

Learn more (and get recipes for making your own cleaners), and pass this along to your friends/family: www.springbreakup.ca.

Healthier Homes... yes please!

Adria Vasil's
Ecoholic Home
2009
$24.95 (CAN)

They say home is where the heart is. It's also where we spend the majority of our time, outside of the office, that is. Makes sense then, that we want to pay more attention to what we're stuffing our "houses" full of, breathing in, slathering all over ourselves, laying all over ... you get the idea.

Ecoholic Home is a book for all homeowners, condo and apartment dwellers and, heck, even cottagers who are open to making their indoor space healthier and greener. Similar to its predecessor, Ecoholic, you'll get all kinds of background information and issues to be aware of on items like cookware and appliances. In this book, you'll also find renovation advice and tips on what types of energy is available for individuals. True to author Adria Vasil's style, she also goes further to give you her picks from endless research she and her team has conducted, which in my opinion, scores some major points.

Tasty tidbits: Don't want to waste your money on "green" cleaners that don't work? You don't have to - Vasil's done the work for you! She and others took on the task of dirtying up their abodes to share with us the best grime fighters on the Canadian market. Her "green thumb" index tells you which dish washing liquid won the sludge war and which "greener" laundry detergents perhaps aren't worth it. The eco-labels section and plastics guide are also great resources added to the back of the book, making this read one to reference for all things "green" and home related.

About this author: Adria Vasil is a well-known environmental journalist in Toronto, writing the "Ecoholic" column for NOW Magazine for more than five years. She is also the author of bestselling book Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products and Services in Canada. She has a degree in political science and cultural anthropology from the University of Toronto and a degree in magazine journalism from Ryerson and has made it her mission to help green this planet.

Help bring "green" solutions to your block and check this book out!