Nobody would ever use a detergent bottle as a drinks container, yet until recently I have always been happy to squirt every last inch of my kitchen with the stuff and to allow my food, kitchen utensils and skin to come into contact with the residue.
Why don't you take a look right now at the list of ingredients that make up some of the cleaning products under your kitchen sink?
Is the list as long as the bottle?
Do you even know what half the ingredients are?
Every year around 7,000 ne
w synthetic chemicals come on to the market, and although each one has to be approved, no one tests what happens when these chemicals are mixed together.
Then consider how inexplicable allergies and health complaints seem to be on the rise in our country, and that some researchers have made links between illnesses and the multitude of synthetic chemicals we come into contact with on a daily basis (in clothing, furniture, beauty products and, of course, cleaning products).
That said many of us cannot afford the money or time to replace everything in our homes with organic, synthetic-chemical-free goods over night.
I've been doing research for the Green Column for the best part of a year and only in the last month have I completely switched over all my cleaning products (apart from bleach for the loo and dish washer tablets – but more of that in the next column).
In this year's next and final edition of the Green Column I will talk about the best 'natural' cleaning products that have worked for me.
My family would tell you that I'm far too fastidious about the cleanliness and smell (yes, the smell!) of my home, so these alternatives have some pretty high standards to meet!
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