‘A clean home'. My meaning of this phrase has been on its own personal journey of self-discovery. I used to be all about elimination - the more germs I could eradicate, the better. Whether it was my clothes, my dishes or my surfaces, nothing was spared. Clean even had a smell for me. It was strong and pungent and assaulted the senses. The stronger it was and the longer it lingered, the better.
Things began to shift when my husband Mike started getting dermatitis on his hand. It made us start to question what could be triggering it. Turns out that heady smell and the warfare on germs weren't so squeaky clean after all. Having those chemicals on our skin, in the air and on every surface was actually aggravating things. One by one, we started looking at the cleaning products we were using. It was a case of questioning if we really needed a product, and if we did, switching to an alternative with fewer, more natural ingredients. In particular, we now always avoid synthetic perfumes and dyes, Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES) and Sodium Laurel Sulphate (SLS).
Somewhere along the journey, I realised that reducing our use of nasty chemicals was not only better for our own health, but also the wellbeing of the environment and waterways that they end up in. It felt surprisingly good to be making a difference, so I also started looking at the packaging of our products. We now buy ecostore products in bulk and refill the containers when we run out. Less packaging, less time and less money - that's a win.
Nowadays, to me having a clean home is about having a healthy home. It's not about the strongest smell or the biggest bubbles - it's about being more conscious of the products you're using. It's that micro-pause before you buy something, and asking yourself ‘Is there a simple switch I can make that's better for my family and the wellbeing of the environment?'
Small changes, big impact.
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Nic Turner is the Founder and Behaviour Changer at Mainstream Green™. A converted minimalist and aspiring zero waster, Nic's all about creating a ‘Greenfulness™ movement' - where we're mindful about what we buy, and empowered to make simple changes that have a big impact.