SFG #2: "Green Works" Products Aren't.

The Clorox company has come out with a line of "green" products that have mostly natural ingredients. Great, right? You can clean your home with the products you're used to and still be green!

Wrong. Let's just take a look at their Natural Glass Cleaner, shall we?

It's 99% natural. Well, that's a good start. Let's see their natural ingredients:
- essential oils
- corn-based ethanol
- filtered water
- glycerine
- blue colorant
- coconut-based cleaning agent
- soda ash

Now, there are a few problems with that (corn-based ethanol isn't the smartest idea, but we'll get to that one later), but the one I'm going to choose is the coconut-based cleaning agent.

Clorox is a company that's based in the US. Coconuts come from many places...but they don't come from the United States. In fact, the largest producer of coconuts as of June 11, 2008, was the Phillipines, followed closely by Indonesia.* Now, if you'll notice, those are places that are all the way on the other side of the world.

The closest producer is Mexico, which produced about 1% of the output that the Phillipines produced in 2005. Now, even if we were to assume that Mexico is where Clorox gets its coconut-based cleaner, there's going to be a good deal of transport involved to get that cleaner produced and then delivered to your local supermarket. There's oil cost, AND you can't re-use the plastic containers in which these commercial products arrive.

So it's time for Stupid-Free Green Living Tip #2: Vinegar + Water = The Real Natural Glass Cleaner.

Vinegar is going to be the topic of another post later on, because it's just so useful for a load of things you wouldn't expect. However, right now, I'm going to tell you how to make your own glass cleaner that will both be more environmentally friendly AND less expensive than commercial products.

Combine one part white vinegar and one part water.

Yes, that's it. That's the whole thing. You can splash it on, or put it into a reusable spray bottle and use it just as you would Windex. For an even greener solution, you can use newspaper instead of paper towels and you'll get a great streak-free shine. I've done this myself, and it's a great, simple way to go greener. Sure, you have to get used to the smell while you're cleaning, but it's worth it. It won't linger, so don't worry about your house smelling weird afterwards.

There will probably be a upcoming post about all of Clorox's "Green Works" antibacterial products, but I don't have the time to put on my Super Science hat right this minute. Look out for it!

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut