Good: Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation is a brand that I would want more people to consider. It is a company that sells all sorts of products from household cleaners, paper towels, laundry detergent, baby products, to toilet paper. They are very transparent when it comes to their business practices and about what goes into their products. Its mission was stated very clearly on their webpage,

“To inspire a more conscious and sustainable world by being an authentic force for positive change. “ “From the very beginning, we have pushed to have a real impact on our competitors, suppliers, communities, and government. Products maybe the vehicle, but far reaching, genuine change is the mission.” Seven generation sustainability is an ecological concept that urges the current generation of humans to live sustainably and work for the benefit of the seventh generation into the future.”

To make sure every decision they make can benefit the next seven generations, they are inspired by part of the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy,

“In our deliberation, we must consider the impact of our business affects both our environment and the environment of future generations.”

On every product, every single ingredient and material safety data (current product formulas) are listed. Also, there are tips on all product packages to advise consumers,  for instance, "Did you know? Each refill pack uses 90% less packaging than a hard plastic container. Please reuse our Baby Wipes container."

After reading more about them, I would say they are more of a social group making environmental changes through their brand.

Good: Making your own cleaning products

When we shop in the supermarket, we could always see household cleaners that are labled as "save", "natural", and "green". However, many of them which look credible are actually fake that it actually has harmful impact to the environment. Many companies claim that their cleaning products are green and a safer alternative for both human and environment. Are they telling us the truth?

"Company select ingredients for cleaning products to enhance their performance, but a lot of chemicals, we simply don’t know anything about!" stated by Tom Natan, a chemical engineer with the non-profit National Environmental Trust. He points out that almost all of these "green" or conventional cleaning products contain harmful chemicals. It will both affect our health and planet if we keep using them.

Without the ingredients listed on the label of household cleaner, we, as consumers, are difficult to know exactly what is in the products. We couldn’t even know whether these products have benefits or not to our body. In "Six hidden dangers in your home”, one of the hiddens tells us about how mixing some cleaning products affect our health,

"Toxic gases can form when you use multiple cleaning products at the same time. Chloramines gas, which can be highly irritating to your lungs, forms when you mix ammonia with chlorine bleach. Mixing chlorine bleach with an acid-based product (like toilet bowl and over cleans, drain openers, or vinegar) can release chlorine gas, another lung-irrating fume."

Due to the fact that chemicals household cleaners make cleaning easier but not greener, why don't we start making our own natural, healthy cleaning prodcuts? All you need is just some baking soda and vinegar. To maintain our clean enviornment in safe and healthy ways, you may want to watch this video. It is about how to make your own cleaning products by using natural ingredients that does not pollute .