Seventh Generation, the company that makes all sorts of eco-smart and recycled products for your home, asked me if I'd like a box of their products to check out.
We already use Seventh Generation products, so why not say yes to some free stuff?
Charlie likes to eat paper towels and tissues.
Seventh Generation is rolling out new natural disinfecting wipes, and as part of their goal to get the word out about these wipes, they sent some to me.
It had not occurred to me to think about what might be in regular disinfecting wipes. I still don't know exactly. But knowing this company, their wipes don't have mystery chemicals in them.
Seventh Generation's new disinfecting wipes
What I like about Seventh Generation is that their products work and make sense. I think I first bought a roll of their paper towels, and what got me to buy them was some of the info on the wrapper, such as:
The natural color of these paper towels comes from the mix of colors in cardboard, office waste, and other paper materials recycled into this product. These materials often end up in landfills because there is insufficient demand for them. By reusing them in our products, we put them to work, not in the ground, and we help 'close the loop' to encourage more recycling less waste....
I wouldn't use these, or write about Seventh Generation here, if I didn't like their stuff.
The company also sent me a copy of Naturally Clean, The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe & Healthy Non-Toxic Cleaning. The book is chock full of footnoted information. I learned some things I was not aware of about my dishwasher:
...Researchers at the EPA and the University of Texas recently documented the dishwasher's role as a leading cause of indoor air pollution. Pollutants released by dishwashers, include chorline .. chloroform.. radon .. and other volatile contaminants... When these materials are exposed to the piping hot water that circulates through your dishwasher as it cleans, they are easily 'stripped out' and evaporated into the air.
OK. Did not know or think about all that last time I turned on my dishwasher.
This book is full of info like this. Its almost too much. The modern home has lots of stuff in it that is not great for us to breathe or absorb. Makes me want to go live in a yurt. But the book does give you pause about the sorts of materials we have in our home, and what they might be doing to us.
What I like about the book are all the footnotes, most 'green living' books don't cite sources.
One of our Real World Green shows talks about recycled toilet paper, and it features me juggling toilet paper. Check out the video and tell us what you think below.
Monica
But I love my dishwasher. I seem to remember a post where Eric said that using a dishwasher was more energy efficient than hand washing. Plus, so much easier on the hands.
Eric Gunnar Rochow
yes, dishwashers are efficient. the point the book makes is that its important to pay attention to what kind of dishwasher detergent you put in your dishwasher.
Most dishwasher detergents contain phosphates and other chemicals that vaporize in the steamy environment of your dishwasher, and when you open the door, these chemicals are in your house, and probably in your face, since you are usually standing in front of your dishwasher when you open it.
Monica
Phosphates in dishwasher detergent has been banned in Chicago since the 70s. It's still widely available but I seriously doubt that anyone been ticketed or fined in a good 40 years.
Anyways, we use a phosphate free detergent and try to run at night when everything else is off and we're tucked in our bed.
James Kim
great stuff! I like the number info data. Wonderful cooking recipes (totally off topic). Great clips of the dogs!