Spring Cleaning Should Be Safe for Your Home…AND the Planet

method As a wide-eyed, impressionable 19-year-old girl, I moved across the world to Sydney, Australia. I immediately fell in love with the place, people and culture. Finally I had found a place where I fit in. People there shared the same values and passions as I did. It was these same values that had previously gotten me labeled as a “hippie” and just plain “weirdo” growing up in Texas. I did my sixth grade science project on recycling and the lack of a recycling program in our area. I went vegetarian at age 15. Small town Texas never looked too kindly at my type of passion, a concept so foreign to them.

While living in Sydney, I adored the fact that the things I’d always done were the norm. There were even people who taught me new ways to embrace the concepts I was already into. One of the greatest lessons I learned was that of responsible consumerism. I learned to survey every product I bought instead of just willy-nilly grabbing any product that suited me. One of the first issues of my responsible consumerism was my mission to only buy products that were never tested on animals. As a vegetarian, that made the clearest of sense.

When it comes to cleaning products, finding companies that refuse to test on animals used to be a lot harder than it is now. Method was the first company I came across that did this, and I immediately fell in love. Even more than their anti-animal testing values, their products are easy to fall in love with, too. Sleek designs, easy-on-the-nose fragrances and no harsh ingredients or toxic chemicals (great for people with sensitive skin like me); what’s not to love?

Most importantly, Method products are easy on the earth, too. The Method site says, “If you want to clean up the environment, start with your own.” What a simple concept that makes so, so much sense. If you use Method products to clean up your home, you’re not using toxic chemicals that will end up in the water or ground. Method formulas are made up of biodegradable ingredients like soy, coconut and palm oils. And they get your kitchen counter tops and shower tiles just as clean as their more toxic counterparts. I mean, do you really need to use bleach to clean around your house? If bleach can do that to your clothes, imagine what it does to your skin, the air, etc.

Method, as a company, strives to be easy on the earth, too. Their products are packaged with recyclable materials (recycled would be better, but…) and carbon emissions from company travel and office energy use are offset with carbon and renewable energy credits.

It’s important to note that Method isn’t the only company offering a line of green cleaning products. (Seventh Generation is another favorite of mine that I’ll touch on soon.) But the company holds a special place in my heart because they took the big green leap before it was cool to be green. Check out their online community People Against Dirty to meet other greenies and learn more about cleaning and greening. You can pick up Method products at Target, Whole Foods, Bed, Bath & Beyond and at methodhome.com.