A flower by any other name...

About four years ago, Jen and I stumbled upon method, a company that makes environmentally friendly cleaning products. This is from their company info page:

what we're for

At method, we call ourselves "people against dirty." And by "dirty," we don't just mean the stuff dust bunnies are made of. method isn't only about cleaning up your home or your body; it's about cleaning up the way we clean.

You may not know it, but if you're using typical household cleaners or common personal care products, you could be messing around with dangerous chemicals. Chemicals that aren't just bad for your home and the environment, but for you and your family as well.

So what can you do about it? You can change. You can take a good hard look at the way you're cleaning, and see that harsh chemicals and toxins have no place in your home, no place in your body and no place in your cleaning products.

Planet friendly and people friendly. No more hiding your cleaning products out of sight; or locking them up to keep your kids and pets safe. Sounds great, right? It is.

Prior to discovering method, we used products from the Clorox family (who at the time, had no people friendly products). Jen and Peanut both suffered from allergies to dust and pollen, and we thought that keeping the house bleachy-clean would ease their suffering. Ironically, Jen often felt worse after cleaning. Couldn't be the chemicals wreaking havoc on my family's respiratory system, could it?

So we switched to method, and the house is just as clean and the family can breathe easier. It's something that Clorox couldn't offer us. Maybe that has me in an uproar against Clorox anyway, but this has pushed me over the edge: Clorox seems to be claiming to own the daisy. That's right; a flower.

You can read the details here (make sure you read the pdf of the letter and legal paperwork from Clorox); but I think the video sums it up nicely. What do you think? Watch, then vote.

methodlust & me

So I tonight I've been catching up on some of my favorite blogs (see the list on the right), and I was shocked by what I saw at methodlust: My Life with Dogs. That's right. How'd we end up there? Well...

Several days ago, Nathan asked his readers to let him know if they had blogged about method, purchased method, read a review, etc...

I took the opportunity to (shamelessly) grab one more reader, and sent him a link to my post from Earth Day. Well, my fellow method Advocate then saw fit to post about my post on his blog.

Now it sounds like I'm high when I see that I'm posting about his post about my post. Wow, I just blew my mind.

Check it out here.

On Earth Day, can you save the environment when your home has a chemical dependency?

Pop quiz hot shot... (taken from Method's "squeaky green")
1. Would you eat off your floor?

2. Can you safely wash out your (or your kids') mouth with your soup?

3. Do any of the bottles under your sink contain anything that's drinkable without having to go immediately to the emergency room afterward?

4. Is there anything under your sink you could water your plants with?

5. Do you like to inhale while you clean?

If you answered no to any of these questions, your home has a chemical dependency. (here ends the ripoff of the book)

My lovely wife Jen has allergies. Grass, pollen, dust are not her best friends. A couple of years ago, whenever Jen got to the point that her allerrgies were getting the best of her, we knew it was time to clean the house and get rid of the dust.

Out came the clorox cleaners, windex, wetjets, tub/tile cleaners, and we'd clean from the house from top to bottom. However, we started noticing that Jen's breathing would actually get worse during and after cleaning. At first we chalked it up to dust getting stirred up into the air. Then we realized that maybe the cleaners we used were more of a problem than a solution.

Ever thought about what's in your household cleaners? Bleach, ammonia, pesticides, etc... Chemicals that can be found in the bloodstreams of newborn babies, and have been connected to all sorts of health related problems. Why are we killing ourselves to keep our homes clean?

There are better options.

At the time of the story above, Jen discovered method. Through an ad in one of her magazines, we read about a company that was trying to change the way people think about clean. It's all about fighting what's dirty. Not just the dirty in our homes, but the dirty in the cleaning product industry. method has created the "greenest" cleaning products around. In addition to cleaning like a mother, smelling great, and being comparably priced, method products are completely biodegradable. Oh yeah, so is their packaging.

Plus, their stuff looks cool as hell.

Over the last couple of years, we have phased out our old "dirty" products and replaced them with all things method. Laundry detergent, bathroom cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, floor cleaners, wood care, kitchen cleaner, etc. You name it, we've got it. The house has never smelled better, Jen can breathe easier, and we can both know we're fighting against "dirty" in lots of different ways.

Look, I recommend method because I'm a method advocate (which is a fancy way of saying that I support them whenever possible, and they send me free stuff), but it doesn't matter what brand you choose. Do yourself and your family a favor; get rid of the harsh chemical cleaners that everyone tells you you have to use to keep your house clean and healthy. Make a difference for yourself and the environment.

Also, no matter what product you emply to fight against "dirty", check out method's new book, "squeaky green". It's a great guide to help you detoxify your home while not being an overt advertisement for their products. I received it last week, and have already put it to use.

And as soon as the coffee table gets leveled, I'll even read it.

It's Blog Action Day!

HTML Code for this banner:


Today is a day for bloggers to join forces and bring awareness to ways we can help protect the environment. Everybody knows the obvious: recycling, hybrid cars, turning your thermostat up or down a couple of degrees (depending on the season), planting trees, solar and wind energy etc.

I wanted to take a second to mention something else that the Swanny household does to help out. A little over a year ago, Jen discovered Method, a company that makes cleaning agents that are people and environmentally friendly. The stuff works just as well as the usual suspects of oversized, toxic, rubber gloves needed, crap that we used to lock away under the kitchen sink.

Check out their site, try some of their stuff. You don't have to take my word for it. I mean, I'm just a Method Advocate.