Trying to turn Mr. Clean into Mr. Green

Robin Freedman hasn’t bought a cleaning product in five years. But it doesn’t mean her house is dirty.

Instead, the Seattle mother makes her own homemade cleansers, using traditional combos as vinegar and water to clean her floors and bathroom. The reason: Freedman worries about the impact of chemicals in conventional products on her family’s health and the environment.

“If you can breathe it in and it stays in your nostrils, that concerns me,” said Freedman, 43. “Common sense tells me it can’t be good for my family. I’m trying to be a conscientious parent and a conscientious consumer.”

A movement is afoot among consumers such as Ms. Freedman to change how people clean, what kinds of products they use and how transparent manufacturers should be about what is inside their products. Instead of worrying about germs and dirt, these consumers are concerned about the chemicals sprayed to rid their homes of germs and dirt.

“There’s a real shift in thinking,” said Sheela Sathyanarayana, a pediatrician at the University of Washington, who is doing research on toxic chemicals in consumer products. “If we can use safe alternatives, why not?”

Credit the fast-growing organic and environmental movements, as well as new research that show a rise in occupational asthma among custodial workers and studies linking chemicals in cleansers to contaminants in rivers and low birth weight and infertility in mice. Rising cancer rates and recent manufacture recalls of toys made with dangerous lead paint also has heightened consumer skepticism about the products around them.

Grassroots environmental groups want more regulation over chemicals used in cleaners and consumers are asking manufacturers to list product ingredients on labels and discontinue the use of suspicious chemicals. A big concern: phthalates in glass cleaners and other consumer products that, according to some scientists, have been linked to reduced sperm count in adult men and allergic symptoms in children.

seventhgeneration.com Seventh Generation has enjoyed a 25 percent to 40 percent growth a year for the past five years.

One group, Women’s Voices for the Earth, will begin distributing online toolkits to consumers in December so they can host home parties in which guests make their own homemade cleansers from pantry items like lemon juice, olive oil and baking soda. “We’re hoping that will catch on,” said Erin Thompson, the group’s campaign coordinator.

In Washington State, some hospitals and schools now clean only with non-chemical based products. In Massachusetts, proposed legislation would require those same non-toxic methods be mandatory for cleaning daycares, schools and other public buildings.

Meanwhile, the green cleaning business is blossoming. House cleaning services in San Francisco and New York now sell themselves as “eco-cleaning agencies” and promise to make homes healthy as well as tidy, using a mix of recipes of vinegar and water and non-toxic cleaners.

Sales of household eco-cleaning products continue to climb quickly although the sector still makes up just 1 percent of the $15 billion household cleaning products market. Among the largest of these alternative brands — Seventh Generation — has enjoyed a 25 percent to 40 percent growth a year for the past five years. Sales will soon hit $100 million as its products have made their way into mainstream grocers and big box retailers such as Target, said company spokeswoman Chrystie Heimert.

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