The environmental impact of conventional cleaning products

Cleaner is something we use almost daily to make our home a well-maintained place. A space that has just been completely cleaned smells nice, is healthier and provides a clean environment to live in. However, we often don't consider the impact cleaning products have on the world we live in.

While conventional cleaning products may keep our kitchen, bathroom and living room clean, they do a disservice to the natural environment.

Let's look at the impact of the packaging of most cleaning products, their contents and how they end up with the millions of consumers.

One of the three main factors contributing to the negative environmental impact of cleaning products is packaging. This is not surprising since most conventional cleaning products are sold in a plastic spray bottle. With the current plastic crisis, single-use plastic is definitely to be avoided.

While the packaging of cleaning products can be very unsustainable, the ingredient list also has an impact. Phthalates, quaternary ammonium compounds (QUATS), perchloroethylene, phosphorus, triclosan, ammonia or chlorine are just some of the environmentally damaging chemicals on the long list!

Most of the cleaning products we use at home end up going down the drain. While many of the chemicals in conventional cleaners can be filtered in wastewater treatment plants, this is not the case for all of them, and some continue to pollute rivers and seas, affecting vegetation.

If we buy mass-produced cleaning products from a large manufacturer, chances are that the product was made many miles away from us and had to go through several stages of travel to get to its location.

All that transportation has an environmental cost, although you may not realize it; trucks, ships and other transportation methods all use fossil fuels to ship their goods, which means every commercial product you buy has a fractional, but measurable impact on the environment.

Transportation will always be there, but here it helps to make it as efficient as possible. Conventional cleaning products consist of up to 90% water and are packaged in bottles that are not stackable. Efficient is anything but because water often just comes from the tap in people's homes.

BRAUZZ. succeeded through much research and development to bundle the essence of detergent into a refill system. How it works. You buy a durable refillable bottle once. You fill it with water at home and pour in the refill. After a few seconds, you're ready to clean. So you stop paying for disposable plastic, water and unnecessary heavy transportation. Simple.