Green Living: Queen of Green’s Spring Break-Up
Article by Tovah Paglaro, green living guru.
Spring Cleaning and Green Living
It’s spring cleaning time, but before you reach for the chemicals locked under your kitchen counter, David Suzuki’s Queen of Green is challenging Canadian families to try safer, healthier options! As part of our Earth Day celebrations all month long, Vancouver Mom is joining the www.SpringBreakup.ca campaign and pledging to end our toxic relationship with everyday household cleaners.
You probably have everything you need to clean your house in your pantry. Yes, your pantry. Where you keep your food! After all, you are planning to clean your kitchen, aren’t you? And your kids do eat off those counters, don’t they? So it doesn’t actually make a whole lot of sense to smear them with chemicals, does it? But we do!
That’s because in Canada, household cleaning companies aren’t required by law to disclose their ingredients. Contrary to popular perception, many of those undisclosed ingredients are known to cause damage to our health and the environment. The brands we grew up trusting are often suspect, making it challenging for well-intentioned parents to make healthy choices for their families.
Spring Break Up
Between April 10th and May 3rd, 2012, the Queen of Green makes it easy to clean green by offering four weeks of shopping and green living tips, effective DIY recipes and helpful facts about ingredients, toxins and alternatives. She’ll help you discover healthy ways to scrub, dust, polish and shine. Along the way, you’ll have the chance to win some great prizes from businesses and the Queen of Green herself!
The site is jam packed full of great downloads – including simple and effective cleaning recipes, green living tips, all natural stain removal solutions and an awesome FAQ that details gritty truths, like what’s in your air freshener. Hint – it’s not so fresh! There’s also plenty of fun to be had.
To take the challenge and end your own toxic relationship, pick up the vinegar, put down the toxins and join www.SpringBreakup.ca.
Tovah Paglaro is the Family Editor for Thrifty & Green Magazine. She writes the series Growing Up Green about her family’s adventures in green living, focusing on teaching children and their parents to love the earth and live like they do. Follow her on Twitter: @tovahp.
