Out and about in my personal life travels I came across a few books at Half Price Books this past weekend. I have a minor obsession with this store. I mean what's not to love? It's reusing (which is SO green) and it's HALF PRICE! I digress..... Anyway, one book I stumbled upon is The Green Year: 365 small things you can do to make a Big Difference!. And just as the title promises, they are small changes to make in day to day life. Today's little tidbit came at just the right time.
Like many of you I do most of my laundry over the weekend. While loading the wash with my colors I was looking at my whites and thinking "hmm, looking a little dingy...time to buy some REAL bleach while I'm out today." Yeah I know...it's bad. I'm not 100% green all the time. So I loaded up my colors and took off to run some errands. On my way out I grabbed a small stack of my recent HPB purchases and zipped out the door. Once my errands were done my boyfriend and I headed off to McMennamins (totally great pub with some organic, local food and a great NW Brewery). While dining we were both perusing through the books we brought with us. I was telling him how dingy my whites were and that we needed to buy some "real" bleach while we were out and then I read this: Bleach has to sit on a surface for 30 MINUTES before it disinfects! Yes 30 whole minutes!
We've all been told (and raised) with this idea that bleach kills anything, and well it does but it's not as fast as we once thought. I don't ever use bleach for general cleaning anymore mostly because I have much better green alternatives and bleach is so drying, but I admit I do on occasion use in the laundry. But 30 minutes?? That's ridiculous. So with a heavy sigh me and my dingy whites opened another book and that's when I found today's small thing tidbit:
Use hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach when you wash a load of whites
Bleach is toxic to marine life and creates a byproduct called dioxin which is a known carcinogen and has been linked to birth defects. Once it goes down the drain, it's impact is irreversible.
Hydrogen Peroxide is just as effective for whitening your clothes (YES!) but has none of the harmful environmental effects of bleach. In fact, hydrogen peroxide is simply water with an extra oxygen molecule. It is produced naturally in the environment when sunlight mixes with water. Add a cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide to your wash as an inexpensive and color-safe alternative to bleach; your clothes will look great and you'll be doing your part to safeguard marine life.
How great is this?? Can't wait to go home tonight and do more laundry!!!
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