Going green at home can be simple and fun. Here is my quick list for greening your cleaning routine.

1. Use cleaning products made from safe natural and not-toxic ingredients to prevent exposure to the hazardous synthetic chemicals conventional cleaners often contain.
2. Dust with a damp cloth to ensure that household dust, which can collect toxins, is removed from surfaces and not stirred back into the air.
3. Open windows and doors occasionally (even in winter!) to rinse out any air pollutants that have accumulated inside.
4. Spray carefully. Propellant-powered aerosol spray products release their ingredients in the form of easily-breathable microscopic droplets that stay suspended in the air for hours after use. Better bets are hand-powered spray products or those you can apply with a sponge or rag.
5. Use baking soda. Freshen everything from carpets and cat boxes to trash cans and drains with non-toxic baking soda. Just sprinkle, let stand overnight, and vacuum or rinse odors away the next day.
6. Do your laundry in cold water. Times have changed, and modern laundry detergent formulas clean your clothes just as well in cold water as they do in hot water. Save energy and money!
7. Use chlorine-free dishwasher detergent. The chlorine in conventional detergents is easily vaporized by hot dishwasher water and then released into your home’s air.
8. Ask guests to remove their shoes when entering your home. That way, they won’t track in pollutants.
9. Buy a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter. These special filters trap unhealthy dust particles.