Monday, November 16, 2009

Dusty Dust

This morning, NPR had a report about dust in the house, and it sort of made me mad. I am sure it was supposed to be a rather light-hearted drive-to-work fluff piece, but I wanted some hard-hitting journalism. Pieces like this that talk about all the bad stuff that is in dust (apparently, researchers are still finding DDT d inust in homes. Either someone is never cleaning, or our chemicals really stick around) probably make people run out and buy toxic chemicals that they can use to wipe up their toxic dust. Granted, the story only mentioned vaccuuming. It did not encourage Pledge, but Americans are dumb when it comes to cleaning. They think that cleaning=expensive, chemical-laden products that scub counters and floors raw when all they really need is a little elbow grease and common, household products like white vinegar and baking soda. (Americans want things to LOOK CLEAN, not necessarily be healthy. They think this is the same thing.) Also, I wish the story would have mentioned that indoor air quality is better than outdoor air quality, in almost all instances, and people should be opening their windows when weather allows, letting in fresh air. Yes, even in the city.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I completely agree! My biggest "ah-HA!" moment a few years ago was when I realized that the smells of Comet and Windex have only CONDITIONED me to think "clean", they don't actually mean "clean." I've finally gotten to where my vinegar & essential oil cleaning sprays convey the "clean" message to my nose, instead of the harmful chemicals.

And NOTHING is better than fresh air. Nothing! :-)

kittywhumpus said...

Oh yeah, that "Smells Clean" thing is key. It's been 8 years since I purchased mainstream chemical cleaners, and now when I am around the regular stuff, I only smell chemicals.