1000 Flowers for the Planet - #172 Buy Chlorine-Free Products
Chlorine can be found in bleach, a
common cleaning product in many households. It is also used
in making solvents for dry cleaning, textiles, pharmaceuticals, insecticides,
dyestuffs, processing chicken meat and interestingly, in weapons (mustard gas),
which was used with dire effect during World War I. It is a major component of
PVC (see Flower suggestion #141) which should most definitely be avoided. Chlorine
is also used to treat drinking water because of its effectiveness in killing
all types of bacteria, and whilst we don’t want nasty bacteria in our drinking
water, we also don’t want all the good bacteria inside our systems to be killed
off, causing health issues.
But back to products: I’ve
been trying to find answers regarding the safety or otherwise of chlorine and
its effects on the environment and, as usual, have found just as many websites
claiming it is safe as websites condemning the chemical. How does the average
person know what is right and what is wrong? I have learned that Sweden is
practically chlorine free. Why would they do that if they didn’t think it was a
necessary step to take? Let me simplify the matter by pointing you in the
direction of an article that is almost 20 years old that talks about the fight
to ban chlorine use. Furthermore, the article tells us that there are
alternatives for every instance of chlorine use. Read it at http://www.greens.org/s-r/078/07-53.html
In conclusion, erring on
the side of sustainable living practices and caring for our environment, the
suggestion to steer clear of products containing chlorine is a viable and
sensible one. Give it some thought.
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