2008 Woodie Awards
Mr. & Mrs. Green Clean up our homes
Mike Myers
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: News
Take a look under your sink at a cleaning product that you use frequently. Look at the label and pick out one of the words you cannot pronounce in the ingredients. Look up that word and see what you find.
Research on one carpet cleaner that contains the chemical 2-butoxyethanol shows that this chemical can cause skin and eye irritation and also serious blood, liver and kidney damage.
Mr. & Mrs. Green Clean is a company just getting off the ground this month in Wilmington that focuses on removing such cleaning products from our homes and providing nontoxic, biodegradable replacements.
"It's amazing when you learn the cleaner your mom used, that you love so much, is filled with cancer causing chemicals that are banned in other countries but are still allowed in the U.S.," founder of Mr. & Mrs. Green Clean Valerie Dryka said.
Dryka is a UNCW Cameron School of Business graduate who found herself in Santa Fe, N.M. after her life made a few unexpected turns. Once there, she took a boutique manager and retail administrator position at a local all organic/sustainable spa. This job required her to do a great deal of research about what chemicals are put in all types of products (food, clothes, body care items, etc.), why they are used and what type of affect they have on people.
After returning to Wilmington and realizing how far behind we are as a community on healthier alternatives, she decided to use this knowledge to create Mr. & Mrs. Green clean, which she runs with her fiancé, Joseph Kuziel.
"A cleaner that cautions you from inhaling or touching your skin should never be in anyone's home or near their children or family pets," Dryka said.
Interestingly enough, this information is not as readily available as one might think. There are a number of cleaning products on the market that don't include the ingredients on the product itself. Even more amazing is the fact that these companies are not mandated to list all the ingredients included. If a certain item can be classified as "secret," meaning they don't want their competitors to know about it, they are not required to tell the buyer.
UNCW has already made steps towards eliminating these dangerous chemicals from our resident cleaning products and replacing them with greener cleaning chemicals.
"Greener cleaning products avoid using toxic chemicals and when needed, use chemicals that degrade to a less toxic state," Co-Chair of the UNCW Sustainability Committee Stan Harts said.
Our House Keeping and Campus Life departments have acquired a number of products that are all Green Seal Certified. This means that the products have been evaluated at all levels, from manufacturing to use and disposal, considering the impact they will have on health and the environment.
"Our Marauder cleaner for carpets, Raindance cleaner for floors, and Star Spray cleaner for windows are all Green Seal Certified," Housekeeping Administrator James Parker said.
Research on one carpet cleaner that contains the chemical 2-butoxyethanol shows that this chemical can cause skin and eye irritation and also serious blood, liver and kidney damage.
Mr. & Mrs. Green Clean is a company just getting off the ground this month in Wilmington that focuses on removing such cleaning products from our homes and providing nontoxic, biodegradable replacements.
"It's amazing when you learn the cleaner your mom used, that you love so much, is filled with cancer causing chemicals that are banned in other countries but are still allowed in the U.S.," founder of Mr. & Mrs. Green Clean Valerie Dryka said.
Dryka is a UNCW Cameron School of Business graduate who found herself in Santa Fe, N.M. after her life made a few unexpected turns. Once there, she took a boutique manager and retail administrator position at a local all organic/sustainable spa. This job required her to do a great deal of research about what chemicals are put in all types of products (food, clothes, body care items, etc.), why they are used and what type of affect they have on people.
After returning to Wilmington and realizing how far behind we are as a community on healthier alternatives, she decided to use this knowledge to create Mr. & Mrs. Green clean, which she runs with her fiancé, Joseph Kuziel.
"A cleaner that cautions you from inhaling or touching your skin should never be in anyone's home or near their children or family pets," Dryka said.
Interestingly enough, this information is not as readily available as one might think. There are a number of cleaning products on the market that don't include the ingredients on the product itself. Even more amazing is the fact that these companies are not mandated to list all the ingredients included. If a certain item can be classified as "secret," meaning they don't want their competitors to know about it, they are not required to tell the buyer.
UNCW has already made steps towards eliminating these dangerous chemicals from our resident cleaning products and replacing them with greener cleaning chemicals.
"Greener cleaning products avoid using toxic chemicals and when needed, use chemicals that degrade to a less toxic state," Co-Chair of the UNCW Sustainability Committee Stan Harts said.
Our House Keeping and Campus Life departments have acquired a number of products that are all Green Seal Certified. This means that the products have been evaluated at all levels, from manufacturing to use and disposal, considering the impact they will have on health and the environment.
"Our Marauder cleaner for carpets, Raindance cleaner for floors, and Star Spray cleaner for windows are all Green Seal Certified," Housekeeping Administrator James Parker said.
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freecreditrepair
Free Credit Repair
posted 12/02/08 @ 4:29 AM EST
Living green and payday loans have certainly provided that extra cash flow I desperately needed. It's a wonderful thing that more and more people are wising up and advocating better protection to our planet. (Continued…)
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