Living greener

[tracilicious]

Originally Posted by Stan4dSteph

Bleach is a great disinfectant, but I wouldn't call it a pesticide. I love the smell of bleach. To me it equals clean. I do agree about the disposable wipes though. I need to get some microfiber cloths at the store to use instead of disposables.

Bleach is a registered pesticide.

If I recall, bleach has been linked to asthma and other health problems. You don't need to completely eliminate bacteria to get things clean. Vinegar kills germs really really well. A naturalish company just came out with the first non-bleach cleaner that is approved for use in hospitals. It kills the HIV simplex virus. It's made with thyme oil. Looks promising. Bleach is murder on the environment.

ETA: Wikipedia on bleach:

A problem with chlorine is that it reacts with organic material to form trihalomethanes like chloroform, which is a well known carcinogen. The benefit of using chlorine to kill the germs in drinking water far outweighs any risk from the tiny trace of chloroform in treated drinking water. However, the use of bleach in industrial processes such as paper bleaching, with its attendant production of organochlorine-persistent organic pollutants (including dioxins), does not have any such clear benefit.
Chlorine is a respiratory irritant. It also attacks mucus membranes and burns the skin. As little as 3.5 ppm can be detected as an odor, and 1000 ppm is likely to be fatal after a few deep breaths. Exposure to chlorine should not exceed 0.5 ppm (8-hour time-weighted average - 40 hour week).
Another hazard is the formation of acrid chloramine fumes when hypochlorite bleach comes into contact with ammonia or urine, which, though not nearly as dangerous as chlorine, can cause severe respiratory distress.