Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe & Healthy, Non-Toxic Cleaning (Paperback)

~ Jeffrey Hollender (Author), Geoff Davis (Author), Meika Hollender (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Compelling evidence links the chemicals in household products to cancer, asthma, allergies, multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome-also known as environmental illness-hormonal disruption, reproductive and developmental disorders, and other conditions. Yet cleaning products are exempt from the full ingredient disclosure on product labels as required for food and personal care products and enter the marketplace with little or no testing for potential health risks.

Naturally Clean explains the dangers of traditional cleaners and provides illuminating statistics that illustrate how the chemicals found in almost every home are known or likely to cause a host of serious health problems. The book's easy-to-understand introduction discusses basic household chemistry, concepts of toxicity and types of toxic exposure, and the difference between natural, organic, and synthetic chemicals.

A room-by-room guide provides tips for:

A healthier kitchen
Keeping your bedrooms safe
Mold, mildew, and soap scum: spotless bathrooms
Special precautions for cleaning children's rooms

Naturally Clean also features a comprehensive product selection guide that analyzes over 300 natural and traditional cleaners: everything from laundry products through oven cleaners, disinfectants, spot removers, carpet cleaners, and bathroom cleaners. This handy, easy-to-use reference rates the household cleaning products found on the shelves of natural food and grocery stores, providing Seventh Generation's pick of your healthiest and safest options. A resource guide tells readers where to find additional information, and an at-a-glance glossary helps understand key terms.

Royalties from the sale of Naturally Clean will benefit the Children's Health Environmental Coalition (www.checnet.org) in their efforts to educate parents about environmental toxins that can affect children's health.

Jeffrey Hollender is president of Seventh Generation, Inc., the leading brand of natural household products, and author of the bestseller How To Make the World a Better Place. He speaks on social and environmental responsibility worldwide.

Geoff Davis is a freelance writer and editor of Seventh Generation's consumer newsletter Non-Toxic Times.

Meika Hollender is an author who specializes in personal care products.

About the Author

Jeffrey Hollender is President & Corporate Responsibility Officer at Seventh Generation, Inc., a multiple award-winning company known for its progressive business practices. The founder of a community bank, director of the Social Venture Network, and advisor to The Council on Economic Priorities' best-selling guide book, Shopping for a Better World, he speaks widely on social and environmental responsibility worldwide.

Geoff Davis is a freelance writer whose work has been featured by a wide of variety of nationally known companies and organizations including Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., Gaiam, Inc., the National Geographic Society, and Seventh Generation. He is currently the editor of the Non-Toxic Times, the latter's monthly consumer environmental newsletter.

Meika Hollender is a student and author who's work has appeared in the Green Guide. She specializes in studying personal care products.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: New Society Publishers (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865715483
• ISBN-13: 978-0865715486
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #192,948 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an amazing book!, April 5, 2006

By	Alexandra Grabbe (Wellfleet, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Naturally Clean is stock full of useful information about chemicals to avoid in the home. It is truly a must-have for every household, written by the crew at Seventh Generation, people who know their stuff. I now take it along with me when I go shopping and review labels for ingredients with a new-found appreciation for the hazards that are out there on supermarket shelves. I especially appreciate the Resource Guide at the end.

I own a green bed & breakfast and plan to make Naturally Clean part of our new Honeymoon Special. It is the type of book I wish I had owned thirty-five years ago when my children were small. Clean up your act. Get yourself a copy today!

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Info But Product Performance Evaluation Lacking, August 18, 2007

By	K. Cwynar (Naperville, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

On the plus side, this book provides a great recap regarding the environmental impacts of everyday household products, although the book sometimes reads like a chemistry textbook. The authors cite numerous research examples that demonstrate links between common products we use and their environmental and health effects. They also offer many common sense changes for improving our home's environment.

My disappointment lies with the author's evaluations of readily-available cleaning products (which incidentally comes in the final chapter of the book). My past experiences with green cleaning products have been underwhelming at best -- performance is clearly lacking. The authors choose to evaluate over 300 products based only on the environmental impacts and specifically state that they did not evaluate cleaning performance -- a serious omission in their research. It feels like a job only half done.

46 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative book, May 4, 2006

By	J. J. Carew (Green Bay, WI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The actual content of the book should be required reading for everyone. People might drive a Prius or a hybrid car but their big tub o' liquid laundry detergent is made from Petroleum. It's information like this that makes it a very interesting read.

I do not consider myself a stereotypical super-eco-freak, the kind that wears long flowing caftans and wears Birkenstocks and could generally be considered a modern-day hippie. Because let's face it; environmentalists do have that as a stereotype regardless of if it's true or not. I do consider myself a pretty normal person who likes to learn as much as possible about anything that involves my kids. Most people don't think that cleaning products or lawn fertilizers or driving the minivan that gets 17 miles to the gallon make a big impact on the world. But that is the danger; too many people think that what they do does not matter. This book reminds us that we live on the planet with others and should always remember that.

The only problem with this book is that for the first several chapters, I felt like I was trudging through a textbook. Very informative but very dry. But as the book went along, it seemed to pick up it's pace and the writing improved, becoming more conversational and easier to read.

This helped educate me a little more about living in a greener world, although much of the stuff I had read in several different places. It is nice to get all the important information in one place, though.