When it comes to cleaning, going green means getting rid of all the toxic cleaners and opting for eco-friendly green cleaning products. Cleaning products are everywhere in our homes and offices. We come into contact with residual cleansers when we touch counter tops, we breath in bits of cleaning products, we even eat trace amounts of the cleaning products we use on our dishes. So on top of going green with cleaning products, you’ll be doing your part for the environment, while also making your home or office a much safer place.

So many of the conventional cleaning products we grew up with are petroleum-based and have many negative traits -for the environment and for us individually. Many times these strong chemicals are much more powerful that you really need to get the job done anyway. Along with replacing conventional cleaning products, there are some other things you can do to minimize the need for harsh cleansers.

Be careful with antibacterial cleaners

This one might be old news for many of you, but just in case you haven’t considered it before, antibacterial and antimicrobial cleaners are harmful to the environment in a different way. These cleaners do not clean any better than regular soap and water, and produce antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. While it might be good to have antibacterial hand cleansers around when you or another family member is sick, going green with cleaning means not using antibacterial products on a regular basis.

Freshen air and carpet naturally

Use essential oil diffusers to freshen the air with essential oils, or simpler yet: Just add some cinnamon and clove to a simmering pot of water. Or maybe mint and orange peels. Going green can mean having fun and getting creative with aroma.

Check out some place like Liberty Natural for the very best deals in essential oils, floral waters, dried herbs and other green products -their essential oil soaps can’t be beat. They have a $50 minimum order policy, but it’s pretty easy to meet and you can get supplies for several months -they sell essential oils in so many sizes -from less than an ounce to 16 ounces, it’s perfect for stocking up.

And don’t forget plants. A green leafy plant will help clean the air and keep it smelling wonderful. Can’t go much greener than that solution for freshening the air.

For carpet, baking soda sprinkled around and left for at least an hour, can then be vacuumed up to eliminate odors and freshen things up. Even better, open a large baking soda container and add several drops of essential oil, or perhaps a tea bag with dried herbs such as mint, lavender, pine or lemon into the container with the baking soda. I like to leave the baking soda ’steeping’ for at least a week, so every time I use one I just make sure to prepare another for the next time I vacuum. Makes things a little more interesting, and definitely qualifies as green cleaning.

Dispose of toxic cleaners safely

When replacing conventional cleaners with green cleaning products, don’t just through toxic cleaners in the trash or pour them down the drain. If these cleaners are toxic to you, imagine how toxic they can be to the environment. Many cities have special ‘toxics’ pickup days so you can get rid of all toxic waste like old cleaning products just by leaving them on your curb. Find out from your county or city what you are to do with toxic waste.

Avoid conventional dry cleaning

Dry cleaners that utilize conventional dry cleaning chemicals are the largest users of Perchloroethylene (perc), which is toxic to humans and creates smog. Green cleaning options are to opt for carbon dioxide dry cleaning. Ask around and find a dry cleaner who uses green cleaning methods.

Take off your shoes

Whenever possible, leave shoes by the door when coming in form outside. This green cleaning solution works by avoiding additional dirt. Shoes are the dirtiest things we come into contact with on a regular basis, whether we’re talking about soot and grime, or toxins. Taking your shoes off and leaving them at the door will keep people from tracking the outside in. Things like animal waste, oil, pollen, particulate pollution and any number of other things get picked up by our shoes and then tracked inside and spread around if shoes are left on.

Make it easy and keep a little shoe rack or shelf by the door where everyone can keep their shoes. By keeping shoes by the door you can eliminate a lot of extra sweeping and dusting, while also keeping your inside environment much safer for the people and animals who live there.

Use green cleaning products

And of course one main step to take in greening up your cleaning routine is to replace conventional cleaning products with eco-friendly green cleaning products. With the growing interest in going green, there is an ever growing assortment of green cleaning products from which to choose.

You can find everything from trash bags and dish soap, to all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergent and pet litter that are green products. Also, because more people are going green, there is more of a demand for green cleaning products such that you don’t have to spend more money for green cleaning products than you would for petroleum-based conventional cleaning products. I’ve put together a widget of some green cleaning products you can order from Amazon, which is a great place to shop for the customer reviews -these save a lot of hassle in helping you choose which items are going to work for you.

Of course the simplest way to go green with your cleaners is to use only baking soda, vinegar and/or borax for most of your cleaning chores. Baking soda is great for controlling odor in carpets, air and appliances. Borax is supreme at scrubbing hard crust from stove tops, pots and pans, counter tops or you! Borax is a very gentle soap that occurs naturally and is mined. For this reason it is not 100% green, but the carbon footprint from the mining equipment is quite small compared to the huge amounts of borax that is produced. Vinegar is a way to strengthen any borax and baking soda green cleaner mix, or can be used by itself with old newspaper or cloth for cleaning windows and mirrors. The main thing to keep in mind, is that many cleaning jobs require more elbow grease than cleaning product. Only use as much as you need to get the job done.