With spring cleaning right around the corner, now would be a great time to start learning how you can green your cleaning closet. The old tried and true bottle of Super Duper Miraculous Magic Clean that is under your kitchen sink may be doing you, your family and the environment more harm than good. Sure, it will get the toilet bowl sparkling, but the negative impact on our bodies and on our environment can be destructive.

Many of the products you can use to start a green cleaning regimen may already be in your kitchen cabinets. Baking soda is great for removing odors. It is also good for scrubbing. Olive oil is a wonderful wood polish. Vinegar is extremely versatile as a kitchen and bathroom cleaner and as a clog buster. Mix a half vinegar, half water solution for the best glass cleaner youve ever used. Creating your cleaning solution can even be fun. You can customize the scent by choosing different essential oils to add to your mixtures. You can find different recipes for cleaners in books, on the internet, even in some cookbooks. Or, it could be as easy as a phone call to your grandmother. Chances are she has been green-cleaning her entire life and didnt even know it.

However, if making your own cleaning products isnt for you, there are many fantastic eco-friendly products currently available and many more all the time. Several of the products that we all grew up with, and that we still use simply because we always have, are riddled with dangerous toxins and chemicals. Check your local grocery store the next time you shop. You may be surprised that tucked among all the toxic cleaners, an environmentally friendly, biodegradable, safe option is there. And most of these products are no more expensive than their traditional counterparts. As more and more customers demand green products, stores will begin to carry more. If you are unable to locate green products at the store in your neighborhood, ask the store manager to start carrying them.

There are many great books available to help you learn about green cleaning. One that I highly recommend is Green This! Volume 1: Greening Your Cleaning by Deirdre Imus. I found it to be not only an extremely useful tool for learning how to clean in an environmentally responsibly way, but also a great resource for products and chemicals to avoid. Also, all of the authors profits from the book benefit the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.

Now the fun part: Get cleaning!