Luckily, sustainability is becoming an important factor for more and more people - but what is it, and how do we achieve it? Sustainability can be many things, and eco-friendly initiatives and products are just one of the areas pertaining to sustainability.
With so much talk about a sustainable lifestyle and all the things you should change in your daily routine, it can seem a little tough to get started. We want to help with that, because it doesn’t have to be hard! It’s much better to do a little and start slowly, then to not do anything at all.
We want to create more awareness about sustainable cleaning, for example by using eco-friendly cleaning products. Cleaning is something we all do, and most of us do it often! That, plus the fact that cleaning products end up being washed down a sink or toilet, is a good reason to reflect on how we’re cleaning. If we have to say so ourselves, cleaning can actually be really fun - if you have the right products!
What does it mean that Humdakin’s cleaning products are eco-friendly?
At the moment, our liquid range of products include soaps, universal cleaner, dish soap, laundry soap and fabric softener. The function of all of these products is to remove filth and bacteria, as well as leave a clean scent. Camilla, owner of Humdakin, has developed these products to do just that. She has high standards for her products and prioritizes that they smell lovely, are effective and allergy-and eco-friendly!
What makes them eco-friendly?
Many believe that you need lots of harsh chemicals to get something clean. With time we’ve learned to associate cleanliness with the smell of harsh chemicals. But is it really necessary to use that many chemicals to keep your home clean? Soap can actually remove most types of bacteria, especially those you find in your home.
Humdakin formulas are at their core, soaps, created with ingredients that aren’t environmentally damaging, but still get rid of bacteria in your home. You don’t need an abundance of chemicals in products to keep your home clean!
What about the rest of the ingredients?
There are many natural and nurturing ingredients in our cleaning and hand care products. However, it may be more exciting to talk about what isn’t in Humdakin’s liquid products! They are free from parabens, dyes, essential oils, chemical perfumes, endocrine disrupting substances or carcinogens. Additionally, the liquid cleaning products are a concentrate, so a little goes a long way. You can read more about that in the next section.
What are some other ways to make your cleaning routine more sustainable?
Dosage
One of the easiest ways to make your cleaning more sustainable is by following the instructions of use on cleaning products and to not use a larger amount than is recommended. Most products have a recommended dosage for a reason, and usually it’s a lot smaller than you would expect. Using more than the recommended amount of product does not mean that what your cleaning will become more clean - it just means that you will be flushing out more product into the environment. On the topic of reducing product that ends up in the environment, it is a good idea to use products from concentrate or where a little goes a long way.
Humdakin’s products are, as mentioned previously, very effective and made as a concentrate, which means that you only need to use a little bit of the product to get something clean. Here is the recommended dose for our liquid products:
Universal cleaner:
5 ml or 1 teaspoon to a spray bottle (500 ml)
30 ml or 1 tablespoon to a bucket (5 liters)
Dish soap:
One pump for a bucket (5 liters)
Laundry soap:
2 filled “laundry soap” caps per wash
Fabric softener
1 filled “fabric softener” cap per wash
Plastic use
When buying cleaning and housekeeping products, it’s hard to avoid plastic. By reflecting on your plastic use, you can often find a way to get an even more sustainable cleaning.
The most simple tip is to make sure your products are completely empty before buying a new one. This minimizes how many products, and therefore plastic packaging, that you consume. When you do have to buy a new product, it’s a good idea to look at what kind of plastic packaging it is, and if it can be recycled. If there is a recyclable sign on it, and if it is, for example, made from PET plastic like Humdakin products are, then it can easily be recycled! PET plastic is actually one of the easiest plastic types to reuse. Read more about Humdakin’s packaging here.
Refill options or products that come in bigger amounts can also be worth considering, because then you minimize the amount of plastic packaging you buy in the long run.
The Humdakin universal cleaner, for example, is a concentrate, and can refill the spray bottle up to 200 times! That’s a lot of cleaning spray bottles in plastic you’re saving!
Remember to always recycle your trash and plastic packagings when you’re done with them. That is a great way to make a difference!
Washing clothes
When washing your clothes, there are also some things to consider related to sustainability. First off, it’s not everything that you need to wash at very high temperatures, because our modern washing machines and detergents are very effective in themselves. So give it an extra thought before you wash lightly worn t-shirts at a very high temperature.
If it’s in any way possible to reduce your washes, that is also a step in the right direction. By waiting until you have a fold load, instead of constantly washing half full loads, you can save a lot of washes in the long run! This is a simple thing to do in everyday life, and on a yearly basis it could save you a lot of electricity, water and detergent!
During summer, you can also consider hanging your clothes outside to dry, instead of using the dryer. If you have the opportunity to do that, it’s another way to save electricity in the long run - plus there’s something wonderful about the smell of fresh laundry that’s been air drying outside!
