374 A Healthy Home
Natural home cleaning protects health
When Maribel came to the United States from Nicaragua, she found a job with
a cleaning company. Every night she cleaned 3 offices, washing floors and
windows. Sometimes she got dizzy, nauseous, and confused after several hours
of work. She went to a doctor who gave her some medicine that only made her
feel worse. As long as she worked, her sick feeling did not go away.
One day her job ended. Though she was out of work, she soon began to feel
better. Then she learned about another cleaning company, the Natural Home
Cleaning Professionals, which used nontoxic cleaning products. The women at
Natural Home Cleaning said that many cleaning products people used were
harmful and made people feel ill. Suddenly Maribel knew what had made her
sick!
Natural Home Cleaning is a worker-owned cooperative. The women who
are the cleaners own the business, so they decide what products to clean with.
The workers decided to use only healthy products like vinegar, baking soda,
liquid soap, and warm water. With practice, they learned how to make these
materials more effective by using cleaning tools like
spatulas and scrubbing sponges. As part of their
work, they also trained other women to clean using
natural methods.
When Maribel started working with Natural
Home Cleaning, she told her neighbors, friends,
and even strangers at the market how to
replace toxic cleaners with natural ones.
Cleaning with natural products is sometimes
harder than working with chemicals, but
it is healthier. While she works, Maribel
remembers how her grandmother used
to clean, and she wants to hand this
knowledge down to her sons and
daughters. For Maribel, training
people in natural home cleaning is
not just part of her job. It is now an
important part of her life as well.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012