Achieving a Greener Environment With Non-Toxic Solvents
When we think about things that damage the environment, it's common to envision billowing smokestacks perched atop a metal factory or industrial drainage pipes that gush mysterious liquids into rivers and bays.
Due to their visual impact, these things seem far more heinous than, say, a bottle of non-organic cleaning solvent.
But when we examine environmental damage in terms of scope, we find that small, commonly used toxic products play a significant role in changing the environment for the worse.
From personal beauty supplies to radioactive exit signs, there are several small products that damage the environment in a big way when we consider their frequency of use, but perhaps no small product is as culpable of causing environmental havoc as toxic cleaning solvents.
Unlike toxic beauty supplies and exit signs, cleaning solvents are used in almost every indoor environment around the world on a daily basis.
What seems like the small infraction of just one aerosol cleaning solvent is actually part of an epidemic of millions of cleaning solutions simultaneously spewing toxic chemicals.
Removing the environmental threat of toxic industrial solvents depends on two factors: the willingness of cleaning solvent companies to replace their toxic products with new, organic products, and the willingness of consumers to buy the new products.
Given the scope of the green movement, it would seem like companies and consumers would be ready to make the switch from toxic solvents to organic solvents without thinking twice, but there are two significant problems that stand in the way: the money required to develop new products and the consumer's questionable perception of the new products.
For the development of new products to be financially feasible, companies must ensure that customers who purchased the old product will purchase the new product, which is harder than it sounds.
Even though the new product might be just as effective, consumers tend to favor the former product because of its history of producing results.
Complicating this perception is that fact that most advertising campaigns tend to romanticize the consumer into believing that a product's effectiveness is inseparable from its "tradition".
To market a new version of an old product, companies must find a way to express "tradition" in terms of "quality", and do so without totally absconding from the historical aspect of the original product.
Ultimately, what seems like the simple choice between a cleaner environment and a dirtier environment is actually a difficult decision between striking out in a new direction and "sticking with what works".
For companies and consumers who would like to support a cleaner environment but feel nervous about switching to a new version of an old product, it helps to remember that organic cleaning solvents are not less effective than toxic solvents.
For example, industrial organic degreasers offer the same degreasing power as toxic degreasers, the only difference being that organic industrial degreasers are environmentally safe.
Before you purchase another toxic solvent, try to remember that it's no less dangerous than a billowing smoke stack or toxic waste pouring into rivers and bays.
Due to their visual impact, these things seem far more heinous than, say, a bottle of non-organic cleaning solvent.
But when we examine environmental damage in terms of scope, we find that small, commonly used toxic products play a significant role in changing the environment for the worse.
From personal beauty supplies to radioactive exit signs, there are several small products that damage the environment in a big way when we consider their frequency of use, but perhaps no small product is as culpable of causing environmental havoc as toxic cleaning solvents.
Unlike toxic beauty supplies and exit signs, cleaning solvents are used in almost every indoor environment around the world on a daily basis.
What seems like the small infraction of just one aerosol cleaning solvent is actually part of an epidemic of millions of cleaning solutions simultaneously spewing toxic chemicals.
Removing the environmental threat of toxic industrial solvents depends on two factors: the willingness of cleaning solvent companies to replace their toxic products with new, organic products, and the willingness of consumers to buy the new products.
Given the scope of the green movement, it would seem like companies and consumers would be ready to make the switch from toxic solvents to organic solvents without thinking twice, but there are two significant problems that stand in the way: the money required to develop new products and the consumer's questionable perception of the new products.
For the development of new products to be financially feasible, companies must ensure that customers who purchased the old product will purchase the new product, which is harder than it sounds.
Even though the new product might be just as effective, consumers tend to favor the former product because of its history of producing results.
Complicating this perception is that fact that most advertising campaigns tend to romanticize the consumer into believing that a product's effectiveness is inseparable from its "tradition".
To market a new version of an old product, companies must find a way to express "tradition" in terms of "quality", and do so without totally absconding from the historical aspect of the original product.
Ultimately, what seems like the simple choice between a cleaner environment and a dirtier environment is actually a difficult decision between striking out in a new direction and "sticking with what works".
For companies and consumers who would like to support a cleaner environment but feel nervous about switching to a new version of an old product, it helps to remember that organic cleaning solvents are not less effective than toxic solvents.
For example, industrial organic degreasers offer the same degreasing power as toxic degreasers, the only difference being that organic industrial degreasers are environmentally safe.
Before you purchase another toxic solvent, try to remember that it's no less dangerous than a billowing smoke stack or toxic waste pouring into rivers and bays.
