eco-friendly

Posted on 17th January 2019 by David Cochrane

So what makes us Different

So what makes us different?

Many of our enquirers ask the question ‘So what makes us different than all the others on the market?’

Within this all-encompassing question lays several points that I hope this post will address and answer.

Firstly we must ask ourselves what we mean by ‘different’.

Do we mean the difference between our Company and our rivals in terms of annual turnover, numbers of people employed etc. or are we referring to the products, the way they are advertised, where they are sold, cost? The list, as you can see, can be endless.

So, in order to attempt to answer the question with clarity, I will highlight the 7 most popular questions we have received from our enquirers.

Does ECO.3 clean better than its rivals?
Does ECO.3 cost less than your rivals?
Is ECO.3 more eco-responsible than your rivals?
Does ECO.3 have less environmental impact than your rivals?
Does ECO.3 have any independent analysis to prove your claims?
What ingredients are in your product that makes it safer to use than your rivals?
What factors makes your Company more eco-responsible and ethical than your rivals?

Does ECO.3 product clean better than its rivals?

Yes in short. The answer to this question can only be answered by scientific measurement.

We took the three most popular, by sales, rivals to our products and scientifically measured the ability to remove soiling from the surface.

ECO.3 was the only product that left the surface clinically clean when following the manufacturers instructions. Not only satisfied by the scientific evidence, we asked a sample of the public to visually choose what product they believed left the surface ‘cleaner’.

On our test with all labels removed, of the 200 members of the public, 184 believed that bottle B left the surface cleaner. Bottle B was ECO.3 .

Does ECO.3 product cost less than your rivals?

ECO.3 is the least most expensive of all the eco-friendly products we found online on 10th January 2019.

Is ECO.3 more eco-responsible than your rivals?

ECO.3 is the only cleaning brand that has Eco Responsible Certification. The products do not contain any toxic ingredients, they are non-carcinogenic, they are bio-degradable and do not harm any plant or animal when disposed. They are safe to be poured into a septic tank.

Does ECO.3 have less environmental impact than your rivals?

An extensive study of all cleaning brands on the market by the Good Shopping Guide rated ECO.3 for the second year running as the most ethical cleaning brand overall. Part of this assessment took into consideration the environmental impact products had and rated ECO.3 as the best in this category.

Take a look at the independent scores from the Good Shopping Guide here.

Does your product have any independent analysis to prove your claims?

As mentioned above readers would not simply take our word for the claims we make and we have been extremely enthusiastic and transparent with independent organisations who have analysed and scrutinised our products and procedures. To this end, not only have we been rated the No.1 Ethical Cleaning Brand by the Good Shopping Guide and our cleaning products are registered by the International Vegan Society.

So what makes us different? ECO.3 are the only Cleaning Company to attain the Eco Responsible Certification on all our products and for the Company as a whole. Our products have been scientifically tested by several Internationally renowned laboratories including Campden BRI in the UK and SMI in the USA.

What ingredients are in your product that makes it safer to use than your rivals?

All of our ingredients are of the highest quality and our formulations are designed to be highly effective, while always being safe to use around pets and children.

Free of the following harsh chemicals: ammonia, bleach, dyes, formaldehyde, parabens, & phthalates

Pet-Safe and Child-Safe: Non-toxic, non-carcinogenic and allergen-free

100% Cruelty-free: Our products are NEVER tested on animals neither do we use any animal based ingredients.

Non-Toxic and Non-Hazardous: We do not use any ingredients that cause chemical hazards

Free of V.O.C’s: We do not produce toxic vapours which affect the respiratory system.

Our fragrance: Our fragrance is always cosmetic grade and free from phthalates and parabens and is allergen free.

It is not for us to give away our trade secrets, however we are extremely sincere to say that our products do not require any hazardous labelling of any kind as all products used are well below any limit of concern. If any client has a specific and unusual allergy to any natural ingredient we would be happy to advise.

What factors makes your Company more eco-responsible and ethical than your rivals?

We are working towards making everyone’s home a safer and more eco-responsible environment by introducing eco-responsible products that are allergen-free, non-carcinogenic, effective in performance, do not use animal derived ingredients and represent excellent value for money. We have eliminated the need to throw away your plastic trigger bottle by introducing easy to use eco refill sachets saving 93% CO2 emissions. Our products are safe to pour down the drain or into a septic tank as they are non-toxic to human and animal life.

Our trading, employment and environmental policies are independently rated and verified as not being rivalled by any other Company in our sector.

ECO.3 have teamed up with Breast Cancer UK to help make people aware of the harmful use of hazardous household chemicals and their link to Cancer.

ECO.3 Cleaning products have been independently placed as the No.1 products on the Good Shopping Guide.

SummingUp

So what makes us different? ECO.3 do not have the massive marketing budget of our rivals to shout as loud as them about all the positives of our products nor do we keep all the profit of the sales we do get to ourselves. Our popular CCP program, whereby our clients can elect a charity to donate, enables us to give up to 20% of the total cost of our products to the elected charity.

We manufacture effective and economical non-toxic, non-carcinogenic and allergen-free cleaning products that don’t cost the Earth. The ECO.3 system eliminates single-use plastic trigger bottles saving plastic waste and cuts 93% of CO2 emissions during transportation. We do not use any hazardous chemicals nor any animal derived ingredients. Our products are safe for the environment, safe for you, your family and pets.

If you would like to know more about ECO.3 and receive our special offers and news please fill in the following.

Posted on 13th February 2017 by Helen

Why We Love Green Cleaning Solutions (And You Should, Too!)

We know you care about the environment, but sometimes it’s hard to know how you can make a difference. The good news is there’s a simple way to make things better. Go green at home! Green cleaning solutions are more effective and affordable than ever before, so now’s the time to make a change.

You’re busy organising family life, so you need products you can trust at prices you can afford. Here are 10 reasons why you won’t regret switching to eco-friendly cleaning products:

They help create a non-toxic environment in your home

You already know that most of the cleaning products you buy at the supermarket are made with harsh chemicals. If not, check the labels and you’ll see words like toxic, danger, poison and corrosive on many of the products you rely on to keep your home fresh and clean.

Inevitably these harsh chemicals leave traces wherever you use them, whether it’s a chemical smell in the bathroom or a chalky residue on your carpet. You, your children and your pets all absorb these chemical traces, and they can cause health problems from skin allergies to respiratory issues.

Green cleaning solves this problem at a stroke. With safe, non-toxic ingredients, green products mean you have one less thing to worry about.

They reduce the risk of nasty accidents

We keep traditional cleaning products away from children and pets for a reason: they’re dangerous. They must be shut away in child-proof cupboards out of reach of tiny hands. You don’t want to think about what would happen if there was an accident.

It’s all too easy to make a mistake, maybe mixing bleach and ammonia when you’re cleaning the toilet. The next thing you know you’re in hospital after choking in a cloud of toxic chlorine gas.

After an experience like that, choosing green cleaning products is a no-brainer. Without traditional toxic cleaning products in the house, everyone in your house is safer.

They don’t destroy the bacteria we need to stay healthy

A lot of the cleaning products we buy today have anti-bacterial ingredients that promise to protect our families from sickness and disease. Unfortunately, the chemicals used in these products can’t tell the difference between the bad bacteria that makes us ill and good bacteria we need to be healthy.

Good bacteria help to prevent asthma, eczema, allergies and other autoimmune disorders in your family. The mild ingredients found in eco-friendly products help to protect our bodies from the bad bacteria without killing these good bacteria. It’s good news for your family, and for the health of the nation as well.

They help improve the environment for everyone

On a more positive note, clean and green solutions have a much better impact on the environment. As well as having non-toxic ingredients that make your home a safer place to be, they don’t pollute the air, the water supply or the food chain.

Because they don’t use harsh chemicals, eco-friendly cleaning products break down safely after they’ve been used and don’t cause problems for the environment once they’ve been washed down the drain. This means they help make the world a better, less polluted planet for everyone.

They’re free from synthetic fragrances

Most manufacturers use synthetic fragrances to cover the smell of the chemical ingredients in their cleaning products. We’ve become so used to them that many of us associate the smell of a synthetic fragrance with a clean home.

But actually, researchers have discovered that the chemicals used in synthetic fragrances are bad for our health. They may contain phthalates, substances that have been linked to a whole range of health problems.

Air fresheners are also a problem. Many of them contains xylene, a neurotoxin and possible reproductive toxin that isn’t good for you or your family.

A great green alternative to synthetic fragrances is using essential oils to keep things smelling sweet. Reliable eco-friendly products will contain essential oils to keep your home fresh and free from these chemicals in future.

They make it easier to re-use plastic packaging

Another big plus of eco-friendly cleaning brands is that they offer refills so that you can re-use plastic cleaning bottles. It takes a lot of energy to make plastic from oil, so reducing the number of bottles your family uses is good for the environment.

When you have the option to buy refills there’s no need to throw out the plastic bottles you already have. If everyone did this there would be a few million less plastic bottles in landfill, each of which takes hundreds of years to break down. Green cleaning is definitely the way to go!

They make green cleaning easier

In the past, when people talked about green and clean solutions they often meant using simple ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to clean the house.

While those options can be effective, it often takes a lot of elbow grease to get rid of tough stains. Today’s green cleaning products use new innovations to boost their effectiveness. For example, some green cleaning solutions are manufactured to be negatively-charged so that they maximise their natural attraction to dirt. This means you don’t have to scrub hard to get things clean with gentler green ingredients.

Used in combination with micro-fibre cloths, green cleaning solutions can out-perform traditional cleaners. They also prevent surfaces getting dirty again so easily because the negatively-charged surface they leave behind naturally repels dirt. Clever, eh?

You can choose from a range of specialist green cleaning products

Another big advance in green cleaning technology is the availability of specialist cleaners that target tricky cleaning challenges like carpets, ovens and blocked drains. These cleaning products are traditionally the ones with the highest levels of toxic, corrosive chemicals that damage the environment and risk your family’s health.

The availability of modern green cleaning options means that you can shift oven grease, freshen up carpets and clear smelly drains without having to compromise on the safety of your home. That’s a big relief!

They’re not bio-accumulative

Most of the time you focus on the health of your family, using cleaning products that remove dirt and harmful bacteria from the home environment so that no one gets sick. But in doing so, you expose yourself to small doses of harsh chemicals that over time may damage your health.

Toxic chemicals are bio-accumulative, meaning that they build up bit by bit in your body’s tissues, increasing your risk of serious health problems, including respiratory disease and asthma to cancer. Switching to eco-friendly cleaning solutions drastically reduces that risk. Isn’t it time you thought about green cleaning for your own sake?

They’re easy to purchase online

Before the Internet it was difficult to find trustworthy eco-friendly solutions, but now they’re just a mouse click away. Online review sites can help you find effective, trustworthy products based on others’ experiences, so you can pick the ones that suit you best.

Ordering online means you can choose the products you need when you need them and they will be delivered to you by post. No more carrying heavy bottles back from the supermarket – the postman can do it for you!

Because many eco cleaning companies sell direct to customers like you they have low overheads. Their products are offered for the same price as traditional cleaners, so you don’t have to pay over the odds just because you care about the planet. Great news for your household budget!

Green cleaning solutions really are a quick and easy way to make your home a safer place, while helping the environment.

Posted on 9th February 2017 by Helen

How can you be an eco-friendly cleaner and feel good doing it?

Coming back to a clean home is a great feeling. What’s not so great is opening your kitchen and bathroom cupboards to an avalanche of products that carry toxic warning signs. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Eco-friendly cleaners around the world are taking care of their homes and their families easily and cost effectively.
Continue Reading

Posted on 30th January 2017 by Helen

Cleaning Products and Pregnancy! Your guide to safe cleaning whilst pregnant

Life doesn’t stop when you’re pregnant; you might even find yourself busier than ever preparing for your new arrival. But pregnancy throws up new safety concerns that you may never have thought about before.Is it safe for me to use cleaning products? Are there any chores that would put me or my baby at risk? Worry no more. Here’s your one-stop guide to safe cleaning products and pregnancy.

Light chores are fine

Although you might hope pregnancy is the perfect reason to give up cleaning altogether, there’s actually no safety risk involved in light cleaning tasks. That means you can still do the washing up, dusting, cleaning worktops and making the bed. (Sorry about that!)

Your body’s immunity to bugs is actually lower during these nine months, so it’s a good idea to keep on top of basic hygiene. Just try to avoid using cleaning products with harsh chemicals – more on this in a moment.

Read the labels on products

When you’re cleaning whilst pregnant it’s a good idea to check the labels of any cleaning products you use before you start. Research isn’t clear on the safe levels of exposure to harsh chemicals during pregnancy. Some researchers have found a possible connection between using harsh household cleaning products and childhood respiratory problems. You might prefer to avoid any cleaners with ‘toxic’, ‘poison’, ‘corrosive’, or ‘danger’ on the labels. Especially avoid products that have a harsh smell as these are most likely to be VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) which are harmful to the respiratory tract.

Products that tend to have harsher chemicals in them include oven cleaner, drain unblocker, carpet cleaner and toilet cleaner. If you’re concerned, ask your partner to take over this part of the cleaning routine, and make sure that you ventilate any rooms where you use harsh chemicals so you don’t breathe them in accidentally.

Buy natural, chemical-free cleaning products

Natural, chemical-free cleaning products can be a great alternative to harsh chemical cleaners during pregnancy. Many specialist eco-cleaning products are now available, so you don’t have to compromise on your cleaning standards when you’re expecting.

As well as protecting you and your baby from harm, these products don’t pollute the environment and are more sustainable to manufacture than traditional products and do not produce VOC’s. So it’s a win-win situation.

Make your own products

If you find that you react badly to commercial products during your pregnancy, or the fragrance of manufactured cleaners makes you feel ill, it’s also possible to make your own safe cleaning supplies.

You can make a quick and easy all-purpose cleaning solution from equal parts white vinegar and water, which is good for cleaning counter tops, bathrooms and tiles.

Getting rid of hard water stains in your kettle, bath or shower is easy if you use baking soda, and substituting hydrogen peroxide for bleach is great for removing stains from clothes or for whitening whites.

Wear gloves

Now that you’re pregnant, cleaning products can irritate your skin in ways they never did before. Your skin becomes more sensitive because of hormonal changes in your body, so cleaning products are more likely to cause the itching, irritation and inflammation common in contact dermatitis.

It’s especially important to make sure that you wear gloves if you use harsher chemicals, particularly chlorine, detergents and beach. Ideally, get someone else to do these cleaning tasks for you.

Don’t tackle mould yourself

When that nesting instinct kicks in it’s understandable that you want to banish mould from your home as soon as you notice it. But wait! Cleaning mould releases fungal spores into the air that you can inhale, and they could make you or your baby sick.

Get your partner to tackle any mould patches that appear on bathroom tiles or in the shower. If the problem spreads to soft furnishings or wood, it might be time to call in the professionals to get it sorted out properly.

Avoid heavy lifting

While we did say that cleaning whilst pregnant is fine, there are several exceptions to the rule. As you your baby grows it’s important not to put any extra strain on your body, which means no heavy lifting, gardening, going up ladders or moving furniture.

Your centre of gravity and balance changes as your belly grows, so you’re at greater risk of falling over. Later in pregnancy, your hormones soften your connective tissue, ligaments and tendons, so you’re more likely to injure yourself shifting heavy objects.

The rule of thumb is to cut down the weight of anything you move by 20-25% of what you could lift before, just to be safe.

Get your partner to clean out the cat toilet

If you’re a devoted cat owner, you might be horrified to know that during pregnancy your cat’s litterbox is a health risk. Cat faeces contain a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which can cause a serious blood infection, toxoplasmosis.

If you can, get someone else to clean the cat litter tray while you’re expecting. If you have no alternative, make sure you wear suitable gloves and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

Don’t clean too much

This last piece of advice might seem confusing, but it’s also important not to over-clean your home while you’re pregnant. It can be tempting to buy antibacterial cleaners for every surface, but research has shown that rather than reducing disease it helps to create antibiotic superbugs like Staphylococcus aureus. Eco-responsible cleaning solutions like ECO.3 if used correctly will make you surfaces clinically clean when used as directed.

Over cleaning isn’t good for your baby either. Studies show that children brought up in over-clean environments are more likely to develop asthma, allergies and other autoimmune disorders.

The best advice for using safe cleaning products during pregnancy is this: use soap and hot water to wash your hands and most of your home. Use safe, non-toxic cleaning products the rest of the time.

Posted on 25th January 2017 by Helen

Nursery Cleaning: 8 Top Tips to Create a Safe, Green Environment

Every new mother wants to protect her baby and keep them safe from harm. That’s why your nursery cleaning routine is so important. You know your baby is susceptible to the effects of harsh chemicals, and you want to do everything you can to minimise the health risks.

The good news is that with a few tweaks and some baby safe cleaning products, you can make sure your nursery is clean, green and healthy for your little one.

Here are our top tips:

Start with Surface Cleaners

One of the best ways to keep your baby clean and healthy is to make sure your surface cleaners are eco-friendly and gentle on baby’s delicate skin. Because your child explores the world through touch and taste, you’ll want to make sure the nursery is always hygienic and safe.

Green cleaning products use small amounts of non-toxic ingredients to cleanse surfaces without leaving strong fumes or nasty chemical residues. This reduces the chance of respiratory problems for your baby while still making sure your nursery is free of nasty bugs.

Take a DIY approach

If you want to take a DIY approach to cleaning, equal parts white vinegar and water can be sprayed on nursery surfaces to remove the usual stains and bacteria, while using dilute hydrogen peroxide is great for cleaning and sanitising more heavily soiled areas.

Sometimes your home gets dusty easily, but you’re worried about your baby inhaling all that gunk. Thankfully, there’s an easy solution. Put a few drops of orange essential oil on a dusting cloth and dust in the usual way. The dust will stick to the duster and your nursery surfaces will be left shiny and smelling of orange. Mmmmm, right?

Be careful how you clean

Whether you decide to use commercial eco-products or make your own, it’s a good idea to think about how you use these products around the nursery. In the past, chances are you just sprayed surfaces and wiped the product off as you went. But it’s time to do things differently.

Rather than covering your nursery surfaces in cleaner, spray the baby safe cleaning products into your cloth and wipe things down. This will reduce airborne particles that might cause allergies to your baby, and you’ll use less product too.

Go Green in the Laundry

Your baby’s clothes are worn right next to the skin and should keep him or her warm and comfortable. This means it’s essential to wash baby clothes with products that don’t cause skin irritations or allergic reactions.

Green cleaning laundry detergent uses natural enzymes and small amounts of soap so the chances of irritation are reduced. They also avoid synthetic fragrances which may contain toxic chemicals like phthalates. Phthalates have been linked to a range of health problems, so it’s best to avoid them in the nursery and around a baby.

Choose Cloth Nappies

While cloth nappies may seem like a lot of extra work with a demanding baby, their green credentials are undeniable. Disposable nappies take a very long time to break down in a landfill, and they are also made with polyethene plastic that could irritate your baby’s skin.

Cotton is also a much kinder fabric for baby’s skin, meaning cloth nappies could help ease or prevent nappy rash. To keep things hygienic in the nursery, use a nappy pail to soak used nappies for a couple of days in environmentally-friendly cleaning solution before you wash them. It’s a simple way to keep your nursery green.

Clean your carpets differently

As you probably discovered when you were pregnant, most carpet cleaners contain toxic chemicals that aren’t good for you or baby. But the truth is, your baby will spend a lot of their early years on the floor, so how do you make sure they stay safe?

First of all, make sure everyone in the family takes their shoes off before they go into the nursery. This will cut down the dirt tracked in from outside. Soak up spills with a super absorbent microfibre cloth and use multi-purpose solution and warm water to clean away stains.

Sticky stains can be removed with a spatula or spoon, and then sprayed with ECO.3 eco-responsible stain remover. After a couple of minutes, simply soak up the dissolved stain residue by pressing firmly down with an Evolution micro fibre cloth. Do not rub the carpet pile as this will result in the pile becoming damaged due to friction.

Change Your Air Freshener

Let’s be honest, sometimes your baby’s nursery isn’t the most fragrant place to be. You might want to get an air freshener to keep things smelling sweet. But most commercial air fresheners contain chemicals like xylene, a neurotoxin that isn’t good for you or baby.

Happily, there is an alternative to leaving the windows open day and night. You can use essentials oils as an alternative way to freshen up the nursery. Tea tree oil and lavender can be used as cleansing, deodorising agents, as well as helping to keep the atmosphere calm and pleasant.

Stop ‘Zapping’ Annoying Insects

As the days get longer and warmer, the number of insects in your home will increase. Your baby’s nursery isn’t immune. It’s tempting to pull out the bug spray to make sure these nasty creatures stay away from your precious little one. But stop! This is another habit you have to change.

Most bug repellents contain DEET, which is an effective bug spray for a reason. It’s not very eco-friendly. While it does chase away mosquitos and other critters, it’s not very good for your baby.

Instead of zapping those annoying insects, use non-toxic bug repellents like citronella and lemon eucalyptus to keep them away. You and your baby will be glad you did!