• Environmentalism has grown increasingly mainstream since the 1960s---and more companies are promoting ecologically-friendly products, including cleaning supplies. If you're a conscious consumer and don't mind paying a little extra, in general, for a product that is better for you and the environment, then green cleaning might be something to consider.
  
  

Commercial Green Products Cost More

• Green cleaning products are marketed to people who value green consciousness over price. A rough price comparison, as of a September 2010 price index, places a popular "green" laundry soap at $9 to $10 per 50 oz. bottle versus $6 per 50 oz. bottle for a popular conventional brand.
  
  

Green Products Have Reduced Runoff

• While the lack of phosphates keeps a green cleaner from staying "ready to use" on a shelf indefinitely, the benefits of not using them are well documented by the Environmental Protection Agency. Excessive phosphate blooms, for example, can cause eutrophication in rivers where algae blooms and can create a dead zone where there isn't enough dissolved oxygen to support fish. Green cleaning products avoid using these anti-bacterial agents and disinfectants---the majority of which end up running down the drain where they kill bacteria, including bacteria in local municipality sewage treatment plants where they are part of a multi-stage wastewater treatment system.
  
  

Green Products Expose You To Fewer Chemicals

• Green cleaning products lack many of the perfumes, dyes and agents used in conventional solutions. Green products also lack plasticizers and glycols, according to the National Environmental Trust. Some of these compounds have been implicated as hormone disruptors, and glycols are mildly toxic. The National Environmental Trust says the panoply of regular cleaning compounds exposes the average American home owner to nearly 40,000 chemicals that have health concerns, ranging from allergies to mild neurotoxicity.