Philly’s Peaceful Cleaning Company: Holistic Home
We all clean our homes with products that we find on supermarket shelves and we think nothing of reading the list of ingredients. Those of us who aim to buy earth-friendly products wonder if these safer products will work just as effectively. I recently brought home a "green" dishwasher liquid and found that it left my plates still caked with food. Gross, right? Needless to say, we went back to our regular cleaner.
Our new philosophy is that we will purchase friendly, safe products if they meet our standards. We worry about chemicals, but we want products that work.
When Ginger Kuczowicz learned about the dangers of most household cleaning products, she was alarmed. Alarmed enough to start her own company with products that could replace the dangerous ones.
"My inspiration to start Holistic Home LLC came from very sobering statistical data showing increase in cancer occurrences over the last 50+ years. After centuries of using simple cleaners, synthetic compounds invaded our homes half a century ago. And because these compounds are not dispersed as easily indoors as outdoors, concentrations of toxic chemicals are higher in our homes than outside (EPA data). Regular cleaners are the most hazardous chemicals in our homes. And although they are not the only cause of cancer and other diseases like asthma, they are significant contributors," she says.
And so she set out into Philadelphia to let people know that there was an alternative to chemical-loaded supermarket brand cleaning supplies.
First, Holistic Home offers cleaning services for apartments, houses, and offices using only natural cleaning products and ecological procedures (e.g. steam disinfection). And just what are they cleaning with? Well, of course they created their own eco cleaning products with mix and match cleaning formulae in a small manufacturing facility according to a client’s needs.
"We use only natural, nontoxic ingredients (mineral and plant derivatives) paired with essential oils. Our practices are truly safe for all of us - adults, kids, pets, and the planet," promises Kuczowicz.
Holistic Home LLC serves the Philadelphia area and will travel up to 20 miles in each direction. That's pretty earth-friendly of them, to boot.
Ginger Kuczowicz
http://www.holistichomellc.com/
215-421-4050
Ecological Sustainability is Just a Trend!

Sustainability - a word whose meaning borders on being an ethical term that encompasses the concept of living in harmony with the natural laws of the environment without depleting resources.
Eco-friendly - a loose term overused and misused in marketing that implies a product or action has minimal to no effect on the environment.
Some trends have really stuck, like jeans and democracy. Others, thankfully, have not stuck such as mullet haircuts and the Atkins Diet. Right now, words like green, sustainable, and eco-friendly are oh so very trendy, but it is inevitable that this “trend” will eventually become ingrained into our society and culture. Children are being taught the meaning of these words in elementary school. When I was a child growing up in the Philadelphia elementary school system some 30 years ago, we were still hiding under desks and building bomb shelters!
As educated consumers we will either make responsible decisions to participate in sustainable behaviors now or the Earth will force it upon us when she stops yielding to our demands. The implications of this reality on our economy is staggering and the effect is global. This trend has serious implications. If an elementary school student can understand that we all can.
On the subject of Real Estate and “green” trends in Philadelphia, rehabbers have an opportunity to create a revolutionary movement toward sustainability and eco-friendly development. We have so many opportunities to recycle homes with sustainable and eco-friendly trends as part of our rehabbing strategy. Even implementing one sustainable design element or system upgrade is a step in the right direction. It takes many little baby steps to eventually walk like a man or woman.
What rehab trends have you seen in your area? Have you had any success stories of retrofitting an existing home to implemented any “green” trends? Tell me about them.
Related:
Read more about ways to green your home and green building.
Start Living Greener Today! Simple Steps to a Greener Home
Making your home more environmentally friendly isn't just good for the Earth, it could also save you money!
Drafty Windows and Doors: Keep the blustery cold air outdoors by stopping drafts at windows and doors. Also, before you leave your house for the day, close the drapes over the windows. As the blustery, chilly air blows outside, the drapes will help minimize the amount of cold air that seeps inside.
Fireplaces: Make sure the damper on your fireplace is completely closed. Keeping a damper open all winter is like having a small window open. Burrrr!
Refrigerator: Keep in mind that refrigerators run 24-7, and account for about 25 percent of a household’s energy use. To ensure your fridge is working efficiently, do the “dollar test.” Close the fridge’s door onto a dollar bill and check to see how much effort it takes for you to pull it out. If it comes out easily, the seal isn’t tight enough: It’s leaking cold air and needs to be fixed
Dishwashers: Believe it or not, using your dishwasher is a greener choice than washing by hand because you use less water.
Cleaning: Germs be gone! When you need to disinfect a kitchen or bathroom countertop of germs and bacteria, don’t reach for toxic, chlorine bleach. Instead, consider rubbing alcohol. It kills germs and evaporates quickly.
Home Offices: Your computer is a real energy hog, so be sure to remove the screen saver. When the flying toasters are running across the screen, your machine is still working at full power. Instead, put your PC on sleep mode. Just hit a key to “wake up” the computer.

Read more Green Home tips.
This post was originally posted on Access Philly.

Phone: 215.253.6818