TODAY'S TURN: Become a chemical Columbo

Are you using enough coconut alcohol ethoxylate when cleaning your house? Or maybe too much?

Who knows what chemical concoctions swirl around in those canisters, casks, jugs, jiggers, buckets and bottles we stuff under the sink. I assume the lab coats do. Maybe.

Even if you can pronounce names on the ingredients list, you're irritated by a cloudy stink of "what the heck is that?" Hydroxyethylcellulose? Linear surfactant? How are you supposed to make safe, well-informed decisions when faced with those Scrabble champs?

Seventh Generation knows this is a problem. So they're offering up a plain-speak Label Reading Guide. It's page after page of cleaning product ingredients, what they're used for, how they can affect you, and how toxic each ingredient is. It's part of their Show What's Inside transparency campaign.

Oh, and you'll be happy to know that coconut alcohol ethoxylate is biodegradable and not too toxic. It's simply used to make the foam more foamier.

Phew.

CLICK HERE TO DO THIS GOOD TURN:
Download a Label Reading Guide from Seventh Generation (PDF, desktop widget or phone app)