10 Everyday Products You Have At Home That Are Harmful To The Environment

While many people intend to do their share in saving the environment, they are unaware that they, too, are actually contributors to its damage by using everyday products that help damage the environment. After all, many of us are unaware that items we use at home are actually detrimental to Mother Earth.

Many people can’t be blamed if they inadvertently harm the environment by using certain household products. After all, the hazards of these products are masked by what they can do for our existence. Unfortunately, no matter how useful and helpful they are to us, the same thing cannot be said about their effect on the environment.

#1. Hand Soap

Though hand soaps are meant to ensure that your hands are germ-free, those brands that contain the chemical triclosan are actually detrimental both to people and the environment. After all, it has been discovered that triclosan does not only cause cancer in laboratory mice but can destroy the food chain, too. You see, triclosan is water-resilient, and when it reaches the floor of the ocean, the said chemical can destroy the germs at the bottom of the food chain.

Hence, in September 2016, the FDA banned brands containing triclosan and 18 other harmful ingredients.

#2. Toothpastes and Facial Washes with Microbeads

While plastic microbeads found in toothpaste and facial cleansers promise to make your teeth whiter and healthier and skin smoother, it has been discovered that the same ingredient is a leading contributor to plastic waste in the ocean. How? Well, first, microbeads are not biodegradable and are too small to catch in clean-up exercises. What’s worse is that they attract toxic materials when they travel.

#3. Wet Wipes

Without question, wet wipes are the most convenient way to clean your skin when it gets too sticky or dirty. Not to mention, it comes in very hand for moms. However, they are just as damaging to the environment, too, when they are flushed in the toilets.

After all, despite being labeled as flushable, wet wipes contain plastic that make them difficult to break down. Hence, many end up in sewers and wash up on the beaches.

#4. Disposable Plastic Shaves

Apart from the fact that cheap plastic shaves have a high cost of carbon-intensive steel and plastic production, they require a good amount of water during their use. Furthermore, they are disposed of in billions each year, just in the US alone. Hence, it goes without saying that electric and straight razors are the more practical and environmentally friendly way to get rid of the unwanted hair!

#5.Coffee Pods

While coffee pods give you gourmet coffee, sad to say, they are also contributors to polluting the environment. As the aluminum and plastic pods are difficult to recycle, billions of them find their way to the landfill!

#6.Chopsticks

Yes, you read it right. The chopsticks that you use when you eat the food you ordered from a Chinese restaurant are also hazardous to the environment. Did you know that almost 4 million trees are chopped down each year in order to yield 57 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks? As if that information were not enough to convince you how damaging chopsticks are to the environment, perhaps you would finally think twice about using them when you find out that each pair is treated with chemicals that can cause respiratory diseases.

#7.Plastic Bags

Obviously, this is a no-brainer. Most plastic bags that we use in our households are still non-biodegradable, and, according to experts, an estimated amount of 1 trillion non-biodegradable plastic bags are thrown each year. These plastic bags don’t only result in the clogging of waterways: They release harmful chemicals when they are burned, too!

#8.Batteries

Batteries, rechargeable or disposable, are a threat to the environment as they contain harmful chemicals, including cadmium, lead, and mercury, that can leak into soil and waterways.

When they are burned, on the other hand, the metals become airborne and pose health risks.

#9.Tea Bags

#10.Styrofoam

Though styrofoam and other polystyrene-based products are reliable in terms of packaging, sad to say that they are non-biodegradable, too, and are difficult to recycle. Furthermore, they can even poison small animals that mistake them for food!