Sustainable cleaning and washing

Have you ever asked yourselves how sustainable cleaning and laundry is? In Germany alone, more than 600,000 tons of detergents end up in wastewater annually. Added to this are more than 250,000 tons of fabric softeners and washing aids such as hygiene rinse aids.

Year by year, this amount continues to rise. Not all the ingredients in the detergents decompose in the sewage treatment plant. Many of them are poisonous to water organisms and may migrate to our rivers, lakes, and even the sea. For this very reason, it would be better to use as few detergents as possible for the environment. The same applies to cleaners and dishwashing detergents, by the way.

What are these dangerous ingredients, and what can you do about them? Conservatives, perfumes, additives, surfactants, and microplastics—those are the pollutants in detergents and other products. Look for them on the labels.

You will find the preservatives mainly in liquid detergents. Antibacterial substances in particular can cause problems because they kill even the good bacteria in the wastewater Treatment Plant. If they get into groundwater, they also harm the microorganisms living there. What are these dangerous ingredients, and what can you do about them? Conservatives, perfumes, additives, surfactants, and microplastics—those are the pollutants in detergents and other products. Look for them on the labels.

You will find the preservatives mainly in liquid detergents. Antibacterial substances in particular can cause problems because they kill even the good bacteria in the wastewater Treatment Plant. If they get into groundwater, they also harm the microorganisms living there.

Unknown effects

Another major burden is that of microplastic. Since filter systems are unable to filter out these tiny debris entirely, the plastics are washed into the environment. Each year, this amounts to almost 977 tons of microplastic. Some of it we ingest ourselves through our food, since the plastic winds up in sewage mud and the sea. Long-term consequences of this have yet to be researched.

An interesting fact: Microplastic is not only commonly found in detergents and cleaners, but it also dissolves out of your clothes when you wash them. There are wash bags that prevent this from happening, protecting groundwater and further decreasing environmental impact.

To avoid the harmful impact on nature (and your health), you should attempt to use biodegradable and certified cleaners. Some tips from our partners on how this works in both their hotels and vacation homes.

Biodegradable cleaners

A good all-around plan is what Gut Nisdorf does: they use ecological detergent rather than liquid detergent. Heavy stains are treated with gall soap or panama bark beforehand. The laundry can be hung up afterwards, thus saving the electricity costs of the dryer. “In summer, we dry the towels and sheets outside,” explains hostess Sabine Stange. A pleasant side effect is the smell of the fresh laundry in the hotel on the Baltic Sea.

All your cleaning products should also be biodegradable. Brooms, hand brushes and scrubbing brushes should be made from wood, the dustpan from metal. Another good tip for saving cleaners? “For cleaning the apartments, use small high-pressure cleaners. In addition to cleaning agents, this also saves time.”

So, that covers most spots in the laundry room and the house. But consider the kitchen: most households will have a plastic sponge or brush at the sink. While you may be able to put the brush in the dishwasher sometimes to keep it clean, the sponge in particular needs to be replaced regularly; otherwise bacteria will start to crowd in there.

Rather than a plastic sponge, you can also use a biodegradable one for this purpose: a loofah sponge. Loofah is a pumpkin plant, and is nowadays also popular for use in body care. The sponge can be easily composted after use in the bathroom or kitchen.

Use grandma’s home remedies

And you can also utilize old household remedies. The traditionalist Okelmann’s team from Warpe use citric acid, vinegar, and baking soda wherever possible. Typical applications are lime stains and soiling in the bathroom and kitchen.

Basic limescale deposits on faucets and sinks can easily be removed with citric acid or vinegar. These old household remedies are also practical in the water boiler or coffee brewers. Boil up citric acid with a little water and the limescale is gone.

For more persistent stains, mix the baking soda with the vinegar or citric acid. Especially this mixture works well to clean dirty, light-colored cloth shoes.

Innovative cleaners with many applications

The Thai Tongsai Bay also applies an all-natural cleaner. The hotel uses a special recipe for this. For this, they mix baking soda, water, vinegar and pineapple EM, which are effective microorganisms. A multitude of different microbes (yeasts, lactic acid and photosynthetic bacteria) lives in a symbiotic relationship in EM. These are versatile—among other things, they can be used for cleaning.

They are produced in-house at Tongsai Bay. From fruit peels and other organic materials that undergo fermentation. The Berghotel Rehlegg in the Allgäu also uses the EM for cleaning, produced by EM-Chiemgau. If you want to try the organic all-rounder, you can order it there or from another retailer.

In fact, there are even reports that some EM can have positive effects on human and animals’ health. Aside from that, they are used in agriculture and gardening.

Support regional retailers

For those of you who find all this too complicated, you can also use normal, certified organic cleaners from the shops. In some cases, you can even support the local economy. The Naturhotel Aufatmen in the Tyrolean town of Leutasch, for instance, purchases its cleaners directly from the producer Hollu – and it’s just 15 kilometers away from the hotel.

Regional thinking is also reflected in the cuisine of the Austrian hotel, which deliberately avoids long-distance food transport and an unnecessary choice of products. Family Pfeiffer deliberately cuts back to the essential elements—no matter if it’s cleaning or cooking.

Unpackaged stores, incidentally, offer a great alternative for buying environmentally friendly cleaners—with the added bonus that packaging is not even required here. Have a look at which producers and stores are in your area! All that’s left for us to say is: have fun spring-cleaning!