MBDC's Pick for All-Purpose, Non-Toxic Cleaning
by Mairi Beautyman, Berlin, Germany on 08.31.06
Last Week, we told you that sustainable product and process design consulting firm McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) had awarded Begley's Best All Purpose Cleaner with Cradle to Cradle Certification, one of the most prestigious sustainable honors out there. So what’s so special about this stuff? Well for starters, it is non-toxic, non-caustic, non-fuming, non-flammable, non-explosive, non-irritating, non-allergenic, and 99 percent biodegradable in seven days. Then, you have the ingredients that sound more like a gourmet party dip: Extracts of pine, palm, de-acidified citrus, maize, fermented sugar cane, and olive seeds.
All of these are homogeneous cleaning substances, which break down and isolate various forms of solid and liquid soil matter, such as oil, grease, dirt. Begley's Best can be used with hard, soft, cold, hot, fresh, or salt water, the manufacturer says, and is safe on plastics, paints, metals, rubber, fabrics, vinyls, or any surface which is compatible with water. So you can buy one do-everything non-toxic cleaner that replaces every toxic cleaner in your house. Sounds good to us. ::Begley’s Best via ::MBDC
This stuff sounds good enough that I just ordered two bottles. It's available online at www.realgoods.com (Gaiam)
How do those bottles fit in with the C2C paradigm? Isn't recycling downcycling away from the cradle, toward a grave?
Cleaners that name only the plants the chemicals come from make me suspicious. "Fermented sugar cane" sure sounds like another word for alcohol why not call it that? Pine extract can very easily be turpentine. What I don't like about this organic labeling is that it actually tells you even less about the product than a list full of chemicals does. Would you feel comfortable if ingredients labels said only "extract of petroleum"? That doesn't give you much actual information, does it?
Come on, hawking Cradle to Cradle Certification as "one of the most prestigious sustainable honors out there." The certification is from a design company selling its services. It certainly isn't an independent testing agency which has no relationship to the product being tested.
PLEASE don't be misleading by calling this certification an "honor." it is not an award or a "pick" by MBDC. it is a certification process that the company initiates and pays for. yes, they met the criteria of MBDC's certification seal.