For years, vinegar has been used in a variety of household tasks. Lately, it has seen even greater popularity as a natural substitute for toxic chemicals. We can always use vinegar to spray down a countertop (or one of 1000 other things) and feel thoroughly green about it.
Or can we? It depends on what your vinegar is made of.
While vinegar can be made from natural ingredients, such as corn or apples, it can also be made from petroleum.
What? You mean the dirty fuel that I oppose the production of and avoid using whenever possible is in my vinegar? You bet.
From a Heinz press release:
The majority of vinegar users (89 percent) said they didn’t know that their vinegar could be sourced from petroleum, while 79 percent indicated that if they discovered their vinegar was sourced from petroleum, they would switch to an all-natural vinegar. With no current requirements to disclose ingredient sources on labels, many consumers may not be able to tell how their vinegar is made.
Now, natural vinegar is still a green and incredibly useful product. Heinz advertises that its vinegar is never made from petroleum, so it’s a safe choice. Other companies, like Spectrum, offer organic vinegar.
So, you can keep using vinegar and feeling good about it. Just make sure you know where it comes from.
1 response so far ↓
Alicia // February 16, 2010 at 4:26 am |
Vinegar is such a versatile product and can eliminate most commercial cleaning chemicals. I personally use vinegar as a cleaning agent because it doesn’t compromise indoor air quality and its much cheaper than store bought cleaners.