HHC Quick Eco Tips - What is natural products?
Being green-conscious mean more of us are becoming more aware of the dangers of chemicals in our everyday products. From products we use (shampoos, toothpastes, deodorants, facial cleansers and makeup, etc) and our horse and dog uses (Liniment, poltice, fly spray, and shampoo, etc), we are looking for natural alternatives that will not harm our health.
However, what exactly does natural mean and how does a product qualify to be considered natural? According to the Natural Products Association
in the USA, in order for a product to be considered natural, 95% of its ingredients (excluding water) must be natural, meaning the ingredient must come from a renewable resource with no petroleum compounds and be processed in a way which is not damaging to the environment. Also, a product labelled natural should avoid any ingredient with a suspected human health risk and should not have been tested on animals. Lastly, a product labelled natural should use biodegradable ingredients and packaging that's recyclable. Now that we have that sorted out, you're probably thinking, well, that makes life a whole lot easier. Not quite. Because even with all these criteria in place, it's still hard to point out and determine which products are genuinely natural and which are still mainly chemical-laden with a few natural ingredients thrown in.So READ THE LABEL! A product that contains 95% synthetic chemicals and 5% natural ingredients DOES NOT make it natural. The most comoon chemicals to look out for when reading the labels on personal care products are parabens, propylene glycol, SLS, SLES, synthetic fragrances, parfum, mineral oils and triclosan among many others. When reading the label, also remember that ingredients are listed in terms of the percentage used so the higher it is on the list, the more of that ingredient was used.
Good luck!
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