Antibacterial = Pesticides
This morning I was going through my email and I got my mass email from The Nest. Every once in a while I like to look around that site, it’s a guilty pleasure. I clicked through to read an article and starting browsing around. Thumbing through articles on being green and came across this..
What’s so bad about this, right? They’re cute, non-toxic, BPA-free and recyclable. Great! No, not really. Antimicrobial isn’t that great. It’s a nicer way of saying pesticide. This is one of my ongoing rants that my husband is suscepted to on a regular basis. It’s time to share that rant with the world.
I find myself on at least a weekly basis yelling at the TV during some cleaning product commercial. They seem to imply that you are a bad mother, or bad wife, or a bad person if your house has one surface that’s not sanitized to hospital standards. We don’t need our houses to be like a microchip manufacturing clean room.
As a country I think we Americans are completely and totally OBSESSED with sanitation and making everything antibacterial. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You should be aware of food safety in your home kitchen and make sure you wash a cutting board that had raw chicken on it before you cut some fruit. Absolutely, 100% behind that.
What I have a problem with is all the wasteful sanitizing wipe stations set up at the grocery store. I have a problem with the big plastic carts at Target for kids, you know the ones that look like cars, covered in Microban. I have a problem with so many commercial cleaning products being antibacterial.
Not all bacteria is bad. We don’t want to kill it all.
The more we spray these antibacterial products around the more of a problem we’re making for ourselves. Remember a while ago when there was a lot of talk about the over use of prescription antibiotics? These medications worked for a while but then the viruses changed and became resistant. Same theory here. Antibacterial soaps and cleaners work. Some say they will kill up to 99.9% of harmful bacteria. The bacteria that’s left are the stronger ones. It’s survival of the fittest. We easily kill off all the weaker bacteria and are only left with the nasty ones which will breed and multiply forcing us to use stronger and stronger pesticides in our homes.
I think this is a problem. Maybe I’m the only one..
So back to the dog bowls.. Please don’t feed your dog out of plastic. Especially if it’s treated with antimicrobial agents. Stick with the good ol’ tried and true stainless steel and wash them out a couple times a week.
4 Responses to “Antibacterial = Pesticides”
August 4th, 2009 saat: 7:25 am
So true. In fact, *most* strains of bacteria are either beneficial or neutral to humans. Only a few are harmful.
Also – and this is an important point – it’s actually healthy to be subjected to the odd harmful dose of bacteria every once in a while. If every nook and cranny of your home is sterilized, your immune system will get used to never having to deal with harmful bacteria. So it starts slacking off, and becomes a lot worse equipped to deal with the *really* aggressive and harmful bacteria you might/will come across elsewhere.
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August 4th, 2009 saat: 8:32 pm
I find myself on at least a weekly basis yelling at the TV during some cleaning product commercial. They seem to imply that you are a bad mother, or bad wife, or a bad person if your house has one surface that’s not sanitized to hospital standards. We don’t need our houses to be like a microchip manufacturing clean room.
Amen. I agree 100% with the points you raise in your post and also with the first commenter.
I lave something I’d like to share with you. My husband and I have a stoneware pottery business (not ceramic – no toxic stuff). We feed all our pets out of high fire stoneware dishes we made and we frequently find tourists want to take the dishes and offer us plastic ware instead — ARRRggghhh! Naturally, we are patient and kind as we explain why we do not use plastic for water or food dishes for our pets but here’s the rub. When you explain something to someone you can see if they got it and if it will make a difference in their own lives. Sadly, they all “get it” but many don’t seem to care.
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August 5th, 2009 saat: 8:57 am
Thanks to both of you! I knew I couldn’t be the only one who felt like this.
August 14th, 2009 saat: 9:51 pm
Absolutely true, it all goes back to our ancestors, how did we lived in the past? Full of bacteria…which helps our body build a stronger immune system. Glad to know that more people are aware of this!
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