Kim Woodburn's Blog

Your Green Home Starts Here

Over the years I have become increasingly concerned about environmental issues and our human impact on the resources which sustain our lives here on earth. I am particularly concerned about the state of our water ways. But as you will see from our collaboration with Adopt-A-River, “a clean river starts at home”, and I couldn’t very well expect others to clean up their act if I didn’t set the example, beginning at home.

In 2016 I learnt about the Nu-Eco & Biochem range of household cleaning & bio-remediation products. I immediately felt they were different to all the “green” products I had tried or researched, for a number of reasons:

• Nu-Eco products look natural; Pray tell me; have you ever seen a bottle-green lemon? Nu-Eco use opaque containers to protect the natural ingredients from exposure to sunlight (first bio-degradable clue). Open the lid and look inside. In addition, none of the ingredients in any of the products add to fatty build-ups in pipes, fat traps or septic tanks.

 

• Managing Director, Tom Geldart explains why Nu-Eco Dishwashing Liquid is safer for the environment than others.

 

• Smell natural; I dare you; purchase a bottle of Nu-Eco Laundry Gel, cut up some citrus & sprinkle with fresh rosemary then compare the scents. Powerful kick for dirt, but gentle on fabrics (more about our laundry power-house below). Twist a segment of lemon and the air is filled with fresh essential oil. Why would you want to subject your lungs and the atmosphere to anything less natural than Nu-Eco Citrus Twist or Citrus Burst Air Freshener?

• And feel natural. Crush and rub a wedge of orange in your hands, or squeeze a drop or two of Nu-Eco Hygienic Handwash onto your hands and rub into a silky foam. You won’t want to go back to your previous hand wash full of colourants, petroleum based ingredients and natural-skin-flora destroying chemicals! Bring home aromatherapy and use it in the shower as well! Read more about ingredients to avoid or Emma Mantel’s blog

 

• The products are naturally effective, Nature has kept her house in order for eons without chemicals so why can’t we? My favourite products to highlight this are Nu-Eco Floor & Grout and Nu-Eco Drain maintenance with enzymes and bacteria that literally gobble up grime; and the addictive Nu-Eco Toilet Cleaner with powerful germ fighting pine, cinnamon and clove extracts. No cheap filler ingredients leaving unsightly dirt-trapping build-ups. No chemicals to harm our lungs and skin while we clean. No chemicals for us or our pets to absorb as we touch surfaces and walk on our floors. No chemicals destroying the natural balance of our drains and toilet systems. No chemicals leaching into the underground water, making their way to the river and ultimately the ocean.

 

• And certified by the Vegan Society as well as Beauty Without Cruelty. Our farm dogs wash themselves periodically in the river in summer. However, when they find a delightful something to roll in Nu-Eco Dog Shampoo comes to the rescue. I wash the reluctant critter on the lawn with no concern as the product is 100% natural & water-course friendly. The germs and odour are washed away with neem, eucalyptus, lavender and rosemary oils (also insect repelling) yet they are gentle enough to not strip away your furry friend’s natural protective oils. And if I had a horse (or a show calf) Nu-Eco Horse Shampoo would definitely be on my shelf. In fact both of these products are good enough for the whole family to use, leading to my next point…

 

• Nu-Eco is versatile, concentrated, This fact makes economic sense! I used to find detergent shopping extremely stressful because society and corporate detergent companies go out of their way to make one feel like you have to constantly change to the latest and greatest and that nothing will be clean unless you throw the whole shop at it! Nonsense! My favourite all-rounder, with citrus & pine extracts, is Nu-Eco Surface Cleaner (5L lasts us 12 months!) which we dilute in a spray bottle and clean every hard surface in the house. I even spray casserole dishes or pots and leave them to stand for a few minutes before hand washing or placing in the dishwasher (helps reduce the amount of Nu-Eco Dishwasher Powder needed). Nu-Eco Odour Control is another phenomenal product 100% safe to use in the air or on hard and soft surfaces to kill an array of odours.

 

• Food grade, I’ve been using Nu-Eco Hygienic Hand & Surface Sanitiser and Nu-Eco Waterless Hand Sanitiser ever since first discovering the range; they are most definitely not a knee jerk reaction to the current pandemic. Nu-Eco Hand & Surface Sanitiser can safely be used on any food preparation surface or equipment before, during and after use.

 

• And transparent. All ingredients are fully disclosed with correct names, not simply disguised as “fragrances” etc. The quantity of active ingredients in the bacteria and enzyme products is clearly stated, for example the Laundry & Carpet Spot Treatment has 33.7 million CFU’s/ml. Nu-Eco Bleach Powder is colour safe, doesn’t damage fabrics and sterilises naturally, hence it makes an excellent alternative to biocidal chemical products.

 

• Nu-Eco and Biochem products are tried and tested; I am horrified at the volume of treacherous chemicals sold to clean and treat toilets when there are natural remediation products which are safe to use and kind to the environment. Tom trialled the products extensively before launching the original Biochem product range. Since then Nu-Eco Septic Tank Treatment and Nu-Eco Pit Toilet Treatment (ready to use) have become renowned for their efficacy in dealing with odour, breaking down and reducing waste build-up. Biochem Industrial products for Animal Waste, FatsOilsGrease, Ponds and more are widely and very successfully used in particular to convert toxic ammonias and nitrites into fertile nitrates, and remove pathogens. Contact one of our Bio-Remediation experts for further information or on-site assessment. Oh yes, and don’t forget Nu-Eco Fish Tank Treatment for Junior’s gold fish!

 

• With customer centric service. We back the above statements by providing product training for sales staff at our stockists, and group engagements for interested companies or social groups (within COVID regulations). At Biochem Trading we believe it is possible to make a difference to the state of our precious water resources one treatment at a time. Click here for more information and printable resources.

 

• Yes we package in plastic; (except our new Drain Clean Powders and Pit Toilet Powders are packaged in biodegradable sachets & boxes) As much as I despise what plastic has done to our environment and the plastic industry’s “green washing” claims, it is a much longer conversation for another day…. For now, in my opinion, a circular economy is possible and we are all in a position to make it a reality. Our packaging is reusable and refillable, please find your nearest refill stockist or make your next purchase a 5L and do home-refilling (most of our products are also available in 25L). All our packaging is recyclable; please do not send your empty containers to landfill. At the factory all our plastic waste is diverted to Enviro Timbers who make recycled furniture and we donate empty 25L containers from raw ingredients to communities who have to collect water from central points.

However, in closing, a few challenges:

• Become a critical & responsible consumer, read labels, research and most importantly share your findings, especially with your employees who may not have access to information such as this blog. In Madiba’s words “knowledge is power”. Having read this and all the associated links, you now have the power to positively impact lives and the environment simply by sharing these facts.
• Talk about toilet rules with family, friends, employees and community members. Please stop avoiding the conversation. This small act will have incredible benefit to your septic tank, municipal sewage, sanitation pipes all over, and will reach far into communities you may know very little about.
• Learn about Bio-remediation and consciously critique your domestic, office, institution or company cleaning regime.

 

Thank you for reading.

Your green home starts here, find out how.

And a clean river starts at home; find out what more you can do.