Extreme Couponing

There is a show on TLC called Extreme Couponing.  It's incredible to watch these people collect their coupons, organize them and plan their trips to the store.  It amazes me how they can walk out of the store with hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in merchandise and have paid a few dollars in some cases.  I saw a show yesterday where the store ended up owing the customer 32 cents... when she got hundreds of dollars worth of products.

These people are consistent, that's for sure.  It is an art to be able to save that much money!  WOW!

However... yes... there is a "however".  Something that came to my mind while watching a recent show was the safety aspect of stocking all those cleaners and laundry products in the home.

For "home use" MSDS are not required... MSDS of course are the Material Safety Data Sheets that are provided to protect people and educate on proper handling of products.... generally in a setting such as a storage warehouse.  Most average consumers would never think to read an MSDS on their laundry detergent.  I think at this point with society, we all know the cleaners and laundry products contain toxic chemicals... but do we really understand the ramifications?

All of the toxic chemicals in these products do something called out-gas.  This means that even when the bottles are sealed, we are still breathing in the chemicals they emit into the air.  

So let's think about this for a moment.  If you have a laundry detergent in your home that contains bleach... you are breathing in that bleach constantly.  But, the average household has one bottle/package.... Extreme couponers may have 50 to 100 of these bottles/packages.  Wow.  That is very scary.

There is a way to properly store products that contain chemicals... but now people are stock-piling these toxic products in hall closets, basements, garages, kids bedrooms, etc....

Sure, the extreme couponer may be getting an amazing deal at the grocery store checkout... but at what cost? 

How many "average consumers" think to look up the MSDS on the products they have in their homes?  Should MSDS be mandatory for all households so that consumers know exactly what they have in their homes?

There is a great website called Skin Deep where a consumer can look up the tocitity rate of their personal care products like shampoo, bubble bath, makeup, kids products.... but what about cleaners and laundry? 

Come on people... we need to do our research.  We don't believe everything we see on TV.... do we?  Then why do we just trust these manufacturers who are developing the products we clean our homes and clothes with?

Aren't we educated enough to know we should check things out?

Just some food for thought....

They don't smell toxic.... HUH??

I find some things very interesting and rather bizarre.  As a parent, I am always worried about my kids.  We all want the best for our kids.  When we find out we're pregnant, our whole life changes immediately.  We try to eat as healthy as we can, we take the prenatal vitamins, we don't drink alcohol, etc...  It's always in the back of our minds... will this hurt the baby.
As the due date comes closer, we're getting everything we need for the baby that we'll soon bring home.  We make sure we're buying a safe car seat and crib.  We worry so much about that baby's safety.
Then we get products like Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo, bubble bath, lotions, and more.  We clean, clean, clean to make sure the home is nice and clean for the baby.
But how many of us never even think of the safety of these types of products??  I know I sure didn't.  The products are sold... so they're safe... right?
Why are we so trusting?
I was on a message board about safe cleaning products and people were recommending Mr Clean Magic Erasers because "they don't smell toxic".  REALLY???  They don't SMELL??  Ummmm ok.  Do all toxic chemicals smell?  No they do NOT!
Come on people!  Do some research.  It drives me insane.  I am always on different message boards online... it simply amazes me what people think is safe.
I will admit, I was pretty naive 14 years ago when I had my first baby.  But it didn't take me long to start researching what the heck I was cleaning with... what I was washing baby's clothes in and what I was bathing him in.
I didn't have a lot of money and sure couldn't go and pay the amount of money the stores wanted for "all natural" products.  The few that I did try, didn't work!  They didn't clean worth crap.
We all have options though.  Do some research, spend some time looking at what you're using in your home.  There ARE safer alternatives that do NOT cost a fortune!