In addition to Ultimately Eco, Ekaterina is also a founder of the Green Sisters network, a community designed to support women who run green businesses.
What motivated you to set up Ultimately Eco?
I wanted to do something that was valuable, important and a product of my own creation. The aim was to do something good for people, and something good for the planet.
Does conventional cleaning make a big environmental mess?
There are about 300,000 manmade chemicals and about 70,000 of those are used in cleaning. Chemicals in cleaning products go into the drains and we end up drinking them in our water. Some of them are very harmful.
What is the worst eco sin at the moment?
One is using bleach. Also Triclosan (a potent anti-bacterial agent) is still very present and is used a lot in cleaning products. They are particularly powerful chemicals. The Toxic Consumer, by Karen Ashton and Elizabeth Salter-Green, is a good book to help you find out what to avoid (available from amazon.co.uk)
Any tricks of the trade?
Well firstly elbow grease. It’s takes more time but as I tell my cleaners, there isn’t a better or more sustainable way of cleaning than human force.
Drying; I polish surfaces for shine but also because bacteria like damp environments so if you dry a surface it becomes naturally bacteria-free.
Micro-fibre cloths-even though they’re made out of plastic they last longer and clean better. My favourite ones are Norwex and Enjo.
And if you could change one thing…
It would be ignorance and people’s detachment from nature. I would like everyone to become more considerate and careful. It’s our choice; no one else can make change happen.
Tests
In addition to Ultimately Eco, Ekaterina is also a founder of the Green Sisters network, a community designed to support women who run green businesses.
What motivated you to set up Ultimately Eco?
I wanted to do something that was valuable, important and a product of my own creation. The aim was to do something good for people, and something good for the planet.
Does conventional cleaning make a big environmental mess?
There are about 300,000 manmade chemicals and about 70,000 of those are used in cleaning. Chemicals in cleaning products go into the drains and we end up drinking them in our water. Some of them are very harmful.
What is the worst eco sin at the moment?
One is using bleach. Also Triclosan (a potent anti-bacterial agent) is still very present and is used a lot in cleaning products. They are particularly powerful chemicals. The Toxic Consumer, by Karen Ashton and Elizabeth Salter-Green, is a good book to help you find out what to avoid (available from amazon.co.uk)
Any tricks of the trade?
Well firstly elbow grease. It’s takes more time but as I tell my cleaners, there isn’t a better or more sustainable way of cleaning than human force.
Drying; I polish surfaces for shine but also because bacteria like damp environments so if you dry a surface it becomes naturally bacteria-free.
Micro-fibre cloths-even though they’re made out of plastic they last longer and clean better. My favourite ones are Norwex and Enjo.
And if you could change one thing…
It would be ignorance and people’s detachment from nature. I would like everyone to become more considerate and careful. It’s our choice; no one else can make change happen.