When the western world became in thrall of antibacterial sprays (or “antibac” as the adverts call it) about a decade or so ago, quickly followed by “antibac” cloths, chopping boards and air freshener, I was uneasy, to say the least. It doesn’t take a genius to realise the following:

1) If your work surfaces do not have food on then, bacteria will not grow
2) If you have a chopping board made of wood and wash it with soap, bacteria will not grow
3) If you have air laden with bacteria then you should seriously think about your domestic habits!

I have lost count of the number of houses and meeting hall kitchens where a bottle of antibacterial spray sits beside a cloth that smells like any number of dead animals. You would have to soak the cloth in neat bleach to kill all the bacteria in it; but the mighty antibac spray will save us all, won’t it?

We have completely lost the plot as a society when it comes to basic hygiene. Inspectors regularly close down restaurants in the UK for stocking dripping meats above fresh vegetables, not washing up storage containers, leaving rotting food piled up in back yards; in other words, not using basic common sense. And so it goes on. Even this week a report into hospitals showed the increasing virulence of “superbugs”, largely caused by poor, incomplete cleaning and personal hygiene.

And so we see it in our homes. While the antibac gets sprayed on every hard surface, we allow people (and people allow themselves) to traipse in and out of our houses without removing their shoes – gently distributing a trail of dirt, mould and faeces onto the soft warm carpets that are a breeding ground for microorganisms, and which we let our babies crawl across. I do not want to have to tell visitors to remove their shoes; but I do so, because I don’t have a chemically cleansed house, just one with a bit of common sense.

Keith
www.theearthblog.org
www.reduce3.com
And Proud Member Of The Sietch