However, studies continue to confirm that exposure to chemicals in cleaning supplies can cause health issues: The American Lung Association found that it is associated with higher asthma rates, and the Environmental Working Group has linked it to respiratory damage and wheezing. As a sophomore in college, Evans started experiencing crippling chronic pain throughout her body, which quickly led to a loss of motor skills. She remembers traveling the country searching for a diagnosis, but doctors couldn’t peg it. Ultimately, it was Evans’ aunt, Marilee, a dietary and environmental health consultant, who connected the dots and said it could be an adverse reaction to the new, just-renovated apartment she had just moved into. After cleaning up her diet and personal care products, Evans’ symptoms started to subside—and when she spent the summer at Marilee’s off-the-grid home immersed in the Texas Hill Country, they disappeared almost completely. Her college roommate joined her on that summer reset, and the two left convinced that your surroundings can have a huge impact on your health. “We chose to use chamomile as a principal ingredient (third on our ingredient list!) because our first priority was to create a formula that not only did not irritate the skin but is also soothing and healing,” the team explained of the choice. “Chamomile has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial2 properties and can contribute to the lessening of skin redness and irritation and has even been found to be helpful for dryness and eczema. It’s mild enough for baby skin as well.” The result is supposed to be gentle enough to use as a hand soap, natural enough to be totally biodegrade, and powerful enough to tackle some pretty impressive stains. What really sets the product apart is the myriad ways you can use it. The Branch Basics concentrate was designed to replace basically everything in your cleaning cabinet and laundry room—you can just add a few squeezes of it to water (you tailor your water to concentrate ratio based on how tough the cleaning job is) and get scrubbing. Using concentrate is cost-effective and eco-friendly: When you buy cleaners with water as a main ingredient, you’re essentially paying to have that water shipped to you in plastic. I was sold on the premise, so I set out to see if one product could really handle every aspect of my weekly apartment clean. As an aspiring minimalist who lives in a tiny apartment with little room to spare, using one (plant-based!) product as a tile scrubber one minute and a dish cleaner the next was pretty game-changing for me. Yet another reminder that most of the time, simple is so much better. Next up: Check out the natural cleaner this natural beauty expert swears by. (It’s the easiest DIY ever.) Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She’s spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.
