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Homemaker Ginette Begg is on a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser "vendetta."

Watching Wendy Mesley's documentary Chasing the Cancer Answer last year, she was shocked to hear that the product contained formaldehyde, a possible carcinogen.

"Prior to the show, I was telling everyone to use it because it's an amazing cleaning product," Begg, 36, says from her Mississauga home. "Now I tell people to throw it in the garbage."

In fact, the product contains formaldehyde-melamine-sodium bisulfite copolymer, which poses no risk, according to Procter & Gamble's website. But Begg's reaction to the toxic potential of her cleaning cupboard highlights a growing consumer concern.

Inspired by Mesley, Begg purchased the CancerSmart Consumer Guide, published by the Labour Environmental Alliance Society. Now, Ecover is her dishwasher soap and Nature Clean is her laundry detergent. Begg even uses Natura Static Free Reusable Dryer Sheets -- much to her husband's chagrin as his sweatshirt remains clingy.

Add water, rinse and repeat enough times and you've got a new definition of greenwashing. While its original meaning refers to companies promulgating misinformation to appear environmentally conscious, greenwashing version 2.0 is practised by people who use non-toxic, mostly natural alternatives, whether store-bought or homemade, to do the housework.

"People are starting to question whether something has to be superbrightly white, or if they need to have bleaching ability in 10 seconds versus leaving something on for a period of time," says Urvashi Rangan, a senior scientist with Greenerchoices.org (from the publisher of Consumer Reports).

Green thinkers belong to an increasingly important market segment called LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability), a concept originated about seven years ago from the work of sociologist Paul Ray, co-author of The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World.

"You're LOHAS if you connect what you buy and what you do with what you believe, and the belief is that what happens to people happens to the earth and what happens to the earth happens to people," says Ellen Karp, president of Miami-based consumer insight company Anerca. LOHAS now represents more than $220-billion (U.S.) of goods and services, from bamboo clothes to organic food, according to http://www.lohas.com.

And eco-cleaners, of course. In just a short while, natural home-care companies have gone from grassroots to gangbusters. Method, a seven-year-old San Francisco company, was ranked the seventh-fastest-growing firm by Inc. magazine last September with a three-year growth rate of nearly 3,400 per cent. The product line, which includes biodegradable wipes and non-toxic tile cleaner, has the added appeal of sleek packaging, care of uberdesigner Karim Rashid.

"Home is a place where you think a lot about the design decisions you make and you cherish the experiences there," says Adam Lowry, one of Method's co-founders. "Yet the products you use are ugly and toxic and you hide them under the sink."

Tellingly, Method first launched in the United States at the capital of retail cool: Target. In Canada, the line is available at Shoppers Drug Mart and Home Depot. It's all part of eco-cleaners' move out of the health-food store and into the mainstream.

"We have a responsibility as a retailer to bring these things to people so they have the choice," says Dan Brown, a seasonal expert at the Gerrard Square Home Depot in Toronto. "These are eco-options. If you have two products and they'll do the same job, people will choose one that has better record."

According to Scott Robitaille, an in-store educator at Whole Foods in downtown Toronto, an extra four feet of shelf space has recently been added to accommodate the growing category. "We've seen significant demand for these products since we opened," he says.

Of course, shoppers could just as easily purchase some vinegar, lemon and baking soda and whip up their own cleaning solutions.

The homemade route is the choice of Alex Leikermoser, 36, the founder of Yogagurl, a studio and boutique in Toronto. She eschewed commercial products 15 years ago after concluding that they were making her sick. -- from a weakened immune system to "the sniffles." Friends think she's extreme, but she sees it as the simpler way.

"You get into the Zen of cleaning and enjoy it and not wish that you're doing something else," she says. "We're so used to multitasking and doing so many things at once that we don't really do any one thing well or with intention."

But not everyone is ready to start from scratch. LOHAS is being embraced by people at different stages, Karp says, and people such as Begg belong to a newer "eco-group."

"They're very confused, they want big brands to help them. They want accessibility, they want easy answers and they're trying to figure it out on their own."

Incidentally, Begg allows her cleaning lady to use harsh commercial products. "I just feel bad bugging her," she says. "And perhaps she'll have to use more elbow grease if I give her an environmentally friendly product."

Confusion is bound to continue over what constitutes "green" as long as companies are not required to list ingredients. "The argument for not listing is trade secrets," says Madeleine Bird, a co-ordinator for health and environmental awareness projects at McGill University's Centre for Research and Teaching on Women. "That's understandable but not valid because you need the instructions, not just the ingredients, to complete a recipe."

As a first step, she recommends avoiding products that carry caution symbols such as the skeleton hand. From there, it's simply a matter of how green one wants to go.

"It's all about leaving a small footprint on the Earth," says Brown of the Home Depot. And the less dirty the footprint, the better.

Get cleaning

Want to go green for spring cleaning? Visit eco-labels.org and greenerchoices.org for comprehensive definitions and label "report cards." Here are some standouts.

GREEN LIGHT

Borax: A multipurpose cleaner that be used on kitchen and bathroom surfaces. Toxic only if ingested.

Diatomaceous earth: This abrasive has an "ick" factor that will appeal to kids: It's derived from the skeletons of prehistoric algae.

Zeolite: A non-toxic, naturally occurring mineral. Its main use is to absorb pollutants from the air.

RED LIGHT

Phosphates: Added to detergents, they travel into water bodies, causing an explosion and decomposition of algae, which endangers fish.

Diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA): Found in bubble-producing products. In various combinations, they can produce cancer-causing properties that can penetrate the skin.

Surfactants: Petroleum-based surfactants are used to cut grease. They inevitably reach water bodies, where they disrupt aquatic life.

-- Amy Verner