Green cleaning products are becoming increasingly commonplace, which is great to see. An extension of this are the green cleaning services now springing up around the world.

For a while when I was a kid, someone used to clean our house for us. My mother was very house proud and with also running a business, it was becoming quite a strain on her to keep the place up to her standards. The funny thing was she used to clean the place before the cleaners came each week anyway as she didn't want them walking into what she termed "a mess". Bless her.

Anyway, I remember one particular lady who used to clean our house with nothing but very basic tools and cleaners. The house always smelled of methylated spirits for a while after she was done, but boy, was the house clean!

This old approach to cleaning is making a comeback as more people are wanting to reduce the amount of chemicals being used in their homes - not just for the sake of their own health, but the sake of the environment.

One such service is Little Piggies Green Cleaning, a company that's been around long before cleaning with the environment and health in mind became trendy.

According to Little Piggies, The US Environmental Protection Agency states that toxicity levels inside a home can be a few to more than 100 times more than outside - and one of the major contributors can be cleaning products.

For example, glycol ethers found in many standard glass cleaners and are known to have negative effects on the reproductive system if exposed to at high levels.  Many air fresheners contain formaldehyde and phenol, which are highly toxic carcinogens.

Little Piggies does away with all these harsh chemicals wherever possible, using citrus and plant oil based products; sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), sodium citrate and sodium silicate, enzymes and non-chlorine based bleach products such as hydrogen peroxide.

Little Piggie Cleaning currently provide services in Los Angeles and Seattle.