Local "Green" Maid Service Looking to Expand Business, Environmentalism

Chantal Gaasrud is a maid who refuses to use bleach.  And Lysol?  Forget about it.

"Bleach is terrible for the environment," said Gaasrud.  "It has harsh fumes; it destroys septic systems. Then there's Lysol, which people use all the time. The reason why it kills germs is because it has a known pesticide. I don't want to spray pesticide in the air."

Gaasrud is the founder and President of The Green Maid Inc.,  an all-natural and organic home cleaning service in Southbury featuring home-made cleaning supplies that she will soon begin to sell online and in retail outlets. 

Gaasrud and her husband Halvor Gaasrud - the company's Vice President - incorporated in October of 2009.  And in two weeks time she says the company's website will be ready to launch, along with the Green Maid's online store.

In addition to the website launch, Gaasrud will begin accepting more clients for her maid service.

Gaasrud said the idea for the cleaning service occurred to her after she and her husband built their house shortly after she decided to end her ten year career as a real estate agent during the mortgage crisis.

"We built [our house] green and I wanted to maintain it as green and organic as possible without any chemicals. I started doing a lot of research online about green housekeeping and I learned about all the toxic synthetic chemicals that are in today's cleaning products," said Gaasrud.

Her research lead her to recipies that she began using to make her own cleaning products – but she quickly realized that her new hobby could turn into a career.

To make her products, Gaasrud uses essential oils drawn from organic herbs, flower, plants and roots as well as common household products like vinegar and baking soda.

Gaasrud's inventory includes, house care, personal hygiene and pet hygiene products.

She was inspired to start her business by the fact that toxic chemicals, many of which could have harmful, unforeseen side affects, have become a regular presence in the home.

"Almost every [cleaning] product out there, unless its certified organic, has some kind of chemical which has health risks and we don't even know what the long term effects are," said Gaasrud.  "A lot of these companies haven't even done testing on what these chemicals do or their long term health risks, I think it's more of a greed and money thing – if they're exposed, they're going to lose money."

She said that many of the chemicals commonly found in cleaning products are harmful for the environment as well as the body. Ozone layer depletion, water contamination and ecological disruption are all part of the chemical structure.  The rise in the number of children who develop allergies, according to Gaasrud, is one of the most common side affects of these chemicals.

"I don't remember everyone having as many allergies - there are so many now. Peanut allergies and this allergy and that allergy - growing up in the 70s it just wasn't like that," said Gaasrud.

Tribury Chamber of Commerce President Margot Melaas said that the chamber of commerce sees potential for a growth of green businesses in Southbury.

"The Tribury Chamber of Commerce is excited to see a green business in the Southbury area taking off," said Melaas.  "It is an area with enormous growth potential and we are hoping to see more businesses specializing in and utilizing green alternatives in the near future."