Everyone needs a bit of dirt in their life

The pandemic has sent sanitation and hygiene to stratospheric levels of compliance for the majority of people and businesses. Never have we paid such close attention to what we touch and how we clean to keep ourselves “safe”.

It is no surprise that with such demand, the offer for new products and sanitation technologies is through the roof. I have been watching closely those systems that claim to be environmentally friendly and often get asked to comment on such new technologies.

I am not an expert, and I am always so careful with the advice I give, positive or negative. For me, when a product claims to be environmentally friendly, saying so is not enough. I want to know more detail:

• What are the exact ingredients used to make it?
• What is the process of making the product?
• Where is it made and sold?
• How is it packaged?

Trying to understand the full life cycle of a product, will allow you to spot possible environmental issues. Of course perfection is difficult, and you might find that a new product is great on the ingredients side of things, as well as the origin and packaging, but that the production process involves a huge amount of carbon emissions. The decision is then up to you; compared to other products, which is the lesser evil?

But something else worries me about the surge of “sanitation”. Call me a sceptic, but are we creating a future pandemic by living such sterilised existences?

The word bacteria is associated with dirt and disease and so it is normal to think one would want to run a mile from it, and protect themselves and their loved ones by cleaning everything with whatever products promises to keep you safe.

But bacteria is absolutely necessary not only for humans but also in nature. In soil and the ocean, bacteria plays a major role in the decomposition of organic matter. Bacteria also plays a huge role in the life cycle of water, as it represents tiny particles that allow our cloud systems to produce rain.

Within the human body, bacteria helps us to break down food, it supplies us with vitamins, it also has an important role to play in creating a protective layer on our skin and exposure to bacteria has been shown to be vital for humans to develop better immune systems.

Research over the past 10 years has often associated living a totally sterile life with the increase in human allergies. This is where our bodies cannot cope with some substances mainly because we have not developed a resilience to that substance from a young age.

The question for me then is: Is our health and the development of our immune systems going to be jeopardised by the frenzy of cleaning and sanitation we currently see during COVID times?

I remember when we were kids in Spain, although we lived in a city apartment, my parents always had a house full of pets, from dogs to hamsters, a fish tank and on occasion, even ducks and rabbits made a pit stop at our home before finding their forever homes.

We were exposed to constant dirt and bacteria, sometimes maybe to a level that many adults nowadays would consider unsafe for their kids. 

But was it unsafe?

Were our parents naïve to bring all that dirt to our home?

Or were our parents preparing us with the best chance for a healthier adulthood? 

The jury is out on this one, for me personally, I think everyone needs a bit of dirt in their lives.

Raquel