It’s trendy these days to "go green," but the idea of protecting the world we live in has been around for decades.  The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970.

There are many products designed to help you do your part to save the environment - from laundry detergent to all-purpose cleaners.

Virginia Beach fire and rescue personnel save lives and are doing what they can to save the environment.  They use many 100-percent biodegradable chemicals and cleaning solutions for everything from washing their gear to scrubbing down the fire trucks.

By EPA standards, the suds and bubbles are safe for the environment.

Rob Amos with Hammerhead Cleaning Frenzy supplies the department with some of its cleaning solutions. He says "going green" is nothing new in his business.

"Our chemist that develops our products has been doing it since 1972," he noted.

Amos says many products handle more than one cleaning job.

"You can do your engine or clean your carpet with it. It'll take rust out of your carpet, dog vomit, you know. Any kind of accident that you can't get out of your carpet, this will pull it up."

Amos’ Virginia Beach-based company makes both an industrial and retail line of fully biodegradable cleaning supplies.

"Everything you do, there's a reaction to it, good or bad,” Amos added.

Ron stresses that you should read the labels on products promoting environmental friendliness.

Just because it says biodegradable doesn’t mean it’s 100-percent biodegradable.

Also, if the bottle instructs you to wear gloves, the product isn’t safe for your skin, so why would it be safe for the environment.