1. Use a water filter , especially if you have water treated with fluoride and/or chlorine. Shower filters are also important as chlorine is released into the air as well as absorbed through the skin. Swimming in pools treated with chlorine may be cause for concern; make sure you stick to outdoor pools if possible or cut back on your swimming experiences. And stick to stainless steel or glass water bottles as the plastics may leach into the water.
2. Use cast iron or stainless steel pots and pans to cut down on toxic fumes from non-stick pans.
3. Stay away from products made with PVC (poly vinyl chloride). Many household items are routinely made from PVC and continue to off gas for many months. One very common PVC product is a shower curtain, others include windows, bottles that contain beauty care products, office supplies, and even food storage containers.
4. Use only natural cleaners within the home. Not only does this keep your surfaces non-toxic, but decreases air pollution as well. Many common household cleaners are made from chemicals that produce hormone disruption as well as developmental problems in animal studies. It’s easy (and very cheap!) to make your own cleaners at home!
5. Use plants within your home to naturally detoxify the air you breathe. The Areca Palm Tree, English Ivy, Boston Fern, Aloe Vera and even Spider plants have all been shown in studies produced by NASA to clean the air and remove substances like formaldehyde and even heavy metals.
6. Air your home out on a regular basis, even in the winter, will keep the air fresh and push out stagnant air that holds toxins.
7. Cleaning your home regularly also keeps any chemicals and toxins at bay. The dust that settles on furniture is often polluted.
Making just a few small changes within your home goes a long way to better health!
Donielle Baker
I’ve been reading and seeing the need/recommendation for water filtration but what kind of filter should I use. These are some great tips, I’m doing about half. I’m looking forward to working on the rest.
@Catherine, I know these filters are of good quality – http://www.radiantlifecatalog.com/category/water-filtration-systems
I’m sure there are others out there, but I come across these a lot.
Great post, Donielle! I’ll be interested to hear your reply to Catherine’s query as I love to get other opinions, but I’ve been using the Pur filtration system for our water and have totally been amazed at the difference in taste for sure. I didn’t know about filters for showers though and I’d love to get one of those.
What do you recommend for shower curtains? I’ve seen the all cloth ones, even in hotels, but I think using one of them would be a disaster in our house. Hubby always gets water on the floor in the hotels, but they are tile and wiping it up doesn’t seem to be a big deal. But daily it would be a pain and could cause problems with our non-tile flooring.
Thanks for always educating us!
Shirley
@Shirley @ gfe, Re: water filters – http://www.radiantlifecatalog.com/category/water-filtration-systems They have whole house, under counter, and shower models.
For curtains I know stores do sell PVC free curtains. Bed Bath and Beyond has them I think and I’ve also noticed them in our local super store too. They are still of course plastic, but the last time I bought one I noticed it had much less of a ‘plastic’ smell to it!
@donielle, You’re a gem! Thanks so much. Who wants PVC and who wants that plastic smell?
I’ll be checking out the filtration systems and heading to Bed Bath & Beyond. Thanks!
Shirley
You have a wonderful site and inspire me to work harder at eliminating chemicals. Would you mind if I shared some of this information on my blog, (with a link back, of course)?
@Sandy, Sure, just make sure you use your own words (instead of copy and paste) and link to the blog as your source! Thanks!
Love the article and wanted to add that you can clean your home with using only water with Norwex Antibacterial Microfiber Cloths. They are amazing and proven to kill 99.9% of germs because of the silver that is embedded in them. Kids can even clean with them too or you can clean with the kids in the room without having to worry about dangerous chemicals.