Creating a Non-Toxic Home and How It Can Improve Your Health
Toxins are everywhere we turn today.
From the air we breathe, clothes we wear, foods we eat, and the products we use every day, it’s almost impossible to completely avoid them all. But we can, and should try to minimize our exposure to them as much as possible.
Toxins can affect our long-term and short-term health in many ways. Some short-term effects can include fatigue, skin health, and digestive issues. Then, there are the more serious health issues that have been linked to continuous exposure to toxic chemicals, like – dementia, hormone disruption, immune system issues, and various cancers.
According to NASA, the air indoors is as much as 30 times more toxic than the air outside. This tells us that by doing everyday things like burning a candle to relax in the evening or mopping the kitchen floor, you could unknowingly be increasing–your and your loved ones (including your furry family members ) risk of immediate or long-term health issues.
However, creating a less toxic, healthier home doesn’t have to be a daunting or difficult task. There are a few simple things you can do today to get you to feel better and safer inside of your home.
A Few Easy Steps To Start Creating A Non-Toxic Home
Swap out your cleaning supplies
Many household cleaning supplies include harmful substances such as ammonia and bleach but what you may not realize is everything you need to clean your home and bedroom is already in your pantry!
Here are a few alternatives:
- Baking Soda: Scrub away stubborn stains and grouting by mixing baking soda with warm water for cleaning tiles and bathroom floors.
- Vinegar: Vinegar removes grease and soap buildup and is a great alternative to bleach!
- Lemon Juice: The acid in lemons is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent. What’s more? The crisp scent of lemons will leave your house smelling fresh!
Ditch Plastic for Glass
While most plastic products now boast a “BPA-Free” label, a study by Washington State University reveals that plastic is still not as safe as we’d like to think. Many of the alternatives to BPA’s have still been shown to cause health issues. Using glassware makes it less likely that you are ingesting harmful chemicals as you eat or drink. Another benefit of using glass over plastic is that glass containers preserve the quality and flavor of your drinks much better than plastic. These days, great glassware can be found at many stores, but a few brands that we love, who have made it their mission to create high quality, sustainable, and recycled glassware, are Kessy Beldi, August Sage, and West Elm.
Buy More Plants
Plants are the best air purifiers found in nature. NASA studies suggest that keeping one plant per 100 square feet of space in your home or office can help to purify the air of harmful chemicals. These chemicals include such as benzene, formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, xylene, and toluene. Some of the best indoor plants for reducing air pollution are florist’s chrysanthemums, spider plants, and Devil’s ivy, among others.
So for a less toxic–and greener home, you can visit your local nursery or stores like The Home Depot or Lowes to find your air-purifying plants.
Trade-In Your Toxic Candles
We all love candles. They lift our moods, ease our stress, and make our favorite rooms smell delightful. However, most candles use paraffin, which is a chemically bleached petroleum by-product, as well as fragrance, an ingredient that The FDA does not require companies to disclose “to protect their trade secrets.”
Burning paraffin in your home pollutes the air you breathe– and the fragrance used in most of these candles is toxic, synthetic, and unregulated by the FDA. Ardor Bin candles use wooden wicks and are paraben-free and cruelty-free, making them a non-toxic alternative to your old candles. Moreover, Ardor Bin candles don’t use any synthetic dyes, which makes them safe to use even around babies. And Eucalyptus Rain, one of our signature scents, is infused with natural essential oils that will rejuvenate in the morning or relax you as you drift off to a tranquil sleep at night.
Improving Your Health and Happiness with a Non-Toxic Home
A lifetime of toxin exposure can age you prematurely and put you at risk for serious health issues. But they do their most harm at two critical stages in someone’s life. First, when a body is still developing, making babies and children even more at risk to harmful effects, and second, after the age of 50, when your body becomes starts becoming weaker and more vulnerable. Your pet’s health is also at risk when it comes to toxic chemicals. Our pets develop and age seven or more times faster than children, which means that they also develop health problems from chemical exposures much more rapidly. So, a non-toxic home can literally save their lives.
Most of us will do whatever we can to protect our loved ones. We want to see them happy and thriving as much as we want to see ourselves doing so. And we can see that making simple changes and swaps to the products we use and buy can have an immediate positive effect on their lives as well as our own. Better sleep, better breathing (especially for people with asthma), increased energy, boosted productivity, improved brain function, and an overall improved mood are not only major contributors to our happiness and well-being but major benefits of creating a less-toxic home.
Get started on your journey to create a toxin-free home today using the tips we’ve included in this blog. And if you want to learn more check out the list we’ve compiled below of resources to learn even more!
Resources on Health and Non-Toxic Homes
- It Feels Good to Feel Good: Learn to Eliminate Toxins, Reduce Inflammation, and Feel Great Again by Cheryl Meyer.
- The documentary Devil We Know on Netflix.
- The documentary Stink! on Netflix.
To learn more about the power of nature to transform our everyday lives, visit Ardor Bin and kick start your journey to a non-toxic home!