Airborne Toxins: How to Make the Air You Breathe Cleaner
In today’s day and age, sometimes it feels like we can’t escape toxins. They can be in the products we use, the environments we work in, and even the products we ingest. So how does one escape it all?
While you might not be able to change the entire world in one go, you do have control over your home and what you let into it. From using air purifiers to cutting out sulfates, here are some simple, smart solutions that will help keep your home toxin-free.
Why Invest in an Air Purifier
The air within our homes is often more contaminated than the air outdoors because dirt, allergens, and debris that get caught inside and remain contained there. Additionally, when moisture gets trapped in a home, it can lead to mold and mildew that makes its way into the air we breathe.
Air purifiers work by filtering out these unwanted toxins and materials from the environment within your home, leaving you with cleaner, safer, more breathable air.
Why Bring in More Plants
If you’re worried about air quality, bringing indoor plants into your home is an ideal solution for producing more oxygen and decreasing the levels of carbon dioxide. As an added bonus, house plants liven up a space, adding color and attributing to a beautiful, organic decor.
Why To Get Rid of Your Non-Stick Cookware
As fabulous as non-stick cookware can be for baking and cooking, this type of cookware can release toxic fumes when overheated. Toss your non-stick pans, tins, and cookie sheets to totally empty your house of this health hazard.
Instead of using non-stick cookware, invest in stainless steel cookware, cast iron pans, ceramic baking dishes, and glass baking dishes to get all of your cooking and baking tasks done.
How to Evaluate Your Personal Care Products
Toxins are often commonplace within the actual bodies of humans, and a large reason for that is the personal care products that we use on a daily basis. Shampoos, cosmetics, lotions, sunscreens, and deodorants are all products that inevitably become absorbed by our bodies, so it’s essential to make sure you’re using products that contain only safe ingredients.
Whenever possible, try to use organic products that only make use of natural ingredients. Avalon Organics, Dr. Bronner’s, and Honeybee Gardens are just a few brands that fit the bill. If you’re seeing ingredients such as phthalates, parabens, and triclosan in your personal care products’ ingredients lists, then it’s time to toss them and replace them with something safer.
Why Swap Out Your Candles
Candles can make a home smell great, and they also do a lot for setting the mood and improving a house or apartment’s decor. However, perfume-scented candles contain paraffins that pollute the air. Most candle production is poorly regulated, making it nearly impossible to know exactly what is put into the candle, including synthetic ingredients and toxic perfume ingredients.
To avoid getting mixed up in any of this, swap out your paraffin candles for pure beeswax candles. With beeswax candles you know exactly what you’re burning and no toxins will be given off from melting the product.
Use Glass Instead of Plastic
When plastic is heated, it can leach into your food. Even though plastic can be convenient and affordable, at the end of the day, it poses a health risk because of the toxins it excretes.
Instead of using plastic products to store food in your refrigerator and pantries, swap it out for glass containers. Mason jars work well to seal food into manageable-size portions, and they can be quite portable for transporting meals.
Limit Bottled Water
Believe it or not, the bottled water industry is completely unregulated. Recent studies have shown that chemical contaminants in some water bottle brands are above health limits. In addition to this, phthalates from the plastic bottles and lids begin to breakdown and leach into the water after only ten weeks of storage.
As a substitute, use a stainless steel water bottle to carry water with you while you’re on the move. As for when you’re at home, simply drinking tap water from glasses can be a lot healthier than drinking from plastic bottles. If you’re unsure of the quality of your water, get a water testing kit or install a water filter on your sink nozzle.
Resources— Smiling Notes, How Stuff Works, Pure Living Space
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