Your home should be a safe sanctuary, but the presence of toxins can threaten that. There are a number of things you can do, both small and big, that significantly reduce toxins in your home.
Add Air Filtering Houseplants. NASA conducted a clean air study to determine which plants remove the toxins benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene and ammonia from the space station environment. They recommended one houseplant per 100 square feet. The plants that removed all tested toxins were (see the full list and which toxins each plant removed):
- Peace Lily
- Parlour Palm
- Lady Palm
- Florist's Chrysanthemum
Eliminate Non-Stick and Other Toxic Cookware. One of the last things anyone wants to do is put toxins in their family's meals, but it's well established that non-stick cookware does precisely that. Replacing your non-stick cookware with safe cookware is a tremendous step towards removing toxins from your home. Find out what is the safest cookware to use.
Take Shoes Off at the Door. No matter how "clean" you and your family members' shoes are, the fact is they are still in contact with all sorts of surfaces and carry dirt, germs and bacteria with them. Have a station in garage or just inside the front door and get everyone in the habit of removing shoes as soon as they enter your home.
Open Your Curtains and Windows. It's important to regularly let outside air in and inside air out to breathe cleaner air inside the home. Sunlight is also a natural disinfectant. In fact, line drying or draping clothes, bedding, towels and other textiles in the sun can be beneficial.
Filter Your Water. Tap water can contain many toxins, and it's something prolifically used in the home. Even if you drink bottled water, you probably make ice with tap water, you shower in it, you wash your clothes in it and you wash your hands in it. A whole house water filter is the best solution, but if that's not feasible the use of filtering water pitchers or on faucet filters (or even boiling water for a minute before allowing it to cool and using that for drinking water) goes a long way.
Make it Yourself. There are many things that are easy and inexpensive to make yourself. Commercial cleaning products can have many toxins and harsh chemicals. Consumer packaged food is often riddled with chemicals (or even excessive salt and sugar) used to preserve and/or enhance the flavor.
By purchasing some basic items such as baking soda and vinegar, you have the core ingredients for many DIY cleaners. Batch making food items such as jams and jellies can be easy and inexpensive and help reduce the chemicals and additives consumed by your family.
Remove Your Carpet. Carpeting harbors toxins and is next to impossible to fully sanitize. While it might not be possible, if you can remove the carpet (sometimes beautiful hard flooring is right underneath!) and replace it with real hardwood flooring, polished concrete, ceramic tile, bamboo or cork flooring.
