10 Tips for a Healthier, Less Toxic Home Environment

Is your home safe?

Take a look around you.

I’m sure you have locks on your doors and possibly an alarm system. Maybe you’ve childproofed drawers and furniture to keep your little ones safe. And you probably have smoke detectors.

But that’s not all that goes into a safe home.

The truth is that we are surrounded by toxins in so many aspects of our daily lives, and while most of them might not be a huge cause of concern on their own, the fact that we are exposed to them so regularly and that many of them accumulate in your body over time can add up to a serious health disaster.

In most homes, the indoor air quality is worse than the air outside.

Think about that for a minute.

Everything in your home environment – from the gases given off during cooking and dust that enters from outside to the products you use for cleaning and personal hygiene – adds up to create a toxic home environment.

I definitely don’t want to scare you, but I do want to open your eyes up to some simple changes you can make to ensure your home is a safe place for your family. Here are 10 tips for a healthier, less toxic home environment.

Keep your floors healthier

1. Dust, vacuum, rinse, repeat.

I live in a busy village in Malta, and dust is a big problem here. Even if I don’t open any windows, I always seem to find new black dust on my floors and furniture every day. This means I have to vacuum and dust all the time.

A robot vacuum cleaner has been a huge time-saver for me. It just quietly moves around the house, sucking up dust, dog hair and dirt while I do more pressing tasks. It was well worth the price. Of course, I still have to dust, but the task has become a lot easier with the robot getting rid of dust from the floors before it circulates too much. Even Mr. Marley is now used to the robot and isn’t bothered by it anymore.

Keep your air healthier

2. Get a HEPA air purifier.

Indoor air pollution comes in many forms, and car exhaust is just one of them. From pollen and mold spores to dust mites and VOCs, all sorts of toxins are floating in the air of your home.

You don’t need to live next door to a factory to reap the benefits of an air purifier. In fact, it’s one of the best investments you can make for your health and home air quality.

There are two things to keep in mind here.

First, you should avoid the ionic types that generate ozone, which is bad for your lungs.

Second, make sure you get a High-Efficiency Particulate Air, or HEPA, air purifier as this is the type that best removes the airborne particulates that can irritate lungs and allergies, such as dust mites, pet dander, pollen, tobacco smoke, and even bacteria and viruses.

This was life-changing for us and we’ve seen a huge improvement in Malcolm’s allergies and asthma since we started using one. It’s satisfying and slightly disturbing to see everything the filter collects knowing that if we didn’t have the purifier, our lungs would be filtering all that gunk!

3. Air it out!

I don’t live in an area that is surrounded by nature like many of my American friends, but I still open my windows every day. This is one of the simplest things you can do to create a healthier home environment because as I said earlier, indoor air quality is almost always worse than outdoor air. You don’t want to keep all that bad stuff trapped inside.

It’s also helpful for reducing volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. These chemicals are found in products used to build and maintain homes such as paints, carpeting, upholstery, cosmetics, cleaning products, and cooking products. They are emitted slowly into the air over long periods of time and can cause health problems, so air out your home regularly.

Keep your body healthier

4. Use natural personal hygiene products.

The skin is the body’s largest organ, and many of the products we place on it are absorbed into our bloodstream. I know a lot of people who are very strict about the food they put into their body yet pay little attention to what they’re feeding their skin.

Products like toothpastes, deodorants, hair products, soaps, and lotions are full of chemicals like parabens and phthalates. You can check the specific products you use in the Environmental Working Group’s SkinDeep database – but don’t say I didn’t warn you!

The best thing you can do is replace these products with more natural ones, either homemade or from reputable companies. Yes, healthier products are usually pricier, but I think it’s worth spending a few extra bucks to know I’m not putting all those toxins in my body and that of my family.

One of my favorite American-based family businesses for these types of products is Cura.Te. Jenny, the owner, is a board-certified Holistic Nutritionist who was on a mission to switch her family to products that are completely free of toxins, chemicals and perfumes. Unable to find commercial products that met her high standards, she decided to start creating her own. Jenny’s organic Sea Salt Soap is one of my favorites. It’s refreshing, energizing, and perfect for addressing eczema. (And if you prefer to spend your dollars with Christian businesses, Jenny is also a Christ-follower!)

And be sure to watch out for mosquito sprays and body lotions that claim insect-repellant properties. Many of these products contain DEET, which is very damaging to the nervous system. It’s especially bad for children, so stick to natural repellents like lemon eucalyptus oil, lavender and citronella.

Keep your clothes healthier

5. Use eco detergent.

When people have allergic reactions and can’t pin down the cause, it often turns out that laundry is the culprit. The chemicals in laundry detergents and softeners in particular are highly irritating, not to mention toxic.

Think of all the ways that laundry detergents get into your body. You sleep on sheets washed with these chemicals, so your body absorbs and inhales them as you sleep, forcing it to work overtime to eliminate these toxins when it should be doing its other important repair work at night.

When you wear clothes laundered in chemical detergents, you are smelling them and have them up against your skin, where they can be absorbed into your bloodstream. Please don’t do that to yourself.

Keep your room healthier

6. Let plants clear your air.

Did you know that plants serve a greater purpose than simply making your room prettier? They can actually help improve the air quality in your home. Aloe vera removes formaldehyde from the air, while the lady palm and gerbera daisy are good all-arounders that reduce a wide range of indoor air toxins.

Just double-check to ensure whatever you choose is safe for any pets you have.

7. Choose eco-friendly cleaning products.

Watch out for cleaning products as many of them contain harsh chemicals. They might get the job done, but you could be paying the price with your health.

I started gradually switching to eco-friendly cleaning products more than five years ago, and now, if I walk past the cleaning aisle at the store, my eyes start itching and I start sneezing right away!

I know not everyone will have such an extreme reaction, but it’s scary to think that my body was used to all those toxins in the past. God only knows what they do to us if my body reacts so strongly now to try to get rid of them!

8. Paint with care.

If you’re painting the house, be sure you go with an eco-friendly brand. Not only will you be exposed to the smell directly if you’re doing the painting yourself or are home while it’s being done, but it will also give off toxins over time.

When I was young, I remember how long the smell used to stick around when my dad painted a room. Paints have come a long way since then. We just re-painted some parts of our house, and you could hardly tell anyone was painting.

This is also a time when having an air purifier is useful!

Keep your kitchen healthier

9. Go plastic-free.

It’s time to make your kitchen plastic-free if you haven’t done so already. Even if you don’t microwave your Tupperware, plastics can still leech cancer-causing toxins into foods – yes, even the BPA-free, microwave-safe varieties – not to mention their impact on the environment. Get glass food storage containers, and research the materials of the utensils and food prep tools you buy.

10. Use safer cookware.

I could devote an entire article to cookware alone, but the most important point here is to be careful with non-stick coatings. By now, we all know how awful Teflon is, but even the newer PFOA-free nonstick coatings have problems of their own. Switch to safer alternatives, such as cast iron and ceramic bakeware.

Don’t be overwhelmed if you need to make a lot of changes. Remember, this is a process and it took me years to be where I’m at today, and still there are more things I can change and improve. Just try to tackle one or two small changes at a time, and soon you’ll be able to say your home is a truly safe environment!