Hey, Green Junkie!
Did you know that the air inside of our home contain more than 5x the amount of contaminants than the outside air?
Crazy, right?
While we can’t completely eliminate all contaminants from our life, there are a lot of simple steps we can take to detox our homes and make them as healthy as possible and in today’s episode I am showing you just how easy it can be
Here’s what to expect:
- How to keep out outside contaminants from entering your home
- Simple trick to cut down on vacuum and sweeping time
- Decorate your home and detox at the same time
- Safer cleaning products for your home
- Make your house smell good without the cost to your health
- Detox free laundry
- How to get cleaner drinking water
You’ll discover that and so much more in this episode.
By the end of this episode, Green Junkie, you’ll be more confident in knowing that through simple changes you and your loved ones will be breathing healthier air inside your home.
If you love this podcast be sure to leave a review and share a screenshot of this episode to your IG stories. Tag @greenjunkiepodcast so I can shout you out and publicly say thanks.
Thanks for listening and being here.
Your green bestie,
Xoxo Stephanie
Previous Episodes Mentioned:
Episode #9: How to Reuse What You Already Have
Episode #16: How to Green-Up Your Clean UP
Episode #18: The Importance of Connecting with Our Earth
Sources
https://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/detox-your-home/
https://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/dryer-sheets-alternatives/
https://www.healthline.com/health/taking-off-your-shoes#shoe-removal-tips
https://www.madesafe.org/whats-in-that/candles/
https://www.lung.org/clean-air/at-home/dust-briefing
https://www.lung.ca/lung-health/air-quality/your-healthy-home/faq-indoor-air-quality
Resources:
Alternatives to Conventional Dryer Sheets
Snag 1 on 1 Eco-Conscious Coaching with me
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Come join the Green Junkie Facebook Group
Become a Green Junkie Insider and gain access to bonus content
Listen Below
Transcript for Episode 20
0:08
Hello, Green Junkie. I'm your host, Stephanie Moram and today I'm coming at you with six ways to purify your home. You know, cleaning products you use, the scented air fresheners you might spray and inhale, the food you're eating and the cleaners you reach for, can potentially be made of chemicals that can cause some harm to you and your loved ones. Even though the thought of purifying your home may seem scary at first, it can be so much easier than you think. Simply start by adding household plants, switching to homemade cleaning products and potentially diffusing essential oils. You don't have to change everything right away, take baby steps and try one thing at a time. So you can gradually work your way to living a more low tox life, then you and the environment will reap the rewards.
0:55
If you love learning new ways you can reduce your impact on the environment. Please subscribe to the Green Junkie Podcast on whatever platform you get your podcasts. That way, you will never miss another green living episode, ready to detox your life and home? Let's get started.
1:13
In many cultures, it's customary to take off your shoes before entering a home. Well, this tradition might have started to prevent visitors from tracking mud and dust inside. It could also keep everyone inside the home healthier. Our shoes track in so many pollutants that can be harmful to us. Just think whatever you step on outside, you are now bringing into your home. Removing your shoes cuts down on the possible transmission of disease carrying bacteria any sort of contaminants. It could also translate to less time cleaning and vacuuming your floors. To me, that's one of the biggest reasons I don't want to clean every day because someone's coming in the house with dirt. And we have long, cold, snowy winters. I don't want snow in my house. That is for sure.
2:07
And when my kids were little, there was zero ways people were wearing shoes in the house, my kids were crawling, they were learning how to walk, they were touching everything on the floor. I didn't want people wearing their shoes in the house. So I got a couple of ideas of what you can do to make people comfortable when they come to your house when it comes to taking their shoes off. Because some people just don't like taking their shoes off. And I get it, you know, you might have a hole in your sock, or it's uncomfortable being barefoot all the time and your shoes help with that. So a couple of ideas.
2:43
One idea is you can just ask people to take their shoes off, hey, do you mind taking your shoes off, please, we just don't do shoes in our house. Another thought could be you could have a sign up. So it's crystal clear that no shoes in the house. You could have slippers available to people. For those people that might have a hole in their sock, or aren't wearing any socks for that matter. You could have slippers and then they just slip them on. And they feel a lot more comfortable. And the fourth thing you could do is you could have shoe covers for those people that really need to wear their shoes inside. You could have covers for the shoes, and then they're way more comfortable.
3:20
And personally when it comes to maintenance people or any type of people that are coming in to deliver stuff. I don't ask them to take their shoes off. Would I love for them to take their shoes off? Absolutely. But I know it's not really an option to ask people to take their shoes off when they're coming to deliver stuff. So what I do is I just clean my floors after and call it a day. Another tip to keep floors free of any nasty chemicals and other harmful substances is that you could set up a shoe area at your door. So we talked about shoe covers and slippers and signs. Well, you could have a little area in your house where you have the sign and you have the slippers and you have the shoe cover. So everybody is more comfortable when they come to your home knowing that if they don't want to take their shoes off, or if they have a holey sock they have slippers that they can put on their feet.
4:09
Number two, we want to breathe clean air right? Did you know that the air inside our home contains up to five times more contaminants and our outdoor air? Crazy, super crazy. So help freshen your indoor air quality by opening windows. Yes, even in the winter. We have really cold winters here and our windows are open for certain parts of the time because we want to circulate some air. Also, you could add some plants to your decor, use a home filtration system and you can clean and dust a little more often. I love plants. We have plants everywhere in our house. And there is some research out there that says that yes plants help to clean your air and then there's some research that says they don't do that, but for me, I love plants. They make me happy. Maybe they clean my air a little bit, but does it hurt to have a bunch of plants in your house? Probably not. So I vote for having plants because they make you happy and potentially they help to clean your air. Who knows, but I love spider plants and I love snake plants.
5:20
When cleaning try to use a HEPA filter. HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particle Air, which traps the very small particles that are most concerning to lung health. Vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters have been shown to reduce the amount of dust found indoors and also keeps particles inside the vacuum instead of blowing them out into the air. According to the American Lung Association, they recommend incorporating dusting into your regular cleaning routine, which can reduce the amount of dust and improve overall indoor air quality in your home. And it only takes a couple of minutes to dust so grab a cloth and start dusting.
6:00
Number three, ditch the nasty chemical petroleum based cleaners in your home and make your own eco friendly and safe products. Vinegar is a key ingredient for strong, safe, homemade cleaning products. I love vinegar by the way, as simple all purpose recipe you can start with is mixing one part vinegar with three parts filtered water, you can add one to two teaspoons of lemon juice, you can add some drops of essential oils. I personally love lemon, add it to a glass spray bottle, and voila, you have your own cleaning products. And recently what I did was I had some oranges because I love oranges and it's orange season here where I am. So I would take the orange peel and put them in a huge mason jar and filled the jar with vinegar. And now it is sitting in my cupboard for the next two weeks, and I will have orange infused vinegar. So that is another great way to reuse some stuff at home and also use the vinegar to clean your home.
7:09
You can remove toxic chemicals from your home instantly by purchasing safer products. Read your labels do your research and how about you support some small businesses that keep the environment in mind and try to use the least amount of plastic packaging. Also, you can check out my blog at goodgirlgonegreen.com. It's titled seven DIY cleaning recipes using vinegar for homemade, safer cleaning. I will post that link in the show notes so you have access to that.
7:41
Number four. Your idea of relaxation might be burning candles, but there is nothing relaxing about indoor air pollution associated with candles. There's nothing cozy about putting the ones we love in close contact with the toxic substances found in these household products. Ditch the synthetic fragrances in your home by using organic and natural scents that can be found in essential oils and all natural candles. I don't burn candles all day every day but sometimes I like a good candle. So buy natural organic fragrances instead of the artificial perfume. For beeswax I love beeswax candles. Instead of the wax candles which are derived from petroleum aka not a clean burning nor biodegradable gas in our environment. Let's avoid those. Scent free or unscented candles may not contain harmful fragrances, but often there are paraffin based instead look for 100% coconut -like I said beeswax candles with 100% organic cotton wicks because there's also nasties in the wick. I know like Stephanie, you're just going over the top right now. But think about it. If you are burning a wick and there are chemicals on it. That's what's in the air right now. So go for pure cotton, or even at best organic cotton wicks, make sure the candles you're buying if they are scented that they're using 100% pure essential oils rather than that mystery fragrance and skip candles that are colored because they're probably artificially colored. Not all I'm not saying all because there's ways to add color to things that are natural but most of time are artificial.
9:30
Number five. Did you know that fabric softener products like dryer sheets can be concentrated with chemicals, heavy, toxic fragrances? I know gross! And you're throwing them in the dryer and now your clothes are covered in whatever was on that dryer sheet. Personally, I don't use liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets. I looked for substitutes like wool dryer balls, or I hang dry my clothing which is super simple. Get a drying rack dryer clothing but If you really need to use a dryer for will dry balls, and if you love scent, if you're a person that needs your clothes to smell good. Perhaps some orange, grab some lemon, grab whatever essential oil you have in your house and put some drops on those dryer balls. And now your closings will smell amazing. Because you see when dryer sheets are heated, they release chemicals through the dryer vent out into our environment. So with that said, when I go for walks, it's such a beautiful day and I keep passing by houses, I can smell the dryer sheets from people's houses. I know you think I'm crazy. When we lived in a condo, I had to close our windows when people were using their dryers because the smell would come into our house to the windows and it gave me a massive headache. So not only is your clothing probably layered in some toxic chemical, but now it's in the environment. So let's be mindful of that. So will you join me and go all natural by choosing healthy alternatives to dryer sheets? Again, you can go to my blog, goodgirlgonegreen.com and there is a blog post – seven non toxic alternatives to conventional dryer sheets. I will link that in the show notes as well.
11:09
And number six – filter your water. Unfiltered water can contain harmful chemicals like chlorine, mercury, lead, fluoride, I don't like fluoride. Research shows that contaminant poor water quality is responsible for making nearly 1.1 million people sick every year. That's horrible. Tap water in most countries, though, is generally safe to drink. But contamination is still a risk factor. For instance, some cities still use old Victorian plumbing system that could leak unwanted materials into your water. Like there are some schools that are so old that they have a lead pipes. I'm lucky that our school that my kids go to do not use lead pipes, but there are still some schools. So just imagine what your kids are drinking. We need clean water. And if you haven't started filtering your water, at least you're drinking water, start doing it now. It will not only taste better and preserve your health, but will also make teeth brushing, showering, and laundry more enjoyable. Right now we only have a water filter for our drinking water. And we use a Berkey. I am still on the lookout for a home filtration system that is not reverse osmosis. So if there's anyone listening and they have an awesome filtration system for their whole home, please send me a message because I need one for my home because we have chlorine in our water. And it stinks. And I don't like the smell when I'm taking a shower. But our drinking water is awesome right now. So that is a total side note.
12:45
We are exposed to toxins on a daily basis that could wreak havoc on our bodies and even the environment. I hope that at least one of these home detoxing tips can help you live a little more green and do what's best for your family, aka providing a healthy environment that allows everyone to thrive. For more green living inspiration, listen to other episodes including episode 18 the importance of connecting with Earth. Episode 16, how to green up your cleanup, and nine how to reuse what you already have. Stay connected with me on Instagram at green junkie podcast. And don't forget to subscribe to the green junkie podcast on the platform you're listening on. If you're curious about zero waste living, sustainable fashion, or wondering how to read food cleaning a product label, I've got you covered. For direct access to me, your green living expert – click the link in the show notes where you can ask me questions and get a customized plan on how you can live a greener life or hop on a one on one call with me. Or ask me your questions via email if Zoom is not your thing, or we can chat over Voxer which is a web based app. I will be your personal Green Google and you can pick my brain. Thank you for listening, and I'll see you next Tuesday Green Junkie.
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