10 Ways to Detox Your Home

It excites me when I meet more and more people that are interested in living a more holistic lifestyle. I personally enjoy swapping tips and tricks with like-minded people and that’s definitely helped me get in to my own holistic living groove. It can be quite intimidating though, knowing where to start, especially when you’re bombarded with statistics like:

• There are 500-1000 chemicals inside the average home that you can’t smell or see

• There are around 100,000 synthetic chemicals on the retail market today in everything from shampoo, cleaning products, toys, furniture and even clothes.

Owch! Scary right?!

Well, the good news is, without going crazy insane, there are a few easy ways you can detox your home, that can immediately make you feel healthier. Here are 10 that I have found work for me:

1. Stop using air fresheners – you’ll reduce your exposure to phthalates. These are nasty little chemicals linked to hormonal and reproductive abnormalities.

2. Switch to soy candles – traditional paraffin candles give off the toxic black soot that is damaging to both our lungs, and also our pets. More on this subject another day!

3. Avoid the sneaky chemicals found in cleaning products and switch to ones that are earth friendly and made with plant derived ingredients and essential oils. Or, try making your own! There are some great recipes on Pinterest for DIY cleaning products.

4. Start reading labels on the food you buy – you’ll be surprise how many include chemical ingredients for preservation purposes. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t buy it. In a perfect world, we’d all love to be able to buy all organic groceries too, and if you can then great! For a cheaper option, look out for organic produce markets in your town, or alternatively, the supermarket chain ‘Aldi’, has organic groceries at a fraction of the cost of other supermarkets.

5. Especially this time of year in Florida, open up your doors and windows. Blowing in natural air throughout your home is a sure way to naturalize your living environment.

6. For your pets, think about managing their interaction with chemicals. Heart worm prevention is almost impossible to avoid in Florida, but for fleas & ticks, I like to use an organic flea spray. They can be found at your local pet supermarket, or even locally made at a local farmers market.

7. For the outside of your home, replace toxic lawn pesticides and herbicides with less harmful, natural alternatives.

8. Unplug your electronics. This is a hard one … but I promise you’ll feel better! For a couple of hours each week, set times for your whole family to unplug and connect with each other, electronic free.

9. Switch out your personal care products such as shampoos, hand soaps, cosmetics etc. for ones that are paraben, mineral oil, petroleum, sulfate & cruelty free. There are so many on the market today, that you won’t have a problem finding them. Target has a whole isle dedicated to natural personal care, and many retailers online are now offering healthier alternatives, such as L’Oréal. A personal favorite of mine is Lavanilla deodorant that has no yucky aluminum.

10. Lastly, simply listen to your body and become aware of synthetic smelling or tasting items.It comes with time, but once you start the process of detoxing your home, you’ll be surprised how aware you become.

~ Angela

Pure & Simple Treats