Creating a Toxin Free Home
Rhia Cataldo
Your home should be one of the healthiest places you spend your time. This is your sanctuary, your retreat from the world. The last thing you want is to have this space be causing you any sickness or discomfort. There are many ways to clean the air in our homes and that is what I want to talk about today. As someone with multiple chemical sensitivity and who understands the impact that chemicals have on my health, I have done a lot of research about how the things surrounding me are effecting my life. I am not paid by any of these companies for mentioning them, in fact they don’t even know that I am. I’m just doing this so that you know best how to protect yourself. There are many alternatives to everything I will recommend, my recommendations are based on quality, affordability and convenience.
Air - The air you breathe! We all know that there are lots of toxins floating around in the air. They come many places including chemical lawns and pest control, allergens, paints, rugs and furniture, chemical cleaning solutions, toxic fragrances, car and plane pollution, even the possibility of mold inside your home. Fresh air breezing through the windows is always my favorite, but sometimes the air out there feels a little heavy or there are some chemicals lurking and clean air requires a little assistance. For people with allergies to pet dander, mold, chemicals and house hold cleaning products, using an air purifier can help you tremendously! What you want to look for in an air purifier is a HEPA filter. A few things to consider: 1. The size of the space you are cleaning in sq. feet. 2. The size of the air purifier 3. the cost. 4. The noise level of the air purifier if this matters to you. Knowing the above, I needed to clean a pretty large space so I went with the Airpura. The Airpura was the most effective at cleaning a larger space. AirIQ is also a top of the line air purifier. For me, Airpura worked best because it cleaned a larger room size. I have noticed a huge difference since making Airpura a part of my home. Swap out any chemical cleaners for chemical free brands of dish soap, laundry detergent, spray cleaner, etc and you will improve the quality of air in your home this way. I love to bring plant friends into my home as they also help to clean the air.
Water - We are made of 60% right? For a while I was drinking out of plastic bottles, until I really took into consideration how much the BPA in plastic water bottles was effecting my hormones, never mind Mother Earth! I decided to swap the plastic for mason jars and a Berkey Water Filter! The Berkee water filter is top quality. There are many contaminants in water, and you can easily have yours tested if this is something you are interested in. I chose the Berkee filter because it is a large container that I don’t have to constantly fill more than once a day and it filters pretty quickly. I chose the large size, stainless steel, with the floride filter. Eventually I would love to have a whole house filter, but with my current budget, this works just perfectly! I even took it when I drove down to Florida this winter and was able to have filtered water down there for a few months. The place I was staying puts chlorine in the water and I wanted to keep as much of it out of my system as possible. As far as showers go, I chose the Culligan Shower Filter. This takes out most of the metals and toxins for a clean shower.
Food - ELEVATED MICRO ORGANISMS!! Grow a garden baby! Elevated microorganisms are probiotics that stay alive in your gut and help to restore your health. Many probiotics die when they enter your stomach before they can even do their good work. Elevated micoorganisms are found living on living foods right from the garden. These little organisms create B12 in your system and that is critical for healing. Find a little spot in your yard and plant some baby kale (or whatever fruit/veggie/green that you desire!) plants or put them in a pot in your deck. If you don’t have a way of gardening you can get greens from an organic farmers market. Make sure that when you pick your greens from your garden that you don’t wash them. This will wash the elevated organisms away. (But make your own decision here - clearly if you think your farmer has the flu or that there are any health concerns, please wash your greens) If you do wash, be careful not to wash them too rough or you will wash off all the little organisms. Growing sprouts is another great way of getting the elevated microorganisms. I bought these Sprouting Trays from Amazon and they made sprouting super easy. Order some Clover Seeds and sprout away!
Sleep - We spend somewhere around 1/4 of our lives in our beds! Well, do you know what is lurking in your bedding? Fire retardants, hormone disrupters, toxic foam and chemicals! As soon as I realized this I swapped out my mattress for a