Trying to make healthy choices while living in an environment filled with toxins and synthetic chemicals that have serious repercussions for your health can seem close to impossible sometimes. Thankfully, there are ways that you can slowly start to change your environment and ditch the toxins plaguing your home.
I want to see you living the best life possible, so I’ve compiled a list of ten ways you can create a nontoxic home. It will FEEL impossible if you run out and try to do all ten at the very start, so take it slow and make conscious integrations into your life. Before you know it, you’ll have upgraded your life in all the areas I’m about to tell you about and so many more! So let me share where you can get started!
Did you know that your body wash could actually be damaging your microbiome while you’re trying to get clean? Not a very clean clean if you ask me. All the sulfates that are used to wash your skin and the additives that makes the suds appear are actually stripping away ALL the bugs, not just the bad ones.
The bacteria and microorganisms that exist on you and in you create your microbiome…and we need both to have healthy, working immune systems. However, traditional body cleansing products don’t just take off the dirt, they damage your skin’s microbiome all while pulling off your natural oils leaving your skin dry and itchy. No fun.
In fact, you actually don’t need soap! If you aren’t just totally caked in mud, water is all your skin needs to naturally cleanse itself. But if you’re thinking I’m totally insane to toss body wash to the side OR you are actually caked with mud and need a little extra something, Aleavia is a fantastic option.
Aleavia is free from all the toxic, skin-damaging stuff, and actually is a prebiotic body wash so it feeds your good bacteria! I love using their products, and they have lovely natural scents without all the nasty artificial fragrance, like my favorite Green Tea Honeysuckle. Check out their products and give your skin the love and care you’ve been trying to all along!
Go into your kitchen, open the cabinet door under the sink, now throw away all your cleaning products. Go ahead…I’ll wait.
Okay, now we’re ready!
If you didn’t know already, cleaning products are one of the most toxic things in your household. From floor polish to counter spray to toilet bowl cleaner to Lysol…all these items and so many more are responsible for destructive health problems. They contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can so easily affect your immune system and hormones. We already have an epidemic of hormonal issues in women, and these products are just helping push the wagon.
It would take me forEVER to explain all the reasons why they are bad, so I’m just going to tell you about alternatives that are GREAT! Norwex has totally revolutionized the natural cleaning space. You can spend time making vinegar solutions and Borax what-nots, but how about something that only needs one thing…..water!!!
Norwex’s patented BacLock technology make their microfiber cloths the best in the game. They are far different from the cheap-o ones you can get at Dollar Tree, and they have been third party tested to remove particles smaller than protein from surfaces with just water! It truly is incredible.
They also have non-toxic cleaning solutions for the places you might want a little extra help, like Bathroom Cleaner or Hard Water Solution, but you can totally use just the microfiber cloths with water to clean any surface from wood floors, glass, countertops, tile, bathroom appliances, literally anything!
I have used my Envirocloths for years and I am obsessed. My favorite Norwex product is the mop. Total gamechanger. Go check out their extensive product list and start cleaning your home in the way that’s cleanest for you!
Going plastic-free isn’t just about the environment (which we absolutely care about), but it’s about health too. Remember those endocrine-disrupting chemicals we talked about? Well they are in all things plastic.
BPA or bisphenol-A is a well-known part of plastic making and why you will frequently see things labeled as BPA-free, because even industry is recognizing its damaging effects. It’s even in things like grocery store receipts!
That’s just one of numerous harmful chemicals that plastics are created from, and we know that they leech into our food and water, which is why my family chooses to use glass Tupperware instead of plastic and we have a stainless steel Berkey water filter instead of plastic water bottles. Beyond that, one of my favorite ways to reduce plastic use, both for the environment and for health’s sake, is with beeswax wraps.
You can very easily make beeswax wraps, and you can find this tutorial on the blog. Choosing to switch out plastic wrap and Ziploc storage is a great step toward a healthier lifestyle. Give them a try!
Who knew that bringing nature indoors could bring such benefits?
I have a chronic black thumb. I can’t seem to keep anything alive for an extended period of time, and I do not understand how to care for most living things other than humans. It’s a fault of mine. But, I still try my best to keep plants around, because they are great for increasing indoor air quality.
Air quality is often so overlooked in terms of health, and the statistics on how it can affect you are astonishing. The super cool thing is plants have this naturally ability to purify the air around us and convert our CO2 back into oxygen.
While there are certain species that are better at improving air quality than others, you can’t go wrong. If you’re like me even the slightest bit, maybe start off with ones that are low maintenance and hard to kill. You’ll thank me later.
I know, I know, we’ve already talked about Norwex. But laundry routines are a completely different monster. From the detergent chemicals to the bleach and fabric softeners to the horrible-for-you dryer sheets, laundry products are a major health hazard.
There’s so many blog posts written about this already so I won’t bore you with the nitty gritty details, but think about this. Your clothes get washed and dried with these things. Then you wear your clothes in constant contact with your body all day. They’re not just something you see on the laundry room shelf, your skin is always exposed to these harmful chemicals. So let’s ditch it.
This is my laundry routine:
- Wash with Norwex Ultra Power Plus
- Dry with wool dryer balls
It’s that simple! And if you have a some dull whites, add a little hydrogen peroxide or some vinegar to cut stinky smells. If you don’t want a completely fragrance-free routine, a few drops of any essential oil on the dryer balls makes your clothes smell amazing.
Norwex Ultra Power Plus is so much more than laundry detergent. It is an extremely concentrated powder that when mixed with a little water creates a stainbuster, for all surfaces! I’ve soaked bathroom light globes that were caked in YEARS worth of hairspray in a sink full of water and just one scoop of UPP, and unlike the major scrubbing attempt I had already tried, the hairspray literally just melted off! The stuff is basically magic and you have to try it!
This is one definitely one of my favorite switches. For years I have been sleeping on conventional mattresses that not only lacked support for my spine (which is SO critical), but bad for my health. Especially with my thyroid disease that makes me so prone to hormonal imbalance, the fire retardant-laden foam in regular mattresses is a big no-no.
I’m not lying when I say I spent over a year researching which mattress we wanted to invest in, and my husband was pretty wary. I don’t think he really believed the impact those sneaky chemicals can have on your internal processes, but when you spend 1/3 of your life sleeping why even chance it?
We have had our My Green Mattress for about 6 months now, and besides the fact that we finally upgraded to a king (hallelujah!), we are both in love with the mattress. My husband who thought he would always be a soft mattress guy loves the medium-firm feel created by the natural latex and pocketed coils throughout that properly support spine alignment. It’s so soft and comfortable, and we both have been getting the best sleep of our lives on it. And now we can sleep even easier knowing that it’s made of natural products that support our health while supporting our sleep.
Now this may sound pretty basic, but it’s been so beneficial in my health journey. Shopping locally, whether that be for your food or for goods, has an incredibly positive environmental impact. Beyond that it helps you too:
- You are more likely to find produce unpackaged or loose, therefore reducing your plastic exposure.
- Food quality is so much better when you know your sources directly. Crops are more likely to be organically grown and not sprayed with anything, and meat quality is better because of better farming practices.
- Buying locally cuts out the middle man, so bulk is usually available and prices may be cheaper. And if they aren’t, it’s because the middle man isn’t paying the farmer enough to begin with.
- Food and non-food items are usually less processed, meaning less chance for unnecessary additives and chemicals. Just pure products made locally.
Those are just a few reasons shopping locally can impact your health environment, but I can think of many more! If you have another reason, comment on the post your reason and what your favorite things to buy local are!
AIR. QUALITY.
We’ve already talked about this with plants, but how about something as simple as opening up the windows every once in a while? Home air units do not pull anything from outside the home, they just continuously recirculate what’s already inside. That’s why sometimes you walk inside and are hit with this odor of stale-smelling air. Because it is.
I try to air out the house regularly. For some that’s once a week, for others maybe once a month. However frequently you are able to do it, I highly suggest it. If it’s in the winter, raise your windows halfway for a few hours during the day. If it’s during the summer, wait until the evening when it’s cooling down a little. Depending on the season, it may even save you $$ on the electricity bill instead of keeping the A/C on. Let’s just hope you have window screens to keep the pesky bugs from invading your home!
Have you ever been inside of someone’s house where they like to burn multiple candles at the same time and the scents just *SMACK* you in the face right as you walk in the door (and even around every corner)? Yeah…I know a lot of those people, and I get nauseous every time I visit.
You probably already know that because candles burn, they put off soot which decreases air quality. However, you may not know that those fragrances you might love so much are messing up your hormones like it’s their job. They’re like that toxic friend that’s super nice to your face but always talks about you behind your back. So why keep the friendship?
Tossing my scented candles was difficult for me because I had actual boxes full of them, but I wasn’t hard once I realized how much better I felt. And now that those nasty phthalates and parabens aren’t a part of my everyday life, I realize how smart I was to kick them to the curb every time I get a headache from being around them at aforementioned person’s house.
And it’s not just the fragrance that matters, it’s the kind of wax too. Different things burn in different ways, and some have a worse impact than others. So we say no to soy wax, and especially the most commonly used paraffin wax, which is petroleum-based and burns a carcinogenic soot. The Shupp House exclusively burns 100% beeswax candles, which are fragrance-free and easy to find online. Head over to Amazon and shop the candles I buy that only use beeswax and cotton wicks.
This last toxin-removing tip is a BIG one. I wish I had known this when I first got married because I would have never put that nonstick cookware set on my registry!
Most people are using nonstick cookware because it’s cheap, nonstick, and convenient. What you don’t know is that the “nonstick” part is actually composed of extremely harmful chemicals like PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical that has a long list of side effects including developmental defects in utero. PFOA, among the many other nonstick chemicals, are very stable so they exist for long periods of time in the environment and your body; it has been found among the over 200 chemicals present on average in a baby’s cord blood at birth.
PFOA gets into your body because it leeches into your food when cooking on high heat, but the good news is it’s so easy to make the cookware swap! It’s one of the first one’s I recommend when making slow choices toward a healthier life. There are plenty of options:
- Stainless steel (I have gotten some great pieces for a STEAL at thrift stores or estate sales)
- Copper (this is a much pricier option, but the heat conductivity is worth the $$)
- Cast iron (my fav!)
Let’s talk about cast iron. Not only is it a fantastic non-toxic cookware, it is relatively cheap and so versatile that only a few pieces can completely replace your cookware set! It even can have added benefits of adding iron to your food, which is beneficial for those with low iron or anemia. I use my cast iron almost every single day and they are such a blessing to my kitchen. If you want to make the swap, and you should, start shopping at thrift/antique stores or FB Marketplace and you’ll be just as in love as I am in no time!
I’ve barely scratched the surface on ways you can start to ditch the toxins so you can heal your body and your home. But these are all so important and some of the easier, quicker steps you can take toward a nontoxic home.
If you’ve made the decision to get started today on your journey to a healthier life whether it’s integrating some of these tips or making a product swap with some I have mentioned, EVERY. THING. COUNTS. Even the little things. Now give yourself a pat on the back and let me know what you are taking action on first!