I try to be really green with the things I use in my home, like cleaners and air fresheners. The main reason for this is Hailey’s asthma, I try not to subject her to additional chemicals and pollutants. Even though I never use chemicals in my home, the air in your home can be up to 100 times more polluted than the air outside, that’s a little scary considering home is where you spend most of your time.
I thought I was doing all the right things, no one smokes in my home, I use vinegar and baking soda to clean and never use store bought air fresheners. However, there are some things you can’t get rid of completely. The carpet in your house, scotch guarded furniture, shower curtains, even mattresses emit chemical gases. Until you can make the switch to 100% cotton, wool or organic products there are still things you can do.
Make sure your home is properly ventilated, this includes a good exhaust fan for the stove. Try to control moisture as much as possible to inhibit mold growth, get a dehumidifier if you need to. Always remove your shoes before entering the house and make sure others do as well, it’s amazing what comes in the house on our shoes.
Open the windows and air out the house when possible. Keeping the house closed all the time when heating or cooling allows pollutants to build up. On nice breezy days open the windows, unless of course the pollens from outside will bother you even more.
The best and prettiest air cleaners are plants, lots and lots of plants. Ivy, spider plants and ferns are all really good air scrubbers, and are fairly easy to keep alive. This may be more important to me than to other people since I don’t seem to have an indoor green thumb. Plants also give off oxygen and filter carbon dioxide, some even absorb toxins.
If you feel your house needs a prettier smell, simmer some water with cinnamon and nutmeg in it, or bake some cookies, the house will smell yummy.
If you work in an office don’t forget as pretty plant for your desk. There isn’t much you can do about the air at work but you can make your corner of the office a little healthier by bringing in some plants.