Our health pillars are our values, the things you would most likely notice if you came over and spent some time at our house. If you want to catch up on the other two pillars, check out CLEAN FOOD and CLEAN PERSONAL CARE.
The second pillar for our family is: CLEAN HOME
What does that mean?
It doesn't mean full of sanitizers, disinfectant sprays or smelling like a perfumed detergent. Oh, no!
To me, a clean home as a pillar means a home free of toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals in cleaners are ones that harm us in some way, such as disrupting our hormone systems (infertility, low sperm, early puberty), causing lung irritation (asthma), causing skin irritation (eczema), damaging cells (cancer), contributing obesity, etc.
Using safe products doesn't have to be expensive or stressful. I find those are typically the reasons people don't make the switch, so if that is you, those are myths! (See solutions below.)
More and more research is coming out with information about how harmful common household cleaners can be, just a few examples:
Disinfectants cause obesity in children - cmaj.ca/content/190/37/E1097
Association between household cleaners and asthma - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7030883
Common products contain hormone disrupting chemicals - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3404651
Out of 84,000+ chemicals in existence today, only 200 have been tested by the FDA for their effects on human health.
How do you know what's safe to use?
You can do your research via websites like ewg.org. Or you can find brands you trust to do the research for you and make safe products. There are more and more companies making great products!
ALWAYS read ingredient labels. As you learn, you'll start to recognize names you want to avoid like phthalates, sulfates and fragrance.
You can also use an app like Yuka or Think Dirty to scan products in store.
Healthy has a bad wrap for being expensive. And while it certainly can be, it doesn't have to be. There are tons of DIY recipes on Pinterest you can use for making your own non-toxic cleaners. I did that for years!
I personally really like Norwex products and find that their cleaning cloths with five year warranties save me a ton of money. You use them with just water to remove the dirt and bacteria from surfaces in your home. That works for about 90% of our cleaning. And then I have some natural, enzyme-based cleaners for the tougher jobs around my house.
REMEMBER:
Harmful chemicals are not at all necessary for a clean home!
Clean doesn't have a smell! - Avoid all the artificially fragranced products.
Where do you start? Start with one thing!!!
As you run out of a household cleaner, candle or detergent, swap it for a non-toxic alternative.
Reply with one thing you want to swap and I'll send you some recommendations.
Wishing you abundant health,
Melisha
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