20 Easy Ways to Keep Your Home Clean & Green

August 01, 2017 Dr Daryl Gioffre

The alkaline lifestyle encompasses not just what you put in your body, but what you surround yourself with too.

There are so many thousands of chemicals in our environment – our homes, our neighborhoods, and our cities.

The Environmental Working Group reports that the average person has 91 toxic chemicals in their body!

There are around 84,000 chemicals on the market, and we come into contact with many of them every single day.

And if that isn't enough to cause concern, the shocking fact is that only about 1 percent of them have been studied for safety (alarming!)!

In 2011, chemicals accounted for more than $763 billion in revenue.

For example, six billion pounds of BPAs are produced every year which generates about $8 billion in profits for its manufacturers. What are BPAs you may ask? They are most commonly known for the plastic bottles that you drink your water in!

While you can’t fully control the larger environment of the area in which you live, the best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to keep your home as toxin-free as possible.

Toxic chemicals can affect our reproductive systems, endocrine systems, cardiovascular systems, and respiration leading to asthma and other breathing problems that are so prevalent today.

When your body is bombarded with the 5 most common sources of toxins and acids (dietary, metabolic, chemical, environmental, stress related) on a daily basis, it literally has to fight off all of those toxins to keep you healthy.

The result - you end up with less energy, more headaches, less sleep, and an overall feeling of worse health.

So here are 20 easy ways to combat all of that nasty stuff by keeping your home clean the green way.

First and foremost, no shoes in your house!Most household dirt is trekked in through the front door along with pesticides, fungicides, lead, sometimes even dog feces, and other things that you could be walking on outside.

Download the EWG App. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a really helpful app that makes it easy to keep your home and your body green. You can look up practically every product that you put in your home and on your body and see an independent rating on carcinogens and toxins. So next time you’re at the store and deciding between products, you can easily check and see which brand is better for you.

Buy green. The typical household uses several different cleaning products just to clean a small bathroom, each containing a long list of chemicals. Add all of those up and you’re exposing yourself to a toxic load of unnecessary dangers. Green cleaning products, white vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide all work incredibly well without the risk.

Some of our household favs: Tom’s (toothpaste and deodorant), The Honest Company (shampoo, body wash, household cleaners), Mrs. Meyers (laundry and household cleaners), Jacob (body wash), Kiss My Face (hand soaps, shaving cream, face wash), Method (household cleaner, laundry detergent), Young Living and/or DoTerra (essential oils for aromatic).

Avoid excess moisture. This is really important because it’s the main cause of mold and mildew in your house, which can wreak havoc on your respiratory system. Be on the lookout for leaks and use charcoal to absorb wetness in damp areas like basements.

Toss air fresheners. Those little dangly trees in the car, air fresheners that you plug in, and the spray kind, including Febreze, are some of the biggest culprits of creating toxins within your house. You don’t need them either! Use baking soda and charcoal to absorb odors and essential oil sprays to improve the smell.

Say no to stain guard. When you are buying new furniture or anything new for your house and they ask you if you want a stain guard, turn it down. All of them have off-gassing and most of those chemicals have been proven to be carcinogenic.

Open windows as often as you can. If you live in an area that doesn’t have a lot of pollution coming in (NOT NYC!), I recommend trying to keep your windows and doors open as much as possible so you can remove some of the air pollution that builds up inside.

Get a portable air cleaner or purifier. I recommend at least a 3-stage air cleaner for your home and the bedroom, especially. Remember, you’re spending one-third of your life in there. If anything, you want the air to be as clean and pure as possible when you sleep because that’s when all the healing is taking place in your body.

Replace personal care products with organic. Just like cleaning products, you probably use half a dozen or more lotions and products on your body each day. Your bathroom likely has 20-30 bottles in it right now. How many carcinogens and known toxins are included in those products? Start switching to organic and natural products, again using the EWG app for guidance at the store.

And did anyone see the 60 minutes episode this past week? It was all about how Johnson & Johnson’s well-known (and well-used) baby powder and other products containing talcum causes OVARIAN CANCER! In fact, over $300 million has been paid in retributions to people who have died from ovarian cancer that was directly related to the use of this product. All the money in the world won’t bring back the loved ones who were affected by this carcinogen.

My suggestion – if you have talcum powder in your bathroom, get up right now and go throw it out!

Go organic at the dry cleaner’s. Dry cleaning chemicals get breathed in not only as you wear the clothes, but also as you bring them home and remove the plastic. You can’t smell them, but you are inhaling them. Switch to an organic-only cleaner.

Avoid fluoride toothpaste. This is something that you hear a lot of controversy about. If you read the back of any fluoride toothpaste, you’ll see a warning at the bottom of it that says, “Do not ingest and do not swallow.” How many of us end up swallowing a little bit of the toothpaste? You brush your teeth twice a day, so you’re bound to ingest a little bit on a regular basis.

It’s so important that you buy natural toothpaste like Tom’s of Maine or JASON Toothpaste.

Choose plastic alternatives. How many plastics are in your home and how many of them contain BPA? And keep in mind, many supposedly BPA-free products contain chemicals that are very close to BPA. And it’s not just BPA that’s a problem – PVC in plastics is harmful as well. So buy stainless steel or good old-fashioned glass. With children’s products, choose wooden toys and stainless or bamboo dishware. Don’t drink out of plastic bottles and avoid buying them altogether if at all possible.

Go for essential oils! There are so many great essential oils for your home. I like companies such as Young Living, DoTerra, and my new fav, NOW.

Peppermint drives away bugs and pests.
Lemon oil kills bacteria so it’s great for cleaning bathrooms and kitchen counters in a spray.
Tea tree oil has been proven to fight viruses, so you can use it all over your home but especially toilets, door knobs, and faucets.
Orange oil and cedarwood oil make excellent wood furniture polish.
Lavender oil is effective at cleaning children’s toys safely.

Vacuum with HEPA power. Make sure your vacuum cleaner has a HEPA filter to reduce lead (yes, lead!), pet dander, dust mites, and allergens. Follow up with regular mopping of your tile and wood floors too, as that also helps remove nasty stuff.

Only safe non-stick in the kitchen. Check your pots, pans, bake ware, and anything that is non-stick or Teflon. Good old stainless steel is a better choice, as is cast iron. Some of the ceramics today are pretty good too.

Choose fabric shower curtains. Yes, even for the liner! There are non-plastic shower curtain liners available and not only do they save you from inhaling toxic gasses, they last longer and better prevent mold and mildew, which you don’t want to breathe in either.

Use no-VOC paints. VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, create off-gassing for a long time on all the walls of your home. Many of the paint manufacturers are creating paints now that are eco-friendly with no off-gassing.

Test for radon. If you haven’t had your home tested for radon, I highly recommend it. It’s not expensive and it can save you or your family members from lung cancer. Radon is found in the soil, and any home can have harmful amounts.

Avoid harmful pet products and toxic pest control for your pets. If flea collars and tick medicine are killing fleas and ticks, and you aren’t supposed to get them on your own skin, what do you think they’re doing to your pet? The ultrasonic flea collar is a much better alternative.

Choose chemical-free lawn and pest services. If you have any kind of pest prevention or lawn care done on or around your home, make sure you’re using a good, green alternative because you’re breathing in the same products they use to kill bugs and weeds.

Notice how easy most of these tips are? Just like eating alkaline, it’s as simple as swapping out the bad stuff for more of the good stuff that you enjoy.

After reading this, if you’re concerned about all of the toxins you’ve come into contact with in your home (plus, don’t forget outside of your home), I’ve got the perfect thing for you…

The 2-Day Get Off Your Acid Detox Challenge is the quick and easy way to reset your body, clear out toxins, slim down, and get your glow back.

It’s a perfect kick start to an alkaline and toxic-free (or minimized) summer, and after just two days, you’ll feel more confident about how your clothes fit, and more importantly, how well your body can fight off environmental toxins and carcinogens.

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