Tips on How to Keep Your Home Healthy and Safe
Having a healthy home keeps us healthy and safe. There are a lot of little things throughout our house that we don’t immediately recognize as being a health hazard. Such hazards vary from paint to frequency of house maintenance. We’ve summed up a few ways that can help you feel at ease knowing your home is safe from harsh toxins.
Paint can be one of the biggest threats to our health and the environment. If your home is older, be sure to get it inspected for lead paint and whenever you start a new project, make sure to find products that emit low or no VOC’s that are oil or water based. VOC’s are volatile organic compounds. Paints, stains and other coatings or adhesives generate roughly 9 percent of VOC’s which is a close second to automobile emissions. Always be sure to check your labels before starting a new project.
Dust is frequently found, well, everywhere. However, you can reduce the amount of dust mites in your home by vacuuming regularly, dusting your untouched shelves and changing your bed sheets and pillow cases often. Dust is known to cause lung and allergy issues. Reducing clutter can help make dusting regularly easier and make your space feel more clean.
Cleaning supplies. A lot of harsh chemicals found in your cleaning supplies lead to a plethora of health issues due to the harsh toxins and carcinogens in formulas. Still, cleaning our homes often keeps germs, mold and dust from living with us. An easy way to replace these types of supplies is making your own cleaning solutions using vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice. In case if you don’t want to make your own cleaning supplies, a newly developed option is tabletized cleaning formulas. Which also significantly reduces the amount of waste and toxins going into landfills and the ocean.
Bugs enjoy your food, shelter and water. Prevention is better than infestation, especially in this case. Keep your food wrapped up and have your home effectively sealed by checking for cracks or openings. Be sure to check your pets for fleas and ticks and bathe them on a regular basis. Use traps and bait in closed containers and non-toxic pesticides in case if you do get these tiny visitors.
Detection. Make sure your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors have full battery and work properly and install smoke alarms on all levels of your home. Also check your fire extinguishers and keep them in an easy to grab place. In the event that you do have to use a fire extinguisher, remember to pull the pull the pin and aim it at the base of the fire moving from side to side while squeezing or pushing the handle until the fire is completely put out. This method is known as PASS- pull, aim, squeeze and sweep.
Maintenance. Keeping up with the little details around your home can really help save your dime later on. Having home inspections done regularly can help you know the health and energy usage of your home better and what to prioritize. Anytime you see something in the beginning stages of deterioration, be sure to service those issues before they become bigger ones.
Water contamination happens more often than you’d think. While tap water is easy to fill up with, it is better to filter your water to ensure that you aren’t drinking E coli, lead, chlorine, pesticides, or radium. There are various clean water options that can keep your water safe, such as pitchers, sink filters or going to your local grocery store and filling up large jugs that you can store in your home.
Ventilation. If air doesn’t flow properly through your house, you’ll end up breathing in a lot of contaminants and making your house feeling stuffy. Having good ventilation also prevents condensation from building up in parts of your home that could have potential for mold and mildew growth, like your kitchen, bathroom and basement.
Glass not plastic. While plastic containers may be cheaper and lighter, they tend to have toxic chemicals that leak into your food and can lead to cancer and hormonal issues. Not to mention the havoc it causes for the environment. Using glass is a safer, recyclable and reusable for the long term.
Light. Both natural and artificial lights play a key role in our health. With light pollution becoming a major issue, it’s important that you can keep light out of your room at night so you can rest better and allow your natural circadian rhythm to stay consistent. Having more windows and leaving our blinds or shades open during the day will help reduce your electric and heating usage. For the times of day that you do have to flip on the switch, be sure that you’re using CFL light bulbs. They are much more energy efficient and last longer than incandescent light bulbs.
Lawn Care. Using organic products on your lawn and garden will keep your outdoor spaces safer for children, pets, and bees. By using native plants, you’ll reduce the need for pesticides and weed killers. Still be sure you don’t track these products into your home and leave your shoes at the door and rinse off after a day in the yard.
Want More Tips for Managing Your Home?
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