9 Easy Ways to Detoxify Your Home
Furniture: Purchase solid wood furniture and kitchen cabinets instead of formaldehyde treated wood substitutes. Examples of solid sustainable hardwoods are: Ash, Cherry, Mahogany, Maple and Oak. The US National Toxicology Program in 2011 described formaldehyde as “known to be a human carcinogen”. Formaldehyde is found in particle board, plywood, glues and adhesives, all used to make cancer causing furniture. Local to Texas? Check out TreeHouse for kitchen cabinets! http://www.greenforareason.com/treehouse-products
Paint: Use a non-Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint and stain in your home. Some VOCs are dangerous to human health or cause harm to the environment. Harmful VOCs have compounding long-term health effects. Mythic paint or Dunn Edwards carry a great line of healthy paints.
Flooring: Install wood flooring. Use a rapidly renewable material like bamboo. Or cork which is taken from the bark of the tree, the bark is regenerative. Or a certified sustainable solid wood flooring with no toxic chemicals or finish used on the flooring.
Carpet: Remove wall to wall carpet and replace with rugs or carpet tiles that can be washed or cleaned. Even the best wall-to-wall carpet is a haven for dust mites, mold spores, and lingering VOCs, and is usually one of the largest hosts of contaminants in our homes. The adhesive used to affix the carpet to the floor typically contains benzene and toluene, some of the most harmful VOCs.
Curtains: Purchase fabrics or curtains that have no formaldehyde or toxic dyes. Unfortunately finding ready-made organic or eco-friendly curtains on the shelf is difficult. We are investigating fabrics and readymade eco-friendly nontoxic curtains and or curtain fabric. Check back on our website for updates.
Pillows: Replace pillows with ones that have not been dipped in formaldehyde or other toxins. The Clean Bedroom carry nontoxic pillows.
http://www.greenforareason.com/the-clean-bedroom-products
Sheets: Buy sheets that have no toxic dyes or formaldehyde. The Clean Bedroom and Boll & Branch carry nontoxic bedding.
http://www.greenforareason.com/the-clean-bedroom-products
http://www.greenforareason.com/boll-and-branch-products
Mattress: Purchase a mattress that has no toxic chemicals. The average mattress can have anywhere from 40 to 60 different toxic chemicals in it. Check out The Clean Bedroom for nontoxic mattresses. http://www.greenforareason.com/the-clean-bedroom-products
Air: Open your windows and let the fresh air in. All of the above, plus many more products and building materials create toxic air in our homes. The US Environmental Protection Agency states that indoor air can be 2 to 5 times sometimes 100 times more toxic than outdoor air.