Top Tips for a Healthy Home

What’s in your kitchen? go ahead, check out the cleaning products in the cabinet under your sink. There are so many toxic chemicals in many of the products that are in our homes, I bet if you look in your kitchen right now you are bound to find one or two offenders. I’m not here to judge, because we are all guilty of this to some degree. This post will help you find alternative products that are safe for you, your family and our beautiful earth.

Thinking about global warming can be quite overwhelming, sometimes I think I am just one little person, how can my actions even make a dent in this enormous global issue? But the truth is, it takes everyone doing a little bit better to make a real significant change for the good. So let’s focus down and take it to the kitchen, the heart of the home. There are a few small steps we can all take which can have a huge positive impact on our environment.

Here are my top 10 tips for a healthy kitchen and ways we can tread a little lighter on this beautiful planet we call home.

10 Tips for maintaining a healthy home

1. Stop buying plastic water bottles

Get yourself a water bottle and bring it with you when you leave the house. I like the stainless steel kind because it keeps water cold and hot drinks hot. On cold days I sometimes fill it with tea and it will stay warm literally all day. There are so many kinds of water bottles out there right now, if you’re in the market for a new one here is a helpful article from nymag - The 20 best water bottles for 2020. And please filter your tap water, no matter how safe you think your drinking water is, it’s probably not. I don’t have a filter on my sink so I keep a Brita water pitcher in my refrigerator.

2. Use biodegradable trash bin liners and food storage bags.

You can find the bio food storage bags in most grocery stores, the ones I use are called BioBag. They are compostable and made from plants, vegetable oils and contains no polyethylene. Another option is reusable food storage bags (BPA free), I bought this 4 pack on Amazon for $8.97. These are great for freezing your fruits and veggies for your morning green smoothies! Another good idea for storing your leftovers, glass bowls with lids like these ones from Target, no more use for plastic saran wrap!

3. Get rid of toxic cleaners in your home

Buy plant based cleaners that are healthy for you, your family and the environment. There are several great companies that sell all kinds of green cleaning products, you can find most of them in the cleaning aisle of your grocery store. My favorites are Seventh Generation and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day. You can also make you own with essential oils, vinegar, lemon & water, it’s super easy. I made a batch the other day and it took about 10 minutes. You can use any essential oil you prefer, I like lavender. Here’s my recipe:

4. Cut down on buying food in plastic containers

This is a tough one to do because when you actually notice, you realize so many items in the grocery store come in plastic containers, especially produce. Even when I go to the farmers market, they have the plastic bags in rolls you rip off to put your fruits and veggies in. Here’s a tip, buy the loose produce and bring your own produce bags. I bought these eco-friendly reusable produce bags on amazon. Keep them in your car so you never forget them. If your a city dweller and don’t own a car, keep them in your grocery bag that you bring to the store and the farmers market. Which bring us to the next point……

5. Bring your own bag to the grocery store to avoid plastic bags

If you need a reminder of how serious of an issue this is please follow this link to the ocean conservancy. Just leave the bags in your car or get the ones that fold up really small and throw a couple in your handbag.

6. Compost

There are many environmental benefits to composting. First, it reduces the amount of organic waste in landfills, which emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By composting food scraps rather than throwing them in the trash, you reduce methane emissions. Compost not only reduces emissions, it also captures harmful volatile organic compounds or VOCs from the air and aids in carbon sequestration. If you don’t have a compost bin you can call your local council. You can also bring your food scraps to your local farmers market. I keep my scraps in my compostable bio bag in my freezer (to avoid any smells) and once a week throw it in the compost bin outside the night before compost pick-up.

7. Eliminate paper products

Stop buying napkin and paper towels. If you are really attached to your paper towels I suggest buying the Seventh Generation recycled paper. Another idea is to use cloth towels instead of paper. I get these dish towels at Ikea, for 79 cents a piece, they are super cheap so you can buy a whole bunch, just think of all the money you will save once you stop buying kitchen paper products.

8. Use a compostable scrub for dish washing.

When you toss out your dirty sponge, it will sit in a landfill, not to mention the scrubby part is typically made from polyester or nylon. Try using a 100% plant based biodegradable sponge instead, my go to brand is TWIST. Unlike the conventional yellow-green scrub sponge, the TWIST scrub sponge is dye-free, and also doesn't use any plastics or toxic adhesives. All of Twist’s materials are plant-based and the wood pulp for its cellulose is sourced from FSC Certified forests.

9. Reduce your intake of animal products, try going meatless for a week.

Lowering your intake of meat makes a notable environmental impact. Here is a mind blowing statistic on huffpost: According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. See how easy it is to make an impact? Follow this link at huffpost If you are interested in reading the breathtaking effects of cutting back on meat

10. Support companies that are making an effort in low impact packaging.

Here’s an informative article on greenbiz that explores 16 companies that are rethinking packaging. I also want to give a shout out to Thrive Market. Thrive Market is an online membership market for organic, non-GMO, sustainable, non-toxic products at whole sale prices and I also want to note that their packaging is easy on the environment. The membership is $59.95 per year with a 30 day free trial. For every paid membership, Thrive sponsors a free one for low-income families.

*Want more tips for incorporating essential oils in your home? Check out my blog post here.