Keeping the Home Safe from Toxins by Living Green

Guest Blog by: Krista Peterson

With growing knowledge and technology in green sustainable energy, resources, and nutrition, many are taking actions to ensure safety and health around the home is a top priority. The construction and furnishing of household items need to be taken with the same care as choosing organic foods to consume and deciding to recycle. Housebound toxins and allergens can trigger a house of diseases like bronchitis, asthma, mesothelioma, and some skin disorders. Therefore, some of these actions can not only make your house a better overall environment, but also reduce the risk of health problems for your family in the future.

Household cleaners are one of the main sources in keeping a safe, green house free of toxins. Most of the normal commercial cleaning materials contribute to air pollution. These regular, store bought cleaners also harbor many carcinogenic chemicals. Try replacing them with some natural, non toxic products or if you’re feeling up to it, creating your own. You can also go about using organic or home-made pesticides to keep the house clean and safe.

Helping the air inside the house is also a great way to keep toxins from floating around your home. Open the windows every once and awhile when the weather permits to create natural ventilation. A little bit of free air flow once and awhile will help feed out dust and clear the air within your home.

Many older homes may still harvest obsolete and corrosive building materials which can create health concerns. Many homes could be harvesting asbestos or other environmentally defected insulations. Asbestos is an installation form that’s come under fire because of environmental awareness and new protocols. If any is suspected, leave it undisturbed, have someone designated and approved to remove the fiber do so. These asbestos can cause a number of health problems such as lung cancer and directly bring on mesothelioma symptoms. 

If you live in an old house it might be particularly beneficial to have it checked for asbestos related material. Any type of precaution could be a great idea because of the dangers of both cancer and mesthelioma life expectancy.

Be sure to use non toxic or low toxic paint and coatings when it comes to future household projects. The traditional paints contain many chemicals that may also spread toxins in the household. The alternate types of paint should be pretty easy to find at your local hardware stores. They will usually be called “low voc” style paints.

Also, when it comes to house hold projects, be sure to use proper non toxic sealant on any possible wood projects or building materials that may be used in your garage or back yard. This will form somewhat of a barrier between any possible toxins in the fresh wood projects and your home. This is certainly a fairly easy and practical way to keep the house toxin free.

Overall, there are many ways to help lower the toxin level in your home through green living techniques. That’s not to say that all of these are necessary actions to be toxin-free, these are just some easy suggestions and practices that can be particularly beneficial to your family’s health.