Wake up on the right side of the bed in 2013 with our eight tips to turn your bedroom into a healthy sanctuary. Although you may think of your room as solely a space for shut-eye, it is actually an important part of your overall health. Make sure your bedroom is relaxing by minimizing tech, reducing clutter, or even investing in a new mattress. These simple changes may be your solution to a healthy New Year and all the beauty sleep you've been seeking.
Everything changes when a baby comes along, especially parents' perspectives on safety. Every decision is made with protective goggles on as parents want the best bottles, the healthiest food, and household products without toxic chemicals. This is especially important when it comes to washing tots' tiny clothes and cloth diapers. What's good for baby is generally what's good for earth, and detergents made with irritating petrochemicals are harmful to both. Check out these products that are both eco and baby conscious.
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With Summer in full force, we may be spending most of our free time outdoors, but there's nothing like home sweet home. It's no wonder that we want to practice healthy habits in our home.
Sometimes keeping a home healthy is a full-time commitment. But don't worry, these few changes are easy to make! Whether it's about germs, air, or keeping yourself motivated to stick to a healthy diet, read on for some tips to healthify your home.
Become a green thumb. Nothing beats a bit of the outdoors to decorate your house and make it feel like a home. But it's not all about the aesthetic — adding indoor plants to your decor will also help purify the air in your home. What are the best plants for the air in your house? Plants like the Rubber Plant and English Ivy rank high in their air-purifying ability; check out the rest of the best air-purifying plants here. And for even more air quality, make sure you use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA certified air filter in order to keep dust mites at bay.
Read on for more tips on making your home a healthy one.
A new book called The Healthy Home ($14) by father-son duo Dr. Myron Wentz and Dave Wentz is an insightful read that takes you on a tour of the standard home while exposing the health risks prevalent in most homes and in typical family behavior. This book doesn't preach eco-living, but it does advise you with the knowledge and tools you need to lessen the health risks posed by common living conditions. I feel that The Healthy Home is an invaluable reference book that every homeowner should read for their own health and for their family's well-being.
For more information on reducing your exposure to chemicals in the home, check out Everyday Exposures, an interactive website that helps you discover potential hazards room by room.
It's March, which means Spring is almost here! In the midst of Spring cleaning and organizing this year, take a minute to think about the potentially harmful chemical toxins in your home. They're found in everyday materials like soap (which can contain parabens) and plastics (which could contain harmful BPA ). Luckily there are plenty of steps you can take to rid your home of these potentially harmful chemicals. One such resource: a new site, Everyday Exposures, is a helpful interactive guide that helps you discover potential hazards, room by room.
Click through different rooms of the house to discover potential harmful substances found in otherwise everyday objects. And while the site itself contains some pretty scary information, the interactivity and graphics make it both helpful and useful. A full resource guide is also available for more information and further reading.
Mold gets a bad rap, and for good reason. That black infestation creeping around your bathroom, basement, or other humid room is not only unsightly but also can be hazardous to your health. If it spreads too much, the spores circulate around your home (including dry areas) and get into your airways. If you have sensitivities or allergies to the stuff, breathing in too much mold can mean stuffy noses, irritated eyes and skin, or wheezing — or, more seriously, fever and shortness of breath. It can also trigger asthma attacks.
Even if you are healthy, however, mold is a problem. A recent study found that healthy people experienced coughing and wheezing when exposed to mold, and it can also cause lung infections or other chronic problems. And while there are several different types of common household molds, there's no need to try to figure out which one you have — if you see mold, you've got a mold problem! So what can you do to make sure your house is healthy and mold-free? Read on for tips on dealing with mold.
Keeping a child safe at home means more for a parent than just locking the doors. Healthy Home 2010, an experiment in cleaner living, is the latest project from the folks over at Healthy Child, Healthy World. A Chicago-area residence was designed (inside and out) with sustainable and less toxic materials to improve the quality of life for its residents. The model is meant to educate and inspire other families to green their own homes. Here are five simple tips the organization offers up for everyone to follow.
Nick Novelli, Novelli PhotoDesign
