8 Affordable Ways to Create a Low Toxic Home
I started this year with one goal: create a low toxic home and stay on budget. As a mom of six children, our budget is tight. I knew if I wanted to change our home, I would have to get creative with how I made that happen.
Creating a healthier, less toxic home is doable, especially when you make changes gradually! I’m sharing my favorite tips for starting your non-toxic journey today.
If you’re new to my blog, thank you so much for being here! I’m Michaela. A homeschooling mom of six in Colorado on a mission to show other families how to live a low tox lifestyle on a budget! I share my favorite tips and tricks, plus delicious meals our family loves.
When our son was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2018, it showed us how drastically we needed to make a change in our lives. And while I know I may not have been able to prevent his diagnosis, the changes we’ve made have only improved our quality of life.
If you’re starting to question how to make changes, I share weekly encouragement and tips to help you on your journey. Here are some of my recent posts:
The Most Toxic Products in Your Home
How do you create a low toxic home?
Replace the synthetic fragrances.
I know it’s nice to plug in an air freshener or light a candle and fill your home with your favorite seasonal scents, and Bath and Body Works used to be my biggest weakness, but once you learn that those fresheners are riddled with harmful synthetic ingredient, you may think twice! The word ‘fragrance’ on a label is just a cover for dozens of potential chemicals. With little to no regulations, exposure to these chemicals can cause issues ranging from respiratory harm and infertility to hormone disruption and cancer.
Instead of synthetic fragrances, look for brands that use natural ingredients like essential oils and beeswax instead of conventional candle wax. You can still fill your home with your favorite scents without worrying that you’re causing harm to the health of your family.
You can create a low toxic home without sacrificing your favorite things!
Swap out plastic for glass or stainless steel.
While plastic may be easier to transport, when heated in a microwave, it breaks down and releases harmful chemicals into our food. Even the highest quality brands have chemicals like phthalates and BPAs. Yes, even plastics labeled ‘BPA Free’ can have BPS, which is even more toxic than BPAs! Ridiculous, right?
Once you swap glass, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. I can heat it in the oven or even in the microwave. (Yes, we still use our microwave sometimes!) Investing in glass initially is a bit more expensive, but they don’t break down, warp, or release any questionable ingredients when you heat them. If you invest in higher quality brands, the glass is thicker and won’t break when dropped.
Here are a few good options:
Consider investing in a reusable water cup or bottle, too. The possibilities are endless, but some great options include Hydroflask, Stanley, Thermoflask for stainless steel, and Winsa for a glass water cup.
Open your windows.
One of the simplest things you can do to create a low toxic home is to open your windows! It’s free, circulates the air, and reduces the harmful chemicals roaming your house. Indoor air is dirtier and contains around 2-5 times more pollutants than outdoor air.
Your household furnishing, tables, chairs, flooring, pressed wood, synthetic fragrances, and conventional cleaning products contain chemicals that continue to float in the air in your home because it has no way to escape. Invest in an air purifier if opening windows isn’t practical due to weather or other issues. There are excellent, affordable options that can remove up to 99.97% of airborne dust, mold, bacteria, viruses, and other harmful substances.
Bonus tip:
Invest in house plants! Many are easy to maintain, regenerate the air in your home, and help purify it cheaply! Plants are an excellent alternative if an air purifier is out of your budget!
Swap out cleaning products for safer alternatives.
If you clean regularly (or even if you don’t, no judgment!), consider the cleaning products you use and research their ingredients. Many include chemicals like bleach, synthetic fragrances, ammonia, phthalates, sulfates, and formaldehyde.
The guidelines for ingredient disclosure are so lax that many manufacturers can choose not to disclose every ingredient they use in their products with no repercussions. Instead of risking it, use baking soda, vinegar, and castile soap. They are just as effective without harmful side effects. I even have a few posts on how to clean with these products!
Take your shoes off.
This one should be common knowledge, but it’s still not! Think about it for a second, though. You run to the grocery store, stop and get gas, maybe pick up lunch somewhere, and then head home. Or maybe you work somewhere that has you walking a lot during the day. You walk in the door, drop the mail on the counter, head to your room for a second, and you don’t take your shoes off at the door. Now, all those places that your shoes touched have entered your home! You have no idea what happened in those places before you go there. Instead of risking it, slip your shoes off at the door and become a no-shoe household! Less dirt, dust, and fear of unknowingly tracking what you may be tracking.
Invest in a good water filter.
Like the air, our water contains contaminants like chlorine, bleach, toxic waste, pharmaceuticals, and VOCs. And while the city may filter it, it’s filtered using more chemicals. This tip is probably the most expensive on the list today, but it’s worth it. With how much we use water daily to cook, clean, and bathe ourselves, we must consider what we use in our homes. Here are some of my favorite suggestions for filters. If a whole home filter is out of the question, at least consider a filter for your cooking and drinking water source.
Toss the microwave.
For many families, this tip will be one of the tougher decisions. And it’s okay if you’re not there yet! Save this post for later when you’re ready for more to help you create a low toxic home. When you are ready to toss the microwave, you’ll be shocked at how simple it can be. I love my air fryer and toaster oven. Both make reheating food easy and fast without zapping your food to high heaven. Some are lined with Teflon, which is unhealthy, but finding a brand without the nonstick layer is simple enough. Cuisinart is one of my favorite brands and goes on sale often to help you save some cash.
Ditch the nonstick.
Speaking of nonstick, pots and pans coated in Teflon or similar nonstick materials are made from chemicals like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances that, when heated, release toxic fumes into the air. While some health organizations claim no harmful side effects are caused by using nonstick surfaces, if scratched, heated too high, or damaged, it can cause respiratory harm, thyroid damage, infertility, and more.
Instead of nonstick cookware, opt for healthier options like ceramic or stainless steel. When used properly, stainless steel works just as well as nonstick cookware without the harsh chemicals. Not sure how to prevent foods from sticking to your nonstick pans? This post will show you exactly how to do it!
Final thoughts
If you’re working on making changes to create a low toxic home, I am so glad you’ve taken the first steps to get started! I know it can seem overwhelming at first, but once you start researching alternatives and making changes, you’ll soon realize how simple it can be once you know what to look for! Thanks so much for being here. Remember to pin this post to your favorite board on Pinterest, and let me know in the comments below if you have any questions!
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