Green & Clean

My best friend is 8 months pregnant and called to ask me how she can make her home eco friendly before her new baby arrives.  Here is the information i gave her

1. Food

Start eating whole foods (as close to how it came out of the earth as possible), paying attention to which items are more and less toxic. Meat is high on the food chain and therefore more toxic; vegetables are lower. Avoid packaged foods and try to eat a varied diet that includes plenty of protein, calcium, whole grains and folic acid.

2. Water

Test the tap water at home for contaminants and deal with it – a Brita-style carbon carafe pitcher will take care of most issues. Stop drinking bottled water and carry your beverages in something safer like glass or stainless steel to avoid chemical-leaching plastic, as well as help save some earth

3. Air

You can’t always control what you’re breathing – the carpet at the bank or toxic bathroom cleaners at work – but wherever possible (in the car, at work, at home) open the windows and keep your environment as well-ventilated as possible.  If your pregnant super hero nose likes air fresheners, you can make your own with things you have around the house for a safer pleasant scent

4. Kitchen

Lose the Teflon and nonstick pans because they cause cancer in mice and rats and are a probable human carcinogen. Store food in glass instead of plastic.

5. Beauty Products

Take stock of your arsenal of beauty products – everything from zit cream to moisturizer to nail polish – and stop using the ones with chemicals that are potentially harmful to a fetus (who has much greater exposure to toxins pound for pound than you do). This takes more effort than eating organic because, regardless of what their label claims, there’s no certification process for these products.

6. Cleaning Products and Insecticides

As with your beauty products, you need to consider your conventional cleaning products and laundry detergents and replace them with green versions. (The ingredients in non-green cleaners are often toxic, not to mention considered trade secrets and rarely listed). Most green products will list their ingredients, and less is usually more. Apply the same approach to any fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides you use to garden.  If you are truly daring you can make your own green cleaning supplies by following these recipes.

7. Renovation
This is a tough one because there’s something about having a baby that makes you want to head down to Home Depot and build something, or at least rip up a carpet and throw some paint on the wall. Resist the urge to renovate, unless you’re able to be out of the house for the duration of the work, and then some. There are toxins in the paint, dust, caulk and glue that you shouldn’t inhale while gestating, and there are too many potentially toxic dusts and chemicals unearthed when you start tearing things apart. Also replace crumbling foam in cushions – they contain brominated flame retardants (PBDE’s) that can negatively affect brain function.

8. Testing
Test your home for contaminants like radon and lead and carbon monoxide, and paint over any chipping lead paint with a zero-VOC fresh paint — Home Depot introduced a no-VOC version last month. This is probably going to be cheaper than having it professionally removed, although green cleaning is more accessible than ever and can probably be located close to home with the help of Google.

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