Here are some ideas for you to think about and implement for your healthy and save living.

1. Use safe, non-toxic cleaners throughout the home.
This includes bathrooms, kitchens and floors.

2. Avoid synthetic floor coverings, furniture and clothing
This one is harder to do, as it is difficult sometimes to find these things at reasonable prices. But it is easy to find organic cotton mattresses, for example, or organic cotton clothes.

3. Open windows
Some people will tell you NOT to do this as it lets in dirty air from outside, but nothing could be worse than trapping any bad air inside the house and not airing it out. Imagine sitting in a freshly painted room or chemical insect sprayed – you would not be able to breathe. So keep fresh air coming into your house!

4. Use (volatile organic compound) VOC-Free paints and glues
These can be found anywhere paint is sold, and the quality is exactly the same as regular old toxic paint. VOC include methane, formaldehyde and acetone. Paint fumes can be a killer, and they off-gas for quite some time after application.

5. Your bathroom has a window or fan
Make sure you can open while showering, or at least a fan that pulls the steam out of the room. Wet, humid bathrooms make a good home for mold, which while in small amounts probably won’t hurt you, a build up can be very dangerous.

6. Keep your home clean and mess-free
The more stuff you don’t have floating around, the cleaner your air will be. (read more in the next issue of this publication)

7. Be sure to have your air-conditioner and water heaters checked on a regular basis.

8. Make sure you have smoke, CO2 and fire detectors in several places in your house.
Gas and fire could be dangerous or fatal.

9. Turn off all electrical equipment when you are not using them.
Everything that gets plugged in emits EMF’s (Electromagnetic Fields ) that while not 100% proven to be dangerous to you, why keep things on if you are not using them and take the chance? Besides, you will notice the savings immediately on your electric bill.

10. Use GFCIs
Using a Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter (GFCI) with electric appliances in wet area is a good way to protect against electrical shock hazards. These CFCI are useful in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, garden or any area exposed to water. It is very important when you install a Jacuzzi in your home!

11. Install CFL’s
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) bulbs coated in titanium dioxide, which when heated up actually neutralize odors in the house. These odors could be from the litter box, a dirty garage, cigarette or cigar smoke; whatever it is in the air, these bulbs help to get rid of the smell. The light is exactly the same as regular CFL bulbs, and while you are cleaning up the air, you are also lowering your power bill and using less power to light up your house.

12. Buy plants and lots of them.
They clean the air and pump oxygen into your house.

These are not all the to keep way your home healthy, but it sure is a nice way to start thinking about it!