Family Health Articles - Green Planet

Natural Solutions for a Healthy Home

One of the most powerful ways to protect your child’s health, detoxing your home can also do good for the planet. Here’s how to go green, one room at a time.

By Elizabeth Barker

Your kids spend the better part of their time in an environment that’s created almost entirely by you. To make that space as healthy and safe as possible, focus on freeing your home of common health hazards and seeking out new, nontoxic alternatives to age-old household staples. “Volatile organic compounds [VOCs] and a number of other chemicals and environmental exposures in the home are known to cause illness,” says Leonardo Trasande, M.D., assistant director of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Center for Children’s Health and the Environment. And while such chemical exposures aren’t healthy for anyone, children may be particularly vulnerable to their negative effects.

“Kids are more sensitive to their environments, especially within their first years,” says Children’s Health Environmental Coalition CEO and executive director Christopher Gavigan. “Their bodies are still developing, their immune systems are not fully established, and they’re not capable of excreting toxins as well as adults can. There’s no longer a debate as to whether the home environment affects their health; it’s just a matter of how much.”

For a home that nurtures your child’s health while helping to protect the planet, we present a room-by-room guide to building a greener abode. With an abundance of product suggestions from Home Safe Home author Debra Lynn Dadd (whose eco-product clearinghouse Debra’s List is available online at www.debraslist.com), these expert solutions can bring long-lasting benefit—even when you adopt just a few healthy changes. “When shopping, you always have an option to choose the healthiest products for your family,” says Gavigan. “And by taking some small steps in the right direction, you can really have a great effect on the long-term health and development of your child.”

KITCHEN

Cabinet picks
Kitchen cabinets made from particleboard and other cheap materials often contain air-polluting formaldehyde, so look for solid-wood cabinets with formaldehyde-free resin (available at www.environmentalhomecenter.com). To stop formaldehyde off-gassing in existing cabinets, Dadd recommends applying a fume-blocking sealant from AFM (available at www.afmsafecoat.com).

Hit the floor
Naturally bacteria-killing and dust-repelling, Marmoleum flooring (available at www.forbolinoleumna.com) contains raw materials like cork flour, limestone and linseed oil instead of VOC-emitting synthetics. “It’s a little more expensive than vinyl-based flooring, but it’s soft and warm and kids can play on it,” says Dadd.

Ditch the plastics
“Exposure to plastic can disrupt the endocrine system, especially in children,” says building biologist and Homes That Heal author Athena Thompson. For a safer, smarter choice in both kitchenware and cookware, go for glass and stainless steel.

Water works
Kitchen-sink-specific water filters may cost less, but a whole-house filtration system (such as LifeSource, available at www.lifesourcewater.com) is more effective for keeping your water supply clean. “When you shower or bathe, you take in more pollutants through your skin than when you drink from tap water,” Dadd points out.

No nukes
Because microwaves can leak radiation, both Dadd and Thompson advise against nuking your food. But if you can’t part with your microwave, keep your kids at least four feet (and ideally 12 feet) away while using the appliance. “And never heat up food in plastic in the microwave—the plastic will leach into whatever you’re cooking,” says Thompson. “That’s one of the worst things you can possibly do for your child’s health.”

LIVING ROOM

Paint it green
If you’re adding new color to your walls, dip your brush into a water-based low- or no-VOC latex paint from a brand-name store such as Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore. Also look at Milk Paint, which is all natural and available in 20 colors. “You want to be able to wash the paint, so pick one with at least a semi-gloss finish,” says Dadd.

Windows to the world
While allergens and indoor air pollutants can cling to curtains, natural-material blinds are easy to dust off. Try hanging bamboo blinds, available at The Natural Home and Payless Décor.

Light the way
Bringing in lots of natural light is one of the best ways to boost your child’s health, since it stimulates production of vitamin D. And when the sun’s not shining bright, you can still get a good glow with full-spectrum lighting (fixtures, lamps and bulbs available at www.fullspectrumsolutions.com). Full-spectrum light replicates natural sunlight by offering the same balance of colors.

Good scents
Snub the synthetic fragrances found in most air fresheners and scent your home with candles from the Beeswax Candle Company and Way Out Wax or essential-oil-based room sprays like Lavender Ecco Mist. Always avoid paraffin candles (known to release air-polluting petrol-carbon soot) and choose clean-burning—and renewable—soy wax or beeswax.

Fit to furnish
In addition to choosing solid-wood furniture over formaldehyde-emitting particleboard, shop for sofas and chairs upholstered with organic fibers (available at www.ecochoices.com and www.furnature.com). You can also upholster the furniture yourself with 100% organic fabric—try hand silk-screened and classically stylish options from ModGreenPod —or prevent off-gassing by applying AFM’s vapor barrier finishes.

BEDROOM

Sweet sleep
“Many mattresses are full of formaldehyde, petroleum and PVC, all of which are highly toxic,” says Gavigan. Natural latex foam mattresses (available at www.lifekind.com and www.thenaturalsleepstore.com) provide a healthy alternative that’s especially essential to babies, who spend up to 70% of their time in bed.

Pillow talk
To keep your child from breathing in nasty fumes while sleeping, swap out any foam pillows for a cushion made from organic cotton and wool. Organic-fiber bedding, including sheets and blankets, can be found at stores like EcoBaby Organics and Rawganique.

Cast off the carpet
“Carpets trap pet dander, mold and dust, which can irritate the lungs and cause allergic reactions,” says Trasande. Rather than laying down a carpet in your children’s bedroom, leave the floor bare or decorate with natural-fiber area rugs (available at www.naturalarearugs.com).

Play time
Curb your kids’ exposure to plastics by stocking their toy chests with wooden and cloth dolls, blocks, games and other playthings, suggests Dadd. Look on www.ourgreenhouse.com or www.backtobasictoys.com.

Off the wall
Themed wallpaper can certainly up the cuteness quotient of your child’s bedroom, but low- or no-VOC latex paints are a more kid-friendly choice. Not only does wallpaper introduce toxic chemicals into the room, says Thompson, it may also trap moisture in the walls and form a breeding ground for mold.

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