Some people have asked about my journey of ridding my home of all toxins and harmful chemicals. The process was not an overnight fix, but it was well worth the time and energy.
Why I Made My Home Toxic Free
Let me get real with you for a moment. Why does chemical free-living matter so much to me? I have seen the harmful effects of a chemical-filled lifestyle and I want everyone to know that what they are putting in and on their bodies is vital for a healthy life.
Both of my daughters were diagnosed on the Autism spectrum at a very young age. They are both very sensitive to strong smells. Fragrances full of toxins and synthetic chemicals would trigger adverse behaviors. This is only one of the reasons I made my home toxic free. I can’t control what they smell outside of the home, but I am doing all that I can inside our home for them to live a life full of wellness.
The number of cases of cancer, autism, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, etc. are higher than ever. Why? In no small way this is due to the amount of toxins in our food, our products, and in our environment. The number two cause of death in the United States is cancer. 1,620 people a day die of cancer. One in three cases in the US are directly linked to poor diet, physical inactivity, weight, or chemical exposure. The American cancer society says only 5% to 10% of all cancer cases are gene defects. That means 90%-95% of cancer cases may be a result of poor choices, or environmental exposure. What we allow into our homes and into our bodies is crucial.
There are 100,000 chemicals on the market today. The Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 grandfathered them in. What does that mean to you? Simply put: these chemicals have not had any safety testing, and we know very little information about their side effects.
What happens when your body is chemically overloaded? You may see it in something as catastrophic as cancer. But most of us feel it in other ways. Lethargy, inability to focus, sleep trouble, chronic inflammation, unexplained pain, skin issues, adult acne, hot flashes, stress, anxiety, and fear. If you face any of these issues, it’s time to kick chemicals to the curb. You can control what you allow within the walls of your home.
Along with eating clean and putting the purest food in my body, I want to make sure I’m using non-toxic products in my home and on my body products in my home and ON my body. Our skin is our largest organ, and it absorbs everything we put on it. Right now, there are thousands of chemicals in things people use daily that are not well regulated. Many of them are used in our cookware, our cleaning products, our body products and our cosmetics. By reducing your exposure to these chemicals, you are reducing your risk to these diseases, and helping the planet. It’s a win win!
What Toxins Should You Avoid?
The major toxic chemicals you definitely want to avoid are:
- Teflon, or any nonstick cookware (on your pans, bakeware, etc). The coating chips, you ingest it, and it disrupts your hormones and your health.
- Parabens are a synthetic (manmade, not from nature) chemical that are used to preserve the shelf life of body and makeup products. It is a known endocrine disrupter and damages your health
- Sulfates are a synthetic (manmade, not from nature) chemical that are used to make things foam up and lather. You find it in soap, body wash, shampoo, etc. It has a ton of different names, but always has the word sulfate in there somewhere.
- Aluminum is found in most deodorants and in a lot of cookware. Your body absorbs the aluminum, and research shows it can elevate your risk to cancer, Alzheimer’s, and more.
- Fragrance is found in almost all bath, body, perfumes, household cleaners and cosmetics. The FDA does not require companies to disclose what they use in their “fragrance” so it can be protected as trade secret. To avoid listing out harmful chemicals used in a product on the ingredients label, a company will instead add it to their “fragrance” and not have to disclose it. If there is a reason a company wants to keep something a secret, it’s usually a sign they are hiding something. I only use products that use pure essential oils to add a scent to it.
- Pesticides are harmful chemicals we spray on plants to kill weeds, prevent bugs from eating our food, and prevent rot and infection on our food crops. If it’s killing bugs and plants, what do you think it’s doing to our body when we eat it? This is why you want to always eat organic.
- GMO food is Genetically Modified Organisms are plants and food that have been scientifically altered. Usually this is to help it grow faster, have a longer shelf life, or resist disease. Much of our food is engineered to have the pesticide within it as it grows. Imagine how harmful this is to our body when we ingest it.
More Resources about Living About Toxic Free
Here are a few resources to inform yourself on harmful toxins in our environment:
- The documentary Stink on Netflix – This covers the dangers of fragrance and other synthetic chemicals in our home and body products, and their link to an elevated risk of cancer and disease.
- The website EWG is a huge wealth of knowledge of the best practices for choosing safer food, home and body products. They even have a skin deep and home section where they rate the chemicals in body, home and beauty products! Great resource if you want to look up the toxicity in your favorite products. They even have an app for your phone so you can scan the barcodes of your favorite products and use it while in stores!
It can feel overwhelming to purge your home and go toxic free, especially when you realize there are toxic chemicals in basically EVERYTHING!
First, it’s best not to get scared and panic. Don’t let this cause you anxiety and fear, because that is another form of toxicity to your mood and mental health. Instead, spin it in your mind and tell yourself you are grateful for this knowledge and will find joy in making better choices moving forward.
Second, set a budget. Set money aside each month and make it gradual.
Third, be ok that it will take a bit of time to make all the swaps to toxic free. I started gradually and the first thing I threw away was all the cleaners in my home. At first it felt weird to do that, but once I did it, I felt so good and knew that I was doing a great thing for my family. If you can afford switching a lot of products at once, don’t wait until you use up all your bleach, or laundry detergent. Throw it away now and start living a life full of life and wellness.
I have wished many times that I would have known all of this when my kids were younger. But, it’s never too late to start.
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