how-to: clean up your air

Hello friends! happy sunday! Today, I want to talk about air quality, particularly in our homes. Air is the life force for us, obviously. And what's in the air, in our air, can really affect us in the best and worst ways. 

Here are some practical things you can do in your home to improve the air you breathe!

1. buy house plants. NASA did a study on house plants and found that most house plants can scrub the air of toxins such as benzene and formaldehyde. You can read the full study here: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930073077.pdf

2. burn beeswax candles + make your own room spray! 

Did you know? Most candles are made from paraffin, a petroleum byproduct. To create paraffin, petroleum waste is chemically bleached, deodorized and made into wax. When burned, paraffin wax can release toxic (VOCs) into the air including acetone, benzene, and toluene, which are known carcinogens. These are the same chemicals found in diesel fuel emissions and are known to cause allergies, asthma attacks and skin problems... Room sprays have similar components and are known to cause respiratory issues and breathing problems, particularly in pets and kids. I make my room spray from water, witch hazel, and my favorite essential oils. 


3. change your air filters regularly. we have ours shipped from a company called Second Nature  (www.secondnature.com) and they provide so much information on their site about air quality in our homes. We get the highest filtration possible for our filters, because we have a dog who sheds like a mad man. :) 

4. diffuse essential oils! of course, our lovely essential oil friends can also help purify the air. not only do they make your house smell freaking amazing, but certain oils like eucalyptus and tea tree oil can also kill airborne viruses like influenza. furthermore, oils like lemon and grapefruit can remove the germs from the air, while simultaneously removing toxins from your bloodstream while you breathe. my favorite blend right now is clove + grapefruit + bergamot + christmas spirit. 

5. open your windows and doors + run a humidifer. now that fall is here (thank you thank you thank you!) one of the best things you can do for your indoor air is let the OUTSIDE air in. open the doors and windows and let that cool breeze clear up the air in the house. Did you know? because we run our air conditioning and heating systems, our air is so dry that it literally pulls moisture from our bodies. ever wonder why your skin is so dry in winter? the moisture is being sucked out by all the dry air outside and the even more dry air inside. 

6. instead of fans, use sound machines. I cannot sleep without some sort of background noise, and we usually have a fan going in our room but I find myself turning them off or on low, because of how dry it makes our room feel. As I mentioned already, the less humidity in your air, the worse your skin, allergies, and respiratory system are, particularly in cold seasons. Switch off the fans and use a sound machine like this marpac one instead.

hope this post inspires you to research some goods and bads of our air quality. we spend so much time inside our homes and offices and buildings, and it can literally impact our health in so many ways if we aren't careful about what we bring in. so go buy a houseplant and open your windows. 



happy sunday night, lovelies!