Carpets

It's important to pick out carpets and rugs for your home that are environmentally healthy. After all, you spend many, many hours a day breathing around the stuff, don't you?

The problem with carpets: VOCs. Green is Sexy says, "Most carpet is made from petroleum byproducts and synthetics, treated with stain repellents, backed with latex, and padded with PVC." Pretty yucky stuff to let inside your body.

Good options: Rugs made from recycled plastic, like these, are especially good for outdoor spaces. For the indoors, good options include "natural fiber carpets made from chemical-free wool, jute, sea grass, sisal, coir (coconut-husk fiber), and even corn. When the time comes to dump those, you ditch them in the compost" (Ibid). Other natural fiber choices include hemp and reed, like the Japanese Igusa mats.

Certification: Look for the Green Label Plus Certification. "Check the carpet label for a little green house, which means it’s been tested by the Carpet and Rug Institute’s (CRI) Indoor Air Quality testing program" (Ibid). This will ensure your rug is not going to make you sick.

Better options: If possible, you may want to avoid wall-to-wall carpeting all together. Low Impact Living says, "Natural, bare flooring options like reclaimed hardwood flooring or Marmoleum are really the best option from a health perspective–because they don’t trap allergens and chemicals like rugs and carpets do... Cork is a wonderful option because it is a renewable resource, dampens sounds (great for sleeping babies), and is soft on little bodies. Cork is harvested by shaving off the 'bark' of the tree– trees are not killed in the process."

More ideas and details, check out Low Impact Living's great article here.

And no matter what your flooring choices, always leave your shoes at the door to reduce the amounts of pollutants and dangerous chemicals you bring into your home.

Image from http://s7d4.scene7.com/is/image/Gaiam/18-0077?$large$

Laser printers

In the past, I've felt jealous of people with laser printers. They're just so darn fast!

But increasingly, scientific studies are warning us to stay away from the laser printers. It turns out that they dramatically impair air quality in their locations. As in VOCs. Scary stuff. Some have argued that it is as bad as secondhand smoke.

Different brands and models of printers have different levels of pollution danger. If you own one or work near one, consider doing some research into your particular model. This article has a link to one of the studies, and a direct link to another is here.

If you have the ability to move your work space away from a laser printer, do so. Or ask to move the laser printer away from you. If neither of those options work, try to increase ventilation and get a lot of air-purifying plants for the area. We want you all to be happy and healthy!

All the more reason to go paperless...?

Indoor plants: get on it!

A few months ago, I wrote a post about how indoor plants help clean the air inside your house. And the information just keeps pouring in. Lots more confirmation that specific plants help purify indoor air and lots more confirmation that the average American household NEEDS said purification. If you have paint, furniture, or wood in your house, you probably also have some nasty stuff floating around that plants can help you get rid of.

But some new information expands the benefits of indoor plants. For example, this recent TreeHugger article discusses how indoor plants can help hospital patients heal faster and better. Something many people have known intuitively, now with scientific proof.

Do you want in on this clean air extravaganza? This little ditty lists the top five air-cleaning indoor plants. And this article lists ten easy-to-grow choices proven to help purify indoor air. Perfect for those of you who are convinced you have a "black thumb"!

How many plants do you need for maximum benefits? HealthMad tells us, "The NASA study suggests a minimum of 15-20 plants in 6 inch diameter pots for an 1800 square foot area." That is honestly a ton of plants. But an effort of any size can help your health and that of your family tremendously.

Pick a plant or two from one of the links above and give it a try. Many of them are easy to find at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. If you're nervous about keeping things alive, try the easy-to-grow list (most of them are desert plants...very hard to kill).

NOTE: If you have a pet, cross reference these lists with lists of plants that are dangerous for your particular pet. Ivy and aloe, for example, are toxic to kitties but are also two of the best air-purifiers. We have one of each, but we made sure to put them in places our cat can't reach. [Here's a list of toxic plants for cats and dogs.]

Indoor Plants

As winter comes, more of us may be staying inside a little more often. A great idea for the indoor months: potted plants!

LiveScience's article The Environmental Impact of Indoor Plants tells us why.

The primary reason is "phytoremediation, or using plants to remove and retain toxins. This is where toxins like carbon monoxide, some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or even cyanide might be absorbed and converted by the plant, while heavy metals are absorbed and retained in the plant. Indoor plants can be great at absorbing VOCs from paint or cleaning supplies so you aren't inhaling them."

Ben and I like to try to have a potted plant or two in every room where we spend a lot of time. We have six broccoli plants going in the bedroom; an ivy and some cat grass in the den; an aloe vera in Ben's office; and mint (and more cat grass...) in the guest bath. Not that hard. Especially if you grow useful plants like the mint, brocolli, and cat grass, or desert plants like the aloe vera (I can't even tell you the last time we watered that thing, but it's growing strong.)

Give it a try. Comment to let us all know which plants are easy and which are hard. And let us know if you have any problems.

[Thanks, Eric, for sharing the original article with me!]