The beginning of a new year brings a breath of renewal and a fresh start, and with that in mind, I’ve put together some resources to make a clean start to 2021 easier than ever.
Step 1. One by one swap out your current cleaning products to low tox products. To make this really easy, I put together a handy list of top low-tox cleaning products that I use in my home everyday. This will make switching your products super simple. Just click the link and go.
Step 2. This swap is so easy you’ll wonder why you haven’t done it earlier. Switch your plastic food storage containers to glass.
You can literally save hundreds of dollars, in the products themselves, and future medical bills caused by ingesting Hormone Disrupting Compounds from the plastic.
Plastic is not stable and leaches into your food in the form of phthalates (an endocrine disrupting compound). It’s particularly worsened if food is heated in the plastic container or if hot food is added directly to plastic containers, such as to-go foods.
Phthalates are Hormone Disruptors, and they most definitely mess with your hormones without your knowledge it’s actually happening.
This is especially dangerous for pregnant women, infants, children, and teens.
What we do know with absolute certainty is that glass is infinitely safer than any form of plastic, hard or soft.
But Annette, the snap lids on your containers are plastic!!! Yes they are but I make sure that my food never touches the lid and the lid is never put in the microwave, plus if the lids start to fail you can use Beeswrap or stretchy food grade silicone lids. It may not be the perfect solution, but switching from plastic to glass is well worth the investment; it’s really an investment in yours and your family’s health and well-being.
Step 3. On the subject of leaching, plastic utensils also leach phthalates, every time you use them for cooking where they are subjected to heat. Better options are stainless steel, wood, bamboo and food grade silicone (although I personally steer clear of the silicone for cooking).
Stainless steel and wood are my favorites, they last forever and are easy to care for. When purchasing bamboo, make sure it’s not pressed as those sometimes have plastic mixed into the bamboo. If you see them available in bright colors, that is a clear sign the bamboo has been processed with plastics.
And for the first 100 callers, lol, I've created an easy-to-follow cleaning schedule template. You can group your cleaning by task or by room, whichever makes more sense for you, and you can change it seasonally.
Making changes starts with a single first step. If you’ve read to this point then you actually do see the value in making meaningful changes to preserve your health.
Download the guide and start swapping out your products today. Many of my clients wait until they run out of their current cleaner then replace them with one of the brands I recommend. Others jump right in, ‘toss the toxins’ as we say, and make a clean break from current, toxic cleaners.
Keep in mind though, toxic cleaning products cannot be dumped down the drain, or thrown away in the trash to be added to a landfill where it can leach into local waterways. It may surprise you - it did me - that they are considered hazardous waste and must be disposed of at a Hazardous Waste Collection facility or event in your local area.
It will likely surprise you that non-toxic cleaners are not hazardous waste, but instead safe for trash, recycling, and ultimately landfill collection. Just sayin’.
You CAN do this! Yes, I’m looking at you, my friend, leave a comment below and share your first swap. I can’t wait to hear what you choose!