Combating City Pollutants to Live your Best Clean-Healthy Life
Cover Photo Credit: Blair Lane
Pollution. There are all types of pollution, and when you're living in the city or metropolitan area leaving the environmental toxins behind isn't as easy as drinking a Lemon and Cayenne Pepper Water (which I do not recommend). So continuing with our Fall Cleanse I wanted to touch on Three environmental factors that we need to be aware of while trying our best to live this Clean-Healthy Lifestyle, and how we can Combat them!
Air
Starting with the most obvious, lets talk about air pollution. It's all around us and growing up in Seattle I'd never thought much about it until moving to Denver. In Denver I could literally see the smog surrounding the city as I drove back down from the mountains. It would hover around the place like a dome, and then after a good storm it would be gone. But the difference between air quality in the Mountains, just a couple hours away and downtown really caught my attention. So instead of accepting that this is just a necessary evil of living within the city limits lets talk about a few options to clean up the air in your sanctuary, your home!
Bring the Good-Old-Outdoors INSIDE! I love my FERNando (my fern). He's beautiful and adds a pop of color to my bedroom. But even more, I love that he's always improving my air quality!
There are so many different houseplants that you can add to your space that will specialize in eliminating an array of toxins. This chart by Business Insider is a great start, but keep researching and test out that green thumb.
Himalayan Salt Lamps are another great tool! It was my brother who first introduced me to this glowing orange rock by gifting it to my mother a few years back. Since then the Himalayan Salt Lamp has grown so much in popularity that you can literally find them everywhere in every shape and size imaginable. This past weekend I found a whole display of them at my local Bed Bath and Beyond. These lamps are pretty cool and claim numerous health benefits. Cleaning/Deodorizing our air and removing Allergens and Reducing Asthma Symptoms to name a few.
Light
Bright Lights-Big City. Couldn't be any truer. I love the Dallas Skyline after dark, it is breathtaking, however I DO NOT love the light that illuminates my bedroom at all hours of the night. One of my favorite things about venturing out to the country is just how dark it gets- and in turn, my sleep thrives.
We are meant to live in the light. Rising and Setting with the Sun!
No really. We have light sensitive cells in our retina, their only job is to alert the brain on when there is light out- when the sun is up. These set our sleep patterns. Outside light at wonky hours is sure to throw us out of whack. This girl does not mess with her sleep, and neither should you. Invest in some good Black-Out Curtains. And then just for good measure eliminate all other light from inside your bedroom. Turn off, Unplug, or Cover anything that emits any type of light. And if you still haven't been able to achieve total darkness, invest in a good Sleep Mask! (this Tempur-Pedic Sleep Mask happens to be my favorite)
Water
I admit, I am a Water Snob. If there is such a thing. I grew up with parents who were obsessed with the next thing- the next gadget to filter our water in home and on the go. My mothers current house has a filtration system built in to it. Meaning not only filtered drinking water, but clean showers (HELL YES!), clean water to wash clothes in, clean water to water the grass. Not all of us can afford this luxury but I urge you to do SOMETHING about your water if you rely on Tap or even cheaper bottled water. Reducing myself of industrial run-off, pesticides, and other contaminates is a no-brainer.
Whether you can only go out and grab a filtering water bottle from target or decide to get a water cooler for your home, improving your water quality is essential!
Again there are so many out there. Soma and Bobble have some pretty cool and unique systems!
Stay Mindful of Air, Light, and Noise Pollution. Keep striving to make your home a healthier place. And let me know what ya'll think!
