Day 66 of our Green Year: Homemade Air Fresheners

Day 66 has come and it is time to make the house smell nice. Not that it smells bad, but there is something about a house that smells great. However, in most air fresheners, that smell comes at a price, and that price is your health. How bad can it be? You may not want to know....

In a study done in 2007, the Natural Resources Defense Council looked at 14 air fresheners and found that 12 contained phthalates. If you don't know what those are, then ignorance is bliss. They are a group of chemicals that are used to dissolve and carry fragrances. They can also soften plastics and companies also use them as sealants and adhesives. They are found in many products, including children's toys, and they have health consequences.
Studies have found that high exposures to Phthalates can cause cancer, sex-hormone abnormalities, development problems in children, malformed sex organs in infants and problems with fertility.

Now, you may think that buying 'all-natural' or 'unscented' air fresheners is the way to go. Well, in a study by the NRDC, they found that some of those 'all natural' products carried as much as 7,300 parts per million of phthalate content. Phthalates are also listed in California's EPA's Office of Encironmental Health Hazard Assessment as a developmental toxin.

Therefore, Layla and I are making our own air fresheners. Previously in the blog, we have mentioned how a bowl of lemon juice can freshen up a room, as can vinegar or baking soda. Well, if you want to do something a bit different, try this.

1. Take 1/2 cup of salt and a one and a half a cups of flour.
2. Mix together with some food coloring and some essential oils (Lavender for example).
3. Add 2/3 cup of boiling water
   
4. Once mixed so that it is clumpy, then form into small balls.
5. Let sit on the counter so they dry.
6. Put some more essential oil on them.

There, you have a great air freshener. There are not byproducts in this, no chemicals, it is all-natural and good for your home environment.

UPDATE: The soda is ready after sitting in the fridge for days and it is great. Really, it is very good. I love it and am going to be making more soon.

Also, if you want to see what the world will be like after cheap oil is gone (which may be happening now), then check out this CBC documentary I watched last night.

The Future Without Oil

Day 48 of our Green Year: Clearing The Air Inside

Day 47 is here and we are going to talk about container gardening inside. One of our readers, Maggie, already has one on her deck but one of the most important things you can do for the air quality in your home is to set up some containers in your house.
So much of what we have in our house, from the curtains to the carpets, from the cleaners to even the food, has chemicals in it. The great thing about container gardening is that it works the same way that the trees do. It takes the bad chemicals out of the air and replaces it with healthy oxygen.
So, this also helps you get nice clean fresh air inside.

What Layla and I have done is that we are setting up an 'indoor garden' to go with our outdoor one. It is only a few pots right now but Layla and I are working at turning a good part of our living room into a garden, complete with soil, plastic wrapping to prevent it leaking on the floor, and about 6 inches to one foot deep, and several feet wide and long. This will not only provide us with food through the winter as we grow indoors, but it will also help us keep the air inside our home clean, and keep us from buying veggies from the store.

Do you have some tips for us and our indoor garden? Do you have an indoor garden yourself? Send us a photo to crwbaird@gmail.com and we will put it up!