Toxin-Free Living
Today’s world is full of so many harsh chemicals and toxins, just breathing the air around us should come with a health warning. With pollution from cars, factories, and pesticides etc., it’s really no wonder we have so many health problems. And with organic, plant based products usually marketed as luxury items, with price tags to match, many people seem to turn a blind eye and assume our hands are tied when it comes to the chemicals found around our home. You want a clean kitchen after all, right?
Except, there are things we can do, and there are important reasons as to why we should do them. This is where the idea of toxin free living comes in. Toxin free living usually means eliminating chemicals in the products we use around the home and on our bodies, replacing them with plant based, chemical-free alternatives.
You may be thinking that we don’t really need to change our lifestyle. Lysol and other cleaning sprays help keep your home clean, and your grandma used it for many years and lived to tell the tale. However, research has shown that many of the chemicals found in a number of household products can disrupt the endocrine and immune system, harm our brain, reproductive system as well as cause some types of cancer. The chemicals found in our food are also connected with the obesity crisis that is occurring worldwide.
The unfortunate truth is that these harsh products are easier and cheaper to make than their organic equivalents and sell more easily. People expect a cleaning product that really works and will pick the spray that lifts dirt with one wipe over a plant based product that requires more scrubbing. So, companies are obviously going to produce the item that guarantees more profit. And most of us are blissfully unaware of the ingredients, using the same tried and tested products that our parents and grandparents used. So the cycle continues.
What I find most interesting about this topic, is the countless news stories we read about rising rates of cancer, diabetes, obesity and other health problems that appear to be “unexplained”. Nobody stops to look at our lifestyles when searching for answers. We don’t consider the poison we cover our body with after a bath, or the pesticides we ingest every day when we eat fruit and vegetables. It has become almost normal, and it’s time to change the narrative.
Before I share my tips and tricks for toxin free living, I’m going to explain in more detail the reasons why we should eliminate them. This can be split into two categories: environmental and personal health.
Environmental impact
The pesticides that are used in agriculture to prevent the spread of weeds and various insects contaminate the soil used to grow the fruits and vegetables. They can also be toxic to animals they aren’t intending to target and have contributed to the reduction in population size of bees, thus threatening biodiversity. Some pesticides secrete through the soil and end up in ground water, thus contaminating our drinking water and poisoning fish and birds found near waterways.
Many cleaning products are aerosols that we release into the air as we use them. Since they are marked as hazardous, this invariably means they pollute the air they are used in. The cleaning solutions that are rinsed down the drain can be toxic to aquatic species in untreated waters.
Most cleaning solutions, make up products etc come in a single-use plastic bottle, the impact of which has been well documented.
Health impact
We are exposed to pesticides in fruit and vegetables each time we eat them. Farm workers and those living in rural communities in the proximity of farmlands are more severely affected by the toxicity, but we are exposed each time we eat non-organic fruit and vegetables . Pesticides cause problems with the endocrine system and are known carcinogens. Pesticides are also often used in parks and grassy areas in urban communities, as well as on private property to prevent insect infestations. A build up of exposure can also occur in this way and cause problems with the reproductive system, respiratory and neurological conditions, such as parkinson’s disease.
Chemicals in cleaning products (such as soaps, polishes and grooming products) contain many ingredients that can damage our health, such as bleach and ammonia. They can cause throat and eye irritation as well as respiratory problems. Some release VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) which can cause damage to the nervous system, as well as some cancers and lung irritation. VOCs are found in aerosol sprays, air fresheners, detergent, carpet and oven cleaners to name a few.
The toxicity of the products we use are daily is clear. But it seems to be something that people aren’t talking about as much as they should. I think it’s time we change that so you’ll find my tips and suggestions for a toxin-free life in my next post!