7 Switches Grandma has made to make her home a little lower tox
small steps add up at grandma's house too!
Grandma is not perfect, but I appreciate the changes she’s made to make her home a little lower tax and I’m grateful that when we go spend time at her house, the toxin exposure is less!
Here are some investments and/or small switches she’s made that make a big impact on her home health.
Air Doctor air filter: (they have a big sale for Earth Month this April)
They usually have it in their bedroom and move it around if they need to, but when we stay with them, they let us put it in our bedroom. This is KEY because its hyper HEPA filters dust from the air, and dust is where the majority of chemicals from a home migrate to/ hide out!
GOTS certified bedding:
The mattress is not organic, but at least the sheets and duvet cover are. It’s a small step.
3. Stainless steel pots and pans:
I think these might have been one of the first purchases she made years ago. She did have some ceramic pans for cooking eggs and recently I convinced her to buy a cast-iron, but she’s still intimidated by it and hasnt use it lol ( I actually forgot to give her a little tutorial so we’ll have to do that when I come back in the summer.)
She has: an Allclad complete set but you can also just start with one or two pans!
Other great companies (I have these) :
360 stainless steel “ aidaspicks” for discount
Caraway ( ( only recommend their stainless steel )
4. Stainless steel and glass cups:
When my now 21 year-old nephew was born, and even when my oldest kids were born, Grandma had plastic and then melamine cups for the kids to use. With time, she switched over to the stainless steel cups and resistant glass options that the kids use now instead.
Stainless steel
Glass: IKEA
5. Low-Tox toiletries for the whole family
One of the things I appreciate most is not having to travel with my own shampoo and soaps because it just gets really heavy when it’s 5 of us. So I always appreciate that my mom buys lower tax options for the kids and almost always has Dr. Bronner soap for us on hand too. Everyone 3 in 1 Soap (EWG verified) and honest Company soap for kids
6. Clean cleaning supplies:
My mom is one of the biggest fans of Branch Basics... I love that I know at the house is clean and there are no harmful chemicals lingering in the air and the surfaces.also.... She’s actually incredibly good at taking things off using their oxygen powder.... my kids will sometimes bring shirts that we’ve been unable to remove stains from, and she always miraculously is able to remove them
to buy: https://branchbasics.com/AIDASPICKS. Use code “ aidaspicks” for 15% site wide first order
buy on Amazon
BONUS:
7. Organic fruits and veggies:
I appreciate this the most, probably. My mom makes a big purchase at Whole Foods right before we arrive to make sure she has all the foods that we like to eat, which of course includes Organic fruits and veggies. But beyond feeding her grandkids, she eats Organic as much as possible, and never has unhealthy, processed foods around. ( grandpa has been known to get the occasional Oreo cookie, etc.. but he has gotten slightly better as the years have passed… and usually just brings home ice cream, chocolate croissants or Venezuelan tequenos now instead- which in my book are all better than for example Oreos today)
What about the water? Grandma did buy a Berkey water filter years ago …. these have been discontinued and the effectiveness of the filters have been questioned (according to Duke University when they tested a few years ago, they found they were effective IF the fiters were switched out in a timely manner)…. Considering she lives in Miami, and Miami happens to have high levels of PFAS in the water I would feel more comfortable if she had a reverse osmosis…. so I might get this for Christmas next year :-) (win win for her and me!)
Just a great example of how everyone can implement small changes that add up and reduce home toxins!
Please feel free to share with anyone who needs some inspo on starting their low tox journey!