Purifying Your Air with Mother Nature- Featuring The Plant Junkie
You have finally found the perfect accent piece for your home. You bring home your piece of furniture or carpet, and unroll it. Immediately that smell comes out, the kind that causes a possible headache. What the heck is it?
Did you know that indoor air pollutants have been ranked among the top five environmental risks to public health? Chemicals are overflowing in our homes from cleaners, air fresheners, hair products, furniture etc. Combine that with our poor ventilation systems and you have the perfect environment for a host of health problems.
Oh….?
One of the most prevalent chemicals hiding in your home is formaldehyde. You probably all remember that horrible smell from your high school science dissections! It is emitted in low levels through a common component of glues in pressed wood (or particle board), caulks, paints and stain repellant finishes to upholstery. This little bugger is hard to get rid of and can be detrimental to health. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen (cancer causing) by the National Cancer Institute, can trigger asthma attacks, headaches & skin irritations. WHAT?!
Besides the terrifying side effects of formaldehyde, there are many other chemicals harming your family’s health. These include terpenes (from fragrance), ethanol (household cleaners), acetone (nail polish remover/furniture polish), butanal (tobacco smoke) and carbon disulfide (bleach & chlorinated water). Do you have any of these products in your home? What do their ingredients lists say?
Luckily there are a few things that you can do! My favorite way to ensure the air quality in my home is top notch, is to have tons of purifying plants & diffusers with pure essential oils.
Plants get to work RIGHT away, and a diffuser boosts that!
I know what your thinking- okay, I’ll pop on over to Home Depot and grab some plants! But.. which ones? There probably won’t be someone there with much plant knowledge, or be able to recommend what plants to best suit your purifying needs. Well thank goodness for the Plant Junkie! This babe of a mom (to real kids and plant kids) totally saved my butt in helping me clean out the air in my home.
Izabela has such a wide variety of plants, and an extensive knowledge of each one. I felt at ease knowing whatever she recommended would actually help.
Thanks to The Plant Junkie, the easiest thing on this list is to get yourself a few air cleansing house plants. My new favorites are spider plants, aloe vera, and snake plants. Not only are they fighting pollutants and filtering your air, but they are the perfect décor.
Spider Plants- a great choice for those who tend to kill everything (AKA most of us), and want to get rid of any formaldehyde hiding in their home. They are a fan of indirect sunlight & a lack of attention.
Snake Plants- Izabela uses these to clean up the air in her home, and started using them because of her asthma! Snake plants are super easy to care for and don’t die when you neglect them! They clean out formaldehyde & benzene. Indirect sunlight and light watering are their favorite.
Aloe Vera- Most of you have heard about aloe for sunburns, but have you heard of it for getting a good night’s sleep? It omits oxygen at night making for a restful slumber. Aloe is a triple threat: purifying the air, helping your rest and of course it’s adorable.
Now that you have mother nature herself filtering your air, it’s time to diffuse.
One of my favorite oils to diffuse is Young Living’s Thieves. This blend can kill up to 99% of airborne bacteria in addition to being antiviral, antiseptic & immunity boosting. Thieves is a blend of lemon, rosemary, cinnamon, eucalyptus & clove. A warm & cleansing scent that your health will thank you for. Who doesn’t want to boost their immunity simply from pressing a button!
Also try diffusing a combination of lemon, lavender and peppermint for those allergy symptoms that seem to kick you right in the pants!
I only use Young Living oils because they actually GROW their own plants/herbs/shrubs & have their own farms all over the world. No other company has that... and it’s very important to me to know exactly where my oils come from. I don’t want an oil that I have no idea what kind of soil, pesticides or seeds were used. The only way to know that and can be sure of no chemicals being involved is by buying directly from the farmer.
A HUGE thanks to Izabela from The Plant Junkie! She is such a fun & inspiring woman!
Do you have plants indoors? Or diffuse oils? Have a favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
The Plant Junkie- Izabela Facebook- The Plant Junkie Instagram- @theplantjunkie