Freshening The Air Quality In Your Home
Indoor pollution affects us all. And, believe it or not, pollution can be found in almost every home. Those pollutants range from tobacco to building materials, furnishings, personal care products and even cleaning products. But there are things we can do to improve our indoor air quality.
“Throwing open your doors and lifting your window sash makes us feel better and it improves air quality,” says Frank Hein of Healthy Body Now in Markham. In fact, opening doors and windows is the easiest and cheapest step to improving air quality. According to Hein, indoor air is up to ten times worse than outdoor air.
Once the doors and windows are open, use these handy tips to further reduce indoor air pollution:
• Change your furnace filter regularly and run your furnace fan often.
• Get rid of those toxic cleaners.
• Have your heating and cooling ducts cleaned.
• Air out your dry cleaning before putting them into your closet.
• Reduce dust-collecting clutter.
• Keep your collection of magazines, books and newspapers in a cabinet where they can’t collect dust.
• Distribute your indoor plants around your house. Spider plants, philodendron, and the golden pothos are effective air-cleaners.
• Vacuum regularly, preferably vented outside or into a garage.
There are a variety of air-cleaners or purifiers on the market and they’re useful if you suffer from asthma or allergies. According to the EPA in the U.S., 50% of illnesses are aggravated or caused by polluted air. “Good, clean air and indoor air purifiers are no longer a luxury,” says Kamal Anwar of Heaven Fresh air purifiers. “They’re now almost a necessity.”
Considering we spend the majority of our time indoors, it makes good, healthy sense to try to breath the cleanest air we can.
2600 John Street, Unit 207, Markham, ON L3R 3W3 T: 905.475.5222 F: 905.475.6369
