A couple of years ago, green|spaces turned our office into a crime scene to raise awareness about air quality – click this link to see the amazing pictures. But we weren’t talking about outdoor air quality (which isn’t receiving any gold medals in the US) we were talking about the air inside our homes.
We get a lot of questions about better building practices, energy efficiency and water reduction, but indoor air quality is easily missed.
But it’s so important. The average American spends 90% of their time indoors.
Most of us know where problems like pollen and animal dander come from (hint: plants and animals), but what about mold, chemicals, radon and volatile organic compounds?
Many harmful chemicals end up in our homes, carried in by us. Everything from our mattresses and carpet to our cabinets and cleaning products contain chemicals that are hazardous to healthy breathing – fire retardants, stabilizers, binders, sealers and more.
Ironically, many of the chemicals found in these products were created to mimic something found in nature, but be produced at mass scale, faster and cheaper. For example, a polymer is made to mimic rubber or amber. Synthetic cleaning products mimic the good properties of natural cleaning products.
So the good news is that there’s a simple solution. When selecting products for your home, pay attention to what they’re made of. Look for natural products and materials where possible – buying natural products doesn’t make you hip, or a hippie. It just makes you breathe easier.
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