A healthy home goes far beyond having a place to rest your head and providing shelter from the elements. Look at your overall well-being, your budget for a new house or renovations, and the healthy materials that are now available. That will help you make informed choices that will better protect your health and anyone who steps foot in your home.
A home is supposed to be a haven – a place you and your family can go to feel safe, secure, and happy. Some estimates show, on average, you’ll spend 65 percent of your time in your home. If you work from home, that number can be even higher. But, unfortunately, too many homes are built with toxic materials, turning that sanctuary into a potential source of disease and misery.
A home is supposed to be a haven – a place you and your family can go to feel safe, secure, and happy. Some estimates show, on average, you’ll spend 65 percent of your time in your home. If you work from home, that number can be even higher.
But, unfortunately, too many homes are built with toxic materials, turning that sanctuary into a potential source of disease and misery. This isn’t a new phenomenon. Toxic substances have long been used in the construction of homes, although the health hazards sometimes weren’t discovered until later, as was the case with asbestos.
In recent years, having a healthy home has become a top priority for health-conscious people who want to protect themselves and their families. Wondering how you can make your house a safe place you can rest easy in? We’ve got you covered.
The healthiest buildings consider everything a person needs for their physical and mental well-being. That can include things such as access to nature, food, high-quality air, light, and community.
One thing to check before you begin building or decide upon a location for your new home is a community’s overall health and underlying issues. You can do that with the help of the Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool or the Compare My Area tool through the Environmental Protection Agency. These tools help you identify health concerns or information you’ll want to know, such as ambient air toxic concentrations in your area and health risks associated with them.
It would help if you also mapped out how close you are to other areas in your town that can directly impact your health. Noting where the nearest green space or park is or if there is a grocery store within a short walking or driving distance is a good idea.
You may also want to consider how close a doctor’s office or hospital is, in case you need urgent medical treatment at some point.
The building materials you use for home renovations or construction can set the overall tone for how healthy your house is. By eliminating as many chemicals or substances as possible that are known to be toxic, you can better protect your health and safeguard the health of those you love.
For optimal health, you’ll want to limit your exposure to volatile organic compounds, known as VOCs. VOCs can impact a building’s air quality – they are some of the worst things you can breathe in, causing both short-term and long-term health consequences. VOCs are a known asthma trigger and can worsen COPD.
To cut down on the VOCs in your house, you need to be aware of where they come from. VOCs are in:
To avoid VOCs and other harmful chemicals from building materials, look for non-toxic building options, like clay plaster and natural lumber.
One option for construction is using magnesium oxide-based ExtremeGreen Board. This material’s breathability helps it be mold repellent, fireproof, impervious to damage from insects, and it doesn’t contain formaldehyde.
Other excellent non-toxic building materials to ask your contractor about include:
And if you’re worried about the level of toxins you’ll face in your home, you may want to consider buying a home that is 10 or 20 years old, instead of building your own. Fresh builds have higher levels of chemicals in them because of all the new materials in them that contribute to off-gassing. The levels go down with time, which is why a slightly older home might be a better choice if you can’t use all-green materials.
When doing renovations, you shouldn’t dive right in without taking some precautions or speaking to experts. There are potentially a number of harmful substances already in your older home that can negatively impact your health. These include:
Talk to your contractor to see what steps they can take to make the renovation as safe as possible for everyone living in the house.
You don’t have to include add-ons that will allow you to be self-sufficient in your home, but they can save you money and give you extra assurance that you’d be fine in your home if a worst-case scenario happened.
Here are some things to consider including in your home plans:
A healthy home goes far beyond having a place to rest your head and providing shelter from the elements. Look at your overall well-being, your budget for a new house or renovations, and the healthy materials that are now available. That will help you make informed choices that will better protect your health and anyone who steps foot in your home.
A healthy home goes far beyond having a place to rest your head and providing shelter from the elements. Look at your overall well-being, your budget for a new house or renovations, and the healthy materials that are now available. That will help you make informed choices that will better protect your health and anyone who steps foot in your home.
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