Creating A Cleaner Healthier Living Environment
Regularly maintaining a clean safe home is conducive to helping create an overall healthier living environment. You can do this without going overboard! One might consider having a shoeless, non smoking household. Or perhaps embracing the idea of wearing house slippers inside only. Especially if anyone has asthma or allergies! The majority of dust and dirt that enters the home is tracked in. It then settles in the carpet, flooring, walls and upholstered furnishings. Think of all the places your feet tread in a course of a day outside. Well guess what a large portion of that dirt deposits on the sole of your shoes or boots and guess where it ends up?
I have a shoeless home. My relatives and friends are quite accustomed to this. I ask repair or maintenance persons to wear shoe covers whenever they enter. They usually have them handy; you only need to ask them to please use them. You can also request at the time of scheduling their service appointment to please bring them along. It really makes for a more comfortable and cleaner environment when the outside dirt is not tracked in. I also provide and have readily available fresh footsies for my guests whenever desired! I have found over the years they are really quite comfortable and many have adopted the idea as well!
One need not to be paranoid or obsessive about cleanliness but practical! Washing your hands frequently as well as teaching your children to do the same is helpful. Smoking is also a definite No No! It adds to the pollutions in the air. The fact that you cannot go without smoking for a while should tell you that the cigarettes have you! Addiction to tobacco and nicotine is at an all time high. So is cancer. By the way think about how much money you burn up! Look at the warning; " YES! You can die from smoking!" It also makes your hair, hands and clothing smell. Have you looked at your fireplace lately the only thing it does, is it smokes! Have you noticed the residual soot that coats the walls! Just think of what smoking does to your body? You may enjoy how it makes you feel. But you’re essentially internally polluting your body as well as the air! Think about it! Each puff takes away precious time and shortens your life span! Is it really worth it?
I must admit that cleanliness and order is a stickler for me. I also do not like a lot of clutter. I think that having a place for everything is great! It also saves a lot of time looking for stuff. Children tend to dump all their toys out and not know what to do. Encourage them to take out three to five toys then put them back before they get more or move to another activity. Quite often they will take out so many toys that they do not know what to play with. Think about it, once they go to school they cannot just leave everything out all over the place. This helps them to learn early the basic benefits of being organized. Hmm I don't think they let you leave a mess all over the place at the office. Well is not your home just as important? I believe in children having fun especially within a safe, clean environment! I taught my children and continue to teach my grandchildren "You play you put away!"
Regular vacuuming and dusting is helpful to keeping a clean environment as well. I think your floors should be at least, clean enough that it’s okay for a toddler to crawl around. When children are at play they often come in and out frequently. Having them to remove their shoes helps to limit the dirt and dust tracked in. Make sure they thoroughly wash their hands as well! It is necessary to keep a balance in the amount of outdoor air circulating inside as well to maintain a healthy environment. If there is not sufficient air circulating invisible pollutants can accumulate that pose health threats. Lysol is an excellent recommended disinfectant it kills 99.9% of germs that cause illnesses and viruses! It is wonderful for many surfaces! It also prevents molds and mildew and is recommended by The Asthma And Allergy Foundation of America! Did you know that the Flu virus can travel up to twelve feet through the air at 100 mph? A major cause of the common cold is a virus known as Rhinovirus. Flu viruses live on surfaces up to (48) forty eight hours!
Take an objective look around your home and access the dirt damage. Really take a look around at the ceilings, walls and floors, don't forget those corners, under your furniture and do not forget to look under those cushions! Oh My! How much clutter, dirt, fingerprints and dust do you see. Well your visitors see even more! To begin getting organized go room by room and clean from top to bottom until you get through each room. Get the whole family involved. Once they know that they have to help cleaning up they will be less reluctant to make a big mess. If things are way out of order, try starting with one room a day. This is better than not starting at all. If you are a hoarder you may need help. But I need more space? Right! Remember this, more room more space to get dirty! Please do not forget to sanitize the kitchen and those bathrooms regularly!
Call in a cleaning service to get and estimate. Ask them how long do they think it would take them to clean your home and what would it take to get you back on track. Or ask a friend or relative to be honest with you. This is also how you get a really objective opinion. Keep in mind that a cleaning service is far better since they are professionals. If you cannot afford a cleaning service at least now you know that you have your work cut out to get things in order?
Using an Ionizer is beneficial as well to help circulate healthy air if you have allergies or other health issues! It is a good source to help further purify the air! Air is full of pollutants and chemicals. Air has positively charged molecules or should I say positive ions as well as negative ions. Your computer, television, appliances and air conditioning add surplus ions to your environment. An ionizer will also help to improve the quality of your overall healthy air environment.
Researchers say as much as 60% of the inborn dirt and dust is tracked in! Be mindful of the products you use to clean your home as well. Vinegar is a great natural cleaning product with multiple uses. There are many biodegradable environmentally safe non toxic products that are available on the market today! In a time where there are so many unfounded reasons for many viruses and illnesses one needs to be conscious of ways to create and the maintaining of a safe healthier living environment! Please feel free to add any additional suggestions along with your comments!
Everyone's priorities are different! Ultimately you should do what it best for you. You may not want to spend a lot of time cleaning and getting your home in order. If you are comfortable the way things are then that is your right! Your home is your home! No matter how large or small your home is, its yours and you have the right to live however you please. Clean, dirty, cluttered, or organized! Just remember that maintaining and creating a clean healthy environment takes work. Is your home a reflection of how you feel about yourself! Well, what do you think? What your home says to you is what is most important!
It may take you a while if you decide to get organized but it will be well worth your effort! Get everyone in the house involved, the little ones too. A little song for you "Clean up, Clean up everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up everybody do your share!" Everyone benefits from a cleaner, healthier fresh environment. Have fun "refreshing" your home, creating a happy, safe, warm & healthy "stress less" home environment!
