11 Easy Ways to Make Your Home Healthier

1. Take off your shoes. Reduce the amount of dust, pollen, and pesticides in your home by having a ‘no shoe’ policy in your house.
2. Switch to all natural household cleaners. From dish soap to floor polish, natural foods stores offer a great selection of non-toxic cleaning products for your home and your clothing.
3. Choose Energy Star. This government backed program has created standards for energy efficiency. Selecting Energy Star rated products means you are saving money on your electric bills, reducing greenhouse emissions, and using less water.
4. Insulate your water heater. For less than $30, you can purchase an insulated blanket from your local home improvement store and insulate your water heater. This allows you to turn down the temperature which results in you saving money and energy with every hot shower.
5. Change your light bulbs. By replacing standard bulbs with compact fluorescents, you will have to replace bulbs less frequently while saving on energy.
6. Redecorate with low or no-VOC paints. Water based paints and stains come in a lovely variety of colors and are non-toxic.
7. Upgrade your HVAC filters. High performance and HEPA rated filters are available for your return vents, helping reduce indoor pollutants by filtering dust, pollen, and other undesirables from the air… thus, keeping your heating and cooling system cleaner.
8. Avoid plastics. By banning vinyl and other PVCs, you will keep dioxins out of the air and plastics out of the landfill. In addition, you will reduce your family’s exposure to the toxic substances known to leach from these substances.
9. Seal air leaks. Check door frames, window frames, and duct work for leaks. Replace worn out weather stripping and patch and insulate duct work in the attic and basement (where energy loss is most likely to occur).
10. Buy a programmable thermostat. These handy devices allow you to set temperatures to increase and decrease as appropriate during certain times of the day.
11. Go solar. You do not have to be an environmental renegade to incorporate solar power as a home energy source. Start simple and small – purchase enough photo-voltaics to run your refrigerator, heat your water, or light your home. The initial expense pays for itself in a matter of years, and you will be sparing the earth the pollutants and by-products of traditional energy
    production immediately.