Healthy Home, Healthy Life
Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and coats are going back into storage. Spring is finally here and with it come feelings of rejuvenation, renewal and purpose. I’m excited to announce a new series that I’ll be working on right here on the blog called “Healthy Home, Healthy Life”. As the title suggests, each week, I’ll be studying a different area of the home that can be modified or enhanced to provide a safe and holistic haven for you and your family. Before you roll up your sleeves to begin yet another year of spring cleaning, check out the blog to discover how you can take things one step further. The only way to really set yourself up for a wholly healthy life is to begin with a healthy home.
In the world of architecture, sustainable design has quickly become a standard. It is now commonly expected that a building will be designed to be as efficient as possible and make as little impact on the surrounding world as possible. Buildings today are even being designed to effectively filter the air around them, emitting cleaner and more purified air back into the environment than what they initially take in. As we’ve focused more and more on creating buildings that respond in ways of biomimicry, emulating the natural world that we’re finally beginning to really appreciate and respect, it only seems logical that the next step would be to look at how these buildings are affecting our own bodies and lifestyles.
I’ve decided to really dive into this area of the design world so I can learn more about what decisions we are able to make while designing our homes and workspaces so that we can provide an atmosphere that is not only beautiful and efficient, but also conducive to a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle. As a community, we put so much energy into making sure we eat organic, exercise regularly and get our 8-hours of sleep each night (okay fine, but at least 6 or 7), yet when it comes to selecting carpeting for our bedrooms, or furnishings for our children’s nurseries, it is not as common to take the time to learn what potentially harmful substances we are bringing into our homes without ever realizing it.
The EPA has released studies showing that indoor environments are typically two to five times more toxic than the exterior environment. In spite of that statistic, 90% of our time is spent indoors. Fortunately, there are things that can be done to mitigate the health risks in your home and I am taking on the challenge of diving into these topics more deeply and sharing what I learn with you along the way. Here’s a look at just some of the topics you can expect to see covered in the coming weeks:
-Reducing indoor pollution levels
-What are VOCs?
-Lighting and Seasonal Affective Disorder
-Plants and air quality
-Humidity levels
-Kitchen design for healthy cooking
-Design solutions for optimal sleeping conditions
I’ll be posting a new article every Sunday. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss anything, and please shoot me an email if you have any questions or ideas for new topics!
