Healthy Living Tips for You and Your Home
You spend a lot of time in your home. Nowadays, people are spending even more time at home because of the new work from home trend. This is why you would benefit a lot from having a healthier home. When it comes to creating a healthier home, you need to think about both your mental and physical well-being. There is a lot that you can do to ensure that your home is clean and safe for your family.
For instance, you must always get rid of the trash. You can check out the home junk removal cost in your area to find out which service is best for you. The home junk removal cost depends on the frequency and the type of waste you want to get rid of. Here are some other things you can do to create a healthier home.
Make Use of Air Purifying Plants
Most people aren’t aware of how polluted indoor air can be. Research shows that sometimes indoor air pollution can be two to five times higher than outdoor air. This is alarming, seeing as people spend a lot of time indoors. There are a lot of indoor activities that can pollute your air. For instance, heating oil can spill and cause contamination which will also pollute your indoor air. To avoid spills, you must have home heating oil services fill up your oil for you and inspect your tanks. They can also help with the best heating oil price.
One of the most effective ways to improve the quality of indoor air is to make use of air-purifying plants. There are several plants you can use in your home to make air quality better. These include English Ivy, Aloe Vera, and Peace Lilies, among others. These plants clean the air by absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen. Because of the way they look, these plants can also help you to fight stress. So having plants in your home is like hitting two birds with one stone.
There are other ways to keep the air in your home clean. For instance, you can use a humidifier to make the air in your home dry. This will effectively prevent mold. Apart from using this gadget, you can also turn the bathroom fan on for about half an hour each time you take a bath. This improves airflow. Another good move would be to install a range hood over your stove. This is a good way to capture all the chemicals that are produced as you are cooking.
If you are a smoker, you must avoid smoking inside at all costs. Smoking inside greatly affects air quality. Apart from that, it also subjects the members of your household to passive smoking. You will also find that cigarette smoke sticks to the inside of your home, and your indoor air will always be stale. Apart from smoke, you must also avoid using unnaturally scented products in your home.
There are other simple and seemingly obvious things that can improve your indoor air quality. For instance, cleaning regularly is a good way to get rid of contaminants and dust in your home. You must also open the windows to let the fresh air in during and after you clean. It’s also important not to let garbage collect in your yard. Search the internet and find out home junk removal costs so you can keep your home clean at all times.
Declutter Your Home at the Start of Every Season
Did you know that decluttering has health benefits? This is why you must declutter your home at least four times a year. Not everyone is fond of decluttering. However, it’s an absolute must. If you are scared of decluttering, then you might want to start small and tackle one room at a time.
Not a lot of people know that decluttering is therapeutic. Apart from that, knowing that you only have what you need and knowing where everything saves you time. If you manage to declutter four times per year, you will find that it becomes way easier each time you do it. However, this doesn’t mean that decluttering is a small job. You need to have a strategy.
Why you are decluttering helps to tackle everything at once. This means that apart from just removing things you need, you should also be figuring out where those things are going. You need to have about four bins when you are decluttering. One bin can be used for materials going for recycling, while the others can be used for trash, items that need to be repaired, and the last one for things that will go for donation.
As you are decluttering, keep in mind that you need to take things slow. You mustn’t bite off more than you can chew. No matter how energetic you are, you won’t be able to spend the whole day reorganizing and decluttering. The best you can do is to spend a few hours in a particular space and move on to other spaces during other days. That way, you will stay motivated and focused.
It’s important to ask yourself some questions when you are decluttering. This will help greatly. For instance, you can ask yourself whether or not you truly need something, if you adore it, and if you can trade inner peace for it. These questions will help you identify the things you need to get rid of. You should also ask yourself if something is preventing you from attaining inner peace.
If the above questions are not helping to clarify things, you can also ask yourself if you have used something in the past year. You clearly don’t need it if you haven’t used it for an entire year. To get rid of the trash left after decluttering, get a garbage removal service or check out home junk removal costs on the internet.
Benefits of Decluttering
Research shows that untidy environments are associated with high levels of stress. Studies show that people who stay in untidy environments have high levels of the hormone cortisol in their bodies. Another study also found that orderly environments are linked to healthy choices.
For most people, organizing their homes can boost productivity and improve mental health. Other benefits of decluttering include better focus, higher self-esteem, and better relationships. All of these benefits are good for your mental health and the mental health of your loved ones.
Studies also show that decluttering can reduce the risk of respiratory diseases like asthma and allergies. Some people tend to think that having a disorderly home is not a problem as long as the home is clean. However, it’s quite difficult to clean effectively between piles of belongings. Eventually, you will end up with lots of dust, mold, and mildew.
If you can manage to make the process of decluttering low-stress, you can definitely enjoy the mental benefits of decluttering. When you are decluttering, start small. This will help you prevent stress. Pick a drawer or cabinet. That way, you will move bit by bit, and you will be less likely discouraged. Once you are done decluttering, make sure you quickly get rid of the junk. Search for local home junk removal cost and hire a service so the junk can be gone for good.
Make Use of a Water Filter
Depending on where you live, water may or may not be safe to drink straight from the tap. If you are not sure, or if you just want to be safe, you should invest in a water filter. After all, not everyone likes drinking tap water. Buying bottles of water all the time might not be so economical. Apart from installing a water filter on faucets, you can also boil your water before you drink it.
Change Your Air Filters Regularly
Apart from bringing plants into your home, your home also has air filters that need to be changed from time to time. Changing your air filters regularly is one of the best ways to keep dust, allergens, and particles from getting into your indoor air. Experts suggest that air filters should be changed at least every two to three months. However, this frequency varies with the type of AC that you have and where you stay.
Learn How to Prevent, Identify and Treat Mold
Mold can cause serious health issues. This is why you need to learn how to spot and prevent it. There are a lot of things you can do to prevent mold. For instance, as mentioned before, you can use a dehumidifier, leave the bathroom fan on after a shower, seal bathroom grout lines once per year, and wash your shower curtains from time to time. You must also hire residential roofing services to maintain your roof so you don’t end up with leaks that can cause mold.
The most common form of mold that’s found in homes is mildew. This type of mold grows in warm, damp places. If you notice this type of mold, you must clean it yourself, only if you have caught it early. Depending on what area of your house it is in, there are several products that you can use to clean it. However, if the mildew covers a large area, the best move would be to call in a professional.
Avoid Unnatural Cleaning Products
If you want a healthy home, one of the things that you must do is clean with natural products. You can even make your own homemade cleaning products. It’s also fun for you and your family to try out different mixtures and experiment with things like essential oils. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use bleach at all. The idea is to avoid overusing it.
You must avoid mixing cleaning products like bleach with other household cleaners. For instance, you mustn’t mix it with toilet bowl cleaners and ammonia. This can result in the production of chlorine gas. Chlorine gas is an asphyxiant, and it can be fatal if it comes into contact with the lungs. To avoid ending up with such gases in your home, make sure you allow any household cleaner that you use to completely dry before you apply bleach.
You must also keep in mind that bleach is not a cleaner. It’s a disinfectant that’s used to kill harmful germs and bacteria. Most people don’t know that bleach rapidly loses effectiveness when it’s in the presence of dirt. This is why you must remove dust using a cleaner and let the surface dry before you use bleach. You must not use bleach to wash wool, spandex, leather, or mohair. You can, however, use it to sanitize sheets, towels, and clothing properly.
Vegetable Gardening
There are a lot of reasons why you must plant a vegetable garden in your yard. The most obvious benefit is that gardening improves both your physical and mental health. When you consume more fresh vegetables, you will benefit from the highest vitamin content.
Also, planting your own vegetables reduces the risk of consuming harmful chemicals. You know exactly what you will be putting into your vegetables and, therefore, into your belly. Planting your own vegetables is also a good way to get your kids to eat vegetables. If they are involved in the planting, they will most likely want to eat what they planted.
Apart from the nutritional benefits of a vegetable garden, you will also benefit a lot in terms of mental health. Research shows that planting a garden can reduce the risk of dementia by about 36%. Gardening has also been shown to have mood-boosting benefits. Research shows that gardening can fight stress even better, like most of the hobbies you can pick up.
Gardening is also one of the most enjoyable aerobic exercises. When you are gardening, you will most likely be so focused that you won’t even notice you are breaking a sweat. All the weed pulling and bending you will be doing, including lifting and using tools, will work wonders on your muscles. This can help boost strength, stamina, and flexibility. Gardening can also help you reduce home junk removal costs by turning some of your garbage into compost.
Exercise Regularly
Everyone knows that regular exercise is good for health. It can help you lose weight as well. This is why exercise is encouraged by in home care service and in independent living communities. The good thing with exercise is that it’s never too late to start. There are a lot of ways to fit more physical activity into your schedule. If you really want to really get into it, you can get a basement remodeling contractor to build you a home gym.
Research shows that regular exercise is a great way to reduce the risk of heart disease. It strengthens the muscles in your heart, and this improves circulation and blood flow. When there is increased blood flow in your body, your brain and other organs will get more oxygen. This reduces the risk of conditions like heart attack and high cholesterol. Exercise can also help you to manage your blood sugar and levels of insulin.
Get Rid of Junk
You must always make sure that you don’t keep trash in your yard for too long. The home junk removal cost is quite affordable, so you can easily hire a service to remove trash from time to time. To check out the home junk removal cost in your area, all you need to do is do a quick Google search. You can then compare the home junk removal cost for several services near you.
These are some of the things you can do to live a healthier life. Apart from the healthy living tips listed above, you also need to just take some time to relax either on your own or with your family. You must avoid being so busy that you end up with no ‘me time’ at all.
Being busy all the time can result in your always being in survival mode, and that can be quite stressful and unhealthy. You should just take time to learn new hobbies and research new things like home junk removal cost, dent-repair techniques, or how to install an Amish prefab garage.