Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Share and Voice: Are You Polluting Your Home?


Do any of you use candles, reed diffusers, or candle warmers? Well, I do and thought it would be interesting to know which of these would be less damaging to oneself. What I found is that they all are harmful. I started buying reed diffusers since burning candles produces smoke causing me to get headaches and candle warmers need to be plugged in for hours before they take effect. I found a website called Azsustainability which informed me of the dangers of these products and gave tips of what other methods are effective.

Alternatives:

#1 Boil aromatic botanicals on the stove. Boiling citrus peels offer a fresh scent!
#2 Heat essential oils or pure food grade extracts in boiling/simmering water on the stove. Many flavors are available for your preference.
#3 Get a tea light or electric diffuser to warm and distribute essential oils or food extracts.
#4 Make your own “solar” aromatherapy diffuser by putting some water and essential oils or food extracts in a glass in a sunny window.
#5 Look for essential oil based products - Aura Cacia has some great plug in essential oil based products available at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and probably several other health food stores.
#6 If you want to neutralize odors leave a bowl of vinegar in the middle of the room for an hour or so. Try cleaning your surfaces with vinegar to help reduce odors all over.
#7 Open your windows! It's almost summer time! Allow the fresh air inside your house. Circulation is critical for airing out your home.

The alternative I thought was the most interesting is the solar reed diffuser. I think this is a great solution for keeping your home smelling fresh without polluting harmful chemicals.

Christen's Thoughts:
I really enjoyed researching this topic since I use many reed diffusers throughout my house. I am interested in the solar reed diffuser, but will probably continue using the reed diffusers that I have been using. They smell amazing, but I am open to trying other techniques as well. I hope you found this share and voice interesting. Remember, GO GREEN!

5 comments:

Kaileigh's Nature Log said...

This is neat..I didn't realize that they were that bad for the environment. I would have never thought to look this up! Great job!:)

Heather Belknap said...

Christen

This is really cool! We have reed diffusers all over my house, and none of us ever knew they were bad in any way! I think we may have to look into getting these! Good find!

Heather

*Shar* said...

Christen,
I also have diffusers all over my house and I never realized they were bad for the environment. I would have never thought this up for a share and voice so congrats on being creative. Good post=)

Dr. V. said...

I feel much more informed after this! Thank you, Christen! I never considered the reed diffusers as an issue. This is proof that I do learn something new every day!

hschoof said...

Great post Christen! I sometimes use candles in my room, and I never really considered their effects. This was very informative, way to go!