5 Realistic Resolutions For A Non-Toxic New Year

Whether you're into the idea of New Year's resolutions or not, a new year always seems to help us reevaluate our daily habits. The ladies of MADE SAFE are helping us take a closer look at a few potentially toxic habits we may take for granted and sharing easy ways we can lighten our toxic load. These non-toxic resolutions are worth committing to...

We’ve all been there: making sweeping New Years resolutions we don’t have a chance of keeping, always with good intentions but not always with attainable goals. This year, make a resolution you can keep — and keep it simple. When it comes to detoxing our bodies, avoiding harmful chemicals is powerful. Even the smallest steps can make a difference. Need proof? Check out this study on girls who switched cosmetics for three days and showed a significant drop in hormone-disrupting chemicals in their bodies. Or this study on how people who stopped eating canned food and food packaged in plastic for a few days showed a 60% drop of the hormone disruptor BPA in their blood.

Below are five easy resolutions to choose from that can make a difference for your health. Happy detoxing!

Green Your Cleaning

Conventional cleaning products can contain some very strong chemicals – including harmful ones. Common chemicals in cleaners have been linked to a range of human health harm, including reproductive problems like fertility issues and birth defects, hormone disruption, breast cancer, allergies and asthma and other respiratory problems.

To clean a little better for your health, look for products with all ingredients listed on the label and look for the MADE SAFE seal. We really like Meliora products because we know they’re made from clean ingredients. Try to use a single multi-purpose cleaner where possible. Cleaning product companies have convinced us that we need a different product for every surface, but usually a multi-purpose cleaner is all you need for general cleaning – and it reduces your exposure to the myriad chemicals in all the rest of those cleaners you’d otherwise be using. You can even try mixing your own solutions with plain old vinegar, lemon and baking soda.

Grow living things

According to the World Health Organization 17% of lung cancers are linked to indoor air pollution. Not outdoor — indoor. In addition, studies show that toxic chemicals like phthalates and flame retardants settle in house dust. However, house plants are renowned for adding a breath of fresh air (so to speak) to mitigate toxins in our homes, there are seven plants identified by NASA as effective for purifying indoor air.

Detox Your Hair Color

Hair dye is one of the most notoriously toxic products on the market and can contain harmful chemicals like toluene (linked to liver damage, kidney damage, birth defects and pregnancy loss), resorcinol (linked to organ system toxicity and hormone disruption), p-phenylenediamine (linked to skin sensitization and cancer) and lead acetate (linked to neurotoxicity).

Instead, check out the revolution that is Hairprint. Rather than a hair dye, Hairprint restores grey hair to its natural color. Yes, you read that right. And not only does it restore natural color, it restores the natural texture of hair. And it does all this with green chemistry, which uses benign nontoxic molecules to achieve better results than synthetic chemicals.

For those of you who don’t dye, try Hairprint’s chelating wash to cleanse your scalp from years of chemical buildup and hard water deposits so you can start with a nontoxic shampoo or no-poo routine all year long.

Go Fragrance-Light

Let’s be honest: Going fragrance-free in this day and age is impossible, with air fresheners in public bathrooms, signature scents in hotel rooms and fragranced everything, from toilet paper to markers to cosmetics. And this is something of a problem, because fragrance can contain some harmful chemicals like phthalates, synthetic musks and even styrene, a known carcinogen.

The good news is that you can control fragrance in your home and personal-care products. Ditch air fresheners, look for fragrance with essential oils and shop for products like those from Alaffia, S.W. Basics, True Botanicals, Annmarie Skin Care and Kosmatology.

Reduce Plastics

This one’s kind of like fragrance — it’s nearly impossible to avoid plastic in our everyday lives. But studies show that plastic is loaded with toxic chemicals. In fact, some studies suggest that almost all plastics have estrogenic activity and therefore could leech endocrine disrupting chemicals, whether it’s labeled “BPA-free” or not.

Opt for stainless steel bottles, like the ones from Pura Stainless that can work for the whole family, from babies to kids to adults. Also opt for food products stored in glass over plastic and store leftovers at home in glass or ceramic containers as well. Remember to never ever heat food in plastic containers or pouches.

And with that you’re already off to a healthier new year. Without hours of fasting, this is the easiest detox ever, right?

The post 5 Realistic Resolutions For A Non-Toxic New Year appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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