We spend over 90% of our time indoors. Are we having a negative effect on our health by doing so? What makes a healthy home? Some fixes are so simple and easy such as opening a window. It is my mission to build my own healthy home but in order to start, I need to understand the key elements.
There are ideas and theories about what makes a ‘Healthy Home’. From my research, experience and understanding, these are my key pillars. All of these pillars, I will explore soon in more detail.
FRESH, CLEAN AIR – Ventilation, filtration and good Indoor Air Quality are so incredibly important. We are all aware of pollution outside, but considering that we spend the vast majority of our time (around 90% according to a recent study) indoors, we really should be concerned about this. Check out my post about MVHR (mechanical ventilation heat recovery).
NATURAL LIGHT – The benefits of sunlight are well documented. Surrounding ourselves with an environment that has natural light and with less blue light (from phones, computers, tvs, modern-day lighting) can help our circadian rhythm. This is turn helps our sleep which has a huge impact on our health. Read more on lighting here.
WATER QUALITY – Keeping hydrated is so incredibly important. Alot is written about the food we consume and how that affects us, but what about the water? Water can contain harmful chemicals and bacteria and so a water filtration system is really important.
LOW TOXICITY BUILDING MATERIALS – This is one that we don’t have much control over unless we are building or renovating. Thankfully there are regulations against things such as lead and asbestos etc.
TEMPERATURE – Not being too hot or too cold can have a big impact on our health. Ideally this is regulated through an air recovery system but where this isn’t enough or isn’t feasible then technology is great at regulating the temperature in our home.
SECURITY – Feeling safe in our own homes definitely has an effect on our stress levels and responses.
LOW TOXICITY PRODUCTS – I’ve put cleaning products on there as they are the most obvious and the easiest to change but harmful chemicals that we breathe in or absorb through our skin can be also be found in air fresheners, types of flooring, furniture treatments, toothpastes, cleansers – the list goes on! Working to eliminate as many of these as possible is ideal.
NO TOXIC MOULD – As you may have read, toxic mould made me incredibly ill. However, sometimes we may not even be aware until it’s too late. Make sure there are no leaks, that air from bathrooms is extracted and our indoor air quality is good are the best places to start. Don’t ignore that mould growth you can see!
LOW EMF – Electromagnetic Fields – we’re surrounded by them! Reducing them where we can such as using ethernet cables instead of WiFi for computers, turning our phones onto airplane mode at night may only make a small difference but it all helps!