Low air quality stinks! Not only might it actually be smelly, but it can also have negative effects on our health, mood, and more. In fact, poor air quality in homes has been linked to fatigue, asthma, and even lung disease. Despite what we may assume, outdoor air pollution usually isn’t the biggest offender. Indoor air has been shown to be 2-5 times as contaminated as outdoor air in some places. Household cleaners filled with chemicals, air fresheners, scents and paraffin filled candles can further pollute indoor air and contribute to poor indoor air quality. If you experience allergy symptoms, your home air quality could be the cause. Stale indoor air increases the amount of allergens floating around our homes – we’re talking pet dander, dust mites, and mold spores, yuck! Luckily there are many easy and delightful ways to defeat this problem!
Beeswax Candles –Creating a welcoming and warm ambiance isn’t the only thing these guys are good at! As they burn, these candles release negative ions – making them air purifiers. Dust, dirt, pollen, dander, and all the other junk that can be in our air has a positive charge. As beeswax candles burn and release negative ions, those negative ions bind with the positive charged toxins and help remove them from the air. Such a cool process! Our family had a great time hand-pouring our own beeswax candles and placing them all over the house recently, a fun afternoon activity that anyone can do!
House plants – In the late 80s, NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America studied houseplants as a way to purify the air in space facilities. They found several plants that filter out common volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are emitted from certain liquids and solids found in our homes. Here is a list of some of my favorite house-plants that have been proven to purify air:
- Snake plant – This plant is one of the best for filtering out formaldehyde, which is common in cleaning products, toilet paper, tissues and personal care products.
- Boston Fern- Easy to grow, good at filtering the air, hard to kill!
- Bamboo palm – this small palm thrives indoors, even in the shade! It tops the list of plants best for filtering out both benzene and trichloroethylene. They’re also a good choice for placing around furniture that could be emitting formaldehyde.
- English Ivy – so super easy to maintain even if you don’t have a green thumb! Provides additional oxygen while filtering out toxins.
Salt Lamps – I won’t be too repetitive because salt lamps work the same way as beeswax candles, just another great option for improving air quality! They are so soothing and relaxing, and have other benefits such as improving sleep and boosting levels of serotonin in the brain.
Last but not least – OPEN YOUR WINDOWS! Even if just for a few minutes, even in the colder months, this simple act can really work wonders for getting fresh air flowing and flushing out toxins!
If you are familiar with Norwex, you know the products strive to promote waste reduction. An amazing way I’ve found that helped my family drastically reduce our paper waste is… Norwex Napkins!!
While paper products are biodegradable, just think how many trees we go through as a country to keep up with this habit of consumption and disposal! An average American consumes around 2,200 paper napkins per year. 2,200 napkins multiplied by approximately 315 million Americans = 693 BILLION napkins/year. Holy smokes!!
Here is how YOU can make a small change that has a HUGE impact. If every person used just ONE LESS napkin per day, 1 billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills. Yes, 1 billion pounds! If giving up paper napkins sounds overwhelming to you, and you dread having to wash cloth napkins after every meal, not to fear!! Norwex Napkins contain BacLock. This means that after each use, these guys self-sanitize because of the embedded microsilver – killing bacteria & mildew so it can’t reproduce. How great is that?! Of course you should wash them occasionally, but a good shake down works wonders for removing crumbs, AND they dry quickly should they need a quick run under the faucet. My family washes ours after a few uses.
I can’t leave out this awesome fact – each set of 4 Norwex Napkins is made from 5 recycled plastic bottles! Even though they’re made from recycled material, these napkins come in 2 colors that can be dressed up or down, creating the perfect addition to your family dinner table!
Two lovely colors + BACLOCK + getting the job done (better than paper in my opinion) makes these nifty napkins your perfect all around solution! I encourage you to give them a try! If you don’t want to quit paper napkins cold turkey, start by having one paper napkin-less meal per day…it can make a huge difference for our earth!
Last weekend, our family made & canned 104 quarts of applesauce! We try to do this every year or so, and it gets easier as the kids get older – but the demand sure does increase! Canning is one way we try to cut down on waste as a family.
It’s a win-win because the day of canning (and I mean WHOLE day!) is such a fun time and the kids love being able to help. Everyone has a role, even if it’s toddling around with an apple in each hand munching away, AND we get a few months worth of applesauce with no can waste! The day of canning got me thinking about other creative ways we can continue to reduce waste. Here are a few of my favorites!
Makeup Cloths –
These are the ultimate chemical free facial cleansing cloths. Most store bought makeup removing cloths are soaked with chemicals that are not kind to your skin. This suede like material does an amazing job at removing makeup – foundation, mascara, eyeliner, etc, WITHOUT chemicals! Store bought makeup removal wipes can be expensive! Using 1 or 2 a day really adds up. Just think how big of a difference it would make if you didn’t have to reach for a disposable makeup removal wipe every night!
Click the picture to buy yours today!
Counter cloths –
You can read my in-depth blog post about Counter Cloths here, but to keep things short, I LOVE these guys! My family uses them almost constantly in the kitchen. They are such an amazing alternative to paper towels. Even the same size as a half paper towel sheet, but better! Honestly we use these guys so much I can’t even imagine how many paper towels we would go through if we used them. They clean up messes and most importantly, stop the growth and spread of icky bacteria, mold, and mildew with BacLock.
Click the picture to buy yours today!
Envirocloth
The “everything” cloth! I always say you can never have too many of these puppies! It’s amazing how many messes these have cleaned in my home with 6 kids, chickens, and our huge pup. These cloths can do it all (except dishes)! If you’ve yet to try Norwex products, start here with this guy! Read more about what makes the Envirocloth so awesome here!
Click the picture to buy yours today!
Silicone Container/Cup Lids
If you find yourself reaching for aluminum foil or plastic wrap to cover dishes often, these could be a great solution for you! They are so versatile and able to fit over almost all types of pots/pans/bakeware/cups/etc. Stock up on a few of these Silicone Lids and say goodbye to the plastic wrap problem!
Click the picture to buy yours today!
Reusable Wet Wipes bag
This is a lovely idea for families with kiddos on the go! I know for us, every time we’re out and about the kids touch things with germs, get sticky fingers, wipe boogers on their fingers, and so on! Fill one of the Reusable Wet Wipes bags with a few moist Travel Size Envirocloths, and you’re all set. Remove yucky bacteria and germs on the go without going through any disposable wipes!
Click the picture to buy yours today!
Straws
Plastic straws are a HUGE environmental issue these days! In America, we use over 500 million plastic straws per day – and most of those end up in the ocean, polluting the water & killing ocean life. Did you know at least 267 different species have been affected by plastic pollution in the ocean? If we can’t get this problem under control, by 2050 there will be more PLASTIC in our oceans than FISH. That just isn’t right!! YOU can help make a change! I’ve been so happy to see some popular restaurants and cafes making changes to help reduce the amount of plastic straw waste, and you can join the fight too! These stainless steel straws are perfect for at home or on the go. Keep a couple in your purse or car so you’re able to say no to plastic straws while dining out. Seriously, every time you say no adds up and is one less straw in our oceans. Let’s keep this earth beautiful!
Click the picture to buy yours today!
Grocery bags
Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes. Another easy way to reduce waste is bringing your own reusable grocery bags when you go shopping instead of using their disposable ones! The average American family takes home 1,500 plastic shopping bags in a year – but only 1 percent of plastic bags are returned for recycling. That means that the average family only recycles 15 bags a year; the rest ends up in landfills as litter. Holy smokes! There are so many better uses for those than going home with us! For example – Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, which require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture. It only takes about 14 plastic bags for the equivalent of the gas required to drive one mile. 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags annually, and one in three leatherback sea turtles have been found with plastic in their stomachs.
Click the picture to buy yours today!
Guys, we CAN make a difference and we are responsible for taking care of our earth. Think of a few ways you can join the fight to reduce waste in your life and let’s start making those changes today!
I have some exciting news to share with you guys! Last week, Norwex announced the release of some awesome new products – check them out below!
NEW PRODUCT: Microfiber Cleaner/Laundry Booster (available in October) – I am super excited about this product! As you all know, our microfiber cloths pick up a TON of junk and bacteria. Over time, build up may cause your cloths to smell a bit funky. In the past my favorite way to deep clean my cloths was to boil a pot of water, add a scoop of laundry detergent and let them soak overnight. Not anymore!! Norwex knew about that issue and released this new Microfiber Cleaner! Instead of having to boil water and let your cloths soak overnight, you just need to add a scoop of Microfiber Cleaner to a bowl of warm water and let soak for 30 MINUTES! This Microfiber Cleaner is also a Laundry Booster so if you have any incredibly dirty clothes, you can add it in with your regular load of clothes and detergent and it will remove yucky stains and odors.
NEWLY FORMULATED Laundry Detergents – Norwex has made their detergents even more concentrated, to last even longer for you! Click HERE for more details on the laundry soap!
NEW COLORS of EnviroCloths – How pretty are these Champagne and Rose Quartz colors?! AND, these cloths are made from 50% recycled plastic! There is 2 plastic bottles in one of these new Enviro cloths!. (More more details, you can check them out on my Norwex site HERE)
NEW COLOR of Window Cloth – Same awesome window cleaning cloth, lovely new color. The window cloth is a MUST in everyone. Zero steaks but just water 🙂
RETURN of the Graphite Dusting Mitt – This was a customer favorite and now it’s back! Did you know that dust harbors TONS of toxic contaminants? I love that I don’t have to dust as often with this guy because it’s not leaving any residue behind for future dust to hold onto.
NEW PATTERN for Norwex Napkins made from 50% recycled material and bacLock – Love this beautiful leaf pattern! Norwex Napkins are a GREAT way to cut down on waste from paper napkins in your home.
NEW COLORS for Superior Mop – Guys, isn’t this such a lovely color combination?! Gold/Rose Gold mop handle, and mop pads in Champagne and Rose Quartz. Now made from recycled material! The mop system has greatly reduced my cleaning time and made my floor cleaning so much simpler. A lot of people host a party to get this guy for free 🙂 Click HERE for more mop info!
NEW & IMPROVED Travel Pack – It now comes with FIVE cloths in these new colors! SO handy when out and about!
NEW PATTERNS for Wet Wipes Bags – These bags are great for carrying cloths on the go.
COUNTER CLOTH BOX – You guys wanted this back and Norwex heard you, it’s back forever! The countertop cloths are SO helpful when trying to reduce paper towel habits and it’s a solution that really works!
NEW PATTERNS for Grocery Bags with Baclock – I love these reusable bags for grocery shopping. Reusable grocery bags can harbor tons of bacteria because of all the food they carry, but with Baclock in these bags they are bacteria free!
COMING IN OCTOBER – Toddler Bib & Cloth in two beautiful designs! These have the antibacterial silver agent in them along with a little cloth for cleanups.
I’m interested to hear what you all think! Let me know your opinions and what you’re most excited about in the comments!!
Today I want to share about the AMAZING Counter Cloths! These cloths can be used just like an Enviro Cloth, but their main goal is to cut down (or completely replace) use of paper towels. These guys are great in your kitchen for so many reasons. They come in a variety of colors to match your own kitchen. The microfiber is textured in a way that maximizes the amount of liquid/food/dirt/etc the cloth can pick up. Anything that you usually grab a paper towel for, these guys can be used instead! They are even shaped just like a half sheet of an average paper towel used for wiping up messes – but these cloths pick up so much more mess, and bacteria, than a regular paper towel. Not only do the Counter Cloths do a better job cleaning (did I mention they remove 99% of bacteria using only the cloth and water?!), but they can really make a wonderful impact on our planet. Did you know 13 billion pounds of paper towels are used each year? That’s over 45 pounds of paper towels per person, per year. Holy cow that’s a lot!
My family decided to totally replace paper towel use with Norwex products instead, and the Counter Cloth is definitely one of my favorites in the kitchen. Maybe your family is not ready to completely stop using paper towels, then maybe you could consider this – 544,000 trees could be saved each year if each US household used JUST ONE LESS roll of paper towels! We can make a huge difference in our environment just by slowly replacing our habits. I challenge you to say no to at least one (or more) rolls of paper towels and use these awesome Counter Cloths instead!