Detox Your Bedroom and Make Your Sleeping Environment a Safe Haven
Never underestimate a good detox. Removing toxins from our lives gives us a renewed lease on life. We feel lighter, happier, more energized, and restful in the evening.
We tend to first look to our diet and skincare as purifying solutions. Juicing recipes for weight loss, salads or simply abstaining from caffeine or alcohol can certainly help clean out the clutter. We approach our skin in a similar fashion by hopping on the no-makeup movement or switching to all-natural beauty and skincare products. Small changes make a big, cumulative difference.
But what about our bedrooms? The one place where we regularly spend much of our lives. Actually, 1/3 of our lives, to be precise. (Young children spend even longer in the bedroom—nearly half of their day.) Shouldn’t we cleanse our sleeping environments to make them more restorative, toxin-free and healthy?
Here are changes, both big and small, that can help to improve the overall health of your bedroom.
Plants
Well-placed plants can brighten up your bedroom and improve the air quality. Indoor plants remove pollutants from the air by absorbing harmful gases through their leaves and roots. The microorganisms that live in the soil of potted plants also play an instrumental role in neutralizing VOCs and other pollutants.
Some of the plants that scientists have found most useful in removing VOCs include Japanese royal ferns, spider plants, Boston ferns, purple waffle plants, English ivy, areca palms, golden pothos, aloe vera, snake plants and peace lilies.
Bedstand
If you’re re-thinking your bedroom furniture, be sure to shop for sustainably sourced pieces. Acquiring furniture piece by piece can be an adventure as it adds character and uniqueness to a space. It’s also significantly less financially burdensome! A good bedstand is a fine place to start as you sleep next to it every night. Plus, purchasing one (even two ideally!) won’t put you out. Mattressman has a wide selection of beautiful sustainably sourced rubberwood pieces like this three-drawer bedside stand.
Organic cotton sheets
Conventional cotton is grown with the use of harmful chemicals, namely pesticides and fertilizers which contain potentially harmful materials. Conventional cotton is also subjected to chlorine bleach, heavy metal dyes and formaldehyde resins. Gross! Also of concern are “wrinkle-free” sheets—these are only wrinkle free because the sheets are saturated in formaldehyde, also a known carcinogen. Organic cotton sheets seem like a no-brainer.
A safer mattress
Did you know that most mattresses are manufactured with chemicals that include flame retardants, petroleum-based foams, plastics, vinyls, fungicides and pesticides? Flame-retardants have been linked to autism and ADD, among other things. Opt for an eco-friendly and allergy-free mattress from Mattressman.
Silk pillowcases
Silk Pillowcases are a well-known beauty secret; because of their softness and silkiness, they reduce the ‘drag’ on your face as you move around and night (especially if you sleep on your stomach), and so can reduce the development of and appearance of wrinkles. Just be sure they’re ethically sourced.
Natural detergents
What’s the sense in buying silk pillows and organic cotton sheets if your dousing them in toxic detergents? Look for laundry products made with natural essential oils without the use of phosphates. Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day has a nice selection of natural detergents that are very effective.
Take off your shoes
If it’s too tough to get your family and guests to remove their shoes when they enter your home, at least adopt a shoe-free bedroom policy. Please. An EPA study, reported in Environmental Science & Technology provided the first proof that unhealthy herbicides can be tracked into residences on shoes. In fact, the study found that “track-in” exposures of pesticides may exceed those from the best-known source–pesticide residues on non-organic fresh fruits and vegetables.
Air Purifiers
Plants will surely help cleanse the air in your bedroom, but Honeywell Air purifiers will take your room to next-level purity. They also reduce allergens and odors.
This post was sponsored by Mattressman.
Main image via Jeremy Levine Design/Flickr.
Lindsay E. Brown
Lindsay has spent her career at the intersection of media and social change. In her role at Eco-Chick, Lindsay has established partnerships and campaigns with some of the world’s most-recognized companies committed to sustainability and CSR. She co-created the popular interview series “Heroines for the Planet” that features groundbreaking women who share courage and a deep passion for protecting people and the Earth. Lindsay is the Marketing and Sustainability Manager at Health-Ade Kombucha and previously served as Director of Communications at the social enterprise CBS EcoMedia. There she directed corporate advertising dollars to the nation’s most effective non-profits tackling urgent social issues in local communities and was awarded CBS Corporation’s prestigious Share-the-Vision award. She has written for Whole Living Magazine, Edible, Cottages & Gardens, From The Grapevine, EarthHour.org, Eco-Age.com, and for environmentalists Laura Turner Seydel and Susan Rockefeller. Lindsay holds a BS in Global Business Studies and Marketing from Manhattan College, and received the 2012 Honors Award at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
