Top 5 Ways To Reduce Your Exposure To Environmental Toxins

If you are just getting started on your journey in avoiding environmental toxins, it can be very overwhelming. It's overwhelming even when it's not brand new! I remember back almost 7 years ago when I first realized that this was incredibly important to our overall health. One of the first documentaries I watched on this topic was called Stink - it does an incredible job of highlighting what's potentially lurking in our products and the challenge we face with the lack of transparency in the chemical industry. 

Here are my top 5 ways to reduce your exposure to environmental toxins:

1. Eat Organic: There is no doubt from a body-burden perspective, that organic foods are safer and healthier. Eating organic prevents exposure to pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, and a myriad of other chemicals in our food supply

The Environmental Working Group has a great guide for healthy shopping and the Dirty Dozen

2. Use Eco-friendly household cleaning products: What we clean our homes with leaves residues on our counters, bedding, in our air, and just about everywhere and we ingest, breathe, and absorb them. The EWG also has a great resource for environmentally friendly cleaning supplies here

We personally use Branch Basics for hand soap, Dropps for laundry and dishes, and Norwex cloths or vinegar & water to clean the counters

3. Avoid plastic bottles: I have done several features on this in my newsletter & it's important enough to continue mentioning. Most leach endocrine-disrupting chemicals into your water and other beverages. Carry drinking water in a glass or steel bottle instead and swap out your plastic Tupperware for glass storage containers.

• I use a Swell reusable water bottle and their company's mission is to rid the world of plastic water bottles

4. Choose personal care products that are safer: The last federal law passed to regulate this 80 billion dollar industry was in 1938 and is only 1.5 pages long. Only 30 ingredients are banned in the US compared to 1400 in the EU. At Beautycounter we have even stricter standards than the EU and have banned 1500 (including some the EU allows) as we consider the ingredient's impact on human health

• For more information and resources, including companies with clean ingredients and eco-friendly policies – and those to avoid check out SafeComestics.org.

5. Avoid Fragrance: The word fragrance represents a loophole where companies can hide potentially harmful ingredients. "Fragrance can be made up of hundreds of chemicals, which companies are legally allowed to keep secret from consumers. Common fragrance chemicals include phthalates (linked to reproductive and developmental harm) and synthetic musks (linked to increased risk of breast cancer)"

• These are found in your personal care products, air fresheners, candles, trash bags, and on and on. Simply choose not to purchase anything with the words fragrance or perfume on the label. 

• Phlur is a great brand for perfume! 
• Candles use beeswax with a wooden wick