I started my non-toxic living journey about nine years ago. I still remember the feeling of overwhelm as I looked at the pile of shampoo, hair spray, perfumes, body wash, and other personal care products I had just put in the middle of my bathroom when I decided to remove anything with fragrance from my home.
How would I ever find replacement for all these products?!
Reducing toxins in your home can feel overwhelming, but it’s a long process, and you don’t have to do it all at once. In fact, I encourage you not to do it all at once because not only can that be overwhelming, but it can also be very expensive. So what’s the best way to go about reducing toxins in your home if not just throwing everything you own in the garbage?
How to Simplify Your Non-toxic Living Journey
- Prioritize the areas in your home that are most important to you and find replacements for those things. I started off prioritizing removing fragrance from my home and replacing all of my cleaning supplies and personal care products. Finding non-toxic swaps for these items felt the most manageable to me at the beginning of my non-toxic living journey.
- As you get close to using up all of a specific product, start looking into a swap that is safer and has fewer harmful ingredients. Rather than waiting until you’re out of the product and scrambling to replace it, plan ahead and research your replacement while you aren’t in a rush. Then, when you need more of that specific item or product, you already know what no-toxic swap you are going to purchase.
- If possible, set aside a small monthly budget for larger non-toxic purchases. items like mattresses, pots and pans, and air purifiers can really be an investment, so setting aside a monthly budget will allow you to work towards purchasing these more expensive items.
I really want to encourage you to not let your non-toxic living journey become stressful. It does not have to be all or nothing. I fell into the trap of perfection for a long time, and it was really harmful to my health. My motto is do what you can where and when you can do it, and let the rest go. Why? Because stress is also toxic. If you have removed all of the toxic products from your home, but you’re stressed about it, and also rigid in the way you live, this can actually be more toxic and harmful than being exposed to some toxins. The reality is that we live in a toxic world, and it’s nearly impossible to completely avoid exposure, so just do the best you can, and that is enough.
Non-toxic Living Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive!
Here’s another thing I really want everyone to know about reducing the toxins in your home:
It actually doesn’t have to be more expensive!
I’ve found that as I removed toxic products from my home and researched replacements, I ended up using natural products that have multiple uses and could replace multiple products. So, instead of having four personal care products that all supposedly have different uses, I might use just one non-toxic product to replace all four products. In addition, my entire family, including my children, use many of the same products, whereas previously, we had products meant for each individual person. I found that I actually reduced the amount of products I had in my home and simplified. It was such a breath of fresh air!
To save money, I stock up on the non-toxic products I use most often when sales are going on. I find I do not spend more money on household products than I did before my transition to non-toxic living. Being more intentional and planning what I am purchasing and when I am purchasing it has also reduced my impulse shopping, which is another win for my budget.
3 Simple Non-toxic Living Swaps
If you are just starting out on your non-toxic journey, here are 3 super easy non-toxic swaps you can implement right now:
- Replace all cleaning products with Earthley cleaning products. Earthley makes non-toxic living so simple because they have so many amazing products: from personal care to herbal supplements to cleaning products. Earthley carries non-toxic dish soap, laundry detergent, and cleaning spray concentrate so all of your cleaning needs can be taken care of in one place. You can save 10% your first purchase with the code TAYLOR10.
- Body wash swap: Aleavia is a non-toxic, prebiotic body cleanser that is great for the entire family! No more separate body washes for every person in the family. My whole family uses Aleavia. If you are really into minimizing your personal care products, you can even use Aleavia as shampoo! My entire family uses Aleavia as shampoo. Pro tip: wash, rinse, and repeat. You get the lather the second time around. Save 15% off all Aleavia purchases with the code TAYLORK15.
- Replace your toothpaste with Risewell Hydroxyapatite toothpaste. Hydroxyapatite is a natural ingredient that has been proved to be as effective as flouride, without all of the negative side effects. Save 10% with the code KULIK10.
If you are wanting to go a bit further and invest in some of those big ticket, non-toxic items, here were my first priorities:
- Air purifier: It’s a priority to me that we are breathing in clean air in our home. We use the Air Doctor to effectively reduce air pollution.
- Non-toxic mattress: We spend a good chunk of our lives in our bed, and most mattresses are made with harmful flame retardants. Especially as parents, we prioritize having a non-toxic, safe mattress for us and our children to sleep on. We love My Green Mattress. I’ve found this to brand to be one of the most affordable non-toxic mattresses on the market. Use the code TAYLORK for a discount.
Reducing toxins in your life can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Replacing items one at a time and not having an all or nothing approach is the key to maintaining balance and sanity while trying to reduce toxin exposure.
