Caring for the Body and its Home Environment: Your home environment can have a huge impact on your health and wellness, says Organic Living's Gerard Windstein

Organic Living/EcoClean is a local, family-owned storefront that has been in business for more than 30 years, specializing in improving the quality of the environment in your home. Organic Living believes that your home is your third skin, the foundation of your life and the essence of your family environment. All too often, the greatest effort in living a healthy and green lifestyle is concentrated solely within the body.

Years ago, homes used to leak all the air in the home at least twice daily, which allowed for toxins to be constantly diffused indoors. In contrast, modern, energy-efficient homes are designed not to leak to save energy. They have in effect become giant “Ziploc bags” and everything we bring into our home is ingested through our lungs and skin. An awareness of the toxicity of items you purchase containing volatile organic compounds (VOC) is very important. Installing new carpet, padding, paint or cabinets can take months or even years to cure and off-gas. During this process, you are marinating in a potentially toxic soup! Using non-toxic products reduces the potentially detrimental health effects for your family.

A second important issue is semi-VOCs such as flame retardants and plasticizers. These chemicals are designed to be around as long as the treated material is in your home (i.e., mattresses, carpet, padding and flooring). Over time, these chemicals break down and become part of the dust that you, your family and your pets are breathing in.

Consider investing in a high-quality, medical-grade air purifier, such as IQ Air, that can remove chemicals and ultra-fine particles. We carry the finest organic mattresses and bedding, a full line of paints, stains, flooring, household cleaning and personal care products and vacuums. Our “Natural Baby” corner offers unique organic clothing and accessories. A new Electro Pollution area has been added, with products to help protect you from electromagnetic fields and dirty electricity.

Organic Living recognizes that your entire family’s health is a priority, and provides the best toxic-free products for you and the environment. While there is no doubt our lives have been improved in many ways through technology, we have learned much about how toxins and other indoor pollutants can negatively affect our health and damage our bodies over time. At Organic Living/EcoClean, we ask, “Why only take care of the body and not the environment around it”?

Gerard Windstein is the president and founder of EcoClean and Organic Living, and has dedicated his career to researching safe alternatives to toxic home products. For more information, phone 602-224-5313 or visit OrganicLivingAz.com.