Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
managing your house
Housekeeping is about so much more than cleaning a house. Until the fifteenth century, cleaning was a peripheral activity to the central tasks of preparing food, gathering and chopping wood and other fuel, keeping the house warm, and getting water. Laundry is not much of a problem when you don't have a change of clothes. When the animals that are your livelihood need feeding, who's going to worry about dust on the mantel?
What is the clever house?
Now that we live in a time of excesses, we have new considerations. Our precious belongings — be they laptops, loofahs, or lingerie — need caring for. These days we think more about the environmental impact of our actions — whether it's flushing cleaning-product residue down the drain or the amount of clean water and fossil fuels we use in heating water to wash our clothes. We are increasingly aware that just because a chemical removes stains effortlessly or a paint lasts year after year, it does not guarantee that it's nontoxic and safe near children, or even safe to use regularly.
Added to that, we want our houses to be havens. Somewhere we can escape to, away from the daily grind of weekly grocery shopping, office politics, and playground banter. Our houses are more than roofs over our heads — they are also our homes.
Clever housekeeping incorporates a number of interrelated ideas: that a house should be healthy, that living in it and maintaining it should not take an undue toll on the environment, and that it should be comfortable and safe to live in, not unnecessarily expensive to maintain, and efficient to run on a day-to-day basis.
The cleverest of clever houses incorporates all of these aspects. In fact, it is hard to do otherwise. For instance, when you choose to clean your bathroom with safe and gentle baking soda instead of a store-bought cleaner, you are not only making a green choice that could save money and has less impact on the environment, you are also creating a healthier and safer home environment for you and your family. When you plant a deciduous tree that will shade your house in summer and allow light and warmth in winter, you are making a green choice that could ultimately represent a savings on your power bill (a savings for both you and the environment), increase the comfort of your home, and contribute to a healthier atmosphere. Clever, indeed!
So let's take a closer look at all the aspects of a clever house.
Healthy house
A healthy house benefits from sufficient fresh air entering, with enough ventilation to ensure indoor air pollutants are regularly removed. Good ventilation also ensures a house is not too humid, which in turn helps keep it free from excessive mold and bacterial growth.
A healthy house is supportive and considerate of allergy sufferers. Simple measures can help — letting beds air, opening windows for ventilation, keeping sinks clean, and keeping a check on mold growth around plugs and faucets. Knowing how to effectively clean and, where necessary, disinfect around the house keeps bacterial populations below disease levels. It also encompasses knowledge of the cleaning products we use that may irritate or even poison in the wrong doses and in the wrong hands. The more we know about the chemicals that we encounter every day, the more we can make informed choices about their use.
A healthy house accommodates the various needs of all members of the family — even the family pet — and still remains healthy.
Increasingly, too, the notion of a healthy house covers choices in furniture, carpets, curtains, and decorating options — we don't put lead in paint anymore, but are there other substances in some paints we might wish to avoid if we knew more?
Green house
An environmentally friendly house is an energy-efficient and comfortable one — warm in winter, cool in summer, light enough in key rooms, and pleasant to be in because it is well ventilated and smells fresh. The green house takes less of a toll on the environment — and also on the pocket. Ideally, it is sited and landscaped to take maximum advantage of the sun's light and warmth in all the seasons of the year. It relies less on nonrenewable energy sources (such as coal) by making the best use of low-impact, renewable energy sources (such as sun and wind). The green house is a low-polluting one, not only in terms of the energy sources it uses, but also in the products that are used within its walls. Because it is also a healthy house, the green householder chooses organic cleaning products in preference to harsh and polluting chemicals. Water is conserved and reused when possible.
Recycling is a vital component of the green philosophy. From water and organic waste to recyclable building materials and packaging, the green house minimizes the production of garbage and landfill. The options available to householders for reducing the impact of their homes on the environment are growing daily and range from actions as simple as choosing reusable cloth bags over plastic at the supermarket to solar water heaters, signing on to green power sources, and even selling solar-produced electricity back to the local grid.
Efficient and safe house
When you run an efficient house, the money you save can go to other expenses such as vacations or music lessons or in a bigger house. It can ensure that you are able to make ends meet. There are numerous ways to save money here and there — from choosing energy-efficient appliances and fixing a leaking tap to growing a few vegetables (even a pot of herbs on a windowsill) or shopping in bulk.
But being efficient does not just mean being energy efficient. The efficient house ideally has a place for everything and (on a good day) everything in its place. Clutter is reduced to a minimum. In an efficient house, there is a list of emergency numbers near the phone, you can always find your umbrella, and that bill that needs to be paid today is right at hand — not buried somewhere in the middle of a mountain of papers on the dining room table!
A safe house is not only a healthy one, it also provides a physically safe environment where inhabitants of all ages can feel secure. Safety measures are often a matter of common sense and very little financial outlay. The safe house has fire alarms, circuit breakers, child-proof safety devices for toddlers, security rails in the bathroom for the elderly or infirm, outdoor lighting, a readily accessible first-aid kit, and a lockable storage space for medicines and other potentially dangerous substances.
How clever is your house?
The following chapters of this book will give you all the information you need to choose your individual path to creating your own clever house. If you feel the urge to change the way you run your home, you're more likely to be successful if you adapt it, and your lifestyle, gradually. You could start with using fewer toxic cleaning materials and decorating products, and consider the more expensive items, such as furniture or flooring, energy-efficient large appliances or solar water panels, as they need replacing. If you feel overwhelmed by clutter, tackle one room — or even one cupboard or one shelf — at a time. And remember, even the smallest changes can make a big difference. You'll be running a clever house before you know it.
CHAPTER 2
the clever house
Let's explore the various aspects of the clever house in more detail. Once you are familiar with the basic concepts, you can apply them to every room in the house and even to the garden.
WE ARE BORN AT HOME, live at home, and we must die at home, so that the comfort and economy of home are of more deep, heartfelt and personal interest to us, than the public affairs of all the nations of the world.
Motto of The Magazine of Domestic Economy (1835)
the clever house
healthy house volatile organic compounds allergies and the healthy house living with pets green house no poison — no pests clever shopping efficient and safe house safe and sound
Healthy house
Making your house healthy involves thinking about something as basic as the air you breathe — is it as clean as you think? It's about taking measures to make that air as clean as possible — from reducing pollutants to ensuring that your home is adequately ventilated and free of dampness. And it's about making sure that your home environment is comfortably clean and fresh, especially for allergy sufferers.
The air we breathe
Sources of pollution outside the house are immediately apparent. Emissions from cars and factories, for example, are often visible and may even smell. We like to think, in contrast, that our homes are havens of pure, clean air. But our homes have changed. Double glazing is more common and drafty windows and doors less common. We seal up the house for energy efficiency by draft-proofing and insulation. Central heating has largely replaced open fires, which create a draft of their own, continually drawing new fresh air into the home.
Since those of us in industrialized countries spend somewhere between 75 and 90 percent of our time indoors, we increasingly rely on the quality of indoor air. In many houses it is not being mixed regularly with air from outdoors, fresh or otherwise. In addition, new materials for furnishing and decoration are not always the inert substances we believe they are. Many substances send gaseous molecules into the air in a process called "outgassing." Although some of these are associated only with the installation of, say, a carpet, others — such as the glues in particle board furniture or urea-formaldehyde foam — continue to emit gases for years.
Paralleling this change in the chemical environment of our homes is a rise in a range of diseases and conditions such as allergies, multiple chemical sensitivity, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Whether or not you are affected by particular chemicals you are exposed to in your home or work life, such as pesticides or formaldehyde, depends on a number of factors, including your immune system (which may be compromised by lack of sleep, infection, or stress) and the degree of exposure. People can become used to their body's response to chemicals, but only for so long.
The numerous potential sources of indoor air pollution include cigarette smoke, combustion by-products, biological pollutants, volatile organic compounds, and a number of other chemical pollutants, such as heavy metals and asbestos.
Tobacco smoke is unhealthy for all
Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of more than 4,000 chemicals, some in gas form and others as solid particles. Smoke at home can cause rhinitis, pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat), a congested nose, persistent cough, headaches, wheezing and irritation of the conjunctiva (the membrane that covers the white of the eye and lines the eyelids). In addition, it can worsen respiratory conditions. Children — even more so, babies — are particularly vulnerable to problems from tobacco smoke. The smoke can trigger the onset of asthma and make an existing asthma condition more severe and more difficult to control. Long-term exposure to tobacco smoke is linked with breathing and lung disease, as well as exacerbated respiratory and cardiovascular disease and changes in the body's immune system.
FRESH AIR Place a few slices of lemon in a shallow dish of water to rid a room of the smell of cigarette smoke.
Increased ventilation helps but it does not eliminate the health risks associated with tobacco smoke. Family members may be less exposed if you insist that smokers go outside to smoke. Some high-efficiency air cleaners can remove some of the particles in tobacco smoke, but most cannot remove the gaseous pollutants.
Combustion by-products
When we burn fuel to produce heat or light, the combustion of that fuel also produces by-products, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, soot, formaldehyde, and hydrocarbons, such as butane, propane, and benzene.
Some of these by-products, such as carbon monoxide, are particularly poisonous to the elderly, fetuses, and people with cardiovascular or lung disease, and are fatal in high concentrations. Carbon monoxide poisoning sometimes mimics flu.
WHAT COLOR IS YOUR FLAME? The flame on a gas burner — for instance, the stove or water heater — should burn blue. If it's orange, it may be faulty and need servicing.
Other gaseous pollutants can cause a variety of symptoms, including dizziness, headaches, nausea, fatigue, a fast heartbeat, wheezing, persistent cough, and eye and upper respiratory tract irritation. Burning fuels may also trigger an asthma attack in some people.
Biological pollutants
When scientists talk about biological air pollution, they mean viruses and bacteria passed around by animal and human occupants of homes; insect and animal visitors — usually of the unwelcome variety — that shed allergens; and fungi and bacteria, which grow in water reservoirs and on surfaces.
Although a number of factors determine the level of biological agents that are released into the air, humidity is one of the most significant. High humidity encourages the proliferation of house dust mites and many forms of fungi. It is a particular problem after flooding or in a continually damp carpet, and in poorly ventilated bathrooms and kitchens. In addition, several household appliances produce moisture and are therefore ideal conditions for bacteria and fungi. The appliance culprits are humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air-conditioners, and drip pans under the cooling coils of refrigerators.
Microbes may also linger in some heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems — sometimes for very obvious reasons, such as air intake pipes situated near spots contaminated by bird and animal droppings; at other times because of humidification systems or cooling coils.
Biological pollution can cause infections, hypersensitivity diseases, and toxicosis (where biologically produced toxins cause a direct toxic effect).
A well-known disease associated with indoor air contamination is legionnaire's disease. This is a type of pneumonia caused by the agent Legionella pneumophila, which is associated with cooling systems and whirlpool baths. Other diseases associated with poor indoor air quality include tuberculosis and humidifier fever, a flulike illness thought to be caused by biological toxins and related to exposure to amoebas, bacteria, and fungi found in humidifier reservoirs, air conditioners, and aquariums.
Allergic reactions, ranging from rhinitis, nasal congestion, inflammation of the conjunctiva, hives, and asthma, may be triggered by a number of biological agents. Notable culprits include molds, dust mites, cockroaches, rodents, birds, cats, and dogs. In addition, natural furnishing fillings, such as feathers, and the plant fiber kapok may also act as allergens.
Other chemical pollutants
Air can also carry other pollutants, such as the heavy metals lead and mercury, as well as asbestos and the gases radon and ozone.
LEAD
Lead poisoning can have a long-term impact on children's development. Toxicity in children can manifest itself as an acute illness, with symptoms of irritability, abdominal pain, marked ataxia (lack of coordination and clumsiness), and seizures or loss of consciousness. Symptoms in adults include headache, nausea, weight loss, constipation, fatigue, and personality changes.
Children can get lead poisoning if they ingest flakes or dust particles of old lead-containing paint. Although the lead content of gas has been reduced in many countries, even in those where it is now banned in gas, in places of heavy traffic lead remains in nearby soil and can become airborne and enter dwellings either through windows and doors or on feet. Lead is also a constituent of numerous arts and craft materials. Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is a widely used plastic that sometimes contains the poisonous metals lead and cadmium as stabilizers. (It also contains plasticizers, which may also be dangerous if ingested.)
See "The Living Room," page 245, for advice on dealing with lead paint in your home.
MERCURY
The presence of lead in old paint has been widely publicized; not so the presence of mercury in new paint. Some interior latex paints contain phenylmercuric acetate, or PMA, as a preservative. PMA is now banned in the United States.
ASBESTOS
Long-term exposure to asbestos can cause cancer. It was once widely used in structural fireproofing and may still be found in heating systems, acoustic insulation, ceiling tiles, and shingles in older houses. It was also formerly used in fireplace gloves, ironing board covers, and some hair dryers. When material containing asbestos is damaged or starts to disintegrate, microscopic fibers are dispersed into the air — for up to thirty years. If they find their way into human lungs, they can cause asbestosis (usually only seen in people whose work has brought them into regular exposure to asbestos), lung cancer, and other lung and gastric illnesses.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Toxin-Free Home"
by .
Copyright © 2015 Alison Haynes.
Excerpted by permission of Skyhorse Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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