Overhauling Your DIY Routine For A Cleaner Future
Photo by Annie Gray on Unsplash
Getting work done around the home is as natural for many people as cooking and cleaning. Unfortunately, that same work can have a deleterious effect on the quality of life you enjoy within the home. As outlined by the BBC, indoor air pollution has become a huge problem for homes globally. Making sure that you protect yourself from the impacts of indoor air pollution is crucially important in the entire DIY cycle, from the preparation of your areas right through to the finalization of your big project.
Preparing areas
Cleaning products are one of the primary vectors of indoor air pollution, according to the CDC. Chemical products contain both organic and inorganic volatile compounds that can lead to a range of respiratory issues, and often remain in the home atmosphere long after cleaning has finished. They can also have an impact on the environment – the chemicals in household cleaners that end up being washed down the drain are often responsible for ecosystem damage further down the chain. It is important to ensure that any cleaning job on your property is undertaken in an eco-conscious and friendly way – and that’s whether you’re doing the job yourself or obtaining professional help. Looking for natural alternatives to cleaning products (and professionals who use them), like vinegar, sodas and natural acids, is a good place to start, and can help to improve indoor air quality today.
Looking at upcycling
Reducing the amount of newly created products in your home can also help to improve your quality of life. Freshly finished products – for instance, varnished wooden furniture, or chemically treated metals – are only just being subjected to the rigors of daily life. They can, and will, leave deposits of harmful trace chemicals in the atmosphere. By contrast, items that have already been loved and worn down benefit from a greater level of environmental resilience. USA Today highlights a few key ways you can upcycle, such as using pallets to create new furniture or using old plastic bottles as the core of new planter units in your home. This will also help you to do your bit for the environment and improve air quality everywhere.
Using futuristic materials
Innovation magazine The Patent highlighted the registration of ‘Airlite’ back in 2019. Touted as a smog-eating paint, it has absorbent qualities that both reflect heat and take pollutants out of the air. Since the invention of this compound, many products of a similar ilk have found their way onto consumer markets. Implementing the use of futuristic materials such as these can be a great way to finish off any project and make it truly forward-thinking. Imagine the quality of life you can grant yourself by literally removing pollutants from the air and sequestering them in the walls of your home.
Consider the joint benefit of improving your own indoor air quality and reducing the impact on the planet’s resources. It has a twofold effect, improving your own lot today, while also reducing the strain for tomorrow. Bear these principles in mind before your next project, and it will be one to last.
