First things first, open your windows and let some "fresh" air in. The air inside your home is loaded with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that evaporate, or "offgas," from home decorating, cleaning products and your furniture.

If you love the smell of flowers, buy fresh flowers. Most Scented candles, room fresheners, and cleaning products all contain toxic chemicals. These toxic chemicals fill the air in your home, especially in the winter time. Tip. If you have a garbage disposal, eat a couple oranges and run the peels thru the disposal it will create a nice citrus smell in the kitchen.

Studies show that homes that use air fresheners reported higher rates of headaches, depression, and ear infections amongst infants.

There have been several reported cases where parents cured their child's asthma by simply changing their household cleaning supplies.

Be careful when using anti-bacterial soaps, they often contain toxic chemicals and will reduce your immunity over time. Being exposed to some germs is actually ok, it teaches our bodies to defend against them.

Buyer Beware! There is no regulation on making claims as "all natural" or "organic" for cleaning supplies. So just because they say "environmentally friendly" doesn't mean that it is. In many cases non toxic, may just mean "less toxic" which is better than nothing.

Many people including myself choose Seventh Generation Cleaning Products as a descent alternative to the everyday products our parents have been using for most of their lives.

More recently some cleaning supply makers, we wont mention any names, are launching TV ads saying how their new bleach products are keeping your kids safe. This is what really bothers me, they are misleading consumers.

You can also make your own all around cleaning solution, using things like lemon, baking soda, vinegar. You can even cut the lemon in half and use it as a scrubber. It cleans well and smells great! Try it!

Floors and Carpeting

Having wood floors is usually a much better choice than carpet when it comes to keeping a healthy home. Of course wood floors are treated with chemicals as well. They are typically safer than carpet that has been loaded with some of the most dangerous chemicals out there. These chemicals include toluene, benzene, formaldehyde, ethyl benzene, styrene, acetone and a host of others, some of which made the EPA's list of Extremely Hazardous Substances. There are known carcinogens such as
 p-Dichlorobenzene  in new carpets, as are chemicals that produce fetal abnormalities in test animals. These chemicals also cause hallucinations, nerve damage and respiratory illness in humans.

Carpets use flame retardants and stain preventing materials which are known to cause damage to thyroid, immune system and brain development functions in humans.

Old carpet may be worse. It may contain chemicals that are so dangerous they have been removed or banned from current carpet manufacturing. Chemicals and toxins settle and absorb in carpet and they will remain there for years.

Vacuuming may remove some dirt from your carpet but it will also shake up a lot of dust and toxins that are bad for your environment.