I’ve always had a problem with traditional household air fresheners – glade plug-ins, fabreeze, etc. for a few different reasons. Before I knew they were toxic, I felt confused by their purpose because they would smell good for the first few minutes of entering some one’s home but within an hour I’d have a headache. These days, most people know these ‘air deodorizers’ are simply masking our home’s odors and in the process blowing phthalates and VOCs like benzene and formaldehyde chemicals throughout our house and into our bodies. Most air fresheners on the market contain levels of chemicals that are considered too high to be safe for humans and so the focus for this article is to promote hand-made air fresheners so you can trust the ingredient list. With the amount of green washing with ‘all-natural’ products on the market isn’t it nice to be in control of an ingredient list?

It is funny to learn the most effective way to removing odours from your home is opening a window. This must be why our grandparents look at us and shake their heads.  I also found an awesome stove-top recipe from the Cleaning Naked site that I love because it’s super inexpensive and the fastest way to create a completely natural room deodorizer – without any chemicals! Plus it takes less than 2 minutes to prepare and create which works well in this busy house!

Put 1/2 cup water in a small pan
Add cut up 1/2 lemon (or orange)
Add cinnamon sticks (approx. 4-8 sticks)
Bring to boil and let simmer

The aroma is amazing and you receive a rewarding scent like you’ve been baking all day. It’s the same cozy smell and the cinnamon is wonderful and warm.

Another reason I liked this natural, home made air freshener recipe is because most home-made air freshener recipes call for essential oils and they are quite expensive. I purchased my cinnamon sticks – about 20 of them for just over $1. We always have an orange (can be substituted in the recipe for the lemon) or lemon ready to go bad in the fridge…so it’s worked great for us.

For once I’ve managed a quick, short post so I wanted to add a funny story that recently happened with me and Fabreeze – just so you truly understand how much I dislike this product. My four kids and I took our dog to get groomed. While we were standing in the lobby, 2 dogs that were finished with their grooming walked into the waiting area and pooped and peed in front of where my kids were standing. My kids thought it was funny and I just moved them away from the waste. A groomer comes running out of the back room with a bottle of Fabreeze in her hand – poised and ready to shoot directly next to my head. Just like slow motion I screeched and blocked her from spraying the air freshener where me and my kids were standing. She looked at me like I was crazy (and my sons hid their faces in their hands with embarrassment) but I had no problem explaining simple facts to her. Like the fact if she’d blasted the Fabreeze anywhere need me, I would have had a headache for the entire day and because it’s so toxic I didn’t want it anywhere near my kids. I told her I preferred the smell of the poop and pee rather than being doused with chemicals. She had never heard of this before and actually thanked me for pointing it out. My sons can laugh about it now, but I know their crazy mother and her ‘toxin alerts’ are hard on them at times. I just want to point out that seeing that can pointed and ready to spray evoked such a strong reaction as a mom wanting to protect my kids. I think all parents would react this way – it’s just altering how we look at products after learning they are filled with chemicals – rather than ingredient you actually want sprayed around your home.

Related Articles:

Natural Tips to Improve Bedroom Air Quality

Protect Your Family From Phthalates In Your Home

I recently had a wonderful phone call with ‘Mama Maven‘, otherwise known as Tanis Frame and like most green minded mamas – an instant connection formed. Tanis’ passion is to empower parents with knowledge and is hired to speak to schools or parent groups and share her quality knowledge with topics like healthy home, baby carrier info and diapering alternatives. She can also be contacted to speak in a smaller, more intimate setting with groups of friends – very cool for a group of ladies joining the new world of parenting.

During our phone call, she suggested additional tips for naturally removing contaminants and improving bedroom air quality and I’m happy I can share. My thanks to Tanis, who with a background in toxicology and children’s environmental health is an amazing resource for information and it’s always fun to learn tips that are inexpensive and easy to source.

Tips to Instantly Improve Household Air Quality

Fresh Air!   Could it be that simple? Inside our home is where many chemicals off-gassing resides, particularly formaldehyde and benzene. Released from furniture, carpets, cleaning products, along with phthalates and flame retardants in bedding and dust, these toxins tend to collect in our homes and the air we breathe.  So get outside and spend time outdoors and bring the fresh air in and open your windows and flush through fresh air. Enjoy the benefits of quick recirculation and refreshing of the air you’re breathing. An instant process to remove odours and think of it as nature’s air freshener. One of the quickest ways to create a toxic environment for children is to spray air fresheners and febreeze in the air. Read more on masking odours with chemicals here.

Bring in Plants! Not only do plants freshen the air we breathe, but also the planet and our indoor spaces. Tanis mentioned a study by Nasa about how plants remove assorted chemicals in different amounts. It is SO interesting!  The common philodendron, spider plant, devil’s ivy, and Boston fern naturally remove formaldehyde from the air.  Peace lilies, chrysanthemums, and gerbera daisies are said to filter out benzene and trichloroethylene.  Mama Maven’s personal favourite is the Snake Plant because it’s not only a top air purifier, it grow quickly, is inexpensive, and it’s very difficult to kill. (Big bonus for parents that don’t have time to manage finicky plants.) Another great plant is the Spider Plant because it hangs out of reach and the “babies” can be rooted in water and planted over the course of the year.

Added note from Suzanne… Certain plants recommended are considered poisonous houseplants so you need to keep up, away from pets and children (e.g. Snake Plant). Here is a list of Poisonous Houseplants from the Blog Houseplant Care Tips **

Added note from Suzanne… I read the Houseplant chapter of Adria Vasil’s latest Ecoholic book, called Ecoholic Home and she agrees with plants improving air purification and recommends “15 leafy creatures in a 2,000 square foot home should do the trick” for encouraging absorption of certain VOCs like formaldehyde and benzene. A great read if you are looking for extensive and quality research on greening and creating a healthier home.

Related Articles:

Tips To Immediately Reduce Toxins Your Bedroom

Polyester PJs and Flame Retardants

Are Cosmetics Killing Us?

I’m Canadian so it’s not my Thanksgiving weekend, but the media buzz about black Friday shopping had me intrigued so I researched this event more. After getting the scoop on this American sale bonanza week/day/weekend, I have some advice for shoppers.  Watch this video – it will keep you focused and help control binge purchasing.  What is wrong with incredible deals with this stressed economy?  Nothing, but the excess spending on ‘stuff’ is what the marketing heads have hyped surrounding this shopping day and the big stores are banking on you buying with the ‘gotta have this now’ mindset and having a very profitable day.  And don’t get me wrong – nobody loves a deal more than me.  Saving money feels good to everyone, but keep a clear vision of what you need and what are impulse buys.  Most ‘stuff’ is not recyclable and many plastics and electronics are not recycled in North America – we ship lots of it to India and Asia and further pollute and give cancer to the people there left to ‘deal’ with this problem of too much stuff. Or in North America we put these items that cannot be recycled into the incinerator to be burned where the most toxic material of man-made substances are released in the form of dioxins that pollute our bodies and the environment.

And believe me – stores are discounting their crappy ‘stuff’ on sale days with massive marketing to help us forgot for one day that we really don’t need their ‘stuff’ because we already have enough of our own. If you don’t have time to watch the 20 minute video about the Story Of Stuff, just remember one important fact.  From day 1 after purchasing anything to 6 months later, we are only still using 1% of our purchases. Is it possible that 99% of ‘stuff’ we purchase is trashed?  It’s scary but true. Just something to think about, but I don’t want to dampen any aspect of American Thanksgiving…. just encourage people to think about shopping habits in our society and ways they can improve. Happy Thanksgiving to the many US Mommy Footprint readers!

This year, shopping for back-to-school lunchtime items includes a much larger selection of stainless steel products. It’s no wonder with reports of plastic bottles that are branded ‘BPA-free” being tested and the results finding BPA still leaching and now the company SIGG announcing (in a very confusing bulletin from their CEO) bottles produced prior to August 2008 may leach BPA from the lining of their aluminum bottles. **  For parents and consumers, stainless steel options just keep looking better and better. Not only do stainless steel water bottles and lunch containers not require epoxy lining because it’s safe to have stainless steel directly touch your food and water, but they are easy to maintain, dishwasher safe, and if your purchase products in the 201 and 304 grades, they will last a very long time.

Sourcing and testing back-to-school lunch box products is very exciting for me at Mommy Footprint. Sometimes a product comes along that I can’t live without as a parent and they are a great fit with practical items at Green Planet Parties. Both my business partner Suzanne and I have a strong focus on products that not only are helpful to improve the conditions of our environment, but are safe for children. This September, Green Planet Parties has you covered with greener birthday parties and a greener start back-to-school.  We are proud to now carry 2 and 3 tiered stainless steel tiffin lunchboxes. These have been used in Asia and India for years and are gaining in popularity in North America. There is a shortage of these lunch systems in North America with this particular stainless steel grade (304) and the design cannot be beat.  Check out this product shot and read more…

My oldest son has loved using the 2-tier tiffin for over a year and and I’m excited to send him back-to-school using a 3-tier tiffin since he’s at school all day.  The boxes easily stack on top of each other and a very large bonus for me is only worrying about 1 lid for the top. There is a side latch with buckle to attach but it’s easy for kids and it’s very reminiscent of camping equipment we used as kids. All children love the latch because it’s fun to use. Moms can also be sneaky by strategically placing whatever item they want eaten first in the top container as it’s the first thing kids see after removing the lid.  I wonder if my kids have caught on that I’m doing this as their fruit and veggies are always in the top box.  Although the boxes are round, you can easily fit a child’s sandwich inside a single container. My GPP partner and I are thrilled to offer these to parents looking for safe and litterless lunch solutions with kids going back to school this September. Teachers, schools and children appreciate alternatives that help reduce waste and promote healthier eating.  

Green Planet Parties also loves stainless steel water bottles, but knows that children often loose or misplace these bottles. If your little angel is misplacing or hard on their water bottles, you might not want to pay top dollar for expensive bottles, so we added Water Geeks to our site to compliment the 304 stainless steel BILT bottles. Our Water Geek water bottles hold 12 oz and the BILT bottles hold 16 oz which is perfect for full day school aged children.

Like all parents, myself and the other ‘Suzanne’ of Green Planet Parties are concerned with finding safe solutions. It’s very rewarding to find products that work so well with our 6 kids (or should I call them guinea pigs) and share these products with other parents looking for practical, non-toxic and effective litterless lunchtime solutions.

** If you are worried about the SIGG water bottle you are using, check this picture on the SIGG website that diplays the old lining they were using on the inside of water bottles (that may leach BPA) and the new lining that is safe. Apparently SIGG’s customer service turn around time with emails is quick and they will replace old bottles. I personally would ask for a refund and not continue to support a company that made lots of money from concerned parents when BPA leaching from plastic water bottles first became public. The whole thing is very deceptive and company integrity is important to me as a consumer and parent.

We’ve been back at home for a full week and I’m still enjoying the relaxation my spirit and body desperately needed and received from our Parksville vacation.  We kept very busy with the kids for the first half of our trip, but thanks to the family friendly amenities offered from the Tigh-Na-Mara resort, we spent most of the second half of our trip relaxing and spending time with our kids. 

Saving the best for last, Ray and I enjoyed an evening of pampering from the Grotto Spato celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary on July 17th. Thanks to the babysitting services offered from the Tigh-Na-Mara, we skipped away to enjoy 4 hours of heavenly relaxation at the Grotto Spa and Treetop Tapas & Grill. We were supplied with 2 babysitters that our children were already comfortable with because of getting to know them earlier in the week during activities like “kids club” & “dinner and a movie”.  It was just so lovely to leave our bungalow without any kids upset because they were already engaged by Kelly and Leah. As a mom – getting to enjoy my massage and time alone with Ray, knowing our kids were happy, content and well taken care of was wonderful. I was so incredibly relaxed after my massage, I couldn’t even remember I was a mother of 4 <grin>.  We had no idea Grotto Spa was one of the top spa facilities in Western Canada when we booked our vacation.  It was an absolutely wonderful and magical discovery once we walked through the doors.

We were delighted with the 5 star level of pampering we received at Grotto Spaand like the rest of the Tigh-Na-Mara resort, the customer service was simply amazing.  My hour long massage flew by because I was chatting with my Spa angel who was an Island local. It was so good to chat with someone who has lived their whole life on Vancouver Island. The business model of sourcing and supporting everything local is well demonstrated throughout the Tigh-Na-Mara and Spa. The Grotto Spa features an amazing organic seaweed skin line made by an Island local.  The Tigh-Na-Mara gift shop is also loaded with local artisans, soaps and bath balms made by a local Sydney company, and candles from Granville Island. Even the art work on display throughout the Spa is locally crafted wood burl art and it’s a special detail that I noticed right away.

Back to our spa escape…. I enjoyed my 60 minute massage, then met Ray in the mineral pool where we spent the next 45 minutes de-toxing in the 2,500 square foot mineral pool, having fun moving between the ‘cool splash cascading waterfall’  and whirlpool in between mineral pool treatments. From there, still in our bath robes, we took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and enjoyed a bottle of wine and endless tapas at the Treetop Tapas & Grill. Our server Richard, was extremely friendly, efficient and knowledgeable about the 20+ different plates of tapas that were brought to our table (our favorites being the cod with shitakee mushroom and the prawn and scallop dish).  We managed to work our way through the entire menu…plus some, finished our bottle of wine, toasted our 10 years together, and mused about the old days as we held hands across the table. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate our anniversary, just the two of us…thank you “Grotto Spa”…we’ll be back.

When we got back to the bungalow, we were greeted with hugs and kisses and heard about the great time our kids had thanks to Leah and Kelly. The kids couldn’t wait to tell us about their evening. They ate pizza, read books, went on a nature walk and had fun at the playground…sounds like they had almost as much fun as we did. What a way to spend our final day in paradise. It couldn’t have gone better.

I also wanted to mention how Eco-minded the resort is. I can’t help but notice this aspect of a company and the Tigh-Na-Mara is leading the way in all regards. I’ve mentioned their local footprint, but they also offer guests recycling amenities, have greened up their off-site events ~ when dishes cannot be used they use earth-friendly tableware, they don’t use paper towels in the Spa or restaurant bathrooms (cloth towels are washed and reused) and green cleaning supplies for each cabin are on-route to the resort. There are also ‘protected’ arbutus trees that bend and reach into the beautiful Island skies ~ the resort is very respectful of even pruning these beautiful protected trees. End-to-end this resort has it all with family, child, and earth friendly services and attention to details that brought on the WOW factor to guests looking for a resort dedicated to keeping their guests happy and returning year after year.

Ray and I would like to thank all the great staff at the Tigh-Na-Mara resort for making our stay an extremely memorable and enjoyable one. We would especially like to thank Kelly, the marketing coordinator for all her special attention and commitment to ensuring that our stay was top notch. Mission accomplished Kelly.  We can’t wait to return next year – all 4 kids are already asking when are we going back!

Family rating - Parksville and Tigh-Na-Mara get a unanimous 12 thumbs up.