Green Products You May Have Never Considered

Paper towels made from recycled material, aluminum water bottles, fluorescent light bulbs, environmentally safe cleaning products: there is a good chance that you can find at least one of these items in your home since hundreds of green products have had a surge of popularity in today’s market. Their acceptance is great news for the earth, but for people who want to do even more, they may believe that common list is all that is available. Here are a few items that may surprise you. Feel better about your tree pose with a new, non-toxic Yoga mat. It is hard to believe that while you were strengthening your core, you could potentially be hurting the planet. Most yoga mats are made from a toxic plastic that discharges chemicals as it ages. Replacing your old yoga mat will help you breathe a deeper, fresher breath of air. The most popular cookware tends to be made from the most energy efficient materials: glass, cast iron, ceramic, and stainless steel. That helps reduce the need for high heat stove tops, but some companies have taken it a step further. They’ve designed cookware that never needs oil and requires just a bit of water, even when steaming food. Another perk, less oil can help make your heart healthier too! If you have a humidity problem in your home and love water dispensers, a new product from a company called Air2Water might be perfect for you. They’ve developed machines that pull, filter, and sanitize water from the air. Depending on the environment, even their smallest models can produce up to seven gallons a day. Because this technology is so new, it’s no surprise that these machines aren’t among the cheapest going green products, but they could pave the way of the future for drinking water. Eliminating toxins from your home doesn’t just entail knowing what eco friendly home products to buy: you also have to know what to avoid. As a culture, we’ve become trained to purchase many non-essentials. A five-dollar latte at tastes great, but it’s not essential to your nutritional survival, and cutting out that morning habit can save you hundreds over time (20 days, to be precise). Less obvious, though, are the household products we’ve gotten used to buying. If they own a knife set, no one really needs a garlic press; and wives complain about their husbands’ tool purchases for a reason—in very few circumstances will owning four hammers come in handy. The same can be said of many toxic products. Clever marketing has convinced Americans that these items are necessary, but most don’t even need a substitution to pure natural products: they can just be avoided altogether.rnSince the invention of the suburban supermarket, homeowners have simply relied on brands and the dozens of cleaners that line grocery shelves. With the ability to buy everything you need, you’ve probably never even thought to make your own cleaning products, and that’s okay. rnConsidering the effort and money savings, there’s not a huge difference between buying these products and making them at home. And now that commercial earth friendly cleaning products are so readily available, it’s no longer a green necessity. The Internet is a great way to search for new green and environmentally friendly products. Challenge yourself and see what new products you can integrate into your life to help lessen your carbon footprint.