A Healthy Bedroom
There are several small changes that are easy and affordable to make that can help turn your ordinary bedroom into a healthy bedroom. Here are several of the most valuable:
• Use healthier bedding: Bedding is one item not to skimp on. Dust mites love to hide out in bedding feeding off your dead skin flakes, and latex mattresses and wool mattress are both dust mite resistant. Another concern is linens, pillows, and blankets that are chemically-treated, as those chemicals are carcinogenic (read: cancer-causing). Thankfully, unbleached, untreated, 100% organic linens, pillows, and blankets are pesticide-free.
• Ensure steady air circulation: Our breathing is heavily tied in with most other aspects of our health. Installing a ceiling fan for year-round use and screen windows with a window-fan for use in those hotter months can keep you breathing clear, clean, fresh air which helps strengthen your heart and lungs, stave off disease, extend longevity, and help you sleep better at night.
• Install fire detectors and carbon monoxide detectors: Even if you already have smoke detectors in your bedroom, that's only a start (albeit a great one). Another increasingly prevalent household danger is carbon monoxide, and the only way to protect yourself from that is with a carbon monoxide detector in the bedroom. Thankfully these are quite inexpensive to buy.
• And while you're at it, buy a cheap lead test too--especially if you have young children in the household. Lead is particular harmful to children aged 6 and under. But it's harmful for everyone in some degree--which is why homebuilders today are forbidden to use it. If you do find that you have lead in a bedroom in your home, it pays to have it professionally abated. You may even be able to find financial support for such lead abatement--from the county, perhaps, or a local non-profit agency. And lastly but not at all least, this advice does not just apply to homeowners. It applies to renters too. Don't assume that your landlord has taken care of it. Not when your health and that of your family is at stake.