7 Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality

Spending time inside is so commonplace these days, but unless the air quality in your home or office is good, it could be more harmful to you. Most people in the United States spend between 80% to 90% of their time indoors, be it their homes or their place of work. Studies have also been done that show that indoor pollutants are 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor pollutants. This means you need to be constantly improving the quality of your indoor air.

Common indoor pollutants:

• Airborne particles from dust, smoke, diesel exhaust, incense sticks, cleaning products, and pesticides.
• Air Conditioning units that have not been maintained properly.
• Household odors and gases from cooking, smoking, painting, sprays in aerosol cans.
• Mold
• Gases like radon and carbon monoxide

These indoor pollutants are found in all homes and if not monitored can impact your health and well-being. They can contribute to illnesses like asthma and other respiratory illnesses and can also cause allergic reactions like itchy eyes.

 

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to improve the quality of the air in your home. These 7 eco-friendly solutions for improving indoor air quality will have your air cleaner in no time.

1. Go green and get some plants. Plants like the Snake plant, Rubber plant, Philodendron, and the Areca Palm will all help to improve the air quality in your home. Add a few to your living spaces and they will not only improve the air quality but improve your mental health as well.
2. Ventilation. It’s important to keep your home or office well-ventilated to avoid the air becoming stale. Make sure you open the windows regularly to allow the old air to flow out and let in the new fresh air. An effective ventilation system is essential to improving the quality of your air.
3. Deep clean. There are certain areas in your home, like your kitchen and bathrooms, that require regular deep cleaning to prevent the build-up of mold. Carpets also need to be thoroughly vacuumed regularly to prevent dust from collecting.
4. Invest in an air purifier. An air purifier is great at keeping your air clean but will also tell you when your air quality is dropping, allowing you to take additional steps to improve air quality.
5. Reduce toxic products. Everything you use in your home impacts your air quality – your cleaning products, toiletries, the oil you use to cook with – it all impacts the quality of the air you are breathing in. Switching out toxic products for more environmentally friendly ones will help to reduce the number of toxins in the air.
6. Clean your filters. If you have an air conditioner or other temperature regulating systems, make sure you clean the filters regularly. These vents fill with dust quickly and that dust is in the air you are breathing.
7. Don’t smoke inside. If there are smokers in the house or office, make sure they head outside to smoke, ideally, far enough away from the house that the smoke does not still come inside. Smoking negatively impacts the quality of the air and will affect everyone in the space, not just the smoker.

Your home and office are where you spend most of your time, it is essential to make sure that the air you are breathing while you are there is clean.

-Laura LeRoux

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