03Nov 2021 by Angela Cummings

Curious Questions: Your Healthy Home

Blog, Health, Lifestyle Change
When creating your healthy home, which includes remodeling, building and putting healthy household products into our homes, it can feel overwhelming. When we break it down into small steps and follow our deepest desires, the whole process can feel fun and enjoyable, even a little game-like.  Below are some curious questions that you can ask yourself to help realize your deepest desires or needs for your healthy home environment. What if you could get rid of inflammation all the time? What if bad allergies, MCS, and chronic illnesses could be healed? What feels fun to do right now? What is your deepest desire? What will you be updating or remodeling in the near future? What is worn out and needs replacing? What small step can you take today that feels…
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28Sep 2021 by Angela Cummings
3 Principles of Healthy Building, Remodeling + Non-toxic Household Products

3 Principles of Healthy Building, Remodeling + Non-toxic Household Products

Blog, Building & Remodeling, Household Items
The basic principles of healthy building, remodeling and non-toxic household products are the same. If you know and understand healthy for one area of your household, you can apply it to other areas of your household.  Using this method is far easier than looking at each ingredient and seeing if it’s among the over 4k toxic chemicals out there! That is why, by following a few basic principles of healthy building, you’ll be able to “short cut” your learning curve by more than ½ the time. Keep reading to find out what these principles are and where you can apply them. Let’s jump right in. What are 3 Basic Principles of Healthy Building and Household Products? Ceramic. It’s one of the healthiest of materials available to us in building, remodeling,…
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07Sep 2021 by Angela Cummings

Curious Questions to Ask Yourself (or Retailers): Non-toxic Cabinets, Vanities, and Furniture

Blog, Building & Remodeling, Furniture
Want to make sure your existing or new home has non-toxic cabinets, vanities, and wood furniture? It's very common for cabinets, vanities, and furniture to be marketed as "solid wood," but not be made entirely out of solid wood. In this article, we run through some of the curious questions you can ask yourself before you buy cabinets, vanities, or furniture. If you feel overwhelmed, don’t worry. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed and it just means that you’re thinking about healthy products on a deeper level and doing some digging into what needs to shift or change to add more health back into your home! Keep doing awesome things! Curious Questions: How to Know if Your Cabinets, Vanities or Furniture is Entirely Solid Wood and Non-toxic. Is this made of 100% solid hardwood?…
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11May 2021 by Angela Cummings

Q+A Series: Bamboo Standing Desk

Furniture, Q+A Series
Q: Hi Angie! I have a question for you. I’ve been keeping my windows open, and sometimes have a fan on, and have two bowls of white vinegar on my brand new standing desk that has a bamboo top. It is still off gassing after a week and if I use the desk for too long I get a sore throat and a small headache. Is there anything else I can do? I have reached out to geek desk and I’m awaiting an answer from them. A: Hello! The short answer is that there is nothing you can do with the desk itself. It’s made of bamboo and laminate. The laminate is a plastic material that’s glued on. Both the laminate and adhesives have chemicals - that’s likely where most…
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31Mar 2021 by Angela Cummings
3 Simple Ways to Tell if Products are (Actually) Non-toxic

3 Simple Ways to Tell if Products are (Actually) Non-toxic

Blog, Building & Remodeling, Clothes & Textiles, Household Items
Have you done a ton of research on your own to determine how to detox your home? Have you found your health has improved? Is it possible that the products you’re buying are marketed really well as nontoxic, but are, in actuality, still creating inflammation and illness? In this article you’ll find simple ways to know if your products are just marketed as non-toxic or are actually non-toxic.  How Can Marketing Say “Non-toxic” When the Product Is Toxic? There are 3 main reasons that product labels and advertisements could be marketed as non-toxic, even when they’re not. There is no formal definition for non-toxic. Companies can use the word non-toxic as they please. For example, a product can be made of formaldehyde-free adhesives but is still toxic to human health. It can…
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20Jan 2021 by Angela Cummings
How Could a Non-Toxic Dresser Clear Exhaustion & Brain Fog?

How Could a Non-Toxic Dresser Clear Exhaustion & Brain Fog?

Blog, Furniture
Do you dread the alarm clock going off because you wake up exhausted and with brain fog each day?  Your bedroom may have toxic furniture that’s putting chemicals into the air you breathe all night long. If you change this, you could wake up more energized and thinking clearly each morning rather than feeling crappy. We’ll walk you through how to get rid of the toxic furniture and choose non-toxic dressers, nightstands, and more! Plus, give you some ideas for where to buy them. Why Would My Bedroom Have Toxic Furniture? Unknowingly, we buy furniture that is made of lots of glues, adhesives, plastics, resins, and wood dust or particles. These woods are called composite woods. On furniture descriptions, you’ll see them described as: MDFEngineered WoodPlywoodVeneer woodParticle boardHardboardMelamine (a type…
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24Sep 2020 by Angela Cummings
Where Is BPA Found: Way Beyond Food & Bottles

Where Is BPA Found: Way Beyond Food & Bottles

Blog, Building & Remodeling, Furniture, Health, Household Items
We hear a lot about how BPA is harmful. And that it’s in our food packaging and baby bottles. We see “BPA free” stamped on containers. However, BPA is found in sooo many more places.  Let’s look at what BPA is, where it’s used, and simple ways get rid of it in your home. What is BPA? Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is widely used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. You might be wondering what that is….as was I.  Epoxy resins are a strong adhesive used in fiber optics and electrical circuit boards. Polycarbonate plastics are nearly everywhere. It’s a clear plastic that you can see through clearly. It can withstand impacts greater than other plastics. Its properties make it easy to be used for injection molding and…
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04Sep 2020 by Angela Cummings
Yoga for the Brain Word Search

Yoga for the Brain Word Search

Blog, Gift Guide, Health, Household Items
Hello Friends! Looking for ways to incorporate healthy + fun into your life? You'll love this new book that just came out: Yoga for the Brain Word Search! (I'm one of 60 authors in this fun book.) Here's a little bit more info: The official title is, Life Wisdom Word Search: Yoga for the Brain, and it’s available on Amazon now. The book is a collection of motivational thoughts and stories (including one by yours truly!), that are combined with a unique word puzzle for each. The combination has been proven to stimulate brain function while reinforcing the positive message. I invite you now to get your copy – and send copies to your friends or anyone you know who can use a pick-me-up and brain refresher, especially during these challenging times.…
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02Jul 2020 by Angela Cummings
How to Create Good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) at Home

How to Create Good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) at Home

Blog
This study about indoor air quality (IAQ) still blows me away: “… lotions, paints and other products contribute about as much to air pollution as the transportation sector does, said lead author Brian McDonald, a CIRES scientist working in NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Division.” Though not surprising, seeing this info in black and white just hit me different when I read it. We don’t want to be around vehicle exhaust because of health effects. In addition, we don’t want to live in poor indoor air quality (IAQ). Especially, since the volatile organic compound (VOC) levels are almost equal to the VOCs in vehicle exhaust. So, how do we live in a home with good IAQ? In this article, we’ll explain why IAQ is important and how to create good IAQ in your home. Why…
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02Jun 2020 by Angela Cummings
10 Tiny Steps to Know if Your Self-Care Products are Non-toxic

10 Tiny Steps to Know if Your Self-Care Products are Non-toxic

Blog, Personal Care Products
Have thought you were buying non-toxic self-care products and ended up buying toxic products - still? I've been there, too. I was pissed. So frustrated at the wasted time and money. My friends can testify that I spewed (maybe more than) my fair share of swear words. My primary frustration? Cleaners and self-care products that were labeled as healthy (eco-friendly, non-toxic, natural) but STILL had chemicals that were harmful to health. Damn! So, how do you know if your self-care products are non-toxic vs. just being marketed as non-toxic? Keep reading to find out. What Can a Healthy Home Assessment Reveal? A healthy home assessment is an objective assessment of how healthy your home really is. When it’s related to having an organic, chemical-free home, a health home assessment can…
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