A lot of people today are looking for non-toxic and less-toxic alternatives to conventional products on the market. I recently posted a poll asking respondents to state which toxic exposures most concern them. The responses included:
- Glyphosate
- Heavy metals
- Synthetic fragrances
- Plastics
- Food additives
- Synthetic hormones and antibiotics in food
- Pharmaceuticals
- Cigarette smoke
If you pay enough attention, you can easily become overwhelmed by the number of toxic chemicals in our air, food, water and home and body care products—you may want to move to a different planet! The most important piece of advice I have is to transform your fears into empowerment and practical action. This post offers you a framework I find incredibly helpful for moving from ignorance or fear to empowered action.
Some people resist learning about the toxic substances they are exposed to because they feel powerless. Many wonder, “What can I do about it anyway?” Others who do know quite a bit remain either paralyzed by fear or end up frantically throwing away their current products and looking for better alternatives. Of course, a complete overhaul takes enormous amounts of time and energy.
Have Clear Objectives
The first step in shifting your paradigm is to have a clear reason before doing research or making changes. In other words, what’s your “why”? Why do you want a non-toxic or less-toxic lifestyle? Some good reasons may include: supporting your and your family’s health, caring for the planet, reversing symptoms of ill health, maintaining health if it’s already optimal, and more. Please don’t let fear and sensational headlines cloud your judgment and increase your fears! In other words, try not to make avoidance of anything your central goal because it’s negative, but reframe things positively to pursue an increase in health and other meaningful and gratifying goals.
Inform Yourself Actively
So once you have clear objectives in place, let’s take things one step further and foster the active pursuit of information. We are somewhat accustomed in this day and age to learning new things passively more often than actively. But the clearer you are on your objectives, the more actively you will learn useful information to help you reach your objectives and tune out extra background noise.
I’m not saying that passive knowledge is all bad! Maybe you learned how dangerous dryer sheets were because someone (it could even have been me!) posted something that showed up on your social media feed. That’s fine. I stumble across information passively on a regular basis, but I really also try to be as active as possible in my interactions with information.
Empower Yourself Through Knowledge
When you gather information, you will then need to organize it into a framework that will empower you. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t let yourself feel fear, anger or even grief around some of what you learn! But I am saying that you definitely shouldn’t stop there. Once you learn about the leaching of endocrine-disruptive plastic compounds into bottled water, for example, you’ll want to evaluate the alternatives.
Research the Alternatives
One caveat here: when you learn about the dangers of a specific thing, don’t automatically assume that the main alternative you encounter is necessarily better. For example, if you learn about the dangers of BPA in composite (white-colored) dental material, don’t automatically assume (as some people have!) that mercury-containing amalgam fillings must be better. Research the alternatives and decide which is the best option for you. Of course, when it comes to our children’s dental health, we should focus first of all on nutrition, functional health and lifestyle habits to prevent cavities in the first place, so we can, to the greatest extent possible, avoid having to choose between the lesser of two evils.
When we face two choices we don’t like, we should ask ourselves whether there’s a third option – something beyond the obvious alternative to the mainstream. This third, outside-the-box option can be a real game-changer. For example, when people ask me whether it’s better to use regular, more toxic make-up or go broke buying a non-toxic alternative. I don’t use make-up at all, yet I have a rich and fulfilling professional and personal life nonetheless (including a make-up-free appearance on the cover of a magazine in January of 2017! OK, I was chosen for the cover based on the quality of my research on mercury, not on my looks, but the editor didn’t send back my headshot asking me to redo it with make-up on, either.
Detoxify Your Budget
So the next step in the process is detoxifying your budget by simplifying and prioritizing. This also means addressing any perceptions that cleaner living is too expensive for you. It’s not, as long as you apply common sense. By paring down unnecessary products, you can free up room in your budget for high-priority items without going broke.
You may, like me, decide that you can live without make-up and with a minimalist home and body care routine. But you can’t go without food, right? And your goals may very well include avoiding toxic contaminants in food products. Always keep in mind the paramount value of your self-worth and your family’s health. In this sense, it can be said that detoxification starts on an emotional level.
Reach Out for Help
Even with clear objectives, it can be hard to organize, navigate and prioritize your action steps, can’t it? I would be happy to help you. If you would like more guidance on detoxing your home and body care routine, make sure you get in touch!