Making healthy, eco-friendly, responsible choices
“It’s cheap, yes, but it’s toxic and it isn’t durable so I would recommend investing a little more money and using a product that lasts three times as long, like engineered wood flooring that’s made of real wood and glue with zero ureaformaldehyde,” he said. “Wall-towall carpeting is a total aberration and should be outlawed; it’s terrible for respiratory problems and shouldn’t even exist.”
As for kitchen cupboards, a good alternative to particleboard and melamine that Nicolas Girouard suggests using is an environmentally-friendly product line called Nu Green, by Uniboard, with very low emissions.
Girouard said that it’s important, after a renovation project, to air a house or condo out for at least two weeks, 24 hours a day, to get rid of as many VOCs as possible by installing fans to both blow fresh air in, and toxic air out. To keep the air as fresh as possible throughout the year, he advises cleaning or changing the filters for all appliances and air exchangers twice a year.
Common household cleaning products can be just as toxic as building materials, and have as many negative health effects. Klova boutique écoresponsable, on St-Denis Street, offers nontoxic and eco-friendly alternatives to most of these products, and has an online store.
“We want to make it easy and simple for people to make healthy, eco-friendly, and responsible choices,” said Vanessa Duchemin, the founder of Klova. “Not everyone has the time to make drastic changes in their habits, so we find alternatives to conventional products that don’t require people to change their routines too much.”
In addition to non-toxic, allpurpose kitchen and bathroom cleaners, stain remover, laundry detergent and wool dryer balls, Klova also has a variety of natural room fragrances made with essential oils, and soy wax candles — not to mention body, face, hair and baby products.
To start the process of switching to green products, Duchemin suggests decluttering your home.
“It helps you get rid of stuff you don’t need, reduces dust, makes cleaning way easier, and is a great way to get rid of the toxic products that you didn’t even know you had,” she said.
Next, clean regularly with toxicfree cleaning products that are, ideally, unscented. “If not, make sure the fragrance is the last item on the ingredients list,” she said. “You can also use DIY household cleaners made with baking soda, vinegar, lemon, or Marseille soap.”
Finally, Duchemin recommends using natural room fragrances made with essential oils, soy wax candles or flowers to give your space a scent that not only smells good, but also is healthy to breathe.
“Houseplants are another way help purify the air,” she said. “They reduce air pollution and dust inside your house, and help regulate the indoor temperature.”