50 houseplants that filter air

Houseplants are a great way to clean the air in your home, and there are studies to prove it. For more than 30 years, B.C. “Bill” Wolverton, a retired civilian scientist for NASA, investigated the use of plants as air- and water-purifying systems for enclosed environments in space missions. Below is the list of 50 houseplants that he found worked best. If you're interested in learning more, buy his book, How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office and find out about the exact rankings, and which one is best for filtering out which chemicals!

Boston fern
Florist's mum
Gerbera daisy / Barberton daisy
Dwarf date palm
Dracaena "Janet Craig"
Bamboo palm
Kimberley queen fern
Rubber plant
English ivy
Weeping fig
Peace lily
Areca palm
Corn plant (Dracaena fragrans)
Lady palm
Schefflera
Dragon tree
Warneckei dracaena
Lily turf
Dendrobium orchid
Dumb cane (Exotica)
Tulip
Ficus alii 
King of hearts / bleeding heart
Parlor palm
Azalea 
Chinese evergreen
Spider plant
Banana 
Red emerald philodendron
Dumb cane (Camilla) 
Elephant ear philodendron 
Golden pothos
Norfolk Island pine
Wax begonia
Prayer plant
Oak leaf ivy / grape ivy
Christmas cactus
Lacy tree philodendron 
Arrowhead vine 
Heart-leaf philodendron
Lady Jane
Peacock plant
Poinsettia
Cyclamen
Moth orchid
Urn plant
Croton
Snake plant
Aloe vera
Kalanchoe

Notes and legend

• Italics denote the shade-tolerant plants (semi-shade).
• Bold italics denote the most shade tolerant plants (full shade).
• The list is ranked with the plants best at filtering out formaldehyde at the top. Rankings by ability to filter out xylene, toluene or ammonia will be different.
• Red plants are toxic to children, cats and/or dogs.
• Green plants are non-toxic.

Much of the toxicity information was from ASPCA or from this site on Wikipedia that lists air-filtering plants.

A cheap, non-toxic mineral powder foundation

In my attempt to switch to non-toxic cosmetics, I've started using pure mineral foundation. However, before you go out and buy the first one you find, here are some points to be aware of:

1. "Mineral" doesn't always mean pure mineral. The term "mineral" can be used on any product that has minerals - typically mica, zinc oxide, and titanium dioxide - as its main ingredients, regardless of what not-so-natural additives it has, like fragrance, dye, and preservatives. Check the ingredients list to makes sure it truly only has mica, zinc oxide, and titanium dioxide.

2. Avoid talc. This is an anti-caking agent that dilutes down that pure mineral. It can also clog pores and irritate the skin.

3. More expensive isn't necessarily better. Bella Terra foundation and Elegant Minerals have the exact same ingredients. The first costs $60 for 8 grams, the second one is $15 for 20 grams. You do the math.

I found a great list of good mineral foundations here: link.

Of the brands listed, I went with Elegant Minerals, because when I have a hard time choosing, I tend to go with the cheapest of the choices. :) I've been extremely happy with the purchase. They have foundation sample kits that cost 1 cent (yes, that's $0.01), so you can pick the one that matches your skin tone the best. And I was happy to discover they have natural lipsticks, eyeshadows, and more! The only negatives are that your emails to them may get lost, and that their website needs a bit of updating.

I also got a studio Kabuki face brush on Amazon; the one by e.l.f. Cosmetics is amazingly soft!

Which cosmetics are safe?

Whether you're looking for lipstick, sunscreen or contact lens solution search the following two websites for the exact product, or the company, and see how the products are rated according to health hazards. Even if the exact product isn't listed, if everything of the same type, e.g. lipsticks, by the same company has medium or bad ratings, then chances are, your lipstick of choice also has a similar rating.

1. EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database
They have a huge database, and not only do they break down the hazards by categories such as cancer or developmental & reproductive toxicity, they also list every single ingredient and their ratings, as well!

2. GoodGuide
I love how they also rate the product's impact on health but also on the environment and society. Furthermore, they also list alternatives with better ratings. This is a great way to easily find products to switch to! And they also rate other products, not just cosmetics, such as household cleaning products and apparel.

And now back to clearing out my bathroom cabinets....

Are there similar websites you know of, that rate various cosmetics and cleaning products? Share in the comments!

Disinfecting a camping water filter without bleach: NOT recommended

I've been trying to avoid bleach, but the Katadyn water filter I use to filter water while camping requires the disinfecting of the filter with bleach before drying it out for storage. I've been using grapefruit seed extract (GSE) instead, so I thought I'd share my recipe and how I came up with it. Disclaimer: My filter eventually got mouldy, so I don't think this works too well, but feel free to try it yourself.

Recipe

Add 100 drops of GSE into 1 gallon of water. Stir well, and pump all of the liquid through the filter. Disassemble and dry. When using again, pump 1 liter of water through it to clear out the GSE.

Why 100 drops? 

Normally, you would use 2 teaspoons of bleach in 1 gallon of water to clean the water filter for storage. So how much if GSE is that equivalent to? For emergency disinfecting of water, you use 1/8 teaspoon of bleach, or 6-30 drops of GSE. Counting with the lower value, we get 1/8 teaspoon bleach = 6 drops of GSE. In other words, 2 teaspoons bleach = 96 drops of GSE. At maximum (counting with the 30), we would get 2 teaspoons bleach = 480 drops GSE... but I don't have the patience to count that many drops!

EDIT: This method DOES NOT seem to work nearly as well as disinfecting with bleach. When I used the water filter later, the water had a funny taste, and upon disassembling, I saw mold growing on the entire filter, and it smelled like a towel that has been standing wet for too long. I don't know whether this was related to the fact that I had disinfected with GSE, but I DO know that in previous years, while cleaning with bleach, my filters always remained perfectly clean and mold-free after camping trips.

Black mold growing in spots. It's too small to see on this photo, but there also are tiny black specks of mold covering the entire filter. The filter should have remained snow-white near the outflow end.

Non-stick skillets that won't leach chemicals

It's hard to find a skillet that's non-stick and doesn't have a Teflon coating. I'd like to avoid Teflon because it's a known carcinogen. And the fumes are so unhealthy, that using non-stick pans in your home is fatal to pet birds! (Although, the burning food itself can also be the culprit.)

Materials to avoid

• Teflon (a brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE) and other non-stick coatings. This includes Cuisinart QuanTanium, DuPont Autograph 2, Swiss Diamond, T-Fal, Eterna, Excalibur, Xylan.
• Stainless steel with a high nickel content
• There is a simple test to determine if your stainless – or the stainless you wish to purchase – is okay or not. If a magnet sticks to your pot/pan – you are safe. If it does not, there is too much nickel.
• Aluminum (pots and pans, foil, cans, etc.)
• Hard-anodized aluminum(?)
• Conflicting evidence on whether it leaches aluminum into the food or not
• The Brandy Wine Science Center Inc. performed tests for leaching on various types of cookware including hard-anodized aluminum. The study tested for metals like iron, nickel, copper and aluminum. The final results showed that hard-anodized aluminum does leach 7.10 milligrams per liter of liquid used in the test.
• "PFOA-free" doesn't mean much
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) can be used in the manufacturing process. PFOA is a pollutant and toxin, but does not remain in the final product
• When they say PFOA free, it means that particular chemical wasn’t used in the manufacture of PTFE. But the coating still contains PTFE.

Things to look for

• Stainless steel
• Check that a magnet sticks
• Ceramic-based coating
• E.g. Greblon, Thermolon and EcoLon coatings
• Used by brands Ozeri pans, Cook Kitchen, Joseph Strauss, Zwilling J.A. Henckells Thermolon coating cookware, NeoFlam
• Cast iron
• Enamel
• Glass, e.g. Pyrex
• Hard-anodized aluminum with no additional non-stick coating
• If we're looking for non-stick, this is the best of the lot
• Cook at the lowest heat possible to reduce leaching into food.

Cast iron pans are definitely safe and after they have been properly seasoned, they won't stick, either.

How to make food not stick to a stainless steel pan

Pre-heat the pan, and then add the oil/fat. Wait for a tell-tale wisp of smoke from the pan before adding your ingredients for cooking.

I can't actually find any hard-anodized aluminum pans with no additional non-stick coating on them. Are there any brands you know of? Share in the comments!

My switch to a standing desk

Sort of off-topic, but I decided to turn my office desk into a standing desk today! I must say, the first person in the office must have been brave to be the only person standing in a sea of sitting people. By now there are three of us!

You just put your monitors, keyboard and mouse on top of two large plastic boxes or crates.

And here is an infographic I love, which illustrates how important it is to not sit all day. (Source: link)

Air mattresses emit harmful fumes

I'm renting a room away from home for two month, and trying to stay minimalist, I opted for a luxurious queen-sized air mattress instead of a bed. However, I come home to my room smelling of the air mattress each day, despite an open screen door, and I'm sure those odors can't be good for me.

these day they are almost universally made with PVC, which outgasses harmful fumes long after that telltale “new mattress smell” has dissipated and can contain lead. - See more at: http://thegreenmomreview.com/2010/12/17/non-toxic-air-mattresses/#sthash.Xlp8CdTA.dpuf

These days, air mattresses are almost universally made with PVC, which outgasses harmful phthalate fumes long after that tell-tale “new mattress smell” has dissipated and can contain lead. PVC is considered to be one of the most dangerous plastics still manufactured, and is made using an astonishing number of chemical compounds that have been proven to be dangerous, including dioxins, phthalates, vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, lead, cadmium, and organotins.

I'm thinking of either wrapping the whole mattress with an air-tight bag (any ideas for something this big?), or sleeping in my sleeping bag on my balcony, instead. I'll let you know how that goes!

these day they are almost universally made with PVC, which outgasses harmful fumes long after that telltale “new mattress smell” has dissipated and can contain lead. - See more at: http://thegreenmomreview.com/2010/12/17/non-toxic-air-mattresses/#sthash.Xlp8CdTA.dpuf

these day they are almost universally made with PVC, which outgasses harmful fumes long after that telltale “new mattress smell” has dissipated and can contain lead. - See more at: http://thegreenmomreview.com/2010/12/17/non-toxic-air-mattresses/#sthash.Xlp8CdTA.dpuf