If you are like me, changing your sheets is not your favorite chore! Have you ever wondered how often you actually should change your sheets? The best rule of thumb is to change your sheets weekly.  Every time you sleep you shed dead skin cells, hair and bodily fluids.  This can cause bad odors, stickiness and a fertile breeding ground for bed bugs, fleas, dust mites and other parasites.  Dust mites can cause allergies, so it’s best to keep your sheets clean. Wash your sheets in hot water to make sure that all the dead skin cells and dust mites are gone.  

Do you look around your house and see clutter? Is there mail sitting on the counter? Is your closet overflowing? Do you have stacks of magazines sitting around? Does all this make you feel energized and healthy, or does it make you feel tired and overwhelmed? If your feel tired and overwhelmed or just dragged down by it all, there are steps you can take to rid yourself of it.

​Clutter can cause physical hazards. It can be a tripping hazard. It can impede your life and make it hard to get out the door in the morning. The clutter can gather dust, dander, and pollen and cause asthma and allergies.

Clutter can also cause you to become depressed, especially if you are letting memory clutter keep you living in the past. It can even cause you to gain weight. A correlation between weight and the amount of clutter a person hangs on to has been discovered. Many people, once they decide to let go of their things, also end up letting go of their extra weight.

Do you know what is in the tap water you drink?  There’s an easy way to find out.  The Environmental Working Group analyzed water throughout the United States and identified 316 different contaminants.  Many of these contaminants are not regulated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.  The contaminants included:

Heavy metals
Pesticides
Industrial pollutants

Increased risk of cancer and other diseases is associated with exposure to these pollutants, so it’s important to know if you are being subjected to them. 

However, bottled water isn’t necessarily safer.  EWG also analyzed 10 different bottled waters and found that many of them contained the same pollutants as tap water.  The bottled water not only contained the pollutants, it also contained chemicals that had leached into the water from the plastic bottle.  EWG suggests using water pitchers that contain carbon filters or getting a filter that attaches directly to your faucet.  To find out how your city rates, visit ewg.org/tap-water

Search by zip code for results of water quality tests in your area.

Its the beginning of a new year. Many are creating resolutions to be more active. Its important to know when is the best time to exercise. It can have a huge impact on your health!

People who exercise outdoors could have impaired lung function due to pollution.  A report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine stated that even young, healthy non-smokers that exercise outdoors are at risk for poor lung functioning.  Impaired lung function can occur even when ozone pollution is at levels that are considered safe according to the clean-air laws. 

Do you ever go to bed and then just lie there and watch the minutes tick by? One of the reasons you may be having trouble sleeping is that your bedroom might not be a healthy sleeping environment.  In fact, The Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that behavioral changes may treat insomnia better than drugs.  Try making your bedroom a sleep only zone.

Do you ever notice that strong chemical smell when you print something? One-third of printers studied emitted toner particles, a report in Environmental Science and Technology found.  These particles could be potentially harmful to your health.  Some printers give off as much pollution as a burning cigarette! These particles are a problem because they are so small they are inhaled deep into the lungs.  Depending on how well ventilated the area is, these particles can stay in the air from a few minutes to a few hours.  

The best way to deal with this issue is to make sure the printer is in a well ventilated area.  Try to keep the printer in a separate location than your workspace.  The closer you are to the printer, the higher the concentration of the particles.  If you don’t need to print something—don’t.  Not only will you save some trees, you may save your lungs!