Bedroom Of Your Dreams - interior environmental standards

Vegetarian Times, June, 2000 by Victoria Moran

If you suffer from sinus problems, consider a humidifier. Keep it scrupulously clean so it doesn't breed bacteria and mold spores. To prevent your room from becoming too damp, buy an inexpensive humidity thermometer and maintain a humidity level between 35 and 50 percent.

Hot-water heat is the best because it doesn't dry out your air passages the way gas and electric do. If your home doesn't have radiators, a good option is hot water radiant floor heat. "It's generally a little pricier," Davis says. "But it doesn't have to be. Homeowners can install domestic hot water heaters that have the heat running beneath the floor. The cost is comparable to installing a forced-air system."

A Clean Sweep

Maintaining quality air in a room is much more difficult if you have wall-to-wall carpeting. "It's one of the worst problems in American homes," says Cordaro. "There is the problem with chemical outgassing when carpets are new, as well as particulate pollution--microscopic airborne dust, dirt and mold particles in the air, as well as in the carpet itself and under it," she says. "You can never really clean a carpet--there are too many layers and surfaces that trap mold and bacteria."

If you must have wall-to-wall, at least remove your shoes before entering the bedroom, Cordaro says. This will keep dirt out of the room and out of your respiratory system while you sleep. You might also consider investing in a HEPA vacuum cleaner (see "Resources"), since conventional vacuums have permeable bags and connections that capture the big stuff but release airborne particles like dander and dust mites back into the environment. If you have a standard vacuum, open the windows when you use it and keep them open for 30 minutes afterward. Running an exhaust fan helps too, as long as you crack a window.

Wood floors are easy to keep clean, and green products work well on them. Generally you can clean hardwood floors by damp-mopping with one cup vinegar per bucket of water. In high-traffic areas, use Annie Berthold-Bond's recipe from Clean and Green (Ceres Press, 1990): 1/8 cup vegetable oil-based liquid soup (like Dr. Bronner's), 1/4 to 1/2 cup vinegar or lemon juice, and 1/2 cup fragrant herb tea swirled together in 2 gallons of water. This will maintain your floor's shiny finish without leaving a waxy buildup. Use natural, nontoxic cleaning substances in the bedroom, as commercial cleaning products can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, which can be toxic and dangerous to breathe.

You can purchase natural products at natural food stores, or you can use ingredients already in your cupboards. Berthold-Bond recommends dusting with a soft cloth and a mixture of 2 to 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and a few drops of olive oil, and cleaning windows and mirrors with a mixture of 1/8 cup vinegar and 1 cup water in a spray bottle.

Other great, cheap, natural "cleansers" are houseplants, fresh air and sunlight. Plants improve our air by absorbing the carbon dioxide we exhale and turning it into oxygen. Many plants--English ivy, spider plants and Boston ferns, for example--have a hearty appetite for airborne pollutants. Similarly, they take in airborne pollutants and act as living filters. And because mold and dust mites don't like the sun's ultraviolet rays or dry, oxygenated air, a good way to keep them at bay is to open the shades and crack windows whenever possible.