Healthy Homes & Communities
Healthy Homes
Our home is a place of safety, security, and happiness. Large or small, our home environment allows us to be relaxed and energized or can make us feel overworked and overwhelmed. The importance of a healthy home is well documented. We spend much of our time at home, so many factors go into creating an atmosphere that is healthy and makes us happy: indoor air quality, furnishings, cleanliness, access to natural day light and views, the ability to get outside to play and connect with nature. How we design and construct our homes, operate and maintain them, and what we bring into them to eat, clean, furnish, and use, all contribute to the health of the home for the occupant, as well as the health of the environment.
Healthy Communities
Our community is a natural an extension of our home. The location of our home relative to the places we work, shop, or worship; and proximity to parks, trails, schools, and medical care is invaluable. The connection we have with our neighbors, ability to walk to local venues; quality of our schools, local restaurants and grocers; condition of sidewalks; safety of our children to play outside; local air and water quality; and existence of tree canopy and local gardens; collectively make a difference in the health and value of the entire community.
How Healthy Tweaks Can Help
We can all make our communities and homes healthier and more valuable by increasing access to nature through community parks and gardens, maintaining clean streets and safe sidewalks; supporting local businesses; selecting sustainable materials when we construct, furnish, operate, and maintain our homes; and purchasing consumer and lawn products containing minimal chemicals.
I work with individuals, corporations, faith-based groups, schools, and homeowner associations, to understand your personal, business, and community priorities, and help you come together to make healthy decisions.
Helpful Tips / Tweaks
Below are a few simple steps, challenging you to improve your home and community, protecting the health and well-being of your yourself, your family, your neighbors, your business, and our Earth.
Be informed and make healthy decisions
- Read your favorite "healthy" websites and use readily available resources
- Make decisions based on science and prevention
- Purchase consumer and construction products made with items from nature, not in a lab, as much as possible (be careful of "natural" labels)
Eat Healthy
- Visit your local farmers market; purchase straight from the source
- Understand the importance of eating organic fruits & vegetables on you and the Earth
- Consume real, whole foods; minimizing processed food consumption
- Learn the sources of your meat, eggs, and chicken to make informed decisions on how the animals were raised
Exercise & keep fit…feel better...save gas money!
- Walk or ride a bike to run errands instead of jumping in your car
- Enjoy a walk, skate, stroller or bike ride with your friends.
- Take a family bike ride or go to a local nature center
Enjoy & connect with Friends & Nature
- Play outdoors (in your front yard!)
- Visit local, state, national parks
- Kayak a local bayou
- Collaborate with your community:
- Plant trees or a community garden
- Organize a neighborhood or park cleanup day,
- Host an area-wide bicycling rally.
Conserve natural resources
- Conserve water, energy, & building materials
- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!
- Select products made with recycled/reclaimed materials
- Eliminate single-use products from your lifestyle
- Select an energy company that provides the option for renewable sources
Protect the environment
- Don’t litter & encourage local businesses to keep their properties clean
- Understand how our waterways drain our communities, and how they become contaminated by stormwater pollution
- Don’t let your car idle for extended period
- Reduce air emissions…walk or bike instead of driving
- Initiate a street/neighborhood clean up
Always remember…no one can do everything, but everyone can do something.
- Pick one goal, attain it, and go to the next. Work with a friend, or get your whole neighborhood involved!!
Start Today!
I encourage you to enjoy the resources* provided below to start your journey. If you would like help knowing where to start and develop a plan, I speak to groups, work with individuals or just a few friends to help you determine your personal priorities and understand how small steps you take can be healthy for you & your children, while also positively impacting the health of our Earth.
Healthy Homes
Understand how to operate and maintain a healthy home by preventing exposures to unnecessary contaminants.
Environmental Protection Agency: Understanding the Importance of Indoor Air Quality
Healthy Stuff (Ecology Center)
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families
Healthy Communities/Community Involvement
Utilize the following resources to get outside, build community involvement, and promote a healthier environment in your community.
Cities Connecting Children to Nature
Citizens' Environmental Coalition
Healthy Tweaks: Healthy Schools
Healthy Tweaks: Garden Resources
Houston Parks and Recreation Department - Parks, Gardens, Nature Preserves, and More!
Park Score (Trust for Public Land)
Texas Children in Nature: Healthier, Happier, Smarter
Home Construction/Renovation
Whether you build from scratch or remodel, seek certification, or simply want to learn the principals of sustainable design and construction, the following resources will help:
*If you find one or more of these websites helpful, please support the organizations working to eliminate toxins from consumer products and the science behind it for a healthy Houston & beyond!