How to Have a Green Christmas Home

December 7th 2009

To have a green Christmas home, you don't have to paint your home green, nor drape your windows and walls with green curtains and make every tablecloth and throw pillow green. Just make your home a healthy place to live in and it's considered a green home.

How can you make your home green especially this Christmas when many things, whether you are aware of it or not, can cause sickness. Foremost, take care of the air you breathe. The value of fresh air to our health is obvious. Over time, polluted air outside can cause illness and affect our capacity to function well. Our brains need clean air to fuel optimum performances.

In a "sick" building, air is recirculated through heating and cooling ducts without the benefit of systematic infusions of fresh air. As a result, all germs, bacteria and mold in the system are shared by all inside that building.

Don't let this happen to your home. Give your family the Christmas gift of fresh air inside your home so that everybody can enjoy the Christmas season. Here are some ways to clean the air:

1. Decorate with plants. Biologists say that plants can absorb carbon dioxide or foul air and in return they release oxygen or fresh air. There are indoor plants that function well for anti-pollution, particularly the wide-leafed or long-leafed ornamentals like dracaena or fortune plant, bromeliads, and other foliage plants. However, be careful not to bring indoor plants that look beautiful but with poisonous leaves (the Dumb Cane or dieffenbachia) or flowers (the Christmas poinsettia).

2. A feng shui designer says: "Healthy plants reflect our physical, emotional and spiritual care for ourselves." So, to keep indoor plants healthy, always cut off wilting flowers and yellowing leaves. Or change the whole potted plant with another that is flourishing. Be careful not to bring indoor plants that have thorns or sharp edges that can hurt anybody who touches them or velvety leaves that can cause allergies.

3. Ban smoking of all kinds. Cigarette smoking - even passive smoking (inhaling the smoke of others cigarette) has always been touted as bad for the body's respiratory and circulatory systems. Smoke from the stove (which mounts this Christmas season) is just as bad as charred or burned grilled food can cause cancer. In managing waste, avoid burning plastic waste materials indoor as well as outdoor. The wind can waft the smoke from burned chemicals which is highly toxic.

4. Avoid chemicals such as insecticides and pesticides. They are superior poisons that can kill insects and pests; they can kill humans, too.

5. Keep people, especially young children, away from electromagnetic field (EMF) emitted by modern appliances, like television sets, radios, stereos, computers, cellular phones, clocks, heaters, microwave ovens, refrigerators and freezers, and other electrical gadgets.

6. Light up scented candles or simmering pots of essential oils for aromatherapeutic atmosphere. Highly recommended scents are: citronella to ward off mosquitoes; lavender for serenity; rose for love, and lemon for freshness.

7. To energize your home, use objects that are sensitive to wind because they can amplify beneficial chi (Chinese word for energy), one feng shui expert advises. She therefore recommends wind chimes, hanging bells and lightweight curtains which reverberate good energy.
Christmas gift ideas for boyfriend
Christmas gift baskets
Corporate christmas gift ideas
Christmas hampers australia
Christmas food hamper