My family and I first moved to Thornhill when I was 12, into a brand new home.  This was a big deal for my parents who moved to Canada very young, started with very little and worked their way to be able to afford this house.

For the first few years, we all felt sick after being in the house after a few hours.  We all had our own theories about what was going on and it wasn’t until I was 17 and attended (back then) a ‘green’ workshop where a women spoke about ‘off gasing.’  It suddenly made absolute sense that this rewarding home was releasing toxins from all the new building materials and was making us sick.  New materials will off gas anywhere from 3 - 7 years.

That’s where my passion for the environment first started, particularly in green building.  I got my degree in Environmental Studies and have been running my own eco-painting and green building consulting company for the last 5 years.  

With the temperature dropping we are all spending more time inside and I want to share a few tips to keep the quality of your indoor air quality high to protect us and our little people.  Indoor air quality is 5 times worse inside than outside.  We share the air and are likely to experience symptoms if we don’t take some precautions.

- Open windows daily, even a couple of times a day for a brief period.  Do this in your car as well, especially if the car/home is newer.

- Bundle up and go outside, even if it’s just for a little bit.

- Duct cleaning (best time is before furnace season but it's not too late)

- If you’re thinking about renovating or painting, use low or no VOC products.  Yolo Colour House paint is my favourite for painting, other products will depend on what you’re renovating.  There are lots of products claiming to be green, check specific levels and what standard they’re going by.

- House plants: NASA has performed extensive testing on indoor air quality and the capacity of plants to filter out the deadliest of toxins.  The top 3 house plants to help in clearing the air are: Areca Palm (aka yellow palm or butterfly palm), Lady Palm and the Bamboo Palm.  They are also easy to maintain.

- HEPA filters (air purifiers, furnace and vacuum filters)

(Source : EPA, CMHC, How To Grow Fresh Air by Dr B C Wolverton)

I am currently researching companies that perform indoor air quality assessments.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Anne Marie