renovation

I have been faithfully reading your advice on making my house greener and improving my children's lives but I have come to two road blocks.
The first is we are renovating our kitchen but did not order green choices. I looked up plants to put in my house to get rid of the air pollutants but have found that all are toxic to animals and children which does not work for me since I have 2 cats and two young children. What would you suggest I do?
Second, while packing up everything in my cabinets I came to realize that under my kitchen sink I had about 20 bottles of harmful cleaning supplies. I no longer want these in my house but I don't know what to do with them. I can't just throw them away into a landfill and I don't want to continue using them in my house.
Again what do you suggest I do?

In terms of your kitchen renovation, if it’s still ongoing I wonder if there’s any place you could decamp to until it’s complete? Plants can certainly help with airborne toxins, but a safer solution would be to remove yourselves (or at least your small children) and stay with family or friends until they’ve had time to settle and off-gas.

I’m not sure exactly which toxic plants you bought, or if there’s any chance the store would exchange them for non-toxic versions, but we include the following list of indoor plants that are safe for both animals and children in our book. They help filter the air by converting carbon dioxide to oxygen and, apparently, even remove some of the chemicals.

Aleo vera – formaldehyde
elephant ear philodendron – formaldehyde
English ivy – benzene
ficus – formaldehyde
golden pothos – carbon monoxide, benzene, formaldehyde
peace lily – benzene, trichloroethylene
spider plant – carbon monoxide

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A friend of mind just called to tell me that she happily, but unexpectedly, just found out she’s nearly three months pregnant. She wanted advice on how to get organic immediately because even if she hasn’t been all that organic up until now, she’d prefer to hedge the bets of her unborn child. In this column we talk about lots of specific organic parenting ideas, but I told her that the following eight things will cover the big picture and if she does them she’ll be able to catch up quick.

1. Food

Start eating whole foods (as close to how it came out of the earth as possible), paying attention to which items are more and less toxic. Meat is high on the food chain and therefore more toxic; vegetables are lower. For information on joining a community supported farm check out Local Harvest. Avoid packaged foods and try to eat a varied diet that includes plenty of protein, calcium, whole grains and folic acid. (Take a daily vitamin with folic acid as well to be sure you’re meeting the requirement.)

2. Water

Test the tap water at home for contaminants and deal with it – a Brita-style carbon carafe pitcher will take care of most issues. Stop drinking bottled water and carry your beverages in something safer like glass or stainless steel – there are great water bottles at SIGGand Klean Kanteen – to avoid chemical-leaching plastic, as well as help save some earth.

3. Air

You can’t always control what you’re breathing – the carpet at the bank or toxic bathroom cleaners at work – but wherever possible (in the car, at work, at home) open the windows and keep your environment as well-ventilated as possible. ...

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