Posts
Our home is our sanctuary for mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. It is often our refuge in this increasingly stressful world. To ensure that my ethical and cruelty-free values extend to my home, I'm on my journey to make my home more sustainable, starting with my bedroom.
Why the bedroom first? Bedroom is the place where we calm our minds, heal the body, and get ready for whatever obstacles life throws at us.
Considering we all have been spending all our time inside our house, especially our bedroom, it's an ideal time to consider giving our bedroom a green makeover.
If you're ready to take your ethics into the bedroom, here's a checklist of items you need to take care of.
Switch to Sustainable Bedding {of course!}
When it comes to the bedroom, I always make sure that the sheets I use are certified organic and nontoxic. Here's why......
On average, we sleep for 6-9 hours on our bed {uninterrupted} - that's almost a third of our lives in bed. It's space where we rest, and our body resets. Good sleep health is crucial for good health. Hence, it is really important that our bedding is clean and not filled with potentially toxic chemicals.
Fortunately, when it comes to bedding, there is a range of eco-friendly fabrics including organic cotton, Tencel™, and linen to choose from. These fabrics are breathable, have no contact with toxic chemicals and have a much lower environmental footprint compared to conventional bedding.
Check out my tried and tested ethical bedding brands that will guarantee a comfortable and sustainable slumber.
West Elm has a range of Tencel and organic cotton bedding without nasty pesticides that can harm the environment. My favorite is their 400 thread count percale sheet set because they're extremely soft, organic, and also fair trade. In addition to the sheets, they also have organic cotton blankets like the frayed design in the picture. The good thing about West Elm is that this American brand is available in various countries across the world (including UAE).
Another of my favorites is the sustainable company Pact, which sources only organic, fair-trade, and water-friendly materials for its entire range of bedding (and fashion). You'll also find how much water you saved with every purchase! At this moment, they only ship to the US and Canada. Singapore based Sojao (which literally translates from Hindi to go-to-sleep) also does great organic cotton bedding and towels and ships worldwide.
Go Green Textiles brand from India is another favorite and I shop from them while my trips to India (since they don't have an online store). They're very good quality, light on the wallet (since they are the manufacturer) and GOTS and Oeko-tex certified.
Coyuchi is another great sustainable bedding brand, that I haven't tried yet but have heard great things about. They've been making organic bedding since 1991 and are on my list next time I need sheets or duvet covers. Moonava does bamboo sheets that are breathable and sustainable and they ship free worldwide. As for fillers, Nimbus Bedding has created a vegan and eco-friendly collection called Smartdown®. Their pillows and duvets under this collection use silky soft fibers derived from recycled PET plastic bottles instead of goose down.
One piece of advice, for your pillows and blankets, make sure to check the complete material composition. Many eco-friendly bedding brands use down and feathers in the filling. We don't want to harm animals in our quest to be eco-friendly. There are options that are both sustainable and cruelty-free, so be careful when you shop. Make a habit to read the label, no matter what product you are shopping for.
Get Sustainable Furniture
Get Sustainable Furniture
Perhaps the hardest (but can also also be easiest) to find is sustainable furniture. We often don't realise that our conventional dressers and beds are all-too-often made of illegally harvested wood or unhealthy MDF. A lot of other furniture items are built using petroleum-derived plastic, which is a complete no-go.
By simply choosing furniture that is pre-owned or re-furbishing your existing items of old gems, you can ensure that your bedroom is more sustainable and unique. After all, the most sustainable option, even in home decor, is to use and repair what you already own or to shop secondhand. Every city has interesting stores from where you can find beautiful vintage furniture pieces or that craft furniture using repurposed materials like repurposed wood. Leather, though, is an absolute no-go - it's not sustainable and neither is it a humane material.
When you can't find something from these stores, then the next best option is to shop from sustainable furniture brands like Ethan Allen, West Elm, Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn (all available in UAE). These stores use only responsibly sourced FSC certified wood or recycled wood, that is legally harvested. All their furniture is also fairtrade.
If you want something that's minimalist and light on the wallet, you can also find a few eco-friendly furniture pieces at IKEA. They have products made from renewable and/or recycled materials as part of IKEA’s commitment to creating a sustainable future. For example, their Odger chair is made of renewable wood and recycled plastic and the KUNGSBACKA kitchen front is made from recycled PET bottles (you can use these as cabinets for your bedroom).
European sustainable furniture brand TipToe is also a great place to shop for benches, chairs, or accent furniture for the bedroom. All their furniture is designed to last a lifetime, and are made ethically in Europe.
Modish is another great American store that has a curation of beautiful eco-friendly furniture made using sustainable materials like recycled wood, reclaimed materials, bamboo-like this beautiful console table crafted from recycled wood. Many of their pieces are handcrafted by artisans who are paid fair wages.
Now, if you have furniture from Ikea which you are bored and are looking to upgrade, there's a sustainable way to do it. Introducing you to Pretty Pegs. The company has a range of knobs, legs, and covers to upgrade your Ikea furniture and make it new and stylish instead of replacing it with a completely different piece. Isn't that clever?
Liven Up The Bedroom With Sustainable Decor Pieces
With brands understanding the need for change, it's becoming easier and more accessible to decorate your place in more eco-friendly ways. However, honestly, the most sustainable way to decorate your bedroom involves shopping for pieces that are crafted with natural materials and will last, instead of based on trends.
Picking home decor pieces crafted from sustainable materials, which are kind to the planet does not always involve spending a fortune. When you keep your eyes open, you'll find many beautiful pieces to liven up your bedroom without hurting the planet {or people}.
Etsy is a great place to find beautiful ethically made decor items crafted using natural materials. My other favorite stores for sustainable home decor items are VivaTerra and West Elm. They don't just do sustainable furniture, even the decor items, cushions, and rugs at West Elm {and even Pottery Barn} are fairtrade, and many items handcrafted by artisans. VivaTerra does beautiful sustainable decor and accessories that are light on the wallet too.
The Natural Collection also has a range of beautiful products that are crafted with zero-waste and cruelty-free production methods. A pop of color with their pouf crafted from recycled cotton will be a nice addition to any bedroom. Another great place to find unique decor items, crafted by artisans in Guatemalan, is the online ethical store Story of Source. I've never really purchased anything from them yet {they're a bit pricey}, but find it very interesting.
Throw in a beautiful handcrafted natural rug, like this one made from hemp and recycled PET (this brand ships worldwide), add in plants, a fragrant organic candle, and your room turns into a beautiful haven. In fact, the grey plant pot in the picture above is from Ikea and is made from recycled plastic. See, finding sustainable home products isn't that difficult after all!
I also love picking items during my travels, which are handmade by artisans and the best part is that the money directly goes into supporting their livelihood.
Non-Toxic Clean Fragrance and Candles
A good fragrance is a great way to set the mood of calmness and peace in the bedroom. We often use room sprays, candles, or reed stick diffusers for a nice smelling bedroom.
Unfortunately, conventional room fragrances and candles emit toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, toluene, and benzene, which can irritate the lungs and are potential carcinogens. Most candles are made of paraffin wax—a petroleum byproduct which releases carcinogenic soot when burned.
Don't worry. There are amazing natural options that won't give you cancer, or mess-up your health. One of my favorites is Neom Organics candles, made from 100% natural vegetable waxes. The wax is sourced from sustainable and renewable annual crops from long-established farms and contains pure essential oils. It is hand-poured in a glass jar and comes with an unbleached cotton wick. No other ingredients or nasties like binders or glue are added to their candles; they are completely clean and non-toxic. So when the candles burn they do not release any pollutants, toxins or soot. There are many other non-toxic and natural candles like Helm, and Voya.
Beware of the natural candles that use beeswax, because they're not vegan.
I also love using essential oil blends and use them in the beautiful ceramic diffuser from Edens Garden. Their oil blends also smell divine and are ethically and sustainably sourced. Using essential oils is a great way to make your room fragrant, without harming the environment or your health.
Non-toxic paint
Last but not the least, the next time you are painting the room, look up clean and non-toxic paint brands. Paint is one of those products many of us don’t think twice about, except when it comes to color. However, there are some chemicals in paint that can be toxic, many of which are grouped into a category called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). One of the most common VOCs, found in almost every other paint, is formaldehyde, which is hazardous not just for humans but for the environment, too.
Brands like Green Planet Paints, Lakeland Paints, Earthborn, and Smog Armor are on the mission to improve air quality in our homes and keep them healthy with their clean non-toxic paints. Currently, my bedroom and house are painted with regular paint, but I'd like to find a clean, non-toxic, and VOC-free alternative in Dubai.
Talking of air quality, using plants in your bedroom is a great way to improve the air quality and also add a nice pop of color. Plants make great natural decor pieces that will liven up your space, positively affect the mood, and bring joy and happiness. Some popular indoor plants known to purify the air in your room include spider plant, Dracean, peace lily, English Ivy, snake plant, and aloe vera.
No comments
Post a Comment
Leave your comments, would be happy to hear them!!!