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Natural Year Challenge: Month Nine

Welcome to Month Nine of the momsAWARE Natural Year Challenge! It's never too late to follow along on our 10-step journey to a healthier, more natural lifestyle. Join us for this month's topics:

• Natural Year Challenge: Household Edition

  Clean Your Air. Most commercial air fresheners do little to purify the air and much to hamper our health. In our Month Nine Household Challenge we explore safe, natural ways to freshen the air in our homes and offices, while actually reducing the number of toxins we breathe. Baking soda, essential oils, houseplants, and more—you'll be surprised by the cost-saving simplicity of these healthy alternatives!

• Natural Year Challenge: Food Edition

  Make a Healthy Snack. In our Month Nine Food Challenge we learn how to make natural, nutritious snacks that even your kids will love! Energy bars, fruit leather, dried fruit, kale chips—pick your favorite to try this month and see if you don't find yourself enjoying familiar foods in a whole new way! Great recipes and a video demonstration of Andrea's popular fruit leather are included to help you along the way!

Tips for House Hunters

What should you look for when buying or renting a home? How can you choose a safe environment and avoid hazardous water damage that can lead to serious health issues? See our Guidelines for Buying or Renting a Home for 10 tips to help you find a living environment that will benefit your family's health for years to come! To hear a helpful conversation on this topic, visit our Radio Interviews page for our past Toxic Talk on House Hunting.

Farmers Markets

This is a great time of year to buy seasonal, fresh, and locally harvested food. Find out if there's a farmers market near you and download a list of helpful questions for Making the Most of Your Farmers Market. Enjoy the wonderful bounty this season brings by making a trip to your local market!

Pesticides and Schools

How concerned should we be when our children's schools spray pesticides and herbicides on a regular basis? Are these chemicals as harmless as we're led to believe? To learn more about how pesticides work, the possible health hazards involved, and the safer natural options available, see our article on Pesticides and Schools.

Life with Less Plastic

Looking to reduce your use of plastic around the home? You're not alone. Many of us are aware of the increasing concern over endocrine-disrupting chemicals and other hazards associated with plastics. See Life with Less Plastic: 10 Simple Steps for resources to help you become better informed and practical ideas for cutting back on your use of plastics in the home.

Five Natural Products

Are you one of the many who are trying to use fewer chemicals in your home? The good news is that switching to natural cleaning and personal care products can actually save you money! See our article on Five Cheap, Natural, Accessible Products for Your Home and discover a few common items that will go a long way in your household!

Choosing a Mold Remediator

Tackling a serious mold issue yourself can often make matters worse, as opening up a wall without proper containment can easily exacerbate the problem. But finding a qualified mold remediator who understands the potential hazards of improper remediation can be difficult. See How to Choose a Mold Remediation Company for eight questions to ask before making a hiring decision.

What Is Building Biology?

How important is the relationship between our health and our indoor environment? Can natural building materials really make a difference in our homes, offices, and schools? Building Biology studies these questions and offers 25 guiding principles for safe, health-supporting building practices. See our article explaining What Is Building Biology? to find out more!

Building Relationships: Toxins in Our Home

momsAWARE's Andrea Fabry joins Dr. Gary Chapman to tell her compelling story of sick children, a sick home, and the radical decisions that affected her marriage, family, and future—and led her down a path toward helping others with the knowledge she gained on the journey. If you missed this inspiring broadcast, listen online to our Building Relationships Interview.

Toxic Mold: You Are Not Alone

Those who have experienced ill health due to toxic mold exposure often feel isolated, and even crazy. Toxic Mold: You Are Not Alone will assure you that many are struggling with feelings of isolation, desperation, desolation, and panic. We share excerpts of emails received in a three-week period in 2018 in hopes that, if you're dealing with a mold exposure, these will validate your own experience and help lessen your feelings of isolation.