Striving4Zen

Fancy candles look nice and can smell delicious, but if you knew that formaldehyde, ethanol and acetone were components of the fragrant air you're breathing thanks to those candles, chances are you'd walk around with your own oxygen supply for 10 hours (that's how long the emissions linger!)

Candles have long been the source of providing an instant pick-me-up to an otherwise boring atmosphere. With varying colors, designs and scents, candles can turn a plain, poorly lit room into a romantic, inviting space.

Along with everything else from grocery bags to beauty products, candles have begun a green transformation making them more eco-friendly by emitting fewer carcinogens.

While paraffin wax and lead-based wicks have been common components of scented candles, companies are now employing soy and vegetable waxes along with cotton or paper core wicks, which are friendlier to Mother Earth-- and your lungs.

These longer- and cleaner-burning votives are made with essential and natural oils that don't have petroleum-based notes. As an added bonus, they come in recycled packaging and, most importantly, are made of harmless ingredients.

Best Sound Effects:

Dayna Decker "Bardou" has an EcoWood Wick, which crackles just like a fireplace.

Best Kitchen Scent:

James Boyce for Voluspa "Tomato, Celery and Fennel"

Most Fun:

Soular Therapy Astrological Candles "Pisces"

Sexiest:

Illume "Black Lavender"

Best Basic Scent:

Paddywax "Linden," $28 at

Most Reasonable:

Votivo "White Ocean Sands"

Most Relaxing:

Thymes "Eucalyptus"

Sweetest Smelling:

Nest "Beeswax and Whipped Cream"

Full article --> NY Post

Labels: breathe, candles, clean air, cool new product, eco-friendly, lead, toxic, toxins

Labels: clean air, formaldehyde, Houseplants, living holistically, toxins

The recommended plants can be found below. Note that all the plants in the list are easily available from your local nursery.
1. Philodendron scandens `oxycardium', heartleaf philodendron2. Philodendron domesticum, elephant ear philodendron3. Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana', cornstalk dracaena4. Hedera helix, English ivy5. Chlorophytum comosum, spider plant6. Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig', Janet Craig dracaena7. Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii', Warneck dracaena8. Ficus benjamina, weeping fig9. Epipiremnum aureum, golden pothos10. Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa', peace lily11. Philodendron selloum, selloum philodendron12. Aglaonema modestum, Chinese evergreen13. Chamaedorea sefritzii, bamboo or reed palm14. Sansevieria trifasciata, snake plant15. Dracaena marginata , red-edged dracaena
For an average home of under 2,000 square feet, the study recommends using at least fifteen samples of a good variety of these common houseplants to help improve air quality. They also recommend that the plants be grown in six inch containers or larger.

SOURCE

Labels: clean air, Houseplants, plants

Houseplants, like the low-maintenance snake, spider, and ficus, clean air of toxins ($15 for six-inch potted plant at Starbright Floral Designs, 150 W. 28th St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 212-229-2623).
SOURCE

Labels: clean air, Houseplants, toxins