Healthy Homes
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Insect fragments, lead dust, pesticides, pollen, dust mites, animal dander, human skin flakes, or fungal spores are just some what makes up your household dust. This means that between 30 to 40 percent of the dust inside your household has been brought in from the outdoor world. This can be tracked in from dust on…
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As we spend more time inside our homes, our concerns about indoor air quality are magnified. The air inside your home is more polluted than the outside air and can negatively impact you. Your health impacts depend on the types of pollutants in your air, how often you breathe them, and your current health. People…
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Many of us are spending more time in our homes. During this time, you could be thinking about ways to make your space cleaner, including the indoor air you breathe. What first comes to mind to most people is indoor plants. But before you head straight to the plant nursery, there are a few things…
Posted in: indoor environment -
Have you thought of the importance of safety when using an extension cord? Extension cords deliver power right where we need it— if the lamp isn’t close enough to the wall or floor outlet, we just plug it into an extension cord. It is important to remember that convenience should never overrule safety. Below are…
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The holiday season is a joyous time to gather with family and friends. It can also be a busy time of gift shopping, preparing your infamous green bean casserole, or hosting extended family and friends. With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, your pets, who many times are part of the family, may…
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Gift giving is an uphill battle that only seems to intensify with age, especially when shopping for older adults. Buying for those who are not able to buy for themselves takes some creative thinking. Here are some ideas to get you started. Connect them to a local senior center and financially contribute to their outings…
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As you purchase gifts now and throughout the year, give gifts that improve the health and safety of the people you care about. There are many gift ideas that do not cost a lot and encourage safe behaviors. Below are some ideas to get you thinking. Children Select toys that are appropriate for the child’s…
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It is raining acorns! Every day and night I hear acorns bouncing off my roof. Instinctively both the cat and I duck for fear of being hit on the head by a flying acorn. A single oak tree can produce thousands of acorns in one season. The acorns end up landing on the outside walkways…
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Hurricane Michael impacted thousands in southwest Georgia, along with Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Many are still waiting for the power to be restored. Recovery from any natural disaster takes time. When returning to your home there are an overwhelming number of things to deal with. The purpose of this blog is to…
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Would you like to live a little greener and healthier? With a few minor changes you can make your home a healthier place to live. Place a doormat in front of every exterior door and leave your shoes at the door. These two actions reduce the contaminants you are tracking into your home on the…
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How does an adapted southerner survive a holiday where the thermometer hovers around 15 degrees F (-9 C)? When the sun is shining and there is no wind, it is beautiful! The snow sparkles in the sun and it looks deceivingly warm outside. At least the houses are generally nice and warm inside. The majority…
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Still looking for gifts? Here are some gift ideas that focus on keeping individuals and families safe and healthy in their homes. These suggestions encompass the eight principles of a healthy home. Learn more about making your home healthy and safe at www.georgiahealthyhousing.org. Keep your home safe Slippers with non-skid soles to prevent slips and…
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Lead can be found in many places in and around your home.If you live in a home built before 1978, there may be lead in the paint. Over time it can chip or peel off contaminating the soil around your home. If you are concerned about lead in the soil around your home, you can…
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I’m excited to announce the opportunity to present your research, teaching and/or outreach at the Housing Education and Research Association (HERA) Annual Conference in Lowell, Massachusetts on October 8-11, 2017. This year’s conference theme is: “The Beat Goes On: From Boardinghouses to Gen Alpha.” HERA is a small dynamic organization of research, teaching and outreach professionals…
Posted in: Housing -
Thanksgiving is a holiday where everyone gets to sit by the dinner table and spend the night eating with friends and family. It makes you appreciate what you have and who truly makes you feel thankful. While you’re at the dinner table with turkey and dressing, there may be something sinister lurking about in your…
Posted in: indoor environment -
Healthy housing is an issue of concern around the globe. The Healthy Housing 2016 conference in Brisbane provides an opportunity to share research on the indoor environment and sustainable design. This is the 7th International Conference on Energy and Environment of Residential Buildings (ICEERB 2016) and my colleague and I were pleased to share our work…
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With Halloween coming around the corner there are plenty of scares around every turn. People all around the neighborhood are decorating their homes to look frightening and spooky to prepare for the holiday, but what if I told you that your house could easily be the scariest around? What could make your house the spookiest…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
Have you ever thought about what you bring into your home on the bottoms of your shoes? You may be tracking in insect fragments, lead dust, pesticides, pollen, pet hair, fungal spores, cigarette ash, or even human skin flakes. Now think of your children playing on the carpeting you just walked across. Since they are…
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Everyone can carve out 5 minutes each day to keep yourself and your family healthy. You may need to make trade-offs, but it will be worth it. Here are five things you can do to make your home safer and healthier. Program the poison control number (1-800-222-1222) into your cell phone. Inspect your door locks and…
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Each day millions of children spend a good part of the day away from home in a child care facility. It’s important to keep them healthy and safe both at home and while they are away from home. One of best things you can do is to learn more about the connection between health and the indoor…
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Health problems and laminate wood flooring are back in the news. The cause of alarm centers around formaldehyde, a known-carcinogenic, that is used in some pressed wood products like laminate wood flooring. Formaldehyde is found in a variety of home and consumer products. It is used in plywood, particleboard, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), wood floor finishes,…
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Every January we recognize the winners of the Radon Poster Contest. This year there were four winners in Georgia. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all who entered. The posters were great! A special thanks to Southern Radon Reduction who provided prizes for the winners. The posters do a great job of increasing…
Posted in: Healthy Housing -
If you want to give gifts that promote healthier and greener living, the first thing to do is consider the recipient. Are you giving something that person really wants or can use? Don’t stress about gift giving. Have fun finding that special gift for everyone on your list. Below are some ideas. Gifts that promote recycling…
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Do you feel ill whenever you are in your house, but feel fine when you stay in a hotel or at a friend’s house? There could be something in your house that your body is reacting to. Mold is often the named culprit; however, it isn’t always mold. To determine what is causing your health concerns you…
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I recently visited Montana where over 86,000 acres have burned or are on fire. This year in the United States, about 7.2 million acres have been impacted by wildfires. That’s an area about five times the size of Delaware. It’s easy to see that the smoke from the fires in Montana, Canada, and surrounding states…
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I may have brought bedbugs home from my vacation. What an awful souvenir! I travel a lot, but this is the first time I have had an encounter with bedbugs. Maybe staying at all those convents and monasteries in Europe instead of five star hotels protected me from these unsavory pests. In reality, bedbugs can be…
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Every year 72,330 women die from lung cancer. Lung cancer has killed more women than breast cancer since 19871. Of those who survive, only 18% survive five years2, meaning lung cancer has one of the highest mortality rates of all cancers for women. So, why is it that only 1% of women consider lung cancer…
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My New Year’s Resolutions are a few days late, but I’m not stressing over it. My resolution is to relax and not stress about minor things (like a late blog post). This year I encourage you to focus your goals on relationships, your health, and the health of the world. Below are resolutions I suggest…
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I have always enjoyed gifts – both the giving and receiving of them. According to researchers, I am not alone. Gift giving is an important part of human interaction and psychologists say that the givers often reap the biggest psychological gains. When someone takes time to thoughtfully select a gift for me, it means so…
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Does your home have “curb appeal?” October is a great time to stand on the curb and check out the condition of your house. Are the spiders taking over the front porch? Does it need painted around the windows to keep the moisture out? Are there loose shingles? Is the sidewalk cracked? Are the gutters…
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Lead is a highly poisonous metal that can have serious health effects, especially for children under the age of 6. It only takes a small amount of lead to severely affect their mental and physical development. Lead-based paint and lead contaminated soil are the most common sources of exposure. House paint in the U.S. no…
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Where did you walk today? Think about all the places your feet have been in the last 24 hours and then imagine the contaminants found in those places. Every time you walk into your home with your shoes on you are tracking in the contaminants you encountered throughout the day. About 30 to 40 percent…
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Compared to adults, babies and children have a higher breathing rate and less developed lungs. This means babies and children can be more susceptible to environmental damage to the lungs than adults, like in the case of radon. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. It’s a naturally occurring, radioactive gas that…
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Injuries in the home are the number one killer of children in the U.S. Most of these home injuries could have been prevented. An example is single-use laundry detergent, also known as Laundry pods. They are convenient to use, but can be very dangerous to children. What can you do to make your home safer?…
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Children are more likely than adults to fall victim to hazards in your home. Relative to their body size, children breathe in more air and consume more food than adults. They also spend more time close to the ground where contaminants lurk and there are lots of things to chew on. This means they are…
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Having fun in Jacksonville, Florida while learning more about radon. You may not think that’s something you need to know about. Not true! You need to pay attention and take action. Radon is a radioactive gas that is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Radon is found in EVERY home regardless of type…
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Every year over 1 million people are accidentally poisoned. Many poisonings can be prevented by using and storing household products safely. For more information on ways you can reduce chemicals in your home and make your home safer check out the UGA Extension website, where you will find helpful tips and green cleaning recipes.
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This past week was Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. It was good to have a week focused on lead poisoning, but we really need to pay attention to the dangers of lead year around. Lead poisoning is often preventable. The most common sources of lead poisoning are lead paint chips and dust. In 1978 lead was…
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Your children are at a greater risk of exposure to environmental hazards than you. These hazards exist where they live, learn and play. Children engage in “riskier behaviors” than most adults. Two big “environmental risky behaviors” children engage in are: Crawling across floors that can have a number of different contaminants on them Putting toys…
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Have you ever considered how resilient your house is to damage from natural disasters? I am talking about things like flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, straight-line winds, and even droughts. I am attending a workshop put together by LSU Extension that focuses on how we can create homes that are more resilient to the disasters that…
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Guest Blogger……Morgan Barnett, Master of Public Health Degree Candidate at The University of Georgia Many of us burn candles to make a room smell good, or just for decorative use. While candles create a calming effect, the allure of candlelight can quickly turn into a disaster if proper safety measures are not followed. Keep yourself,…
Posted in: Safety -
Recently I was teaching an online class about keeping your home healthy and reducing the asthma triggers in your home. I talked about some of the main asthma triggers in your home – dust mites, pet dander, secondhand smoke, mold, cockroaches, and mice. The training included action steps to take to reduce or eliminate these…
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Today I heard a wonderful presentation by Henry Cisneros, who was Secretary of HUD under Clinton. He spoke at the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) 20th anniversary celebration. He talked about housing, linkages between our homes and our health, and changing housing needs. It was a good reminder of what really makes a house…
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Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and number one cause among non-smokers. You may think this is just a problem in the north or for homes with basements. Not true! Radon kills about 21,000 people each year, more than drunk driving. One in fifteen homes in the U.S.…
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A news story earlier this week served as a reminder about the dangers of Carbon Monoxide (CO). An Atlanta school was evacuated when several students and adults became ill from exposure to high levels of CO. Thankfully, everyone seems to be okay, but the school remains closed while officials work to resolve the problem. I…
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I am writing this blog posting on my birthday, so I will take this opportunity to wish myself a happy birthday. : ) Now on to the topic. I have been looking forward to sharing what I learned at an energy workshop I recently attended in Montana. It was great! Colleagues in Cooperative Extension from…
Posted in: Conservation -
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Westcott House in Springfield, Ohio. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and like most of his designs it has several elements that blend with nature. It was interesting to see that there were several energy saving features in the design. Most of the windows had…
Posted in: Sustainability