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paints contain VOCs, a class of chemicals that includes scary compounds that have been linked to all kinds of illnesses and diseases—organ damage, cancer, nausea and central nervous system disorders.

paint is a major offender in polluting your home.

It wasn’t so long ago that using lead paint was perfectly acceptable. Now it’s a huge no-no.

It makes sense—most paint is made from oil. Basically the same stuff you put in your car, you’ve spread all over your walls. Essentially you have a petrochemical.

Notice how that gasoline smell gives you a headache? Paint can do the same thing, in a more subtle way. It has volatile organic compounds (VOCs), like solvents and even formaldehyde. That’s probably a word you haven’t heard since high school biology class.

The toxins in oil-based paint are linked to all sorts of health problems including symptoms ranging from headaches to cancer. Notice how that fresh paint smell lingers? It’s called off-gassing (also known as evaporating). If you’re smelling it, you’re breathing it, and if you’re breathing it, you might as well be eating all those toxins.

give VOCs the brush-off.

Milk-based paints are the best alternative. They’re made with milk protein and lime, are petroleum-free, do not off-gas like typical paints and are low in VOCs. They also come in a wide variety of colors so you won’t sacrifice style for healthier substance. And we hear that adding vanilla extract will make this paint smell nicer (not that it smelled that bad to begin with).

In addition, big companies like Benjamin Moore, Glidden, Sherwin-Williams and Duron have developed no-VOC and low-VOC paints based on standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

learn to strip safely.

If you’re worried about how to strip off the old paint (and you should be), check out non-toxic strippers like Amaizeing—a corn-based product—and Soyclean, which is made from soy.

microwaving some types of plastic with food means that you are essentially radiating a petroleum product that can leach chemicals into your food...how’s that taste?

plastic: convenient, but at a cost.

Next villain: the microwave.

The first commercial ones were introduced in the 1940s, weighed in at over 750 pounds, and cost $5,000. They’ve come a long way on the size and weight front, but they’re still in the danger zone.

It’s all about what happens when plastic, heat and food get together and party. You put these all together, and sometimes they don’t stay in the right place. A little food gets bound to the plastic, or, worse, some plastic particles could end up in the food. This is bad because some plastic additives are suspected of having estrogen-mimicking properties when they are present in the body. So if what you actually want to serve up is man-boobs, then no problem, microwaving in plastics and using plastic wrap is a great idea. If not, only use microwave-safe dishes, and never, ever use plastic wrap to microwave oily foods.

Look for specially labeled microwave-safe containers. Pyrex and some specially formulated plastics work very well and won’t alter anyone’s, um, figure.

plastic + heat + food = plastic-y food

what’s the nutritional value of plastic?

Even if you can’t taste it, plastic particles might be there, somewhere. This has not been 100% proven. Yet. Do you really want to risk it?

The same goes for plastic wrap.

don’t nuke your food in run-of-the-mill plastic containers

Unless they’re marked “microwave safe.” And don’t let plastic wrap come into direct contact with oily food when microwaving (good luck with that one).

Use ceramic or glass containers and wax paper, parchment paper or even paper towels instead.