Recently, I moved into my partner’s apartment and to a new part of town.
Let’s just say, my partner is not as green as me.
But she is very supportive, knows that this is important to me.
“If you want to change stuff, do the research and tell me what you want to do”
Fair enough.
We live close to major highway artery and it’s been shown to have one of the highest concentrations of air pollutants in the city according to a recent newspaper article.
At the same time, my partner’s adult onset asthma symptoms seem to be getting worse over the past few years.
Coincidence?

This is the reality in other parts of the world. I’m sure it will never happen in our neighbourhoods – or is it here already?
Who knows but it wouldn’t hurt to try and improve the air we breathe at home. She works from home most of the time, so I figured it’s the time & investment to investigate my our options.
Add to my to-do list:
1. How to improve indoor air quality naturally
eg., Spider plants, no air fresheners or ‘nose blind’ febreze.
Readers, could really use your tried & true suggestions and ideas in the comments section.
So the next task is the boiler.
This thing doesn’t even have a thermostat !
Thus, regardless of the temperature, our heating is working full blast if set to ON.
We have this dial thingy that is reminiscent of a timer that allows me to turn or off the heat.
(I’ve been looks into Nest’s thermostat – admittedly it looks so cool but the really neat thing is that it monitors your activities (ie., it knows when you are in or out of the house) and is able to adjust heating by the minute. Just need to find time to do the math of how much all this will cost me to install and potential energy savings)
Add to my to-do list:
2. Thermostat for boiler.
She likes to dry clean her clothes and even linens (Yes, people still dry clean, and I’d stay clear of so called ‘organic’ drycleaners)
Easy fix: No budget for dry cleaning 🙂
Add to my to-do list:
3. Machine wash at home and l’ll iron! (Or pay for someone to iron !!)
Porridge.
Her favourite breakfast meals these days is instant porridge with mixed berries.
The ones were you microwave it for 2 minutes add milk and it’s ready to eat.
My issue is the packaging – 4 individually packed porridge containers.
I can only imagine that it’s probably lined with something meant to be convenient like non-stick on the inside / potential Bisphenol-A (BPA) lurking around
(Speaking of non-stick, did you know there is hormone disruptor BPA on cash receipts?)
Add to my to-do list:
4. I’ll get up a little earlier and make oatmeal.
Thus, Readers I’d appreciate any healthy & quick recipes 🙂
Till next time.
Dihan Chandra
Proud-Owner, Organic Lifestyle
6 Responses to “Greening my relationship Part 1”
Would also get an air purifier too if the pollution is that bad in your area. Also salt lamps and beeswax candles are good natural air purifiers. Check out Oh she glows & Iron you (http://www.theironyou.com/) for some great recipes. OSG has this chia seed breakfast which can be made ahead: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/02/18/chia-seed-breakfast-bowl/.
Loved the latest blog post!
We have been buying bobs redmill (or pc organics) quick oats and microwaving them and adding frozen blueberries (organic) from costco (MOOV) on top AFTER the microwaving (just not sure what the microwave does to the good stuff in the blueberries so we just let them thaw on the counter for half an hour when we first get up)
Sometimes well.ca has the bobs on sale and if you spread around their coupon for $10 off $40 you will get one too and then it’s a really good deal J
The NEST thing does seem neat but also scary as I’ve read about them being hacked and then people know your activities and routine!
Also we do half cup oats to 3/4 cups water and do both bowls at the same time for 4:22
Hey Diana – just read your daily journal on going ‘waste-free’ on your blog – you’re right, great reading at dsmiciklas.wordpress.com. Keep up the great work!
Wow, such a great idea. A friend of mine does this with salad – not sure why I didn’t think of this before – thxs Nikki (and nice to see you!)
Here’s one of my favourite make ahead breakfast ideas that just might do it for your partner – no questionable packaging, super healthy, tasty and so easy: Oatmeal in Jars: One Week of Breakfast in 5 Minutes http://bit.ly/1scQRQj
I see such similarities between this post and my blog! Love the tips..keep them coming 🙂