Could you say how many chemicals you interact with every day, and how many of them are harmful to your health or the environment? What about the number of plastic particles you unknowingly eat, drink, or breathe?

We are surrounded by chemicals and plastics. Some are more harmful than others, but even the slightest entry into the body invokes a detox response. That might not sound bad for a single, limited exposure.

Pause for a moment and think about ingredients on the back of one bottle in your bathroom. When you stop to think about the number of chemicals that you encounter each day, know that the effects compound and create a load on our bodies and the environment.

Pesticides, herbicides, cleaning products, personal care products, cosmetics, vehicle exhaust, fabric fire retardants, food additives, and medications are just a few common categories of chemicals in daily life. Many of them are toxic and carcinogenic. They’re in your house, your car, and your workplace. By the time you walk out the front door in the morning, you’ve potentially been exposed to hundreds of them.

While some chemicals have been proven to be harmful, new ones enter the market constantly. For scientists, researching the health effects takes time, and determining adverse effects is often done reactively. For consumers, it’s a slew of confusing and conflicting information online or guess-and-check trials to find products.

How can we protect ourselves? Is there an easy way?

I think there is.

We start with what we can control. Most likely, that’s going to be products and food in your household. Change will take time, but it’s quite easy. Humans existed for centuries without so many chemicals and plastics, so are they really necessary? Focus on creating one escape in the world from all of this: your home. I think the best escape involves freedom from products, more so than substitution of products. Less is more.

Instead of loading our bodies with toxins, why not provide them with fuel to heal? Fuel to be happier, healthier, and stronger? These are the next steps. You deserve it. But first, we need be out with the bad and in with the new. Hello, Citrus!