Particleboard is a common material used in furniture and to build walls, floors and cabinets inside our houses. It’s a wood material that’s made with compressed wood chips and resin, with adhesives mixed in to create a solid material that can act like wood. The problem? Most particleboard can offset gasses from chemicals inside like formaldehyde, which can create an unhealthy home environment. Since ripping out everything made of particleboard isn’t a green or economical option, one way to prevent unhealthy fumes is to use a water-based, nontoxic wood sealer. Just adding a coat to walls, cabinets and other particleboard products can make it impenetrable and undetectable.

It’s no surprise that one of the easiest ways to keep your home as healthy as possible is to leave your shoes at the door. Shoes can drag in pesticides, chemicals and dirt, so going barefoot inside is a simple way to keep it clean. But before you take off your shoes, be sure to give them a good wipe on a doormat outside. By placing your doormat vertically at the door, you actually get better traction when wiping your shoes across it. It picks up more dirt and other grime, which helps keep your shoes cleaner.

It’s easier than ever to find organic cotton bedding in big-box stores and online shopping sites. But other than choosing to help farmers who grow cotton organically, what’s the real benefit to sleeping on organic sheets? Conventional cotton bedding is often bleached and then dyed using heavy metal dyes that can have formaldehyde resins. And if you choose sheets that are labeled “wrinkle-free,” they are also treated with a chemical substance that is a suspected carcinogen. If you can’t find organic cotton sheets, look for light-colored bedding that is not wrinkle-free for a greener sleep.