Spring Cleaning for Your Health

Spring-cleaning is good for our house, and good for our spirits (at least, after the cleaning is over!). But spring cleaning can also be done for your health. There’s the obvious deep-cleaning which banishes dust and mold, and can help with your allergies. However, there’s more you can do in your spring routine to benefit your mental and physical health.

Local, in-season produce

Support your local farmers and help protect the environment by choosing local produce. Plus, by choosing what’s both in-season and local, you’ll get more health benefits out of your fruits and veggies. In-season produce has better flavors and nutrients than out-of-season, store-ripened produce shipped from across the country.

Go outside

Take advantage of warmer weather and sunnier days. Hike a mountain, or stroll through the woods. If you have allergies, be sure to venture outside when pollen levels are at their lowest, and take the medication that works best for you.

Throw away old medicines

While you’re deep-cleaning your house, make sure you go through your medicine cabinet. If you aren’t sure whether a medicine is safe anymore, and you aren’t relying on its expiration date, throw it away if the color is wrong or if it smells. Cleaning out your medicine cabinet is a good practice to get into anyway, because it keeps dangerous pills–such as those left over from surgery or chronic pain–from piling up.

Throw out old makeup

It may have looked great in the store or with that single outfit, but if you haven’t touched that lipstick tube or cream eyeshadow in over a year, it’s time to throw it out. Makeup has a shelf life, just like food–around 1 year. Organic products have an even shorter lifespan. Keeping old makeup and using it can cause damage to your skin, so why keep it around? Learn more about when to throw out specific types of makeup with Time to Toss Your Makeup?

Get rid of things that don’t make you happy

While we’re on the topic of clearing out clutter, spring is a great time to go through your closet and home, getting rid of what you don’t need. More than that, get rid of things that make you sad. This could be pictures and mementos of an ex, or books you read and really didn’t like. If you forever feel sad about a particular item of clothing–say, if it doesn’t flatter you no matter how good it looked on the hanger–you should take it out of your closet. You should also give away your unwanted items rather than throwing them out, because service can help boost your happiness.

Make resolutions

New Year’s isn’t the only time of the year you can resolve to change! Resolve to handle your stress, break a habit, make a habit, and live life a little more fully.