In 2002, after being married, my husband and I moved into our first home together. We were excited at the possibilities to build our life there together. Though we didn't have children, we did have nieces and nephews who regularly visited and we wanted to protect them and encourage a healthy lifestyle. So, six years ago, we began our quest to rid our home of harmful chemicals - in cleaning products, household items and the food that we put into our and their bodies.

It started with a gradual increase in local and organic food and a decrease in packaged food. This felt good - mentally and physically!

We abandoned the traditional cleaning products in favour of a less-is- more approach, using things like borax and baking soda and vinegar to clean, or when we could find them we would purchase eco-friendly cleaning options.

As we got more and more into home renovations we tried to be conscious of the decisions we made, and chose materials that would go easy on us and the environment - things like recycled denim insulation and low- VOC paints.

We carried on this trend after moving into our second home just over two years ago. We installed natural cork flooring with a water based finished to protect little hands and feet that would one day be crawling and walking on it. In fact, it was midnight on March 22 when my husband finished the flooring, and I went into labour at 3 am!

Having our own child motivated us to seek out more ways to create a healthy environment in our home - and in the greater community outside. Though many mothers cannot breastfeed for various reasons, we were fortunate to be able to and have chosen to do so for a period past the minimum recommended by pediatricians. We ditched the packages of products that are sent to new parents in favour of what our midwife recommended - a nice bottle of organic olive oil, which can help with dry skin, diaper rash, cradle cap and more. While we're not quite there yet, I would prefer not to put anything on our bodies that I wouldn't put in our mouths!

We use virtually no chemicals in the home to clean. I LOVE that I can clean my floors while our son is playing on them without the worry that he'll be ingesting yet more harmful chemicals into his tiny body.

We are grateful for the opportunity to purchase locally and non- locally grown organic foods to nourish the children in our home. Our niece and nephew recently moved in with us and it has been a joy to see them devour fresh fruits and vegetables and extend their plates for more. Our love for healthy foods is definitely translating into children in the home who are excited to eat well, and who want to learn about where their food comes from and how they can make healthy choices. Our eight year old nephew can often be found studying and comparing nutrition labels at the dinner table to see which foods have more sugar, which have more protein, etc.

Most of the time we opt for home-cooked meals over fast food or packaged foods, which means we don't always have the tidiest kitchen, but I think it's a decent trade off for the benefits we'll see in the long run. The kids enjoy helping to make homemade muffins and cookies and are really quite excited to eat a sweet tasting cookie that has NO sugar in it other than bananas.

Though we have seen several direct benefits, I generally see the benefits as being long term - less chance of chronic illnesses like asthma, lung disease, cancer and others. An immediate benefit is easy breathing due to lack of chemicals. Another is simply food that tastes great. I foresee children who will be in control of their health. I hope for an environment that's even a little bit healthier because of the choices we make and the choices our children will make.