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Lily Berthold-Bond

Splat! Green Girl Whacks Air Fresheners

posted by Lily Berthold-Bond Nov 16, 2007 1:26 pm
filed under: Blogs, Green Girl Adventures, Health & Safety, Non-Toxic Cleaning, Self-Help, , , ,
Splat! Green Girl Whacks Air Fresheners
65 comments

By Lily Berthold-Bond

So I’m not the cleanest person in the world. OK, understatement, I am so far from the cleanest person in the world that I may, in fact, be the messiest. I thought my high school bedroom was bad, but it is no match for my dorm room.

With laundry so expensive and the workload so high, things get out of hand. There are books strewn everywhere. There are so many old papers on my desk that there’s not even room for my laptop. My chair is used more for jacket storage than sitting. There are so many clothes piled on the floor that you can literally see the point where my side ends and my roommate’s begins.

Now, I am certainly not the only messy college student. Most of my friends (except for the abnormally neat ones) face the same issues. Of course, between the dirty clothes, snack food remnants and body heat, a minuscule dorm room can start to get a not-so-lovely odor.

I walked into my friends’ room a few weeks ago only to be bombarded by the scent of “sweet apples and roses,” their attempt to mask the odor of their 18-year-old male selves. Oh, the wonder of plug-in air fresheners. Only, not so much.

First of all, the unforeseen power of a tiny air freshener in their minuscule dorm room was nearly suffocating. That was clear. What was not so clear to them, however, was the danger of these sweet apples and roses.

Personally, when I smell an air freshener my head immediately begins to ache and rightfully so. These synthetically perfumed air “fresheners” actually do exactly the opposite. They emit chemicals that, when mixed with ozone, create a toxic living environment. In turn, this toxic environment has been shown to cause headaches, depression, hormonal imbalance and reproductive problems.

In other words, this is clearly not the best way to hide that odor that becomes so prevalent in the college dorm room. Instead, try opening the windows or using a non-toxic freshener from the health food store. I have one that is scented with real lavender oil (not that fake stuff in commercial air fresheners), which is great for relaxation.

Note to self: Say no to Glade.

Lily Berthold-Bond grew up in a chemical-free zone and has struggled her whole life to understand and accept this non-commercial lifestyle. Now a freshman at Tufts University, she has embraced her green life and hopes to share its possibilities with the rest of her generation.

More on Green Girl Adventures (67 articles available)
More from Lily Berthold-Bond (67 articles available)

65 comments

65 comments

add your comment »
65 comments add your comment
William Shakespeare

I hate glade anywayz, it stinks.

Kasia Rybak

I never use fresheners at all. I dont need it, for my luck.

Heather B.

I don't use air fresheners that are commercial or natural. I do however use an oil burner with organic oils. These are safe and smell really nice especially the lavender one :) Another way to make your house or room(s) smell lovely. Keep up the GREAT work Green Girl :)

Lily C.
  • Lily C. says
  • Sep 18, 2008 4:59 PM

You rock Green Girl! Air Fresheners are not the way to fresher air, only fresh air comes from not polluting the atmosphere. I don't use air fresheners at all, it just makes the air feel chemical-ful.

Catherine M.

Same here: air fresheners gives me headaches. I never use them anymore.

Stacy M.

Aura Cacia makes these cool air fresheners that use essential oils. They plug in the wall and then you can pick what EO you want to use. Couple drops on the cotton pad they provide and then you slip that into the diffuser and plug it in. Smells great and no worries about unnatural chemicals! Also it's fun to play aromatherapist as you can create different blends of EO's you want to use in the diffuser.

Sheri Cochran

I thoroughly agree! I HATE air fresheners, scented oil air fresheners, etc. I see people buying 3 or 4 different scents and wonder how they can live in their house. If I want a fresh smell, a little essential oil like citrus or a little natural vanilla does the trick.

Cindy Norris

Air fresheners are TOXIC! They carry a chemical called phenols (that wrap the synapses in our brain and keep them from talking to each other. Phenols aggravate conditions like ADD, ADHD, Alsheimers, Memory and others) Many are also known for causing headaches. I have done a lot of research on toxins and have converted to toxin free products. Essential oils are the way to go as a replacement!
Cindy Norris RN nursenorris@comcast.net

Brigid Holmes

using essential oil in a atomiser is great for providing a scented room and cleaning the air of germs. You have to be cautious with essential oils if you are pregnant and people have allergic reactions to some of them. I recommend air purifers, they are cheap and swirl the water inside to ionise the air and don't use lots of energy, and you can add essential oils to them. Also using flowers to scent the air. I can't stand artifical air freshners even when I didn't know how bad they were I found them difficult to live with, the air felt stuffy, over pungent and not fresh as you feel when burning essential oils or using a purifier.

Jennifer J.

I love that you've seen the light Green Girl! I'm a fan of using fresh Orange peels in the wastebasket if it's not quite ready to be taken out and also in the garbage disposal when they're smelly.
As a child, I never knew air "fresheners" could come from other than an opern window or a yummy cooking smell. Won't it be a nice, less polluted world when everyone figures out what my grandparents have always known?
You go Green Girl! You're a college Heroine!

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