Where to Start With Non-Toxic Living: What Matters First

If you’re new to non-toxic living, there’s a good chance you already feel overwhelmed.

Honestly, I get it because I’ve been there too.

When I first started learning about toxins, I felt like I needed to replace everything. Immediately.

Personal care products. Fragrance. Food storage. Household products.

Before long, it felt like every new thing I learned belonged at the top of the list.

At one point, I was trying to replace way too many things at once. It wasn’t sustainable for my nervous system, my energy levels, or my budget.

The stress of trying to do everything perfectly (with an implied “or else“) made it all feel harder than it needed to be.

What actually helped was learning how to prioritize.

Because this is true:

not every ingredient or product has the same level of concern
not every swap needs to happen immediately
not every part of a non-toxic lifestyle deserves the same amount of sustained attention

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with knowing where to start with non-toxic living, you’re in just the right place. We’re going to break it all down right now, including some simple first steps to help you get started.

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Non-toxic personal care products with text about where to start with non-toxic living.

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In This Article

What Matters Most When Starting Non-Toxic Living

One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was treating every swap as if it was an emergency.

Now, I look at things differently.

We don’t need to try for a completely toxin-free life. Instead, I recommend focusing first on the areas that tend to make the biggest impact.

Here are the areas I suggest focusing on first:

what lingers in your air
what stays on your skin
what touches your food
what’s in your water

That shift makes non-toxic living feel much more manageable.

It also keeps you from wasting energy on lower-priority things while ignoring areas that matter more.

Where to Focus First in Non Toxic Living

If you’re new to non-toxic living and aren’t sure where to start, these are the categories I’d point you to first.

As we go, I’ll explain what influences my priorities and share some simple ways to get started.

These four categories aren’t the only things that matter. But they’re where I’d encourage most beginners to start

What Lingers in Your Air

Woman holding an air freshener spray, an example of a product that can contribute to indoor air pollution.

It’s important to pay attention to what lingers in your indoor air, because you’re breathing it every day.

Indoor air can have 2-5 times the amount of some pollutants than outdoor air.

Polluted indoor air can come from many different sources. Some examples include inadequate ventilation, off-gassing of furniture, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Products with fragrance can play a significant role in indoor air pollution.

When I’m helping someone decide where to start in this category, products with undisclosed fragrance often end up high on the priority list.

Here’s why:

1. “Fragrance” is an umbrella term.

Fragrance is tricky because it shows up as one word on the label.

But that one word can represent anywhere from dozens to hundreds of chemicals. In fact, fragrance can be made up of any combination of over 3,000 ingredients. And it often contains phthalates, which are endocrine disruptors.

And companies aren’t required to disclose any of them, which is part of the fragrance loophole.

So when you see the word fragrance, you just don’t know what’s in it.

2. Fragrance hides in many everyday products.

Fragrance hides in all kinds of everyday products, from candles and laundry products to shampoo, skincare, and cleaning products.

Those exposures can add up really quickly.

Beginner first steps

Replace the products you use most often that contain undisclosed fragrance.
Open your windows regularly.
Use an air purifier.

What Stays on Your Skin

Woman applying moisturizer, an example of a skincare product that stays on your skin.

One of the first places I’d start is by looking at the skincare and personal care products that stay on your skin.

As you probably remember from science class, your skin is your largest organ. And what you put on it doesn’t always just sit on top. Some of it gets absorbed through your skin.

Many skincare and personal care products contain ingredients that raise health concerns. Some examples include fragrance, parabens, phthalates, PEGs, and oxybenzone.

Some of these ingredients have been linked to endocrine disruption, cancer risk, and skin sensitization.

When I’m helping someone decide where to start in this category, fragrance is usually one of the first ingredients we look at.

But ingredients aren’t the only thing I look at. I also think about how those exposures can add up over time.

Some products stay on your skin all day, are used every day, or cover large areas of your body.

Those repeated exposures can add to your overall toxic burden. That’s one of the reasons some products end up much higher on my priority list than others.

You can’t change everything at once, so there needs to be a way to decide what matters most.

Let’s compare two common products to see how I decide where to start.

We’ll start with moisturizer.

Most of us use it every single day. It covers a relatively large area of skin, and it often stays there for hours.

Now let’s compare that to a rinse-off product like shampoo.

Yes, it touches your scalp and skin. But, for the most part, it rinses away after a minute or two.

The amount of exposure is significantly less with a rinse-off product.

That’s how I try to think about everything else in this category.

When I’m comparing products, I usually come back to three questions:

How long does it stay on your skin?
How much skin does it cover?
How often do you use it?

The answers to those three questions help me decide what to prioritize first.

Take a look through your bathroom. You’ll probably find many products that stay on your skin for hours.

From sunscreen to makeup and deodorant, you can evaluate each one this same way.

Beginner first steps

Start by replacing the products you use most often that contain fragrance.
Focus on leave-on products before rinse-off products.
Keep building from there as your budget allows.

Recommended products

Safer Skincare

Deodorants

Lotions

Sunscreens

Makeup

What Touches Your Food

Woman holding plastic food storge containers with hot food and condensation: rate them using the SAFE Framework

The kitchen can also be a high-impact place to start. Cookware, food storage, and other products that regularly touch your food deserve a closer look.

The best place to start in your kitchen will depend on what you’re using and how you’re using it.

Let me show you two examples.

Example 1: Plastic containers

Plastic containers are already on my radar because they come into direct contact with food.

But there are two things that move them much higher on my priority list: heat and damage.

Heat

Heating plastic allows it to leach more toxic chemicals into your food. So, microwaving food in plastic or putting hot leftovers into it will move it up the priority list.

If you’re doing either of those, I’d tell you to start there by swapping your plastic containers for glass.

And if you can’t afford that yet, at the very least, stop heating food in them. I also give some free options for glass containers below.

Damage

Plastic containers that are scratched, warped, or stained move higher on the priority list too.

Damaged plastic containers can release more chemicals into your food, so they’re worth replacing with glass or stainless.

Example 2: Traditional Nonstick Cookware

Traditional non-stick cookware is already on my radar. It’s often made with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). These are also known as “forever chemicals.”

There are two things that move it even higher on my priority list: heat and damage.

Heat

Unlike many other products in your kitchen, cookware is designed to be heated over and over again. If a traditional nonstick pan is overheated, it can release fumes into your indoor air. That’s one of the reasons I pay closer attention to this category.

Damage

If the nonstick coating is scratched, chipped, or starting to flake, that would make me even more likely to start there.

As you can see, there’s not one universal answer here. It’s less “replace your cookware first” or “replace your plastic first” and more “look at what you’re actually using most, and whether heat or damage is part of that picture.”

Beginner First Steps

Replace the products you use most often that are heated regularly or showing signs of damage.
Build from there as your budget allows.
At the very least, stop heating food in plastic containers.

Again, this isn’t about feeling like you must replace all of these things all at once.

By swapping a few frequently used items gradually over time, you can make a real impact.

What’s in Your Water

One of the areas I encourage everyone to pay attention to is their water.

Your drinking water, cooking water, and shower water can carry many contaminants depending on where you live.

Some examples include:

PFAS or “forever chemical”
Heavy metals, such as arsenic or lead
VOCs
Pharmaceuticals
Pesticide residue

Using a water filter is an effective way to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals.

One of my favorite free tools for this is the EWG Tap Water Database. You put in your zip code, and it tells you what’s actually been found in your local water supply.

Once you know what’s in your water, it’s easier to choose the right filter.

Please remember that water filtration doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.

If a whole-house filtration system or a full reverse osmosis setup isn’t in your budget right now, you can still make a difference.

Using a quality countertop water filter pitcher is real progress and is often a good place to start.

I’ll be honest, whole-house filtration is still on my own wish list, because my budget doesn’t allow it yet.

That said, I do filter the water we use for drinking, cooking, and showering in the meantime. I’ll add links to what we use below.

If shower filters are something you’re considering, I share my experience in my Weddell Duo shower filter review.

Beginner first steps

Use the EWG Tap Water Database to check your local water
Start with the best filter your budget allows.
Upgrade over time.

What’s Lower on the Priority List

Person pouring tea from a brown paper bag into a jar. Other repurposed glass jars are on the counter.

I think this part matters just as much as knowing where to start.

When you’re first starting, you DON’T need to try to do everything at once. Some things will be lower priority, and some things you already own may be “keepers”.

Here are some things that would be less of a priority:

replacing every single product immediately
occasional exposures
products you rarely use
Replacing your wardrobe with organic clothing
Buying all non-toxic furniture
Buying an organic mattress, if you’re not already in the market for a new mattress

It’s not that I’m saying these things don’t matter. I’m saying that not every change deserves the same amount of your time, energy, or money right now.

There’s a real difference between something being unimportant and something simply being lower on your list.

And honestly, some of what you already own is probably fine as is.

If you own these, they are likely keepers: