Purify and Beautify in July!

Make this Fourth of July the best one yet by pledging to improve air quality as you enjoy time with family and friends. Not only on Independence Day but all year round, consider purifying the air and beautifying the earth using one or all of these tips you can implement right at home.

During this holiday, you can:

Carpool with friends and family to see fireworks and/or attend other festive events in the DFW area. Here are a few popular ones to attend:
Spend Fourth of July weekend at the Dallas Arboretum listening to music, eating hotdogs, and drinking root beer floats.
Celebrate with friends and family while witnessing beautifully decorated floats at the free Arlington 4th of July Parade.
Discover all the fireworks shows taking place near you.
If you put on your own fireworks show, consider using greener, more sustainable fireworks. Unfortunately, fireworks contain toxins that end up in our lakes and rivers so instead, think about using perchlorate-free fireworks that contain less harmful material.
When grilling and swimming during this holiday, prepare locally grown foods and be aware of days with high ozone levels. Sign up for ozone alerts at https://www.airnorthtexas.org/signup

All year round, you can:

Plant a garden with summer flowers or fruits and vegetables to create color in your backyard or local community. Flowers and produce that grow best in the summer include:
Flowers: Daisies, Marigolds, and Lilies. Visit homesteading.com for a full list of flowers.
Fruits and vegetables: beans, corn, cucumbers, and melons. Visit sunset.com for more information.
Consider using natural scents to keep yourself and your home smelling fresh this summer. Synthetic fragrances in laundry, perfumes, and air fresheners emit chemicals into the air. Look for fragrance free products, use lemon or baking soda for a clean scent, and/or use plants or natural essential oils to introduce fresh scents into your home.
Use beeswax candles or salt lamps as air purifiers. They contain negative ions that combat the positive ions within contaminants that could be in your home.