Practically Green:Earth Day Celebration all Month Long! #5 is SO Environmentally Healthy: Take Off Shoes When You Come Indoors!

Practically Green- Earth Day Celebration all Month Long! #5 is SO Environmentally Healthy: Take Off Shoes When You Come Indoors!

'Growing up in Florida with the beach virtually my backyard, I spent a good deal of my childhood barefoot — outside and inside — so maybe that’s why having a shoes-off policy in my own home feels completely natural. I now live in New England, where “mud season” stretches well into April and almost every house has a mudroom and a pile of boots near the door. ‘Boots off’ is the norm in my neighborhood.

But even if you’re lucky enough to live in a place where it’s flip-flop season year round, a shoes-off policy is an essential step in protecting your family from germs that can creep in on the soles of your shoes. “Dirt” tracked in endangers more than carpets. Residues from the lead in car exhaust, toxins from lawn pesticides, traces of animal waste and allergens like pollen on the ground all present a health risk, especially to small children and pets that spend time on the floor. You don’t have to be neat freak like Monica from Friends or a germaphobe like Monk, the TV detective, to care about these risks. Removing shoes at the door is simply a matter of good hygiene, like hand washing.'