When it comes to nontoxic education, many of us are in the dark. Enter Nicole Jaques—a wife, mother, home cook and advocate for “low-tox” living. With a growing Instagram community of over 870,000 followers, Jaques shares tutorials and DIY guides to help people reduce toxins in their homes.
Jaques’ journey into low-tox living ramped up about four years ago, when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. She shares how when she got sick, no one had any clear answers for why. “I had to start digging, and what I uncovered, I think kind of shifted my whole home life,” she says.
That turning point prompted her to delve deeper into nontoxic living and bring her audience along with her. Since then, her online community has continued to grow, attracting thousands of people looking for a healthier lifestyle.
In particular, her e-book serves as a comprehensive guide for nontoxic living and includes simple recipes for home cleaning products that take 10 minutes or less to make. “If we can make that… tangible, people will then start to think, ‘Well, I can just do this myself. I don’t have to run to the store. I don’t have to pay tax on a larger ingredient. I don’t need to go somewhere else for someone else to help me. I can help myself,’” she says.
Misconceptions about nontoxic living
As a way to educate her community about nontoxic living, Jaques often clears up three common misconceptions about what it means to live a healthier, low-tox life.
- A strong scent means something is clean
In fact, the opposite is often true. The biggest misconception she sees is the belief that clean smells like floral or synthetic fragrances mean clean. In reality, “clean, truly clean, smells like nothing,” she says. The same principle applies to bleach. While we often associate the scent of bleach with having disinfected something, it’s also possible for something to be disinfected and still smell like nothing.
- Making your own cleaners takes too much time and money
“If you just look at the simple ingredients that you need to actually make laundry detergent, which is about four ingredients, it comes down to about 25 cents a load if you just make it yourself, which is significantly cheaper and healthier in the long run,” she says.
- Something has to be disinfected to be really clean
This one gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic but is not true, Jaques says. “All of these microorganisms live together in harmony and kind of build up a good immunity for us in our bodies, but also in our homes, to make everything kind of work together.”
Small changes reap big rewards
On top of saving time and money, shifting to a low-tox life has also transformed Jaques’ health. She is no longer on medication for her autoimmune disease, and she also experiences little to no brain fog or inflammation, which she attributes to the changes she’s made. “Your lymph can drain cleaner, clearer,” she shares.
As Jaques describes it, when toxins are removed from the air you breathe, your immune system starts to rev up. It’s able to focus on cleaning out its own cells, as well as regenerating everything it needs to, because it’s no longer busy eliminating synthetic fragrances and other toxins. “Instead of it having to take all the toxins you put into it or around it, it’s able to focus on just doing its job,” she adds. She says her brain feels younger and more alive, and she can feel her immune system keeping her healthy.
Beyond the physical benefits, overall happiness was another significant change Jaques noticed in her day-to-day life. “I think that there’s an element that when you really start to feel great, your vibration is higher, and so you’re just able to kind of shine a little bit brighter as a human being, because you feel like what you’ve done and all your hard work to make your health so abundant just feels really good. And that’s a success in itself,” she says.
Steps toward a low-tox home
A big part of Jaques’ mission is to show people that embracing a low-tox lifestyle is a lot easier than it seems. You don’t have to toss out every cleaning product and start from scratch. Small, gradual steps toward a less toxic home are just as impactful. Jaques explains that people can “view cleaning their home as less mess and less stress, and just find success in that journey.”
Here are a few simple ways to get started:
Prioritize everyday essentials. Before going to the extreme of throwing everything away, take stock of the things in your home that you use the most—things like coffee, toothpaste and water. Jaques suggests either replacing them with cleaner alternatives or enhancing them. For example, switching to a different brand or investing in a water filtration system.
Replace one bottle at a time. Jaques encourages her community to see every empty bottle as an opportunity for improvement. For example, instead of buying the same shampoo you have for years, the next time you run out, replace it with a cleaner and more environmentally friendly option.
Embrace online shopping. Jaques is an advocate for shopping over the internet, as she says brick-and-mortar grocery stores don’t carry as many clean products. She cites Thrive Market as a reliable resource, noting that it offers relatively clean options and undergoes a rigorous screening process.
Buy multi-purpose cleaning ingredients. Buying a few versatile base ingredients can go a long way when making your own cleaners. For example, items like castile soap serve many different purposes. “You need very little of it,” Jaques shares. “Just add it to water, and you basically have a soap that can last you through a lot of things.”
Use the five-ingredient rule. If you do opt for in-store shopping, Jaques suggests reading through the list of ingredients. As a general rule of thumb, she notes, “If you can’t pronounce what’s on the back of the bottle… [or] the list is over five ingredients, walk away.”
Photo of Nicole Jaques courtesy of Andrea Lowry photography
