When I first saw this graphic by @environmentaltoxinsnerd I thought, well doesn’t everyone remove their shoes before entering a home?
And then I remembered my first trip to Lebanon as a teen. It was culturally NOT the accepted norm to remove your shoes at the door. 😳 In fact, it was considered rude asking visitors to take off their shoes!
Which was mind boggling to me because growing up in Canada, it was customary to remove our shoes before entering someone’s house.
🍃 From a health perspective however, if you want to transition to a “low tox” lifestyle, then not wearing outdoor shoes indoors is a free and easy way to reduce the number of pollutants coming into your home.
👉🏻According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s indoor air quality report, they state “𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴.”
So if you must wear shoes, then maybe keep a pair just for the indoors?
Over to you…
Do you remove your shoes before entering a house? How about guests? Is it considered rude in your culture?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the shoe debate below.
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