Is Your Car Air-Freshener Toxic?
I spend a LOT of time in my car. From long commutes to work, school pick-ups and everyday errands, a considerable amount of time is spent driving.
Our family car is nearly 8 years old now and it has certainly lost its “new car” smell a long, long time ago. Stinky shoes and other child-related smells have me at times, slightly gagging and winding down ALL the windows when I get into the driver’s seat.
I have never been much of a fan of those cardboard pine tree car air fresheners. They have always smelt way too artificial for me AND they are not exactly an attractive thing to look at swinging from the rear-view mirror, not to mention a bit distracting. They also come packaged in a sleeve of plastic, and once the smell is gone, you have to throw the tree away, buy a new one and so goes the process over and over again.
One year we were sent some Jelly Belly gel air fresheners as a gift and although I did love the smell of the cherry-scented one, I felt oh so guilty when the scent wore off and I had to toss the big plasticky jelly bean into the bin. No component of it was recyclable and I felt that it was such a huge waste to throw away.
Other car air fresheners that you can buy at the shops are car vent clips containing a variety of liquid or gel-based scents. Over time, the scent of the liquid/gel diffuses throughout your car. Unfortunately, not only is the vent clip and casing plastic, the compounds of the liquid/gel are questionable. Another incredible waste is the amount of cardboard and plastic packaging that goes into encasing this little vent clip diffuser. Unless you are a diligent recycler, pulling apart all the packaging, separating it and throwing it into the correct recycling bin, it’ll probably end up in landfill.
What exactly goes into making certain fragrances that bear the name of black ice, sky breeze, new car scent, black classic and margarita? A big concern for the everyday consumer is that the companies that come up with their formulations of these scents, do not have to disclose all of their ingredients to protect their “trade secrets”. Some of the ingredients used when creating these fragrances are endocrine disruptors, allergenic and can trigger serious respiratory issues.
Some people are very sensitive to certain synthetic fragrances and have even experienced nausea, headaches, dizziness, and other negative symptoms from the “air fresheners” that hang in cars to mask odours.
So after some searching and deliberating on what type of car air freshener would be good for the environment AND our health, we tried and tested these stainless steel car air freshener diffusers that clip neatly onto the dash air vents and are over the moon that they are discreet, stylish, smell great AND eco-friendly. Not only can you use any favourite fragrance or essential oil, but the diffuser itself is made out of quality stainless steel and so well-made, you won’t ever have to throw it out, just swap out the fragrance pad and use over and over again.
If your anything like me, I only like 2 or 3 types of fragrances, so as long as I have a fragrance pad for each fragrance, I will consistently have a lovely smelly car and happy to keep toss-away car air fresheners out of landfill.
Shop our store to get your very own earth-friendly car diffuser today!
Photo by Taylor Alton / Flicker