Question from Emily
Hi Debra,
Thank you for all the information you have worked hard to share with others. There’s so much helpful advice on your website and I have barely started to read through it!
I am in transition as far as a place to live and am looking for a holistic home.. and by that, I mean, a home that wasn’t built with toxic building materials, is not near power lines or towers/antennas, and where I don’t have to dread the neighbors’ wifi networks. I would especially like to find such a home in a peaceful country-like setting, near organic farms and perhaps in or near a community of like-minded people (eco communities, or farming communities).
The problem is that I don’t know where to start and how to even search for such a place.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you.
Debra’s Answer
I’ve been doing this for three decades, so yes, I have a few suggestions.
First look for the setting. This is extremely important. When I move, I always look for the setting first.
I’m looking for clean outdoor air. So that’s going to be in a rural area, or a city like San Francisco which is right on the Pacific Ocean and has a lot of wind. The Richmond and Sunset districts of San Francisco, Daly City and all the communities along the coast there, for example, are residential communities where there is no industry or commercial farming, so the air is very clean and the houses are old. I know that’s not what you are looking for, it’s just an example.
I’m currently living in a small town in Sonoma County, California that is a few miles inland from the Pacific Ocean but there is nothing but open space between the ocean and our town. So it’s very clean and we have organic farms and you would find like-minded people here. But it’s also extremely expensive and at the moment there is NO housing. I have the extreme good fortune to live here because my family lives here.
Before this I lived in Florida at the top of a hill overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. I had no view, but I had clean air. Even though it was in a suburban neighborhood and not a rural area, the air was clean.
Before that I lived in a forest in a rural area in Marin County, California.
I’ve also lived in other towns in Marin County and in the city of San Francisco.
For you, I would look for a rural area near open space near a body of water.
Then I would find an area not near high tension power lines, towers, antennas, etc. You can’t avoid power lines entirely unless you are off the grid.
Then I would start looking for the house made with nontoxic materials. And that’s a whole separate set of guidelines.
Start looking for the place and when you find it, ask me again about finding the house.
Of course no place is pure— we just do the best we can.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, even at the beach,, we get massive clouds of industrial dust from China that blow across the ocean. All we can do about that is grow demand for products made in the U.S.
Yes, I live among wifi towers, but haven’t noticed any ill effects for myself, Maybe because I maintain very good health overall. Still, I use ethernet when I can, and have opted out of a smart meter.
As for traffic pollution, I often take public transportation. The fewer cars on our clogged streets, the better. And I’d rather not live where I’m completely dependent on driving.
Housing costs here are astronomical. I’m working on my Plan B, like everyone here should be doing, unless they’re independently wealthy.
Meanwhile, I keep the least-toxic home I possibly can, using your books as my guide. Thanks, Debra, for all your awesome work over the years. Now in my early 60s, my health continues to spiral upward— in every department. Minimizing toxics in our diets and homes really adds up over the years!
Yes I find my health is getting better instead of worse over the years as well. 🙂
I too am looking for a new homestead. Icluding what Debra listed, there are many factors that I am concidering. Homelab.com is great resource I have been using in my current home (that I found through Debra 🙂
With their service, I am hoping to be able to test homes along the way… & they give great advice answering questions on this topic through a phone consult. Check it out!
Yes they have done that for other readers of mine that I know about. It’s a good thing to do when buying a house.
I know this is a long shot and have no idea what state this question came from, but if they are from Wisconsin I would love to connect. I currently have a home that I remodeled with materials that had no- to low- VOCs and other chemicals but am looking relocate to a smaller home with more acreage (away from wifi, etc and room for a large garden) and also be surrounded by other like-minded people. When I read this I thought there may be an opportunity to align efforts.