Simple Swaps + Easy Tips for a Non-toxic Lifestyle: With Branch Basics Co-Founder Kelly Love

Grounded Wellness Podcast: Episode 7

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On this episode of our Grounded Wellness podcast, we sat down with Kelly Love, the co-founder of Branch Basics, to talk about the impact of simple, non-toxic swaps. She helped us understand the importance of building a non-toxic home to significantly enhance your and your family’s health. We’ve adapted the conversation in written format, but if you want to dive even deeper, check out the full episode here. It was filmed on our regenerative farm plot under a cottonwood tree.

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If you deeply care about your family’s health and well-being and want actionable, simple steps to eliminate toxins from your life, you’re in the right place.

You’ve probably heard us mention Branch Basics at Primally Pure, but it’s not just because they’re close friends with our founder. Branch Basics is truly one of the most effective + genuine non-toxic cleaning brands. 

Our founder, Bethany, sat down with Kelly to discuss the most efficient and accessible ways to start living a non-toxic lifestyle, starting with your home. Kelly has such a gift. She helps simplify the process of building a non-toxic lifestyle for your family from the ground up, starting with the basics. 

She’s going to walk through how to toss the toxins in a manageable way + build a cleaner, non-toxic home.

Let’s dig in.

Meet Our Guest: Kelly Love, Co-Founder of Branch Basics –  Non-toxic Cleaning Brand

Like many, Kelly grew up with a standard American lifestyle and diet. 

“Non-toxic” simply wasn’t in her vocabulary. She had no awareness of toxic exposures or what a non-toxic lifestyle meant.

When Kelly went to college, she met Allison, who quickly became her best friend. Little did Kelly know then that Allison’s story would also become a big part of her story. Allison had struggled with illness on and off since high school. But in college, things took a negative turn. 

After years of chronic pain, medications, and no relief, Allison got desperate. 

Non-Toxic Living as a Last Resort

Allison’s Aunt Marilee had been consulting chemically sensitive and chronically ill people for a long time. She’d helped a lot of people heal through a non-toxic lifestyle. Allison figured she had nothing to lose. 

Marilee’s approach was refreshingly unique. To Marilee, Allison’s condition wasn’t about genetics, family history, or symptoms like she had been told by some of the country’s top “experts”. It was about the small, everyday choices that built her lifestyle and home environment.

→ What are you eating every day?

→ What are you using to clean your house with? 

→ What personal care products are you using? 

→ Do you have the exterminator come and spray pesticides regularly? 

These are just a few of the questions Marilee asked Allison. After a few months of implementing a non-toxic lifestyle + living in her Aunt’s supremely non-toxic home, Allison was seeing undeniable results. She couldn’t believe it. 

Intrigued and invested in the idea of non-toxic living, Allison and Kelly spent the summer after college living with Marilee. They didn’t add supplements or anything drastic. 

They simply immersed themselves in a non-toxic lifestyle by: 

• Eating real, organic, nutrient-dense foods
• Prioritizing plenty of movement
• Off-gassing clothes in the sunshine
• Juicing vegetables 
• Spending time barefoot outside
• Getting morning sunlight
• Prioritizing fresh air
• Using a sauna 
• Walking twice a day 
• Dry brushing 
• Surrounding themselves with Marilee's knowledge + experience

Even Kelly, who didn’t have glaring health problems, began to see how much a non-toxic lifestyle was improving her physiology. Symptoms like painful period cramps and frequent headaches that she’d written off as “normal” were suddenly gone.

With their own experiences and Marilee’s countless client successes, they felt something had to be done. 

They had to get the word out. 

Starting Branch Basics

Together, they started a blog. They told their friends and family everything they could. It began to spread. In helping others build a non-toxic lifestyle, they kept finding themselves telling people to start by swapping cleaning products. 

Non-toxic cleaning products are such an easy first step because: 

• There are plenty of budget-friendly options you can make at home.

• It greatly improves air quality, which is one of the most important components of a non-toxic home. 

• It's easy to replace a huge collection of cleaning products with just a few multipurpose alternatives.

• It’s not something people are addicted to, like junk food. It’s easy to remove without “missing” it. 

But the problem was that there weren’t many truly clean and safe cleaning products available. Most “clean” products were greenwashed. So, they started to see a need. Gradually, creating non-toxic cleaning products began to feel like their calling.

“We saw it was an easy first step for people. Our mission and heart is to educate on all things healthy living. So we kind of viewed it as a way to get in the door with people. 

We realized if people can start thinking about what cleaning products they’re bringing into their homes, then we can get them to start thinking about all the rest. We can get them to think about the things they're putting in, on, and around themselves every day.”

They were onto the concept of epigenetics. We have more control over our health than we think. The environment we live in matters. But it can feel overwhelming to make changes. 

Kelly is such a wealth of knowledge for building a non-toxic home, even if you only have a little time and energy to commit. She’s going to help break it down.

Toxic Household Products + Where to Start With Non-Toxic Living

Our conversation with Kelly was enlightening for many reasons, but one reason in particular stands out. 

People don’t realize how many toxic household products they keep in their homes – many of which aren’t used – or needed! 

Overwhelm is common. People think they have to add a million new products and spend tons of money to start building a non-toxic lifestyle. Kelly has a great approach to minimizing overwhelm and not letting fear have the final word. 

The First Best Step: Remove Toxic Household Products

Branch Basics loves challenging people to start by removing all toxic products. Not purchasing a million new things or following a detox protocol. 

Just remove the toxins to give your body a break. It’s that simple!

Look through your household and personal care products and put everything with toxic exposure risk in a big bin. Leave your bin outside for 30-60 days. See how you feel or what happens! Kelly has never met anyone who accepted this challenge and later decided to bring the products back inside their house. Let that speak for itself. ;) 

Naturally, you might wonder, “How do I know what products create toxic exposure?” Don’t worry, Kelly gave some examples of products you definitely don’t want to leave in your house.

Toxic Household Product Alert: Indoor Pesticides

You might be thinking, “That’s crazy, we don’t use pesticides inside!”

But anything designed to kill living creatures is considered a pesticide, creating toxic exposures in your house. (Yikes…) So don’t turn a blind eye to the toxic household products that could be sitting around your house, like:

• Roach spray 
• Mice traps with poison trays
• Products with disinfecting properties
• Wasp or hornet sprays
• Lice treatments

And what’s worse: Kelly pointed out pest-control items often end up stored in pantries beside food. These containers can leach volatile organic compounds and compromise air quality even when sealed. While that might feel extreme, Kelly provided a really valuable example to drive this point home: 

“At the grocery store, in the cleaning products aisle, all these products are sealed and closed. Yet you know when you're even getting near the cleaning products aisle because the smell is so intense. 

All these products we bring into our homes release volatile organic compounds, impacting our indoor air quality and creating a body burn we constantly have to detoxify.”

As Kelly pointed out, the uptick in illnesses like cancer isn’t a coincidence either. She said childhood cancer has increased by 28% since the introduction of home pesticides.

Toxic Household Product Alert: Disinfectant Cleaners

Branch basics believes in removing germs, not killing them. It has some science-heavy parts, like the potential for germs to mutate and superbugs to form. But to keep it simple, let’s reference how Kelly explained it: 

“We have the notion that we have to kill germs to keep our family safe. 

But actually, these chemical pesticides are making our immune systems weaker, adding more stress to our bodies, and doing more harm than good. 

So when you remove germs with soap and water (or a product like Branch Basics), you’re not having that negative impact and exposure on your body and you’re actually creating a cleaner surface.”

She also pointed out that when you try to kill germs, there will always be some leftovers. 

(Plus: Have you read disinfectant instructions? They say you should actually clean before you disinfect and keep the product on for 10 minutes – who does that anyway?!)

Did you know cleaning products aren’t even required to have an ingredient list? Here’s Kelly’s advice on shopping for non-toxic cleaning products: 

• Look for an ingredient list – if there’s no ingredient list, that’s a red flag. 

• Avoid products with words like “caution, danger, or warning” – this means they contain more hazardous chemicals.

• Don’t buy anything with “fragrance” on the ingredients list – it can contain hundreds of undisclosed chemicals. 

This is why Branch Basics’ non-toxic cleaning products aren’t disinfectants. You can be much more effective + safe by simply removing germs. 

Toxic Household Product Alert: Laundry

Did you know laundry products are some of the most prevalent and toxic household products? Dryer sheets and detergents infused with synthetic + chemical-heavy fragrances carry a long list of health concerns.

And as Kelly puts it, “We never escape our laundry detergent– it’s designed to cling to your clothes for long-lasting ‘freshness.’”

Conventional laundry detergents and dryer sheets contain a chemical concoction full of phthalates and endocrine-disrupting chemicals proven to interfere with hormones and bodily function. Since they’re designed to last and penetrate clothing so well, they impregnate every porous material in your home. Which means you’re absorbing it and inhaling it. 

Laundry detergent is often overlooked because we get so used to the pervasive smells that our brain forms a “mask” and we no longer notice scents. However, Kelly says she now can smell laundry detergent from a mile away – her body knows it’s a red flag – and once you make the swap, you will, too. 

Our bodies know what’s good for us, but the signs and symptoms can get lost (or suppressed) along the way. Toss the toxic household products and give your body a chance to tell you how it feels – you might be surprised!

Guiding Principles for Non-Toxic Living

We love Branch Basics' common-sense approach to building a non-toxic lifestyle. So we wanted to touch on three of the foundational concepts Bethany and Kelly discussed. 

Awareness + Grace

Simple awareness goes a long way. Start connecting the dots. Not to the point of always thinking about everything around you and causing panic, but be curious. Be your own detective. 

And most importantly, give yourself grace. It’s a long journey to build a non-toxic lifestyle. Kelly had so much great encouragement on this: 

“Once we know better, we do better. There’s never any guilt or shame in any of this because that’s one thing that can cripple people from moving forward and making steps. Because they feel like it's just more comfortable to stay in what they've been doing and to say, ‘Oh, that doesn't matter.’ But there's so much we can do, and there's so much hope.”

We think that’s a pretty incredible mindset to have as you grow and learn. 

Less Is More 

Kelly said the different “types” of cleaners are just a marketing gimmick. They contain different levels of water mixed in with the chemicals. But they’re pretty much all the same. 

She spoke about how this is definitely a learning curve for Branch Basics customers. It’s hard for people to wrap their heads around the fact that you can use the same product to wash vegetables yet also effectively clean your toilet! ;) 

Branch Basics’ genius system helps you toss your 30 different cleaning products in exchange for one concentrate and a few different spray bottles.

Logic + Common Sense

When you step back and think about it, removing toxins is just common sense. It only seems so revolutionary because we live in a world where chemicals are so commonplace and accepted as the norm.

So when you say something like, “Oh, I don’t want to eat those chemicals,” people think you’re being radical. But in reality, you’re just trying to eat real food. 

As Kelly gently reminds people: 

“I’m not being that extreme – in other countries, these things actually aren’t allowed. We think of so many symptoms as “normal,” but really, they’re just common.”

These helpful prompts make a non-toxic lifestyle easy to understand + approachable. But there will definitely be situations (and people) that make it challenging – like motherhood. 

Motherhood + Non-Toxic Living When It’s Tough

We loved Kelly’s perspective on being a mother and prioritizing non-toxic living – even when it’d be easier not to. She shared that she leads the charge for non-toxic living in her household. But she seems to have found a great mindset: 

“For me personally, it's worth it to go through the extra effort and carry the weight of making the choices for our home and groceries and all that. 

My husband’s on board, and he’s supportive about almost everything, but he's not going to be the one spearheading this, doing the research, and getting really nerdy about health hacks.”

Maybe you want to build a cleaner, non-toxic home but aren’t sure how to bring it up to your family. It can feel intimidating. But Kelly made a great point. Sometimes, it’s not necessary to address it. Instead of creating fear or panic, you can go under the radar and switch out products that don’t suddenly change your everyday life. (Cleaning products is an easy start that won’t upset most people.)

Bethany and Kelly discussed that everyone is on their own timeline, and we really can’t force it. Some people don’t want to do it in “real time” as they’re learning, and we have to accept that. 

But here’s the silver lining: sometimes, you can impact people by taking the first step and letting them see the difference in your life first. 

Encouragement for Your Non-Toxic Living Journey

We want to leave you with a little hope from our lovely + encouraging friend Kelly for the days that feel challenging.

“I promise it will get easier and easier. There are so many amazing resources and support systems now. Once you step out of the box and try something different, you just see that it works. And you start finding new resources and friends that you can share ideas with.”

We appreciate all the ways she’s simplified the concept of a non-toxic lifestyle and provided some clear steps that anyone can take. 

It can feel daunting to start, but rest assured, it will get better. 

To a healthier + less toxic future,

XO

*If you enjoyed this post, check out the full episode of Grounded Wellness to hear Kelly and Bethany cover other topics like:

→ How Marilee avoided a kidney transplant and healed her kidneys in 10 days

→ A super effective + affordable air filter you can make at home to improve air quality 

→ A dye-free + non-toxic blue lemonade recipe Kelly’s kids love to make

→ The science behind emotional releases people often experience when switching to a non-toxic lifestyle

→ An at-home remedy for ear infections Kelly swears by