When Jane, founder of The Goodfor Company, reached out to me it could not have been better timing. While I felt good about having a refrigerator filter, that was all we had. I knew I wanted a solution for most of our cooking too but never knew there was an option for me since we rent. Jane and I literally talked for an hour on the phone the first time we interacted and I asked her all of the questions. After going over my options I got the Micromax 7000 Reverse Osmosis and Shower Head Filters. After calculating what we spend on replacement filters for our refrigerator filters (almost $500!), the under the sink option was a no brainer for us. Use code LAURENBREIDING for 20% off! The absolute best deal right now is to shop these Holiday Bundles featuring 50% savings! Enjoy this interview with Jane and I below:

How did your health journey begin and why did water become your priority?

Health and wellness took on an entirely new meaning when I became pregnant with my first child. The prospect of motherhood sent me into research-overdrive, wanting to know all of the do’s and don’ts of prenatal life, searching for ways I should be supporting my wellness and providing my child with the best possible start. Organic foods, vitamins, and non-toxic personal care products all came up plentiful in the list of recommendations online, but water filtration was never part of the conversation. Since I had been exposed to water filtration through my husband's contracting company and had some very basic understanding of why these systems are beneficial, I was lucky enough to notice the irony in that discrepancy. How can we be so concerned about the pesticides and herbicides found on our produce, or care that our meat is raised without antibiotics, but fail to pay attention to the pesticides and pharmaceuticals commonly found in our tap water?

These questions led me to really dive deep into the topic of water quality, the issues we face and why these contaminants are even in the water to begin with. What I found out I didn’t like, and in fact, it scared me. Frankly it should worry everyone. It didn’t take long for me to realize that genuine wellness cannot be achieved if the foundation of that effort isn’t clean, toxin-free water.

What are the most common contaminants found in water? Are there any good resources to find out about someone’s local water?

Where do I even begin?! The most common and well known culprits are chlorine, chlorine byproducts such as THMs, heavy metals and industrial/agricultural contaminants (depending on where you live). There is a ton of compelling scientific evidence linking neurocognitive disorders in children to heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, aluminum, arsenic and more. Chlorine byproducts have also been listed repeatedly as cancer-causing. If you consider all the ways we use water, we are chronically exposed to all of these contaminants and chronic exposure is the danger here.

We recently teamed up with the EWG for complete access to the tap water database, which can be found directly on our website, www.thegoodforco.com. Another great resource is our Instagram account! All of our content is heavily researched and dives deep into all the ways water impacts our life. The goal is and always will be to share educational content that helps you make informed decisions for your family.

There are so many different filtration systems out there it’s hard to know who to trust. Tell us about what you offer and why you trust those systems the most?

When considering a water filtration system, you want to ask a few very important questions :
- Are they transparent about the filtration technology and are they certified by reputable, 3rd party entities such as the WQA and NSF?
- What are the ongoing maintenance costs? What does the warranty cover?
- What is the rate of contaminant reduction?

Our Puronics systems are all certified and use the highest quality filtration media to ensure the system is able to effectively remove contaminants, while also reducing the cost of ongoing maintenance. The idea is that your water system should be working for you, not the other way around. Our systems require minimal maintenance and are manufactured in California. Because of this they also adhere to the strictest environmental regulations in the country, which means they are extremely water and energy efficient. I personally have our Hydronex Whole Home Water Filter/Softener combination unit and reverse osmosis system for drinking/cooking water. Ask anyone that knows me, I do not leave my house without my jug of water (I even bring it to restaurants sometimes, yes I am that person).

What’s your advice to someone just starting out on their clean water journey?

Do not expect that the city, state of federal government is going to be able to solve this problem anytime soon. The list of harmful contaminants that the city tests for hasn’t been properly updated in decades and the water infrastructure continues to degrade everyday. As with anything in our health and wellness journey, our water quality at home is something that falls on us to manage. If you’re on the fence about making the investment, just consider counting the amount of times you interact with your water at home in a single day.

Learn more about specific water filtration systems from our IG Live HERE.

To see what’s in your water specifically check out the EWG Tap Score Database!