Bucket Theory

Clean living is hard work. Once we begin detoxifying our lives, we realize we have an uphill battle ahead of us. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed when we see that poisons are everywhere, and that even our food, air, and water are toxic. It’s enough to make you want to give up.

That’s where Bucket Theory has been a game changer for me.

The idea is this: Think of your body as a bucket that’s filling up with water. The water represents toxins building up in your body. Your body was built to handle toxins, but there’s a limit to how much. Think of the water spilling over when that limit is reached. That tipping point is where we start seeing inflammation, illness, and disease. There’s also small spigot at the bottom of the bucket working hard to drain the water, that’s your body’s natural detox system. The human body was made to eliminate what’s harmful. Unfortunately the world is so full of poison now, it has a harder time keeping up.

So your job is not to eliminate toxins completely (which is good, because that would be impossible). You just need to slow down the rate at which the toxins are entering your body so your spigot has the chance to do its job.

Even small changes can make a huge difference. Remember, the goal is just to stay under the spill over point. You don’t have to change everything in your life to do that. Sometimes swapping out a few products can do the trick! Especially if they’re things you use every day that can really add up. Filter your water. Choose cleaner food when you can. Change your laundry detergent to something clean and free from harsh chemicals. Every drop you keep out of the bucket is one less drop pushing you to overflow.

Don’t worry about getting everything perfect, remember stress itself is toxic to your body. Cortisol and adrenaline are just more water in the bucket, so obsessing over every detail only works against you. This is why my favorite saying on The Clean Living Project is “Do what you can, where you can.” Living cleaner is totally possible when you let small changes add up. 🩷