Store bought air fresheners are pretty horrendous from indoor air quality and environmental standpoints. They're scented with "fragrance," which is a generic term that could mean any number of harmful chemicals, including carcinogens. If you buy your air freshener in a spray can, the chemicals that propel them out of those spray containers aren't so hot, either. Plug in fresheners and fragrance sticks not only contain fragrance but petroleum-based ingredients. Not so fresh, if you ask me.

Instead of buying chemical air fresheners at the store, it's super simple to whip up your own DIY air fresheners from natural ingredients. If you're using essential oils in your DIY air freshener, as a couple of these recipes do, check out our handy guide to essential oils to find which ones you want to use.

1. Baking Soda Air Freshener

This super simple air freshener tutorial uses just a few materials and combines the odor-eliminating power of baking soda with essential oils to get bad smells out of the air and replace them with pleasant ones.

2. Lemon Air Freshener Spray

Who doesn't love a lemony fresh-smelling house, right? Tip Nut shows you how to combine only three kitchen ingredients to make your own batch of lemon air freshener, no artificial fragrance required!

3. DIY Fragrance Sticks

Store-bought fragrance sticks are full of petroleum products and harsh, chemical fragrances. Here's how to make your own DIY fragrance sticks without any toxic ingredients!

4. Baked Apples

This is an old real estate agent trick, and it's a great way to give your whole house a cozy aroma. Slice up a few apples, toss in a bowl with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon cinnamon, bake in a glass pan at 350 for about 30 minutes, flipping them after 15 minutes. Not only will this make the house smell great but you can eat the apples when they're done. Oatmeal, anyone?

How do you keep your house smelling fresh without conventional air fresheners? I'd love to hear your ideas!