Health Patio

Karma for your career? Certainly

I admit that I remember the 70’s- the gasoline lines, the will-work-for-food signs, the high mortgage interest rates.  I also remember Mean Joe Green’s coke and a smile and Dave Thomas was making it big with his restaurant business and turning it into an adoption awareness foundation.  Could it be that when times are tough- and we’re at a 26-year low mile marker according to Meridith Levinson at Computerworld/Careers- the tough get nicer?

If you want good karma for your career, you certainly will tap into your nice side.  Here at HealthPatio, we have miracles rolling around under the picnic table every day, but out there in the work-a-day world, it couldn’t hurt to take this advice from Heather Gardener with 360jobinterview.com :

Doing good deeds by putting yourself out there for a good cause is an excellent way to at least provide a perspective hiring manager something positive about you. If you get heavily involved this might even prompt someone to talk “nice” about you and your working efforts to help others and provide a solid reference alternative.

Sense of Possession

My sky:

I fly.

Shoes and feet

for my street.

Sunshine?

All mine.

Dirt and waters

Wild critters

If all this

I possess

It’s all mine-

for zero time.

Mother Earth- It’s your day!

The land, the world, earth, loam, these words are a few that we use to talk about where we live. Of course our existence is much more than simply physical, but today of all days it is brought home to me that it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life.

I get the bulk of my opinions and attitudes about ecology from Tolkein, and I use the quotation above from Bilbo Baggins to express my own sentiments. Thanks for indulging me, BB old friend.

As expected by fans of Health Patio, I found out about an event that melded the physical and spiritual, however, as reported by Episcopal Life Online.  (I’m a long time reader of Bishop Spong, as a pertinent aside.)   “[L]eaders from ten faith traditions including the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan on April 22 planted the first of 12,000 trees during an Earth Day ceremony on the shores of Lake Superior.”  It seems 20+ inches of snow could not hold back the EarthKeepers from loving their mother.  (I don’t know what is keeping them from getting their own domain name, but accolade none-the-less.) Read the rest of this entry »

Babies Dooing it Naturally

Over seven months into my first pregnancy, I have many concerns and internal conflicts about how to best raise my baby.   Which car seat has the best safety rating?  Do I want a bassinet or a hammock or to sleep with baby in my bed?  Epidural or not? And as a die-hard green gal, there’s the question of diapers: cloth or disposable.  On the one hand, disposable diapers take up precious space in our landfills, are sometimes filled with chemicals that are not good for sensitive baby skin and are costly (resource wise) to produce.  Cloth diapers, on the other hand, are reusable, but ultimately one has to wash them which puts more feces into grey and black water, as well as uses an enormous amount of water.  Ultimately, it comes down to a few factors.  How many diapers does your baby go through?  Are you willing to wash poo out of diapers?  Which is more finacially feasible? What’s worse, petrified poop trapped in a landfill or contaminating the tiny amount of potable water left on earth’s surface?  While normally I would be up to calculating the cost-benefit analysis of each item, I can happily report that I don’t have to!  There are plenty of middle-of-the road options for parents who care about the environment and their bank accounts! Here are a few of them:

• Chemical free diapers Seventh generation diapers are available at most grocery stores (you may have to look in your health foods aisle) and run at almost the same price as most name-brand diapers, such as Pampers.  They come in seven sizes and, most importantly, are chlorine-free, latex-free and completely hypo-allergenic.  The down-side to these diapers is that without the chemical AGM, they don’t absorb as well as your name-brand diapers and some people may not like the light brown shade they come in.
• Bio-degradable disposable diapers Tushies Disposable Diapers, Nature Babycare Diapers, and Nature Boy and Girl are all happily bio-degradable and free of any harmful chemicals.  They’re great for eco-chic parents who have enough money to support their habit.  Depending on the brand, these diapers can be up to around twice the price of name-brand diapers and four times the price of your generic (ie Wal-mart) diaper.  Another downside is that while these diapers may biodegrade well in your compost-bin, nothing biodegrades easily in an airtight landfill. Read the rest of this entry »
  
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Concentrate- It’s not just for orange juice anymore

Let’s focus.  I know, multi-tasking is appealing because the duties of life grow heavy.  But I have come to a place and time where l simply feel like I need to simply be.  While I’m being, I call that “focus.” Some people call it “prayer” or “meditation” or “watching basketball.”

Maren Schmidt calls it deep spontaneous concentration.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ADHD, adults, anger, child development, children, concentration, meditation, Montessori, multi-tasking, reading

Happiness is a yellow kitchen

I think a kitchen should be painted yellow.  This is mostly because my favorite color is yellow.

What color is your kitchen?  and why do/don’t you like it?  For those who want to make an immediate change but are on a budget, Sue Bennett, an interior designer and CEO of Bennett Design said to CTV.ca today: new paint is the key.

The Detroit News agrees with me: “There’s no need to stick to the pale shades of yellow most often used in kitchens,” she [Margaret Walch, director of the Color Association of the United States] says.  “Instead, try Spanish bloom yellow, such as Benjamin Moore’s Banana Yellow (2002-2). “People like their kitchens to wake them up a bit in the morning. A deep, bright color helps make the kitchen more eye-opening.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Behr, Benjamin Moore, budget decorating tips, color, economy, interior design, kitchen, low ceiling tips, paint, yellow

Change Your Thermo…Stat!

I’m a little embarrassed to say that I have been an irresponsible user of my thermostat.  Granted, this is the first year I have used gas heating and that I actually have to pay my own utility bill and have lived in a place where snow sticks to the ground.  Still, our invoice this month was a little ridiculous.  Recalling my college professor’s numerous lectures on the subjected, I frantically rushed my husband to to the thermostat, which is thankfully programmable, and completely readjusted it.  Eager to do this as efficiently as possible, I turned to the EPA’s Energy Star program for guidance.  Along with simple table (seen below) and some useful pointers, I feel I am way on my way to utility bill that is at least less than $150!

While readjusting your thermostat is probably the easiest and cheapest way to save money on heating this winter there are other options!

1. Check and change your filters.  Air filters should be changed at least once every three months.  The dirtier your filters are, the harder your system has to work and it increases the chances of early system failure. (note: the same goes for your fridge’s filter too)
2. Seal your ducts. A more invasive project, but insulating your ducts and sealing all seams and connections could dramatically increase the efficiency of your heating and cooling system.
3. Wrap your water heater. Insulating blankets for your water heater cost anywhere from $15 to $40, but increases your energy efficiency by 10%.  You’ll probably make back the money in savings in a few months.

If you’re planning on changing your HVAC system system anyway, watch out for the Energy Star logo whether your buying a boiler, a furnace, a heat pump or you’re going solar.

Tags: air filters, ducts, efficient heating, Energy Start, EPA, HVAC, thermostat

Be a Mean Green Cleaning Machine

After the Swiffer Mop and Before the Vinegar

After the vinegar!

So I’m cleaning my apartment for the in-laws’ holiday visit and my kitchen’s tile grout looks filthy.  I use my Swiffer mop and then scrub with Clorox (the new Green Works version available in stores) to no avail.  In desperation, I seek google’s sound advice.  The solution (literally)?  One part vinegar one part water or a little baking soda paste.  It sounds homey and environmentally friendly and inexpensive, but does it really work?  Just look at the before and after pictures above!

When picking out cleaning products I try to moderate between price and environmental efficacy, so I have an assortment of ‘green’ cleaning products in my apartment.  Some work, some don’t.  But what seems to be most puzzling as peruse my way through all of the cleaning products I own is why have cleaning products in the first place?  Nearly everything I clean, as I think about it, could be easily cleaned with three fully biodegradable, non-toxic household items: lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda.  The Do-it-yourself website, has a new Going Green topic on its side menu, has a great article called How to Clean Green which lists several recipes for green cleaners. Here are two easy and useful examples:

Carpet Spot Remover
•Cornstarch or baking soda
•Club soda
Blot the spot and apply baking soda or cornstarch immediately. When dry, blot with club soda and vacuum.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: baking soda, cleaning products, Clorox, club soda, ecological footprint, Ecology, efficiency, environment, green, green choices, green cleaning, green shopping, hand washing, lemon juice, Method soap, Murphy's soap, organic, pollution, simplicity, sustainability, vinegar

Nurse Your Boo-Boo’s Back to Health

While doctors have been saying for quite sometime that breastfeeding your baby has a gazillion and one health benefits for your baby, many doctors agree that breastmilk could also help with common ailments - colds, ear infections, scrapes, you name it!  According to Dr. Basil Bruno, a pediatrician in New Jersey, breast milk offers cures to several maladies.  Feeling a little stuffy lately?  Drop two drops of breast milk into each nostril and then blow (or use an aspirator).  Have a kid with a scrape?  Breast milk is naturally antibacterial and antiviral, so rub it on the abrasion instead of Neosporin.  A drop of breast milk in each eye twice a day can even, apparently, alleviate pink eye!

Even patients with more invasive conditions are trying breast milk as a remedy.  Some cancer patients drink breast milk regularly to increase their immune system and for its nourishing qualities.  “We’re noticing an increase in the number of patients who are adults and children who have a variety of types of cancer who are using human milk,” said Pauline Sakamoto of Mothers’ Milk Bank.  Mother’s Milk Bank provides breast milk to over 60 cancer patients, each with a doctor’s prescription.  All this milk donated to adults, however, gives some milk donation advocates a startle.  According to Dr. Pamela Berens with the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, there is already a shortage of breast milk as it is. Yet another precious, natural resource to be appreciated!  Still, before trying breast milk as a remedy, contact your doctor to be sure its the best option for you.

Tags: abrasions, ailments, breast milk, breastfeeding, cancer, common cold, milk bank, pink eye

Weighing in on useful bathroom scales

Weight and mass. Pounds and kilograms. The most important thing is that your bathroom scale is useful for you as an individual user. From my clicking around online, l have found various digital and analog and combination scales which are similar but not all the same. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: fitness, health, New Year's, nutrition, nutritionist, resolution, scale, Weight loss