Go Red – Wear Red – February 1st
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Monthly Archives: January 2008
Environet
In today’s internent-based world, there is growing (wink) awareness of the environmental impacts that technology creates. Take Facebook’s Greenbook application for example: along with generating donations, Greenbook also allows friends to send each other free ‘trees’ 
and has a ‘green ideas’ section where you can publish your own ideas and comment on others’.
Another handy ‘environet‘ feature is the Aim bot, Liv Greene. If you have AOL Instant Messenger, she may already be in your AIMBot Buddy List. Here’s an example of a conversation you can have with her:
Eco-Rock (12:04:50 AM): Hi Liv, any Green Tips?
Liv Greene (12:04:50 AM): Tip: During hot weather, don’t top off your gas tank. Even small gas spill adds to air pollution and wastes fuel. Source: EPA Learn More
Superbowl Sunday: Just Calm Down!
I’ve put together some health tips that will work for you during Superbowl Sunday, the World Cup, the Olympic Games, the Kentucky Derby (here in my home state, I’m proud to say), and all the days in between, in fact. Read on for information on healthy hearts as well as avoiding domestic violence/anger issues on the big day. We want you to be healthy enough to enjoy the party when your team brings home the win!! And if the score doesn’t go your way, well, all the more reason to read on…
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Options in childbirth
“If you don’t know your options, you don’t have any…”
From A Good Birth, A Safe Birth
The Bradley Method is one of several forms of childbirth education; another well-known option is Lamaze, which promotes a vision for the future “a world of confident women choosing normal birth. A normal birth is one that unfolds naturally, free of unnecessary interventions.” I think, having had six babies (so far?), that the main factor in maintaining confidence and preserving normalcy (I was always “high risk” but I was able to avoid the unnecessary, including avoiding pain-reducing drugs) is the personal touch. My friend Angela, who I know very well, is an amazing, confident and beautiful friend, wife, mother and community volunteer. She’s also a doula!
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Riders…for health
It’s that time of year– when New Year’s Resolutions unfortunately start to tarnish in their appeal. But I have an inspiring report on a serious way to get moving while helping yourself get/stay healthy like you may have resolved to do a few weeks ago at the beginning of January AND helping others at the same time.
If we all lived like this, maybe we could even eliminate entropy!
This humanitarian project is like the original Iditarod Trail race to deliver essential medicine to a remote locale. But instead of being cold, this new project races in the heat of the continent of Africa. Barry Coleman and Andrea Coleman, a British husband-and-wife team, “saddled up” motorbikes, which are perfectly suited for travel in the harsh African landscape, where roads are often practically impassable or nonexistent. In a few years, the Riders for Health project took on larger tasks to meet the medical needs of rural Africa.
What does the project say about itself? “We are working to make sure all health workers in Africa have access to reliable transportation so they can reach the most isolated and vulnerable people with regular and predictable health care.”
What did the Times (UK) say about Riders for Health? YouTube features this story showing some of the workers, riders and clients. Riders for Health trains doctors, nurses and health workers to ride motorbikes safely and has developed a system for self-sufficiency within each locally-run program module. The ‘preventative maintenance’ system maintains the bikes in Africa’s harsh environment.
Fast facts about Riders for Health
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10 Terra-Tips: Closet Edition
- Look at the label: look for organic grown cotton and/or clothing made sustainably in the USA, like clothing at Patagonia’s website.
- Invest in quality clothing: REI provides a 100% warranty on their clothing – if anything happens to your polo fleece – ever – they will allow you to exchange it!
- Organize your overstock: donate clothing. Some consignment and thrift stores will allow proceeds from your donation apply to your preference of non-profits. Try Buffalo Exchange.
- Mend your old clothing: check out online resources if you need help.
- Shop at consignment and thrift stores: one stop furniture, clothing, and random junk stop, and you won’t feel guilty about buying a sweater for $3
- Care for you clothes: chose detergents that are low in phosphorous and hang (at least some of) your clothes out to dry. To make them last longer, always read the ‘care’ tags when ironing and washing.
- As always, buy local: try local boutiques – its a great way to connect with people in your city too!
- Detox: avoid scented detergents, dryer sheets and moth balls.
- Sustainable Organization: when remodeling your closet, use sustainable shelving materials. Stor-x, California, and Terra Cabinets.
- Appliances: When using a dryer, set it for just as much time and heat as needed. If you’re looking to replace your old washer and dryer, looking for EnergyStar appliances, that use less electricity and water per load.
Books: The Gateway Drug to Knowledge
I pity those who “hate” reading. I really do. Life is absolutely nothing without the gift of literature. And, like I said before, books are a gateway drug to knowledge. When one is engaged in a book, (that means reading) one may feel inthe book. What I mean is, actually thinking through the characters eyes and sparking one’s imagination.
So who needs TV? Ok, there is the Lord of the Rings Trilogy that started out as books, evolved into classics, and then they filled up the big screen. Cinema and TV are totally different. Ok, then there is Masterpiece Theater and anything else by station WGBH. These are the exceptions that prove the rule.
Remember when the internet first was getting popular, some urban legend got started that it was going to replace all books and any or all printed material? Actually, the opposite is true, that people just would rather find what they need online, then PRINT IT OUT to read, AFK (away from keyboard.) Result: there are more books than ever. P.s. Don’t forget the books about how to use the information technology effectively!
What are you reading? I’m working on the Bartemaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud for my fiction selections, and for non-fiction I am getting a jump start on spring by reading a library copy of The Victory Garden Landscape Guide.
Finally, speaking of library, let’s go!
10 Terra-Tips Take One: Kitchen
Jeanne Besser, who writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, published Ten Ways to a Greener Kitchen this week. Here is a sum up of the article:
- Bye-bye bottles: invest in a water filter and refill a neoprene water bottle
- Buy Local: to reduce the need for shipping, buy produce from local farmer’s markets
- Dispose of Disposables: use washable china/napkins/silverware, NOT use paper goods (if you must you them, at least use biodegradable or recycled items)
- Banish Excess Packaging:buy in bulk and create small portions in Tupperware (yogurt)
- Paper of Plastic? – Neither (sound familiar?): bring cloth tote bags shopping with you
- Get a Green Thumb: plant herbs or tomatoes in small pots if you don’t have a yard
- Eat Less Meat: go meatless one or two days a week and be aware of where you’re meat comes from and what they eat [writer's note: animals break down nutrients very inefficiently, so you're better off eating the food they eat to gain the same nutrients]
- Use Appliance More Efficiently: use common sense; use a toaster oven when heating up something small and only run your dishwasher when its full [writer's note: appliances use electricity when they're plugged in, even if they're not on, so unplug 'em]
- Reintroduce Yourself to Your Stove/Oven: save gas, eat in
- Become Educated: learn about organic foods at www.georgiaorganics.org, www.ethicalchoicesprogram.org, www.sustainabletable.org, www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles, www.nrdc.org/greenliving and www.vegecyber.com/others/about_vegetarianism.shtml.
Remember to call 'heads'
The Last Lecture
Sure, we make decisions large and small day by day, even moment by moment. A coin toss? If it is, the best advice is to remember to call heads, according to Dr. Randy Pausch. For Dr. Pausch of The Alice Project/Carnegie Mellon fame, the decision was made for him when he was diagnosed more than a year ago with pancreatic cancer (adenocarcinoma).
Summary: Late in the summer of 2006, I started having some unusual symptoms, culminating with jaudice. Scans revealed it was pancreatic cancer. At this time, my wife Jai and I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a three month old baby.
The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the team there, together with Dr. Pausch himself, has put this devastating diagnosis on notice: the news according to the blog is that for now, palliative chemo is WORKING!!!! [Emphasis Dr. Pausch's] Obviously, guarded optimism is what the Pausch family is facing during the next weeks and months as he battles this terminal medical condition.
If you wish to learn more about the value of time — and the point is that we may be good at valuing money, but not as skilled at valuing our time — from a person who has something to say about the topic, please consider viewing Dr. Pausch’s Time Management lecture at Google video.
Be well.
Picture Perfect
Do you consider yourself a nature-lover? An appreciator? To get the most out of your view, try nature journaling. Now is a good time to start so that you can really appreciate the change is season. Here are some simple steps to make your own nature journal:
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Start by opening a window and taking note different types of species, colors, cloud types.
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Choose a notebook and spend ten to fifteen minutes writing about your observations.
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Draw (preferably with a pencil) what you can see as accurately as possible.
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Buy plant and bird guide books for your local area, so you know what you’re looking at.
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Keep it up!
Another tip: Keep a camera around to capture wild things in action. Thomas Haney, a photographer from Austin, Texas has taken landscape and micro nature photography. To see more photos like the one above, check out Thomas Haney’s website. Of his photos, Thomas says:
“One thing [photography] has certainly taught me,especially macro photography, is how much beauty and complexity there is everywhere, if you just look closely, of course that’s nothing a little serious contemplation couldn’t teach you. I’d say the most positive influence it’s had on me is just to get me out in the wilderness and paying attention.”
A great book I own:
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Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth
