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How to Make Your Workplace a Little Greener By 2020

November 20, 2019 0

Given the growing number of consumers who care about sustainability, it’s no wonder that many businesses are at least making an effort to go green. Not only can your actions help to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change, but you can also prove to customers that you care about the planet — and appeal to their inclinations in the process. What’s more, creating a more eco-friendly workplace doesn’t have to translate to a large sacrifice. In many cases, it can allow you to save some money without ever noticing a real difference during the workday. In others, it can bring your team together and make your business that much more profitable. But how exactly should you get started? Here are some basic tips that will make your work environment — and the environment at-large — a little greener by 2020.

Go Paperless When Possible

Did you know that China, Japan, and the United States account for 50% of the world’s total paper production? Although we depend largely on our technological devices, many offices still use a lot of paper in unnecessary ways. You might already be using shared drives and store files in the cloud, but if you’re printing out packets for a meeting or hanging memos up in the break room, you’re still not as eco-friendly as you could be. What’s more, you’re probably spending a lot on office supplies like paper, ink, paperclips, and staples. Encourage employees to think before printing and consider donating at least some of your printers and copiers to organizations in need. If you haven’t already, adopt digital sharing and storage measures that will allow you to cut down on paper usage overall. This minimal change might have less of an impact on your day than you might think; you’ll just need to create new habits to ensure everyone’s on the same (virtual) page.

Conserve Your Energy

Offices come with a lot of necessary overhead. Keeping the lights and the HVAC system running can translate to high costs for business owners. But you can mitigate those costs and reduce unnecessary waste by being smarter about how you use your energy. Switching to LED bulbs and unplugging lights, small appliances, and computers at the end of the day can do wonders for your energy expenditures. You’ll also want to pay close attention to the thermostat. While studies have found that productivity levels are highest when temperatures average 71.6 degrees, that’s a high level to reach during the winter. Be willing to compromise a bit with temperature settings and consider installing a smart thermostat to ensure that the building isn’t being heated or cooled after work is done for the day. Having employees bring in a sweater or a portable, handheld fan may be a sacrifice they’re willing to make to have a greener office in the long run.

Offer Remote Work Options

Telecommuting is becoming a more popular option for businesses across the country. Employees enjoy the flexibility of being able to work from home or from a nearby coffee shop, while employers benefit from decreased overhead. Workers are more productive, fewer work days are missed, and everyone obtains a more balanced life as a result. It’s also an excellent way to support green initiatives. Not only can you keep heating and electricity needs to a minimum with fewer people in the office on a given day, but you can also have a direct impact on emission reduction from commuting vehicles. In other words, you can brag about your sustainability and your employee perks — both of which may make you one of the top employers to beat in your area.

Eliminate Single Use Items

During company events, picking up paper plates and plastic utensils is an easy way to ensure everyone can join in. But this practice is incredibly wasteful, which puts a damper on the fun. Instead, invest in some communal mugs, cups, plates, and cutlery and recommend that employees bring some of these items in, too. Since Americans produce 4.4 pounds of trash every single day, eliminating at least some of these disposable items will cut down on your company’s waste (and need for trash collection!). If you really want to go the extra mile, float around the idea of starting a composting program. At the very least, make an effort to purchase disposable items (like coffee filters) that are made from recycled materials and ensure that your own recyclables don’t end up in landfills.

If it seems like these changes are too small to make a difference, remember that there are nearly 28 million small businesses in the U.S. alone. By making minimal adjustments, you can be part of a bigger impact and show your community how serious you are about protecting the planet. With your help, we can make the earth a little bit greener by the time the new year rolls around.

The FAQs About CBD: What You Need To Know

October 10, 2019 0
The FAQs About CBD: What You Need To Know

In recent months, CBD use among the general population has skyrocketed, with many claiming their use of the supplement as medical. Almost 62% of CBD users reported using CBD to treat a medical condition, with the top three medical conditions as pain, anxiety, and depression. Many claim that this one compound found in industrial hemp can treat a wide variety of conditions, but how true are those claims? What is the evidence supporting the use of CBD to treat chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and more?

What is CBD?

Cannabidiol, otherwise known as CBD, is a compound naturally found in hemp. While hemp that is used for its CBD is technically related to marijuana and comes from the same plant family, the two are separated based on their THC levels. THC is the psychoactive chemical typically associated with marijuana; however, CBD products are under regulation that keeps THC levels under 0.3%. This prevents CBD products from having many of the undesirable effects associated with marijuana use. While hemp has been used historically to treat many medical conditions, nowadays research is underway to prove just how effective CBD is as modern-day medicine.

Is CBD organic?

As CBD comes from a natural plant, CBD products can be organic if created correctly. To determine whether or not CBD products are organic, we have to look at two steps of their production. The first is the growth of the hemp plant. In order to be considered organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) standards, the hemp needs to be grown without the use of genetically modified organisms, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge.

CBD products then need to be extracted and processed from organically grown hemp without the use of any synthetic chemical additives. As an increasing number of farmers in the U.S. are realizing the value of growing organic hemp, producers of CBD oil are ensuring their part of the process is organic as well. When you purchase CBD products, be sure to look for a “U.S.D.A certified organic” label that indicates the product meets organic standards. By using organic CBD, you can treat various medical conditions with a natural solution, rather than synthetic medications.

What can CBD treat?

While the overwhelming enthusiasm for CBD can make it seem like another new snake oil “miracle cure,” it’s actually been proven to have some success in medical trials. CBD has been shown to be helpful with some forms of chronic pain treatment, which will likely be highly beneficial for an aging Baby Boomer generation. By 2030, six out of 10 Baby Boomers will be managing a chronic condition, and for many, CBD will be a helpful supplement to other treatment plans. It won’t treat your case of the flu, but it has been proven an effective treatment for other ailments. Because CBD can be effective in some cases for pain management, it can also be involved in recovery from other procedures. For example, in Follicular Unit Strip Surgery, a strip of scalp from a non-balding area is surgically removed, and placed in incisions in balding area. While this is generally a lower-pain procedure, CBD can help during surgery recovery to limit pain.

CBD has also been shown to be effective as treatment options for some mental health conditions. Those suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia may find relief through treatments involving CBD as part of a broader treatment plan. CBD has also found its strongest evidence in the treatment of several epileptic disorders, offering relief to many.

What can’t CBD treat?

Unfortunately, despite CBD’s many proven uses, there are those who claim the compound can treat more conditions than it’s been shown to. CBD does have many anti-inflammatory effects, as well as helping to potentially regulate blood pressure; however, that does not mean it’s approved for treating conditions that involve these issues. CBD is still being tested for use in a variety of conditions, so be sure to do your research before looking to use CBD oil as a treatment. For example, many claim that CBD has been helpful in regulating blood sugar. While this may sound like good news for the 4.1 million adults in the U.S. with pre-diabetes, there is no proof as of yet that CBD can be used in this manner.

CBD is a treatment option that’s rapidly growing in popularity, leading many people to praise the compound’s benefits. However, much research still needs to be done on the full extent of its healing capabilities. Before you add CBD oil to your daily routine, do some extra research to see if it will help your specific conditions.

4 Ways to Go Green This Coming Year

October 3, 2019 0
4 ways to go green this year

Going green is not only beneficial to you and your family, but it is also very beneficial to the community you reside in. To start your road to a greener life, you can go digital at home, buy local produce, create a community cleanup day, and help grow a community garden for residents in the area.

By taking these first few steps, you will notice a large change in your community with cleaner grounds to walk on and healthier food on the tables of local families in need. Before you go ahead and dismiss the joys of going green, weigh out the pros and cons of how it could benefit the ones you love.

Community Cleanup Day

If your community is searching for ways to go green and help the community stay safe and clean, conducting a community cleanup day is a sure way to start off strong. In order to make sure everyone is on the same page, the matter should be brought up at a community meeting or posted on flyers around the area. 

The perfect day to get new mattresses with proper bed sizes would be this cleanup day. Your new mattress can arrive and the old can be discarded along with old furniture and appliances. When the day arrives for cleanup to begin, everyone should be paired up with another individual and pick a specific area to start working on. For any furniture or appliances out on the side of the road for pickup, be sure to ask locals if they are in need of any of these items before considering them waste.

Buy Local Produce

Buying local produce is a sure way to not only help your family go green but your neighborhood as well. Your local farmers are almost always looking for new buyers to help sell more of their products whether it be vegetables or even baked goods. This means you can help them and their families make sales while giving your family top of the line organic foods. These foods will keep everyone healthy and happy with new food choices to help your community and family go green.

Go Digital

If you are looking for ways to help your country, city, or state, you can start by switching to digital when it comes to your bills and notices. By switching to digital, you will help decrease the number of trees being cut up in order to have enough paper to send out bills across the state. Although you may not think just you alone can make a real change, all it takes is one more person going green every day to start making a true difference in the world around us.

Community Gardens

Community gardens are a great way to teach children the benefits of growing your own vegetables and fruits as well as how to help your neighborhood go green. In order to make sure the community garden is a success, you will need to create some type of schedule to make sure that the garden is tended to every day. Once it is time to harvest what is grown, everyone should be able to have the chance to come into the garden and pick fresh produce for themselves and their family. Not only will you get fresh produce, but you will be providing food for some of the less fortunate families in your neighborhood.

Going green does not always mean that you have to change your entire lifestyle. Just starting with a few small things can be beneficial, like buying local produce, going digital, creating a community garden, and conducting a community cleanup day. These four things will not only help your home life, but it will also help to clean up your community by making sure all the trash on the side of the road is picked up and also providing healthy organic foods to families with children that are in need of extra food to put on the table. 

To start helping your community, try bringing up green subjects at your next community meeting to see who else wants to hop on board with creating a better area for children to live. You will be shocked at the results of how many people are ready to take a stand on having a healthier environment.

3 Surprising Things That Could Be Causing Your Hair Loss and Natural Solutions To Prevent It

September 28, 2019 0
3 Surprising Things That Could Be Causing Your Hair Loss and Natural Solutions To Prevent It

Anyone can have pattern baldness if they have the genes for it. In fact, the average person loses anywhere between 50 to 100 hairs a day. But hair loss isn’t always a genetic problem.

There are many things you could be doing in your daily life to cause hair loss. From your workout regimen to new medication, here are a few surprising things that could be causing your hair to thin and all-natural solutions to preventing hair loss in the future.

The wrong hair products

Hair products that cause issues for your hair are nothing new. Product liability cases make up 5% of personal injury cases in the United States.

Many hair products contain toxic chemicals that don’t provide any long-term benefits for the health of your hair. The best way to prevent hair loss is to avoid products with these chemicals altogether, such as those with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). This is a chemical foaming agent often found in hand soaps that can irritate the eyes and skin.

Instead, invest in organic hair care products. You can determine which products are organic by paying attention to the ingredients on the bottle. Keep an eye out for products made with natural ingredients like shea butter, omega-3 fatty acids, and calendula to increase your hair’s protein production and keep it healthy.

Your workout regimen

With less than 5% of adults participating in 30 minutes of physical activity every day, it may seem like a cruel and unusual punishment for hair loss to be caused by working out. But it turns out that going hard at the gym for too long can actually be pretty bad for you.

Hair loss is only one of the potential problems you could be facing if you work out for more than a few hours every day. You could also be damaging some of 650 muscles in your body because you’re not giving them enough time to recover.

If you’re less of a gym rat and more of a gym gerbil, consider cutting a few hours of gym time every week.

You can also help prevent hair loss naturally by changing up your diet. As hair follicles are made of a protein called keratin, consider incorporating more protein into your diet with eggs, nuts, beans, peas, and low-fat dairy products. This additional protein can also give your tired muscles a much-needed boost. Diets with raw vegetables and herbs, like the Mediterranean diet, can also help prevent hair loss.

New medications

New medications can have a big impact on your body, including hair loss. Two types of hair loss are especially common with medications: anagen effluvium and telogen effluvium.

Anagem effluvium is common in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Telogen effluvium can occur within two to four months of taking a new medication. Talk to your doctor if you notice more hair loss than usual. Inquire about homeopathic solutions to your condition that are more in line with an all-natural lifestyle.

At home, you can also help give your hair a leg up by taking natural supplements that promote hair growth, such as ginseng. Even applying products such as coconut oil and olive oil directly to your scalp can provide an all-natural boost to your hair’s health. Remember to avoid hairstyles that pull at your scalp, like tight braids and ponytails, and chemical treatments that can damage your hair. If you want to dye your hair, ask your stylist about organic hair dyes that are free of harmful chemicals.

There are many things that can impact your health and your hair. Try out some of these eco-friendly tips for hair loss prevention today. If your hair loss persists, and especially if you’re experiencing other symptoms, be sure to talk to your doctor.

Natural Dental Care: How To Whiten Your Teeth Without Chemicals

August 26, 2019 0

It’s no secret that healthy teeth are important. But did you know the appearance of your teeth affects how people see you?

Approximately 90% of American adults believe that “bad” teeth can impact a person’s personal and professional life. That goes to show why 25% of the people wearing braces in the U.S. are over the age of 18.

While you do need the professional help of an orthodontist to repair misaligned teeth, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to improve the overall appearance of your teeth naturally.

Take care after chowing down

The reason why your teeth stain and become yellow is that the top layer of your teeth, called the enamel, is porous. This means your enamel acts like a sponge and soaks up the dark-colored liquids you drink including coffee, tea, soda, wine, juice, and more.

The good news is it’s surprisingly easy to avoid staining your teeth. After you’ve had your morning coffee or tea, brush your teeth or rinse your mouth with water afterward.

At the end of the day, be sure to brush, floss, and use an antibacterial mouthwash. This will help with stains and your overall health considering 40% of kids have cavities by the time they reach kindergarten and 90% of adults have at least one cavity.

Avoid or quit smoking

Tobacco stains your teeth whether you’re chewing or smoking it. Just like drinking dark liquids or eating things like blueberries, soy sauce, and beets, your enamel soaks up the tobacco periodically.

Smoking is also a problem for your health in general and is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths. But quitting smoking can be difficult due to nicotine withdrawal.

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms typically peak within one to three days and then gradually decrease over three to four weeks. That’s about the same amount of time it takes to recover from a total hip replacement, which takes four to six weeks. Ask your doctor for advice on how you can quit smoking while managing your nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

Eat the right food

While some foods like cranberries and blueberries can stain your teeth, other foods can naturally brighten your teeth. These foods include cauliflower, strawberries, cheese, apples, and celery.

But how do these foods help naturally whiten your teeth? It’s a mix of chewing, nutrients, and acids.

Cauliflower, celery, and apples are nutrient-rich foods that take longer to chew and create a scrubbing motion in your mouth when you eat them. The longer you chew, the more saliva your mouth produces. Saliva not only helps to break down food but is also a natural cleanser for your teeth.

Strawberries contain an enzyme known as malic acid, which naturally whitens your teeth. And cheese, like other dairy products, contains lactic acid and the enamel-fortifying mineral calcium. This means cheese not only whitens your teeth but strengthens them at the same time.

Be sure to inspect and wash your produce before you eat it. According to the CDC, one in six Americans gets sick every year from consuming contaminated food. That said, give your produce a quick scrub before you eat it, even if the produce has a peel.

It’s normal to want your teeth to look their very best. By following the tips above, you can reduce your risk of staining your teeth while improving your dental health and your overall health at the same time.

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