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Choosing Home Care Services For A Loved One

Young or older, you might be looking at home care if you suffer from an illness or injury that makes maintaining independence in your own home difficult. 

For the older person struggling to cope with living alone, home care is a common choice. This is because moving into a care home is often a stressful experience, and many people avoid the option because they are eager to maintain as much independence as possible. 

It is important to consider what elderly care services can do for you, and how to choose the right option. Read on for some crucial advice.

There are many great options to choose from when it comes to care at home, and it might seem difficult to distinguish and choose between the companies out there. If you think that you or a loved one could benefit from care services, the question then becomes one of how to choose the right home care for you. 

As care staff might be working with particularly vulnerable people, it is important than they are fully checked and trustworthy. It is up to the care agency to carry out these checks for you. 

The next thing is to understand whether a homecare company’s employees are fully trained, and whether they have any qualifications to prove the quality of their care. Are they fully equipped to handle the needs of you or your loved one? For example, does the company provide care staff that has experience in catheter care or diabetes? The carers themselves are surely the most important element of any care package, and you must make sure standards are high when looking for home care services.

Other Factors to Consider When Looking for Care at Home 

The quality of staff is paramount, but when looking for care at home, there are other important things to consider. Whether you want assisted living or respite care, it is important that the home care service is tailored to your specific needs. 

Beyond the direct care provided, ensuring continuous safety and peace of mind is crucial, especially for those living alone or with limited mobility. Technology can play a vital role in this, offering immediate assistance when caregivers are not present. For instance, a reliable medical alert system can provide a critical layer of protection, allowing individuals to call for help instantly in an emergency, even if they cannot reach a phone. These systems often feature two-way voice communication, long-lasting battery life, and water-resistant pendants, empowering users to maintain their independence with confidence. To enhance safety and ensure prompt assistance, many families choose to order medical alert devices as part of a comprehensive home care plan.

Not only this but that the home care company provides specific guidelines and a framework for its care staff to operate under. You want to make sure that home care staff will arrive on time and in appropriate uniforms. It is important that they are informed of all specific support needs, and it is the home care service’s job to do this. 

To make your decision, it is always worth looking at reviews and testimonials of the people who have used the care service before. Though we would all like the highest quality of care, cost is always a factor, and you need to make sure that prices are fair and cost-effective. 

You should also make sure the company is ethical and that they are committed to helping the community and the planet.

So there you have it: an insight into some of the different factors that you need to consider when you are looking for home care services for your loved one. We know that this can be a difficult period in anyone’s life, and so we hope that the information that has been provided will be helpful for you.

Eco How To: 4 Steps to Stop all of that Junk Mail

HOW TO: 4 Steps To Stop All Of That Junk Mail

More than 100,000,000,000 pieces of junk mail are received by Americans each year. 1/3 of all the mail delivered in the world is U.S. junk mail. Can you believe it? 44% of junk mail is never opened and devastatingly, only 22% of that is recycled. Junk mail alone uses 100 million trees, wastes 28 billion gallons of water and pumps 2.8 million cars worth of C02 into our atmosphere annually. And on average Americans spend 8 months of our lives opening junk mail. What? Let’s stop the craziness, here are 4 ways to stop the junk mail:

  1. Sign an online petition supporting a national registry to stop junk mail at donotmail.org.
  2. Go to OptOutPrescreen.com to opt-out of Credit Bureaus sharing your information with junk mail distributors.
  3. Stop Catalogs at Abacus Catalog Alliance.
  4. Try a service like Tonic Mailstopper that will stop 90% of your junk mail in only 90 days or 41pounds.org which will stop most junk mail for 5 years.
Or if you are really talented like Sandy Schimmel Gold, you can turn your junk mail into beautiful mosaic portraits. My absolute favorite is “Natasha’s New Pajamas.” It would look fabulous in my Asian themed living room.

What steps have you taken to stop junk mail? Or do you recycle it into fantastic art? 

Ways to Upcycle or Recycle Wine Corks

Corks are biodegradable and small, so you may think throwing them away is alright. Unfortunately, it takes a Cork Oak Tree 25 years before the cork can be harvested. Then, only the cork from the first harvest can be used for wine corks. Doesn’t it seem silly to just toss it in the trash?

Here are some fun ways I have upcycled my wine corks! I made fun stamps to give as gifts! We’ve also made tiny succulent magnets for our fridge and place cards for Thanksgiving! 

diy mini succulent wine cork planters

If you don’t feel crafty, you can recycle the corks! To recycle, you can send them to a program called Korks For Kids, a non-profit organization or to Yemm and Hart, a company that will recycle them into other products.

The mister and I enjoy our wine tasting together and as a tradition we keep every wine cork that we share in a large jar in our kitchen. We also keep corks from special occassions and write the name of the event on the date before tossing them into the jar! I have also seen them stored in shadow boxes and hung as amazing pieces of art.

How do you upcycle your corks?

CSA: Fridays At The Farm

Fridays at the Farm Trailer from Coyopa Productions on Vimeo

Most of us in the U.S. take food for granted. We don’t question how, where, or who grows our food. The majority of states within the U.S. purchase their food from somewhere else. On average, food from the US travels over 1300 miles from farm to grocery store. With the current state of our planet, things have to change.

A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a way for a community to establish a relationship with a farm and receive a weekly or monthly supply of produce, fruits, eggs, milk, meat, flowers, or any other type of farm products. A season typically runs from late spring to early fall. This generally costs a family $300-500 a season.

As a member, you would support the farm throughout the season, and in return reap the rewards including; better prices, safer products, and tastier food with a lower carbon footprint. You also establish a responsible relationship between people, the food they eat, and the land itself.

Members become “shareholders” of the farm and in advance cover the costs of the farm’s operation. Members also share in the risks including failed crops, poor weather, or pests. However, the rewards greatly out way the risks.

There are currently over 2000 CSA’s in the United States, to find one in your area click here.

Green Your Wedding With Organic Trees As Favors

A tree is forever!

Tradition states that your wedding guests should be provided with a thoughtful gift as a token of your appreciation. Your gift to them can be as simple or extravagant as you wish.

The best organic wedding favors I have seen recently are adorably packaged trees!

A tree will provide your guests with a growing memory of your wedding day. It is a unique keepsake that will remind your guests of your love for one another now and for many years to come. It is the perfect eco-friendly favor for your special day.

P.S. Special bonus, make it a fruit tree and EVERYONE will love you!