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5 Green Ways to Unwind As a Family on School Nights

December 9, 2017 2

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With tests, sports, homework, and lessons, after school schedules during the school year can get hectic quickly. Eben is a now a junior in high school which means his evenings are full of National Honor Society meetings, volunteer projects, homework, and tutoring. So, I would say that our schedule feels a little overwhelming right now. If you spend the school year wondering what’s your spouse and kids are up to, try these 5 tips for unwinding and reconnecting as a family on school nights.

#1 Family Dinner or Breakfast
Even if everyone in the house has a different schedule, try your best to sit down as a family even for 30 minutes to eat dinner or breakfast – whichever works best for your schedule. There’s no need for elaborate meals if you’re pressed for time—the important thing is that everyone sit down together to share what happened during the day and reconnect. The mister has Fridays off – so we always sit down together for a big breakfast before Eben heads off to school – it makes Friday a little more special.

#2 Walks Around the Neighborhood
After-dinner winter walks are so refreshing and relaxing at the same time. Grab your parka and boots and trek around your neighborhood. Kids can learn about the changing seasons and all of the animals that only come out at dusk, you can even look for animal tracks in the snow—make sure you bring your flashlight and teach kids nighttime outdoors safety like wearing a blinking light or reflectors if you’ll be out near dark. You and your kids will also sneak in a little exercise and will probably sleep better since you’ll be tuning your circadian rhythms by going out in the evening.

#3 Let the Kids Pick 
Eben has always been really into reading manga and watching anime. When he started to get a little older, I quickly realized that if I was going to bond with him as a young adult, I better learn as much as I could about both. It is really one of the best choices that I ever made as a mother, it paid off in a huge way. Eben and I have been watching anime and reading manga together for several years. Even now that he is almost 17, our anime time is something that we do together every single night. We look forward to it, and it gives us a ton of stuff to talk about on a regular basis. Not to mention, I found out that I love anime/manga and without Eben being into it – I might have never figured that out.

#4 Do Homework Together
During times when everyone’s just too busy to relax together you can still connect with your kids by sitting down and offering homework help (if your kids need it!). Just because you aren’t conversing about the day’s events doesn’t mean that you’re not connecting and learning from one another. Kids learn a lot from how their parents offer help and encouragement. Eben doesn’t need my help – however, I still sit quietly next to him catching up on my reading while he works, that way I still get the opportunity to be near him and offer assistance if he needs it.

#5 Offer to Coach
A great way to spend time with your kids in a different setting (and learn a little about them!) after school is by offering to coach their sports team, become a scout leader, or head up an extra-curricular club. The mister takes Eben and his best friend to Yugioh tournaments every single Saturday. You’ll get a chance to dusk off some old skills and will also have an opportunity to see how your kids interact with others and parent them in a new and different context.

What’s your favorite green activity to do to connect as a family on school nights?

3 Smart Strategies For Creating An Eco-Friendly Home Office

December 7, 2017 0

When it comes to home renovations, many homeowners assume that the biggest ROI comes from kitchen and bathroom remodeling jobs. In fact, experts say that bathroom additions alone offer an average ROI of 86.4%. But before you decide exactly which area of your home is ready for a remodeling job, you should be aware that home offices are a major asset that are growing in popularity. About 67% of professionals agree that working remotely is productive, and by taking a few small steps, you can create a picture perfect and eco-friendly home office that can serve as both a productive space and a major selling point should you decide to put your home up for sale. Here are just a few tips for creating the eco-friendly home office you’ve always dreamed of.

Consider Window Replacement/Insulation

New windows can lower energy bills. In fact, depending on where you live, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that you can save up to $501 a year by replacing old single-pane windows with new Energy Star approved models. With this in mind, it only makes sense to either add insulation or replace your home’s windows, if possible.

If new windows are out of the question, don’t rule out the idea of getting Energy Star savings just yet! Experts say that there are countless office appliances with Energy Star labels that can help you save big over the long term.

“If you’re buying new office equipment, look for products with the Energy Star label. They’re designed to save a lot more energy than products without the label,” Jennifer Roberts, author of Good Green Homes, told ThisOldHouse.com.

Invest In Small Solar Panels Or Lights

If your home office has subpar lighting, investing in one or two small solar panels is an innovative way to conserve energy and create ambience inside your office.

Tube lights are ideal for full lighting, and they’re easy to connect to a reflective dome on your roof to get set up. They work by trapping sunlight and transferring it via the tube to fully illuminate your eco-friendly office. Just make sure to decide on the right path from your roof to your office’s ceiling to avoid affecting cables, plumbing, and duct work.

Solar powered LED lights, on the other hand, are better for illuminating just your desk area. Modernize.com says they have a number of advantages of traditional lighting.

“You won’t have to strain every time you read or work on your computer, which will also help avoid eye strain and decreased productivity. Solar-powered lights are attached to electric panels. They have batteries at their bases, which can provide power for an entire day if fully charged,” writes Ronique Gibson on Modernize.com.

Establish A Paper And Plastic Recycling Routine

With the availability of recycling programs nationwide, there’s really no reason all homes shouldn’t be prioritizing an efficient way to make sure all their recyclable get to the proper place. This includes not only paper, but plastic, considering the fact that Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. One of the easiest ways to simplify recycling is to keep two separate bins — one for paper and one for plastic — and sort all refuse each week. Don’t forget to check all labels to make sure you’re recycling everything possible. Even things like printer ink bottles can sometimes be recycled!

Ultimately, understanding these techniques for maintaining an eco-friendly home office is the key to staying productive and preserving the potential for ROI. Eco-friendly home offices are proof that any room in your home can be transitioned into a sustainable and enjoyable living space!

Natural Remedies To Ease Your Lower Back Pain

December 5, 2017 0

For many adults, lower back pain is an ever-present factor in their lives. Whether caused by age, genetic factors or lifestyles, it can become too much to handle. In fact, about 69% of Americans say that this pain impacts their daily lives. While many adults turn to medication to treat their pain, it is not the only option.

There are plenty of ways to incorporate lower back pain management into your holistic health routine. This guide will help you incorporate these methods into your lifestyle and control your risk factors going forward.

Natural Treatments For Lower Back Pain

For many people, there is not a cure-all remedy for lower back pain. It generally takes a combination of changes to help you find relief. While you should always consult a physician about your pain, consider the following methods as well.

Exercise
When you strengthen your body, you strengthen your ability to support your spinal column. This is especially true when it comes to your abdominal strength. A strong core can make your entire center more steady and improve your posture. Yoga can be especially useful for strengthening, loosening, and aligning.

Massage
Massage therapy can help release tension in your back muscles that may be pinching nerves and causing pain. A massage therapist can also work with you on lifestyle changes and stretches to better care for your back.

Postural Treatment
Chiropractic adjustment and relating treatment can help align the spine and improve your posture. Your chiropractor may even incorporate massage and physical therapy to provide a more holistic healing approach.

Anti-Inflammatory Food
To nourish and heal your body, it’s essential to fill it with quality food. By avoiding refined grains, sugars, and fats, and eating nutrient-rich food instead, you can calm inflammation. This then calms your pain.

Controlling Your Risk Facotrs

While natural treatments can help ease your current back pain, it’s also important to practice prevention. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 80% of adults experience low back pain at some point in their lives, there are ways to control your risk:

    • Maintain a healthy weight
    • Avoid a sedentary lifestyle
    • Work to improve your posture
    • See your physician for preventative care
    • Learn what treatment methods work for your body

Remember: You are in control of your life. While low back pain may be a factor, it is not in the driver’s seat. By trying some of the above treatment methods and taking care of your health as a whole, you can control your pain and live the most vibrant life possible.

Can You Travel This Holiday Season AND Eat Healthy?

December 4, 2017 0

As the holidays approach, more and more families are buying train, plane, and bus tickets to meet up with loved ones and enjoy the season. The problem is, for many, “enjoying the season” means putting diets and other healthy habits on hold. But even if you’ve failed to eat healthy during holidays past, it is possibly to enjoy the season and eat healthy. You just need a plan.

Here are just a few ways to keep yourself on track with your diet while traveling during the hustle and bustle of the busy holiday season.

Consider Your Travel Method
Unfortunately, those traveling by air don’t have as much flexibility when it comes to which snacks and sizes are permitted onboard. But if you pack liquid- or gel-based snacks such as yogurt and applesauce in containers smaller than 3.4 ounces, you should be good to go. Luckily, many brands are already a step ahead of the game and have multiple options for snack-size and spill-proof containers.

Motorcoaches, on the other hand, account for 751 million passenger trips annually, and since they don’t have the rigorous security measures of airlines, they and allow for much more snacktime flexibility. Furthermore, the storage they provide allows easy access to any snacks you’re inclined to pack along in you carry-on. It’s best to avoid exceptionally messy foods, as well as those that may emit a strong odor, just to be considerate of your fellow passengers. But granola bars, raw veggies, trail mix, and sandwiches are all great options.

Depending on the length of your trip, you may enjoy the idea of packing a salad in a ziplock bag along with a plastic fork. You can add whatever you want, as long as it’s eaten within a few hours. For maximum nutritional content, pack a mix of leafy greens, such as spinach, kale, and romaine lettuce. You can also try adding microgreens, a tiny form of edible greens produced from very young vegetable, herb or other plants. They range in size from one to 1.5 inches long, including the stem and leaves. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your healthy travel snacks — as long as it can be stored properly and eaten easily, the possibilities are nearly endless.

The Fresher, The Better
According to a 2016 survey, Americans consume more fresh foods — including fruits, vegetables, meats, and cheeses — than they did three years prior. Whether you’re staying at a hotel or crashing with your family, try to prioritize eating fresh foods over frozen or processed. This may not be an issue for those staying with a family member that always seems to be pulling out another fresh, hot dish from the oven. But for those limited to hotel lobby convenience stores and other small sources, finding a healthy, fresh meal can prove to be a bit more challenging. Instead of taking the easy route by stopping by a fast food restaurant, don’t hesitate to seek out the nearest grocery store and stock up on any available fresh foods, provided that you can store them properly.

“If you stop at a grocery store that offers whole or healthy foods — fruits, bagged carrots, nuts, hummus — or a supermarket that features a salad bar, you quickly expand your choices (and reduce junk-food temptations),” writes Men’s Fitness.

Ultimately, knowing how to stay healthy when traveling during this holiday season can help you continue to make health-conscious choices all the way through the new year. But regardless of the time of year, you should always be on the lookout for more ways to incorporate fresh foods into your diet!

Why Environmental Education is Important for Children

November 30, 2017 0

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The world our children are growing up in is changing in so many ways. Future generations are going to be faced with rising sea levels, an increase in the number of natural disasters, climate change, the loss of agricultural land, and a reduction in biodiversity. Tropical diseases will extend their reach, countries and factions will compete over decreasing fresh water supplies and more and more people will become migrants and refugees as parts of their homelands become uninhabitable. Those are big challenges for society to face. Our children need to be ready – they need to be educated.

Global, national, personal
Although these issues might seem overwhelming, there are things that national governments can do to reduce the rate of climate change and deal effectively with its consequences. Our children are the generation that will need to take charge of this. They will need the know-how to develop effective policies. They’ll also be able to make changes at a personal level, from adopting more eco-friendly diets to driving electric cars, insulating their homes, generating their own eco-friendly energy, and recycling, repairing and repurposing the things they buy.

Introducing environmental issues
Helping children to engage with environmentalism starts with small things. Keeping pets – even small animals – helps them to understand the relationship between the individual and the environment. Going on nature trips helps them see how different factors in the environment interact. Craft projects can help them to become enthusiastic about recycling even when they’re too young to understand why it matters, and as they get older environmental education can become a part of their schooling, enriching their perspective on biology, chemistry, geography, engineering and more. Principles derived from environmentalism also give them the ability to see how all the subjects they learn fit together, building cross-disciplinary skills that give them an advantage in a changing economy.

Educating the public
Children attending good schools get to learn about environmental issues and what they can do to make the world better, but it’s still important to find ways of reaching out to people more widely, so part of what schools need to teach is how to do effective outreach work. Students from Stamford American international school in Singapore contributed to a video promoting Global Earth Hour in 2016, helping people around the world to understand why protecting the environment matters. It was a year in which over 400,000 people engaged with Earth Day educational events in the US alone, but there are billions of people who still need to be persuaded to change the way they live, so every effort matters.

Inheriting the Earth
Educating young people not only prepares them for what they will inherit – it helps to give them a voice in the present. That means adults who are careless about the environment have to deal here and now with the people who will live with their mistakes, which is in itself a way of bringing about change. Properly educated well-informed children can speak up for themselves and defend their future.

 

 

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