Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

Save the planet! Eat Three Sisters and Nature's Path Bagged Cereal!

Three Sisters Cereal advertises:  


"Ditch the box and save a tree.  Made using renewable energy"


There are many ways to help the planet and some are harder than others.  Switching to bagged cereal, like Three Sisters Cereal, is one of the easiest things you can do and it tastes delicious, plus it will save you money over name brand cereal.


Here is a list of all the reasons that you should consider trying Three Sisters Cereal:


1)  Buying bagged cereal eliminates the cardboard box, which is wasteful.  By buying bagged cereal you are saving trees and keeping the boxes out of landfills.  Unfortunately, most cardboard boxes and mixed paper recycled by individuals is not recycled because the demand for recycled paper is low and most cereal boxes are designed in such a way that they are difficult to recycle because of the printing process.


2)  Three Sisters cereal is bagged in food-safe, recyclable bags!  So just toss the bag in the recycling instead of the trash!


3)  Three Sisters Cereal uses renewable energy to manufacture their cereals.


4)  Their cereal is sugary and they have variety!


Varieties include:









Three Sisters Cereal is available at Whole Foods.


Of course, even more environmentally friendly and economic than buying Three Sisters Cereal is shopping in the bulk section and reusing your own plastic bags.  But if you're in a rush or for some reason don't like the bulk section or your local store doesn't have one then Three Sisters Cereal is a great alternative.  If your local store doesn't yet carry it then put in a request.


Three Sisters cereals are a little too sweet for me to have everyday, so I also enjoy "Nature's Path Organic Heritage Flakes," which have just a hint of sweetness and are low in sugar and have plenty of fiber.  I actually prefer Nature's Path because their cereals are organic.


Nature's Path Organic Heritage Flakes Cereal, 32-Ounce Bags (Pack of 6)
Like Three Sisters Cereal, Nature's Path makes its bags from recyclable plastics.  Nature's path estimates the savings from buying their bagged cereals as follows:


- Paper Board Saved:  437 tons per year
- Total Energy Saved: 7,464 million BTUs
- Green House Gases Saved: 1,389,323 lbs CO2
- Wastewater Saved: 826,542 gallons
- Solid Waste Diverted:  248,383 pounds


Their source quotes is: http://www.edf.org/papercalculator/


For most of us, these calculations are just really big numbers, but we don't really understand what they translate into, so let me try to provide some context.


Let's assume that the average american drives 12,000 miles per year and their car averages 20 mpg.  This means that each year, the average american car produces 12,253 pounds of CO2 emissions per year.


Using this carbon footprint calculator, we can estimate the average CO2 emissions of a car:
http://www.greenprogress.com/carbon_footprint_calculator.php


So Nature's Path saving 1,389,323 lbs of CO2 per year is equivalent of keeping

1,389,323/
12,253 = 113 cars off of the road per year!


Think about all the effort that it would take you to completely stop driving your car - buying bagged cereal is a very easy and economical way for you to decrease your carbon footprint.  So tell your friends about the benefits of eating bagged cereal because the more people who do it, the less waste we'll have and the better the planet will look for our children. 


Also, if you click on any of the amazon links, please realize that the price in stores is a fraction of the price on amazon - it costs less that $5 in stores for a 32 oz. bag.  I once compared the bagged cereal per oz. to all the boxed cereals and the bagged cereal won every time.  It makes sense - if they don't have to waste money on the box then they can afford to save you some money on the cereal!

Yogitoes Non-Slip Yoga Towel!


 
The yogitoes mat is a brilliantly designed yoga towel designed to minimize slipping or skidding.  Yogitoes is especially useful for heated forms of yoga (like Bikram, Heated Vinyasa, Heated Ashtanga, etc.).  It's still a great addition to your yoga gear even if you steer clear of heated forms of yoga, since it also provides a sanitary layer between you and your yoga mat, which is easily washable.



As you can see in the image above, Yogitoes features a bed of small, rubbery silicone dimples that are designed to stick to your yoga mat, or in more technical terms - increase the friction between your towel and mat. To elaborate...have you ever had the experience of sweating profusely onto your yoga mat and suddenly finding yourself slipping and sliding or even falling on your rump while trying to do a crazy challenging pose - well, that's why they invented the Yogitoes mat! A step up from just using a standard yoga mat is to use a towel and a standard towel definitely helps, but it doesn't stay in place easily and once it gets wet - it skids around - that's where yogitoes really helps.


Yogitoes are also designed for performance in durability.  Yogitoes uses a high-quality ultra absorptive 80:20 polyester:nylon blend that provides a hygienic layer between you and your mat.  The yogitoes mats are machine washable and dryer safe for easy care and maintenance.  And the premium size is designed to fit on most standard yoga mats measuring 24x68 inches.  Yogitoes mats are very intuitive - just place the side with the silicone pads against your mat before your practice and you're all set.  Yogitoes mats are available in a variety of colors from energized bright oranges and blues to ones with more earthy tones - just have fun picking your favorite!  


You can purchase a yogitoes mat directly from Yogitoes or on Amazon:


Really, the only downside to the yogitoes skidless mats is the price - they can range from $45 - $65, but I found a good deal on Amazon and paid less than $35. One big consolation to the price is that the Yogitoes company has a dedicated fund for charities around the world. You can learn more about the specific charities that they support on their "about us" page here. Just look at the upper right hand corner where it says "yogitoes fund" on the far upper right. They support:


SHECHEN CHARITY ORPHAN SCHOOL
a home and education for the
orphans of Tibet.
www.shechen-school.org

M.E.G. (MARY ELLEN GERBER) FOUNDATION
mothering Indian children in need.
www.megfoundation.org

tunaHAKI FOUNDATION
empowering AIDS orphans and street
children in Tanzania, Africa
www.tunahaki.org

CASA de MILAGROS
"Home of Miracles" - a children's home
near Machu Picchu in Cusco, Peru
www.chandlersky.org

YOGA AT SCHOOL
helping NYC school children find peace.
www.iyiny.org/yogaatschool


So to sum it all up, Yogitoes features:
- Silicone dimples to minimize skidding (patented).
- High quality, absorbent 80:20 polyester:nylon blend to collect sweat.
- Embroidered edges for durability.
- Easy and safe to machine wash and dry!
- All in all, it's a high quality product made by a budding small business, which is lead by a female entrepreneur who is making charity a key part of the Yogitoes vision!  And all of that really makes me smile!  Plus, I was finally able to do this side crow pose the other day - thanks in some part to my new yogitoes mat!




And below is one last picture of my yogitoes skidless mat - I just really liked this photo.  I think everything looks more artistic when you take photos on macro mode.





Klean Kanteen - Help Save The World, Protect Your Health, and Keep Your Wallet Fat and Happy






A great way to help the environment is to invest a little in a non-disposable water bottle like the ones made by Klean Kanteen.  Investing in a Klean Kanteen bottle can help you and the environment in a number of ways:

(1)  Klean Kanteen helps you reduce waste created by disposable plastic water bottles.

(2)  Bottled water is expensive and using tap water is an easy way to save a lot of money.  Using a Klean Kanteen water bottle will pay for itself in no time if you're currently buying bottled water.

(3)  Tap water has strict government standards, whereas the bottled water industry is unregulated.

(4)  Klean Kateen Technology is free of BPA or plastic liners  You can learn more about their technology here.  BPA and plastic liners are known to have negative health affects.

You can buy yours right now from Amazon and get it shipped strait to your house instead of wasting time, money, and emitting CO2 getting to and from the store! Go for a nice walk or spend some time talking to an old friend with the time you save!




Buy Yours now and you will help put a stop to things like this:





Or this:







Or this:







Added Benefits

(1)  Multiple cap options to choose from



(2)  Unique and pretty designs



(3)  High quality stainless steel.  Here is a quote from the Klean Kanteen website regarding their stainless steel alloy choice.
"Stainless steel is an iron-containing alloy made from some of the basic elements found on earth: iron ore, chromium, silicon, nickel, carbon, nitrogen and manganese. The properties of the final metal change depending on varying amounts of these elements. More than 57 stainless steels exist and are sold as standard alloys on the market.
Klean Kanteens™ are constructed from high-quality, 18/8, food-grade stainless steel. The numbers stand for the percentages of chromium and nickel in the steel, 18% and 8% respectively. Chromium increases the metal's hardness and nickel gives it strength. Together they also make stainless steel highly resistant to stain or rust.
Stainless steel is easy to clean, durable, inert and sanitary. That's why it's the material of choice among the food processing, dairy and brewing industries."
   And in regards to nickel in the stainless steel alloy:
Nickel is a naturally abundant element found in the earth's crust, soil and ocean floor. It is generally resistant to corrosion and is therefore used to make metal alloys such as stainless steel. Approximately 10-15% of the population is sensitive to nickel, but the health effects of nickel are highly dependent on the manner and degree of exposure. The stainless steel used to make Klean Kanteens™ has a low nickel content and is the preferred material used by breweries and dairies.

(4)  Easy to clean. Here is a detailed page informing you on what is the best way to clean your specific Klean Kanteen model.

(5)  Some studies have found that Aluminum is linked to Alzheimers.  The information below is from the Klean Kanteen FAQ web page under the question "Which is better, stainless steel or aluminum?". 

"While aluminum is lightweight, it can leach toxins and chemicals when it gets hot or comes in contact with anything acidic. Studies have also linked aluminum exposure to Alzheimer's disease. To ensure that the drinks inside aluminum bottles are safe, the bottles must be lined with something. The most common materials used to line aluminum bottles include plastic or baked-on epoxy, both of which can leach BPA and other toxic chemicals or can get scratched, exposing the aluminum underneath. Ceramic is another material used to line aluminum bottles, but it's more rigid and can crack. Of even greater concern is the fact that many companies won't release information about what the liner on their aluminum bottles is actually made from. The liner can also retain flavors, which can make your drinks taste funky. The stainless steel used to make Klean Kanteens™ is time-tested, safe and completely free of BPA, phthalates, lead and other toxins. It's fine for acidic beverages or foods, and doesn't retain or impart flavors. That's why it's the material most commonly used in food preparation and by the brewing and wine-making industries."
(6)  It's recyclable (once you finally destroy it after decades of use).


Further Reading:
If you're interested in learning more about the negative aspects of bottled water and the role that marketing and perception has played in creating the bottled water industry then check out these resources below:

(if you only have time to read one of these then pick the one just below) 
Constructing Purity: Bottled Water and the Commodification of Nature.  By Andy Opel
Journal of American Culture (01911813); Winter99, Vol. 22 Issue 4, p67, 10p

 
“Bottled Water Is a Packaged Deal.” Beverage Industry
89.4 (1998): 7.


Davis, Susan G. Spectacular Nature: Corporate Culture and the Sea World Experience. Berkeley: U of
California P, 1997.


Foster, John Bellamy. The Vulnerable Planef: A Short Economic History of the Environment. New York:
Monthly Review, 1994.


Goldman, Robert. Reading Ads Socially. London:
Routledge, 1992.



 “Hoping to Cash in on Liquid Assets.” Nation’s Business
86.10 ( 1998): 74.


International Bottled Water Association Home Page. 1998.
Web Page. URL: http://www.bottledwater.org/facts/
crypto.htm1. Nov. 1998.


Kummer, Corby. “Carried Away.” New York Times Magazine (1 998): 38.


Lenzner, Robert. “A Monster Beverage Event.” Forbes
160.9 (1 997): 64.


Lukes, Timothy W. “Power and Politics in Hyperreality.”
Social Science Journal 28.3 ( I 9 9 I).


McCarroll, Thomas. “Testing the Waters.” Time 141.17
(1993): 54 (1) .


Smith, Toby M. The Myth of Green Marketing: Tending Our Goats at the Edge of Apocalypse. Toronto: U of
Toronto P, 1998.



And here is one more photo of my beloved Klean Kanteen bottle.