How Businesses are Going Green and Why More Should

One of the best jobs for getting to know green business is contracting, which is what I do for a living. Doing what I do puts me right alongside the businesses that want to get as many LEED certified products into their buildings as possible. It gives me a front row seat to new green building materials and innovations. Most of all, I like getting to know the people who make green choices and I think they deserve recognition beyond LEED certification.

Some areas are paying attention to the companies that are making green decisions for the environment. One of them is Asia. "The Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards" is a way for the organization behind it to thank companies that care about the communities in which they operate, but also care about the environment. Initiatives that connect the business with the community, save resources and conserve natural habitats are the kind that will get businesses noticed by this awards show.

Examples of being careful with resources include installing low flow fixtures in bathrooms and kitchens, reusing waste and buying products locally. To see these kinds of practices in action, you can go to ink48 Hotel in New York City. This company not only has a lot of eco-friendly habits, but it also has a group called Earthcare. This group meets at the hotel to discuss even more ways to be kind to the environment.

Another hotel that provides eco-friendly accommodations for tourists is the Palazzo Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas. This hotel has actually been called "The Most Eco-Friendly Hotel in America." In one of the most visited places in the world, let alone the country, it is a good thing for a hotel to try to lower the city's footprint. Other businesses in the area should take that as an example and try to emulate it.

Whether it is 100 businesses or 1 business, it is always good to see people bothering to consider ecology when planning a business. Especially Las Vegas, where 40,000,000 tourists visited last year, it is encouraging to see other green Las Vegas hotels catching on. There are so many things to consider when opening any kind of establishment, so it is no easy task to break out of the norm and adopt new practices that are not specifically necessary to a business, but do it anyway because it is good for people and the planet. That is the kind of thing I want to see more often.

4 Essential Organic Products That Will Change Your Life

As the world grows increasingly wary of genetically modified foods and artificial food additives, there has been a massive resurgence in pro-organic lifestyles. Opting for an organic lifestyle doesn’t necessarily mean switching to a vegan or Paleolithic diet.

Nearly everything you buy that is integral to your day-to-day life has an organic alternative, from vegetables and fruits to clothing and footwear. Unfortunately, choosing an all au naturale way of living may not be the most pocket-friendly way to go because some organic products can be too expensive for average-earning households.

That’s why it’s important to find a middle ground that allows you to get the maximum advantage from of an organic lifestyle without going broke in the process. Here's a list of the four most widely used items that produce the most benefit if you buy them organic.

Beef – Organic beef is one of the first items on the grocery list of health-conscious consumers because of its role as a staple food in our diet. A well-cooked steak is one of the best sources of protein; however, skeptics may debate this fact by saying that it also has an unhealthy amount of fat and may disrupt your body’s natural metabolism. This claim holds validity if the cattle were corn-fed or injected with hormones.

Plenty of studies have also connected the development of cancer in humans to the consumption of cattle injected with artificial estrogen-like agents. Luckily, grass-fed or organic beef is packed with rich nutritional content without any of the associated health hazards.

Cookware – Most people completely overlook the fact that utilizing high-quality, environmentally friendly cookware is just as important as the organic food that gets cooked in them. The majority of non-stick cookware on the market contains the harmful PTFE fluorochemical, which can break down and emit toxic fumes if overheated. Hence, you should consider buying pots and pans made from materials like stainless steel, ceramic, or cast iron. My favorite place to get safe cookware is Ceramcor; all of their equipment is 100% ceramic.

Water bottles – Any plastic water bottles made from PVC, polystyrene or polycarbonate should be completely avoided for drinking purposes. Excessive reuse and heating of these bottles results in the plastic material leaching harmful endocrine-disrupting substances. You can opt to buy organic water bottles that are made from BPA-free plastic, glass, or stainless steel.

Leafy greens – It’s hard to imagine that non-organic leafy green vegetables can actually be the most dangerous part of your diet. Unfortunately, this statement is justified because nearly all leafy greens have a large surface area that’s exposed to all the dangerous pesticides, mouse deterrent products and other chemicals used while farming them. This is why it’s best to purchase only chemical-free organic leafy greens before insisting that your children eat their veggies.

Adrienne Erin is a health-conscious blogger who tries to make organic choices as often as possible.

Blogger Opportunity

Erica Start Walking is bring you an awesome Blogger Op to celebrate her 1,000 Fans on Facebook! I was so excited about this I could not wait to participate and share with my readers and give you the opportunity to participate as well. 

The 1,000 Facebook Fan Giveaway Blogger Op is sign-ups are now open! SIGN UP HERE

• This event is FREE to join with an announcement post! You can find HERE

• Giveaway will abide by the new Facebook rules, so Facebook entries will not get punished. 
• If you do not wish to post the announcement you can pay a $5.00 non-post fee. 

• You will receive one free link for participating, you can choose from Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest
• Additional links $3 each
• Co-Host Spots are available for $15. Co-Host will receive 4 links in the Rafflecopter, one link in the giveaway post and one enter/comment on Rafflecopter .
• Page Host $10 (reminder this brings traffic to you page)

Sign Up ends May 1st. Giveaway will go live May 3rd and last for a month ending on June 3rd. 

***PRIZE***

One lucky winner will receive $200 via PAYPAL CASH Open International 

The blogger with the most referrals will receive a free Co-Host Spot. 

Please send payment for Additional links, Co-Host Spots, and Page Host via PayPal as a gift to ericabodker@ericastartwalking.com (ericabodker (at) ericastartwalking (dot) com

Is Yoga Right for Children?

The United State has recently seen a rise in the application of yoga for children, and there’s even been talk of using yoga in schools. Just as there are plenty of health benefits of yoga for adults, those same benefits apply to children as well.

Children typically keep busy schedules – what with waking up to early morning alarms, attending school for six hours a day, and a litany of extracurricular and mind-numbing homework when they get home. Not to mention the emotional and physical changes kids go through as they grow up and become teenagers.

Here are just a number of ways in which yoga can help children in their development:

Handling Stress

Childhood and even the teenage years can be years of emotional and physical stress as they grow both physically, emotionally, intellectually and socially. When outside stress comes into play that the child doesn't know how to handle, it can lead to an lower immune system, lower self-esteem and depression.

Yoga, with its holistic approach to physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, can provide a moment of egress from an otherwise busy and stressful day. Yoga teaches breathing and relaxation methods together with more physical poses and exercises. When a student is able to reconnect the mind with the body the way yoga teaches us, then he or she will walk out of class, better able to handle stress.

Fighting Obesity and Accepting Your Body

Stress, the kind mentioned in the above description, that is left to stew and is untreated can lead to health problems, including childhood obesity. Additionally, poor heating habits and sedentary activities can further promote obesity. With physical education in high schools getting reduced or cut, it can be difficult for children to seek a physically engaging outlet.

Yoga is a low-impact activity that children of any skill level and body type can comfortably participate in. While some gym activities in physical education may not be suited for some children at a certain skill level, yoga can be adjusted to children of all skill sets.

The mental and emotional elements of yoga also appeals to a child’s self-awareness. Yoga also helps develops a child’s sense of understanding and responding to his or her inner emotional cues, and how to properly handle and perceive them. By increasing this self-awareness and introspection, it provides a block to negative outside stimuli that can influence a child’s negative perception of body image.

Jane Emerson is a staff writer at Sticky Web Media.

BeyondYoga

If your child is interested in getting into yoga, try out our petite yoga pants.