Holidays Special Environmental Tips for Individuals: Eco-Gifts and Eco-Gift Ideas - Part 2

Find Gifts: Tom Faulker can help you locate great gifts or other similar green pages online .

Light Up with LEDs: If you are installing Christmas lights, consider purchasing more energy efficient Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs). They have an average life span of 100,000 hours (vs. 1,500) and reduce energy consumption by up to 80-90%.

Gift Giving Policy: If you have a big family/lots of friends, come up with a plan to reduce the overall number of gifts given. One way is to randomly assign to each person only one other family member/friend to buy an eco gift for. Another (fun) example is for each person to buy and wrap one nice eco gift and then hold a party where everyone takes turns selecting their gift from the unselected (and already selected) gifts.

Gift Exemption Voucher: For someone you no longer want to exchange gifts with, print out and send them the Gift Exemption Voucher.

Alternative Gift Registry: If you have a wedding, baby shower, or office holiday party coming up, register for gifts through the Alternative Gift Registry for an eco-friendly celebration.

Fair Trade Wedding: Great ideas for creating a fair trade wedding celebration.

Holiday Cards: If you are sending out holiday cards, you can find eco-friendly ones at Conservatree. Thrift stores also carry donated Holiday cards during the holiday season. As an alternative to standard greeting cards, look into sending electronic greeting cards (check out tree e-greetings to plant a tree with each e-card) or making your own from waste paper.

Greeting Cards: Great information and suggestions at Greeting Card: Go Green or Go Online.

Wrapping Paper: To reduce resource consumption from using new wrapping paper, you can find donated wrapping paper at thrift stores during the holiday season. Alternatively reusable gift bags, usable cloth (e.g., nice dish rags), old maps, decorated paper bags, any colorful pieces of material, home-made gift bags, or the sunday comics can substitute for store-bought wrapping paper.

Decorating Your Table: Consider decorating with soy candles and items from nature or seasonal fruit and vegetables in a bowl

Is polyester upholstery fabric bad for our health?

On One Hand: A Safe Fabric

There are no official health warnings about polyester fabric, and many natural parenting sites list polyester as a safe material to have in your home.

On the Other: Certain Dangers

Researchers at Tufts Medical University found that cancer cells grow more rapidly in polyester test tubes than glass tubes. It is believed that this is because polyester emits phytoestrogens, which are potentially dangerous to the endocrine system.
While rare, some people have allergic reactions to polyester fabric. The dyes contained within polyester upholstery can also cause allergic reactions.
Additionally, researchers at the University of California at Davis discovered that polyester clothing can burn up to 25 percent faster than other fabrics.

Bottom Line

Exposure to polyester upholstery is generally limited, because clothes form a barrier between skin and the upholstery. More studies need to be done to determine if polyester upholstery poses a health risk; it is not as preferable as organic cotton or bamboo. Babies, as well as disabled and elderly people, should not sleep on furniture upholstered with polyester because of the potential fire hazard.

But why to take a chance ? Use natural fabric.

NATURAL FABRICS are created from fibers of animals coats, silkworm cocoons, and plants' seeds, leaves, and stems.

Wool - Fibers from animal coats: Sheep, goats, rabbits, alpacas, llama...

Cotton - Fibers from the cotton plant’s seed pod

Silk - Fibers from the cocoon of the silkworm

Linen - Linen is from flax, a bast fiber taken from the stalk of the plant

Hemp, Ramie, and Jute - All of these are similar to linen but the plants are processed slightly differently.

Such fabrics you can get in this days very easily directly online from specialized sites like 'The Natural Curtain Company' or other similar sites.

Be smart . Live healthy , live different ...

Approved by Doctor Healthy

Gene Makes Quitting Smoking Easier

Researchers from the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, have discovered a genetic variant that makes the wearer easier to quit smoking. They also found a gene that makes someone more likely to start smoking. The scientists hope their discovery may contribute to the development of therapies and medications that can promote smoking cessation. This requires more research needed. ”You could see if someone has this genetic variation, but it still says very little about the likelihood that such person may actually stop smoking, or will begin smoking cigarettes or how that person will smoke”, says researcher Henning Tiemeier.
The researchers draw from an extensive genetic study in which sixteen studies from around the world are brought together. They have the DNA of more than 80,000 people compared where they distinguish between smokers and non-smokers, smokers and ex-smokers themselves.
But until this process is completed we can always use the electronic cigarettes .(such gadgets you can buy from an online pharmacy like for example Garden Pharmacy )

Electronic Cigarettes use advanced microelectronic technology to provide smokers with real smoking satisfaction. They contain no tobacco, tar or any of the 4000 chemicals found in an ordinary cigarette, yet deliver nicotine to the body in exactly the same. Yes, they give smokers the nicotine hit that they so often crave, without the harmful side effects of tobacco.

The Truth About Milk

Milk: Healthy and nutritious drink, or fattening, contaminant-filled menace?

You might expect an organization called the Dairy Education Board to promote milk as a good thing. But instead, this advocacy group claims that “Milk is a deadly poison.” Oops. And as Americans have grown more wary of saturated fat, and more concerned about hormones and other substances fed to—and injected into—dairy cows, milk consumption has fallen dramatically. In the post-war days of 1945, the average American was consuming 45 gallons of milk a year. By 2001, per capita consumption was down to just 23 gallons.

But here’s the thing: Plenty of new research says that we should be drinking moremilk, not less. In fact, swapping soda, juice, sweetened iced teas, and other beverages for milk might be one major reason why Americans are gaining weight at such a rapid pace. Milk not only helps boost protein intake and cut down on sugar, but consuming calcium through dairy foods such as milk may actually reduce the fat absorption from other foods. Who wouldn’t want that? (Hungry for more hard-hitting nutrition facts and findings every day? Follow me on Twitter orsubscribe to our daily Eat This, Not That! newsletter.)

Here are four milk myths you might have heard, and why you should consider answering the cowbell more often.

Claim #1: “Milk is a fat-burning food.”

The Truth: Maybe. In a 6-month study, University of Tennessee researchers found that overweight people who downed three servings a day of calcium-rich dairy lost more belly fat than those who followed a similar diet minus two or more of the dairy servings. In addition, the researchers discovered that calcium supplements didn’t work as well as milk. Why? They believe that while calcium may increase the rate at which your body burns fat, other active compounds in dairy (such as milk proteins) provide an additional fat-burning effect.

Bonus tip: For more surefire ways to eat healthier and slim down, check out our list of the 25 Best Nutrition Secrets!

Claim #2: “Drinking milk builds muscle.”

The Truth: Absolutely. In fact, milk is one of the best muscle foods on the planet. Milk is full of high-quality protein: about 80 percent casein and 20 percent whey. Whey is known as a “fast protein” because it’s quickly broken down intoamino acids and absorbed into the bloodstream—perfect for post-workout consumption. Casein, on the other hand, is digested more slowly—ideal for providing your body with a steady supply of smaller amounts of protein for a longer period of time, such as between meals or while you sleep.

Bonus Tip: Remember the old saying "Milk: not just for breakfast anymore." Well, here are 20 foods that shouldn't be for breakfast, period. Check out our shocking list of the Worst Breakfasts in America!

Claim #3: “Cows are given antibiotics. Doesn’t that make their milk unhealthy?”

The Truth: No one really knows. Some scientists argue that milk from cows given antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance in humans, making these types of drugs less effective when you take them for an infection. But this has never been proven.

It is true that hormones and antibiotics have never been part of a cow’s natural diet, and they have been shown to have adverse effects on the animals. Canadian researchers, for example, discovered that cows given hormones are more likely to contract an udder infection called mastitis. If you’re uneasy, you can purchase antibiotic-free (and typically hormone-free, as well) milk from producers like Horizon and Organic Valley at most major supermarkets. The cows will certainly thank you.

Bonus tip: While you're at the supermarket, add these foods to your list: the 125 best supermarket foods. Remember: You don't have to sacrifice flavor to eat healthier.

Claim #4: “Fat-free milk is much healthier than whole.”

The Truth: Nope. While you’ve probably always been told to drink reduced-fat milk, the majority of scientific studies show that drinking whole milk actually improves cholesterol levels—just not as much as drinking fat-free does. One recent exception: Danish researchers found that men who consumed a diet rich in whole milk experienced a slight increase in LDL cholesterol (six points). However, it’s worth noting that these men drank six 8-ounce glasses a day, an unusually high amount. Even so, their triglycerides—another marker of heart-disease risk—decreased by 22 percent. The bottom line: Drinking two to three glasses of milk a day, whether it’s fat-free, 2%, or whole, lowers the likelihood of both heart attackand stroke—a finding confirmed by British scientists.

10 ways to walk off fat faster

Here’s how to boost your calorie-burn big time—without much extra effort.

Get some poles
Using Nordic poles torches an average 20 percent more calories by engaging the muscles in your upper body and torso, says Mark Fenton, author of The Complete Guide to Walking. Plant the pole firmly at a 45-degree angle behind you, then push back forcefully against the ground to propel yourself forward.

Skip killer hills
Don’t assume the biggest inclines are the best for burning fat. “It’s better to maintain your speed on a moderate hill than to slow down substantially on a steeper one,” Fenton says.

Use your arms
Vigorously pumping your bent arms helps you go faster—and burn more calories, says Lee Scott, walking coach and director of WoW Power Walking in Toronto.

Take smaller steps
The best way to boost your speed—and thus your burn—is to take shorter, faster steps, Scott explains. Time yourself walking 100 steps, then recover for one minute. Count another 100 steps, and try to shave five seconds off your time. Repeat 12 times.

Health.com: Walk Off Every Bulge

Set goals you can see
Choose markers (stop sign, park bench, etc.) and speed up until you reach them, suggests Therese Iknoian, author of Fitness Walking. Slow down for the same distance.

Wipe the pavement
Roll through from heel to toe. When you get to the ball of your foot, push off as if wiping gum off your sole, Iknoian says. This will get your calf, hamstring, and glute muscles involved—and the more muscle you use, the more calories you burn.

Health.com: The best get-slim gadgets

Go shoe shopping
To get the most power from your push-off, opt for a shoe with minimum cushioning and maximum flexibility in the front of the shoe, Fenton says.

Stand straight
When your body’s aligned, your back and butt muscles are able to work more powerfully, so you walk faster and torch more calories. Stand tall with a straight spine, keeping your ears and shoulders aligned over your hips.

Health.com: The 7 best fat-blasters

Raise your rate
Wearing a heart-rate monitor is like having your own coach keeping you at optimal fat-torching pace. “It’ll give you a push if you’re slowing down too much, but also get you to ease up if you’re pushing too hard,” Iknoian says.

Add strength
Simple moves like push-ups and lunges get more muscles involved for major burn, reveals Harley Pasternak, who trains many celebs, including our November cover celeb Hilary Duff. When you walk, stop every five minutes and do one minute of moves. This will help up your metabolism over the long-term, too. What’s better than burning more calories while you walk? Blasting them off while you sleep, of course.