Start the New School Year with Healthy Habits for Your Little Ones
Now is your chance to introduce some healthy routines to help keep your child fit and in good health throughout the school year. You can plan routines for everything from physical activity and sleep, to healthy meals and snacks at home and at school. Incorporating some natural solutions can also keep those pesky lice bugs at bay!
Living in Tune with Spring
By adjusting our lifestyles to live more in sync with nature and our environment, we can restore the balance that we describe as good health.
Living according to the season is an ancient principle for good health, happiness and wellbeing. Our individual bodies are a reflection of the environment. Human beings and all living things are part of nature. We are inseparable from nature and the seasons influence our functioning. To live in balance and harmony, our lifestyles should reflect the current season's rhythms. So what we eat, what we do and how we do things should all reflect the energies of each season. By conforming to nature, we increase our chances of staying healthy and preventing disease from dictating our lifestyles.
Winter Conservation and Strengthening Your Immune System
Conserving energy doesn't just apply to your heating and electricity. Winter is the end of an annual cycle in nature. It's also the season for quiet rest and energy conservation for our bodies. Shorter days mean less natural light and warmth – the perfect justification for going to bed earlier to get more hours of much needed sleep!
GMO's and our health
Last month's article on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Threshing out the Promises from Reality: a Look at GMOs, highlighted some of the environmental, health and economic issues behind GMOs. Here we'll look a little deeper at how GMOs affect our health. Is there really a danger in consuming GMOs, and if so, what is being done about it?
Sweden introduces climate labelling for food
Sweden is developing standards to help consumers make conscious choices about the impact of their decisions on global warming. Products with at least 25% greenhouse gas savings will be marked in each food category, starting with plant production, dairy and fish products. The label is a joint initiative by the Federation of Swedish Farmers, two food labelling organisations and various dairy and meat co-operatives. Read more..
Eco-challenge: Detox Your Home
- There are many eco-friendly alternatives for traditional cleaning products: why not try out new brands like e.g. Ecover? They have the whole range of products from toilet cleaners to whitening washing powders.
- Dishwashing machines work equally well with products from eco-friendly brands like e.g. Ecover
- For washing machines there are many alternatives: Omnio Bianco marseille, Froggy and Ecover have powders and liquid (and Ecover has a very effective product to treat dirty stains with before washing in the machine), or try the magnetic washing balls, or washing nuts (available in bio shops)
- Have you tried washing your windows with vinegar or products like Ecover before?
- Think of your health and use eco-friendly scents based on essential oils for your home and especially for your toilets!
if you have any tips to share, or products to recommend, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will add them to our advice section.
Eco-challenge: Start Biking
Monthly eco-challenge: Start biking!
Fix that bike of yours and oil it, because the season just asks for it!
No more excuses, only advantages for taking that bike forward! Check out www.bicycle.irisnet.be and www.fridaybikeday.be to find all the good reasons to bike!
And have a look at our website under transport and holiday to find the perfect tools, maps, travel itineraries, and accessories to make you feel good!
Choose your options: to bike daily to work or school, to select all distances below 6km (or more for the brave ones) or to dedicate at least one day per week to a biking tour to start with!
yoga kids
yogakids
YogaKids is a unique approach to integrative learning using yoga as a pathway. Reading, music, creative arts and earthcare blend seamlessly with yoga movement to educate the "whole" child. The YogaKids curriculum provides children, from the ages of 5 to 12, with an exciting new way to explore and appreciate their creative potential. Children learn invaluable skills that set the groundwork for meeting challenges and growing strong physically, mentally and emotionally, cultivating self-esteem for a lifetime of successful achievement.
Yogakids has recreated traditional yoga techniques in playful, simple and fun ways. Using the Multiple Intelligences Theory of Harvard educator Howard Gardner as a foundation, each pose becomes a springboard for activities that open the doorway to fully integrated learning. We hiss like snakes when we do the cobra pose and squawk in the eagle pose.
The dog pose is always a favorite because, not only do we bark, we also walk around the room on all fours and cock our legs, "pssssss!" That gets everyone laughing. There's a serious purpose too. When we do the flamingo pose, for instance, we talk about their ecology (what flamingos eat, where they live, why their feathers are pink). I also teach basic anatomy so the children can understand how their bodies work, and how they're building strength, flexibility and coordination through yoga. YogaKids creates the ultimate learning adventure while helping youths de-stress and relax. If you'd like to learn more about YogaKids, please do not hesitate to contact me or visit the website: www.yogakids.com
Please contact Courtenay Willis for more details on her course in Tervuren: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or give her a call on 0479/46 55 18.
text provided by yogakids
If you think you could help us realise our goals or would like to contribute or cooperate in some way please contact us
Eco-challenge: Eat Less Meat
Monthly eco-challenge: Eat less meat!
Why?
The "eco-foodprint" of eating meat has been underestimated and here are just a few examples:
- Cattle are producing 18% of all green house gases.
- 78% of all agricultural land is used for cattle (fodder and grazing).
- More than 2/3 of all agricultural production in Europe is used for fodder.
- To produce 1 kg of meat, you need 15.000 litres of water, while 1 kg of grain or potatoes only need 1.000 litres.
- Water pollution, deforestation, energy use, air pollution, loss of biodiversity, more waste and antibiotics in our food are but a few other negative effects on the environment (see the FAO document “Livestock’s Long Shadow” for more details).
- The well-being of the animals has often been totally neglected, especially in big farming industries
What can you do?
- Eat organic meat and meat from small-scale farming where the well-being of the animals has been taken into account.
- Eat less meat and replace it with alternatives like fish (see our sustainable fish guides), beans, peas, lentils, tofu, seitan, cheese, eggs or other sources of proteine.
- Alternate between different types of meat (the bigger the animal, the more it pollutes).
- Take smaller portions of meat when you eat it and "beef up" your plate with veggies instead.
- Try out all kinds of vegetarian dishes and be creative when you barbeque.
- Join in with the Donderdag Veggie Dag ("Thursday Veggie Day", introduced in Ghent by the Ethical Vegetarian Alternative)
- Or just go vegetarian!
If you want to know more on the impact of your diet on our planet, read Jane Goodall’s “Harvest for Hope. A Guide to Mindful Eating”. The book is also sold at Sunbeams events.
This article was originally published in the June 2009 edition of the Sunbeams newsletter.
Spotlight on: Reason2.be
Give something back
We, at reason2.be, are always thinking about how we can operate the business more efficiently and ecologically. Our grocery home delivery service lends itself perfectly to collecting as well as delivering. So we have come up with several ways to utilize the deliveries for more than just food delivery. We collect items for recycling, reusing, disposing and trading. The ‘sustainable services’ we offer are a non-profit element of the business, and give our customers the chance to give something back. The reason2.be ‘sustainable services’ are as follows.
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