The COTS Walk Needs You

http://www.cotsonline.org/component/content/article/34-who/105-cotswalkregistration.html

Volunteers are needed too!

Obamacare in One Minute

President obama spoke to a raging crowd at the University of Vermont on Friday. Among the topics, his health care law that has resulted in improvements for all Americans.  Here is all you need to know about Obamacare in one minute:

Out With Oil Company Giveaways, In With Clean Green Energy!

Today at the University of Vermont President Obama gave a one minute synopsis of his energy policy.  Who would argue with this except oil company executives?

How to Get Rid of Back Pain

Have you noticed that part of getting older seems to be increased aches and pains, especially in your back? I had a few trips to the chiropractor in the past for help with severe back pain. Lucky for me, it hasn’t been the result of serious problems that require surgery or long term drug treatment. But I have learned a lot about back pain over the years. With increasing stress of careers, families, the economy and other changes, while our bodies continue to age, it’s no wonder we have back pain. Most recently, I have suffered with lower back stiffness and agony with no apparent cause.

Let’s back to 20 years ago in another lifetime: I was working two jobs, staying up late, lifting heavy things (improperly), not eating or resting well. And voila! One day I woke up and couldn’t get out of bed. When I final could get out of bed, crooked and in pain, I resolved that I needed to do something to get rid of my back pain. I hobbled to a doctor, who took an X-ray and proclaimed that my lower vertebrae were twisted, possibly due to a disk slipped out into a nerve, possibly due to a strained muscle. He sent me off with a prescription for percoset, which made me turn green with nasuea and I walked around crooked in pain for weeks. I think it was six weeks before my back finally, slowly stretched out and healed.

That was before tylenol, advil and other pain relievers that are more effective and less dangerous than narcotics. I have learned a lot since then. One thing I know now, as my wonderful holistic doctor David Hobbs says, “Use it or lose it.”  Keep stretching, running, playing and moving as much as you can. I have found when I don’t take the time to do those thing, problems start. Yes, advil can help relieve pain, usually temprarily for me, but preventing the pain in the first place is a better option. Here are some ways that I have found to prevent back pain:

1. Run. If you can’t run, walk fast, do a treadmill, stride on the elliptical or swim! In most cases, even when I start a run with a stiff back, I am loose and pain free when finished!

2. Stretch. I am one of the lucky few who have not changed much since high school. Okay I am not as strong or fast as I used to be in my ‘glory days’. But the biggest difference in then and now is my lack of flexibility. As we age our tissue becomes less flexible naturally. Flexibility is the keep to keep strains from happening. Of course once you have back pain, stretcing is even more difficult. But nonetheless, if you take the time to stretch your back, legs, neck and arms you will notice less back pain and fewer problems. Stretch every day if you can.  You can find more tips on wellness in our Wellness category.

3. Give yourself a break. Sitting for long periods or standing, for that matter, especially on hard surfaces, can cramp your back. Imagine, hundreds of pounds of your upper body resting on and compressing your spinal column and bundles of muscles, ligaments and nerves for long periods of time! Give yourself a break to move, stretch and and you will be happier.

4. Practice good posture. One of the leading causes of back problems is bad posture. Over time, bad posture will take its toll on your tendons and ligaments and produce strains that become hard to ignore as your body tries to compensate to avoid pain and discomfort.

5. Eat well. Good nutrition is an important factor in your health. You can find healthy delicious recipes in our Foodies category.

Free Products!

Happy March! In celebration of our early spring (fingers are crossed!) and in a shamelss effort to promote our products and spread good will we are giving away our products every week!

This week we are giving away two outstanding environmental videos. First we are giving away ‘After the Warming’  (episode 1 and 2) and the National Geographic Polar Bear Alert! Both videos are in VCR format and in good condition. Both are well-documented informative educational videos sourced by leading researchers and scientists.

How do you get your free videos? There is no obligation to buy anything or even pay postage! Of course we would like it if you got the word out, tweeted us, said a public thank you or bought our products. But all you need to do is this. Just send us an email telling us who will be using your videos!

Thank you, and while you are at it check out some of  our other products!

The Vermont Green Home & Living Show coming this weekend (Feb 17th-19th at the CV Expo in Essex) is one of my favorite places to check out the latest technologies and innovations in northern Vermont. The traditional log home and timber frame builders will be there there as usual.  Hopefully I will see another photographer Rick Libbey, aka “The Mooseman” who has an amazing collection of photography, inclduing moose (of course), wild bear and loons to name a few, all found in their native habitat.

Last year we enjoyed some local businesses including yours truly, the EHS Environmental Club, Sales Rep Jim Johnson with a Toyota Prius, Bob Clark and the crew from Efficiency Vermont and Ken Torino, the Pocket Socket inventor.

As always, the value in attending always surpasses my expectations because the ideas we get from each other outweigh whatever goods or services we sell.  A new friend, local engineer Ken Torino exhibited at the show and had one of the most exciting inventions I have seen in a long time, known as the Pocket Socket. The Pocket Socket is an ergonomic hand-held charger. You’ve got to see this. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of it in the future!

Video: solargroupies, youtube

Again, see you at the Vermont Green Home and Living Show Feb 17th-19th at the CV Expo in Essex!

Image: NRC.gov

Did you know there was a nuclear war on Mars? Did you know that climate change was a hoax? Did you know that the ice sheets are growing? How do we know something is true or not true and what is the source for myths? People in our society don’t seem to ask questions about sources when talking about facts and plenty of people play it loose with reality and report fishy stories because they don’t follow up. Cliff Clavin doesn’t need sources but is he all that different from us when we don’t ask for sources for information?

Science research is easy to source since papers are published and peer reviewed. Following the source back to peer-reviewed papers and data verifies that the source is credible. This entertaining and interesting short video shows how the media doesn’t do its job in following up on the information trail and sources they are reporting on. Great science peer reviewed journals include Nature, Science, Scientific American and New Scientist.

How to Stop the Common Cold

I have only had one head cold in the past 3 years! It used to be that I would get two or three head-clogging, sneezing, aching colds each year. It would usually start in my sinuses, feeling like steel wool prickling and aching, making itchy watery eyes, then creating a sore throat, sometimes leading to bronchitis and always leading to a week long, head-achy stuffed up, puffy ordeal of malaise. But I kicked the common cold for good! How did I do it?

My grandmother used to say “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” And she was right. My experience has always been that once I would get a cold, there was no magic drug to make it disappear anytime soon. So I started researching and trying different things and I came up with an easy formula to prevent the common cold. No kidding, no exaggeration, no BS. Here is how to prevent a common cold.

1. Keep your hands away from your eyes and nose. The common cold virus enters through your eyes or nose. Keep the microscopic virus away from those entry points and it can’t get in to do you harm. Remember, viruses are on every surface you touch, and can even be airborne.

2. Stay away from sick people. A coughing or sneezing person can produce a mist of droplets containing millions of airborne viruses that can travel more than ten feet in the air, until they hit you!

3. Practice good nutrition and stay hydrated. Your body depends on good fuel to keep it’s natural defenses working properly. Also, vitamins like zinc have been shown to improve your immunity. I also take a daily whole food  vitamin and vitamin D3. If  I have a stressful experience or begin to feel run down, or a steel wool-in-my-nose feeling coming on I take a product called Airborne. It is full of vitamins and minerals that seem to get the upper hand on the virus or boost your immune system and stop that cold in it’s tracks. Alcohol, tobacco and other recreational substances may compromise the immune system and make you more susceptible.

4. Keep stress low and practice stress releases. Exercising four or five days a week has been shown to keep your defenses up and keep germs at bay. I try to get outside every day- rain or shine, breathe deeply, and hit the dreaded treadmill on days that I cannot run, bike or hike.

That’s it, preventing the common cold is that simple.  Have you found that these four steps work? Let me know what works for you.

Interested in other wellness tips? Check out our Wellness blog category and don’t forget to buy our products!

Photo By Glenn Fay, Jr.

Sunday I was on the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, Vermont, enjoying a leisurely afternoon, picking up some new winter clothes and getting a bite to eat. After checking out Frog Hollow‘s local photography and picking up a bow tie at Macy’s I cruised towards Eddie Bauer, right past him. I wouldn’t have noticed him except the street was empty and he was alone in the middle of the plaza. He was sitting in a wheel chair, holding a cardboard sign that read, “Anything Helps Thank You God Bless”. I noticed he looked cold and was missing a leg as he looked straight ahead down the street from his wheel chair.  I said hi and he nodded, but made no direct appeal to me as some street people do.

After walking by  something in his eyes made me stop, turn and go back and touch base with him. I rarely give panhandlers money, not that you see many in Burlington like you do in other places. I pulled out a buck and handed it to him. “Thank you very much,” he said to me. “what’s your name,” I asked. “Steve.” “And where do you live, Steve?” “On the street, anywhere I can, it was College Street last night.” I paused. This guy was the real deal. I had to know more about how he ended up like this. “And what did you do before you lived on the street?” I asked. “I was a sheetrocker for Chuck – Chuck’s Drywall. I got diabetes, lost my leg, and couldn’t work.” I nodded in understanding.

But it was so foreign to me. I have a friend who lost his leg to diabetes – an athlete, hard working guy so I could see how that could happen. Apparently this guy Steve, who doesn’t look any older than me had had a series of devastating experiences and voila, here he is living on the street, day to day. There is probably more to Steve’s story. Hopefully he is supported by the network of caring social workers in Burlington, Medicare or Medicaid, COTS , Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf and others who are there to help keep people like Steve from slipping through the cracks. But he didn’t leave me convinced that he was taking advantage of those kinds of services.

At that moment I heard human voices, in unison, chanting slogans and a narrative, coming up Church Street. It was Burlington’s Occupy Vermont protesters, an eclectic band of folks, marching up the street, carrying signs, inviting others to join them, speaking out about the disparity in wealth and corruption in America. How ironic. The Occupy protests on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont have something in common with a common man, Steve. Steve could be a poster boy for Occupy. Hopefully his thanksgiving holiday will include a warm place with a dinner among friends.

I don’t believe it is Steve’s choice to live as he does. I think his lifestyle is beyond his locus of control at this point. Steve illustrates for me why we need to pay attention to others less fortunate than ourselves. As we approach the holiday season I hope we keep in mind that there has never been a time in US history when the gap between rich and poor has been so great. How can you help? Talk to the person you walk past on the street. Ask them if they are getting support from public services. If it moves you and you can spare a dollar, give some money to someone less fortunate than you. His or her gratitude will be well worth our investment in their peace of mind and future. Anything helps thank you.

Vermont Foliage Photography

Old Stage Road in Westford, Vermont

Sugar Maple Reflecting Orange

One of the joys of living in Vermont is the incredible light show that happens for a couple of months every fall. This year has been as bright as any as I remember. In fact, I was so excited about the leaves I decided to take some photos from my car on the way to work, while the car was moving! This is not recommended for everybody! I admit, it is a bit impressionistic, definitely need to work with the aperture setting a bit.

My Foliage Commute

Here is a Vermont foliage photography video that will show you what I mean. If you decide to show up to check it out in person, there are still bright leaves in central Vermont at lower elevations and in the southern part of the state and there will be good color for a few more weeks. Catch you on the trail!

Untitled from Solargroupies on Vimeo.

Interested in buying Vermont photography pictures or note cards? Check out our Vermont photography store.