Content related to world events and other things happening outside my daily life
People have been asking the question for years: are real or artificial trees better for the environment. My husband says that reusing his plastic tree for years is better than cutting down a live one. I say that carbon footprint is an important factor, but not the only one. Will a Life Cycle Analysis funded by the artificial tree industry put this question to rest?
A variety of factors are making Christmas trees (both real and artificial) harder to come by this year. Because of climate change and clogged supply chains, availability is dropping and prices are rising. We’ll take this opportunity to look at the pros and cons of each and see if there is a “correct” choice of tree, based on aspects of conservation, health, and economics.
I recently heard that the recycler near my house was accepting plastics #1 through #7, and I was incredibly skeptical. Plastics are difficult and expensive to recycle, which is why they almost exclusively become trash, winding up in the landfill, the incinerator, or the ocean. While this new program isn’t recycling the plastic, it is repurposing them for the time being.
In addition to carving out time for meditation, I’ve been trying to figure out how to create time for play as well. We tend to stop playing as adults, but it keeps us creative, adaptable, and more resilient to stress. The trick for me is finding activities I like that don’t have productive outputs or external standards attached to them.
I have created a ritual for myself: before and after work every day I take 10 minutes and meditate, which helps me calm down, focus my attention, be present, and mentally transition between work and home time. Making it a formal part of my schedule helps to ensure that I do it, and making it clear to my family that I need it helps to keep me accountable.
Getting back from a restorative two-week vacation, I talked a big game about making time for myself on a regular basis. Recognizing that I’m in a job with higher stakes than I’ve ever had before and that my physical and mental health could be at stake if I don’t make myself a priority, it’s time to make good on that claim.
Fall is officially here, meaning Election Day approaches. This year on the ballot we’ve all got local and statewide judicial races, and you probably have some decisions to make for your municipality and school board as well. Local elections receive far less attention, but getting involved now may be even more crucial than voting in our big, national elections.
So often in the corporate world we link busyness with value. As a manager, especially in a remote work situation, I try to stress that results are more important than image, and that productivity is a function of self care. Eighteen months into the pandemic, my team practically shoved me out the door for a vacation so I could finally practice what I preach.
Burnout is real, and time off is important. But, the way I do vacations, I usually come back more exhausted than I left. Christian and I took two weeks off for a road trip to visit friends and see the West, and we might be on to something with a more realistic pace, more unstructured down time, and more schedule flexibility than we’re used to.
We have a wealth of options when it comes to beauty supplies, and a growing number of conscientious consumers are pushing for more ethical and environmentally friendly products. As usual, it does seem that the less we use, the better. In the conclusion of this series, I explore do it yourself options that result in a lighter footprint on the environment and human rights.