Category: Health
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Toilet Paper is Wiping Out Forests, but Sustainability may be on the Way
In concept, toilet paper is simple. It’s made of cellulose fibers plus chemicals to glue it together, explains industry expert Greg Grishchenko, a retired mechanical engineer who spent more than four decades in the tissue production industry. The fibers are mostly sourced from trees, but can also come from recycled paper or alternative sources like…
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Exposure to stories on war, hate, and violence can cause anxiety and depression in children – here’s how to discuss bad news with them
“There’s been a shooting in Maine.” “There’s been a hurricane in Mexico.” “There’s been a terrorist attack in Israel and now there’s a war, and that’s really hard, but I want to talk to you about it. Tell me what you’ve heard about it.” Allow them to have that ability to tell you what they’ve…
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How to stay cool in hot weather
Though access to air conditioning helps prevent deaths from heat, relying mainly on AC may not be an ideal solution. In urban areas with a lot of AC use, waste heat from the units can make the local environment even hotter. And the carbon pollution caused by running AC can fuel further climate change, leading…
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Saving lives from extreme heat: Lessons from the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave
Extreme heat disasters like this are becoming increasingly common in regions where high heat used to be rare. Blackouts during severe heat waves can also leave residents who believe they are protected because they have in home air conditioners at unexpected risk. To prepare, cities, neighborhoods, companies and individuals can take steps now that can…
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When activist burnout was a problem 50 years ago, this group found a solution
Our first decision was to adopt the proposal of long-time activists George and Lillian Willoughby to put training together with cooperative living, in a center. Learning together, in a supportive community, would handle anxiety by emphasizing over and over, “It’s not all about you, it’s about us. Together we’ll learn to make a difference.”
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How schools and families can take climate action by learning about food systems
Gabrielle Edwards, University of British Columbia News about the climate crisis alerts us to the urgent need for drastic global changes. Given this, it’s not surprising that one study surveying thousands of young people found most respondents were worried about climate change, and over 45 per cent said worries about climate change affected them daily.…
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Eco-anxiety: climate change affects our mental health – here’s how to cope
By Matthew Adams, University of Brighton, originally published on theconversation.com As a psychologist, I have been researching, writing and talking about psychological and social responses to climate change for over ten years. An increasingly common response appears to be extreme worry. The University of Bath recently published the results of its 2023 Climate Action Survey.…
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Open Soil Science: technology helping us rejoin nature
Soil provides society with essential food, feed, fibre and raw materials, as well as being home to a quarter of the earth’s biodiversity. Soils are also the largest organic carbon reservoir on Earth and although highly dynamic, are very fragile. Chop a forest down and it might grow back in 50 years, but lose 10…
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Seven ways to protect your health when cooking with gas
By Prashant Kumar, University of Surrey for The Conversation Cooking can pollute the air inside your house to such an extent that breathing in your kitchen may be as safe as breathing by a busy roadside. A poor supply of oxygen can prevent gas or solid fuels burning properly, which produces harmful pollutants such as…
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Shoved From the Ivory Tower
We are not describing this ableism and harm because we are anti-union. We both voted in favor of going on strike, and have dedicated immense amounts of energy towards supporting the strike.
