Getting Zzzs the Natural Way

By: Kate M. Serrano

Most of us struggle to get enough sleep. We go as far as counting all of old McDonald’s farm animals and some even have nightly staring contests with the ceiling. While many people can remedy sleep problems with simple lifestyle adjustments, others need a bit of extra help. Cheers to Mother Nature, research have found that there are more natural and convenient ways of get our nightly zzz’s.

Tea. Valerian, Kava, Chamomile and Spearmint. These tea variants have been used for centuries to promote restful sleep and soothe anxiety. Each of these has slightly different properties. Valerian tea promotes a deep restful sleep. It doesn’t always work instantly so you may need to drink it several nights in a row before you feel the effects. Kava tea has been used to promote relaxation and mental clarity. Unlike Valerian, a cup of strong kava can knock you out within an hour. Chamomile is not quite as potent as Kava and because it functions a bit different from Valerian, it is likely the most versatile tea on this list. A cup chamomile tea with a hint of lemon or honey before bed can do wonders to promote a restful sleep. Spearmint tea is mixed with chamomile and lemongrass to boost flavor and to further aid sleep inducement.

Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy and essential oils are nature’s way to stimulate or calm the senses with the use of plant and flower extracts. When inhaled, it sends brain signals to help the body relax. Lavender is the most common scent for calming the mind and the body. Ylang Ylang is another popular stress-busting aroma. You can place drops of essential oils on your pillow, eye mask or with a diffuser.

Tart Cherry Juice. Cherries contain antioxidants and melatonin which is the natural hormone the brain secretes in our circadian rhythm. Melatonin makes us relax at night. Some people take melatonin pills to help get them to sleep but drinking tart cherry juice two hours before bed can do the trick.

Pure Coconut Water. Coconut water contains high amounts of potassium and magnesium. These nutrients aide in muscle relaxation thus drinking the water throughout the day helps reduce stress and promote better sleep.

Banana Smoothies. Oh who wouldn't love a smoothie? Bananas help with sleep as it contains relaxing nutrients such as magnesium and potassium. Dunk in a few cherries and milk for a slamming sleep-induced smoothie. Careful about not adding sugar though, it does not help sleep.

Furthermore, having a little white wine with fish or pairing some muddled cherries with whiskey might do the trick. Studies have shown that alcohol, in moderation, can aid sleep. Now that’s fun news.

Sleep smart and sleep well!

Earth Day Top Tens

By: Daniela Silva

For this earth day, here at Beyond the Facade we whipped up for you our top 10 great tips to help you give a little more back to earth and give  yourself a great reason to feel good too. Whether it be new habits you want to incorporate into your weekly to-do’s or to just simply join in once and awhile on the fun of giving the earth some lovin’. This is definitely the list for you!

1.  Recycle Plastic Bags - One trillion plastic bags are used annually and contribute to the waste found in our landfills and our oceans. 46,000 pieces of plastic per every square mile floats aimlessly in our oceans and even worse it takes 1,000 years for one plastic bag to degrade. This means marine life not limited to sea turtles can potentially eat and choke on these pieces and die. To help, instead of throwing away your bags recycle or keep your plastic bags around for your next grocery trip, or a aid to help carry things from here to there. Spend a little extra and invest in some colourful and durable reusable bags you see being offered in most grocery and convenience stores they last longer and they look much better.

2. Make your own Household Cleaners- Yes you read correct and no it is not that hard! There is a dangerous amount of chemicals in your household cleaners and there's a lot of that on your hands and feet as you read this right now; If you have young children you understand why it is important why these chemicals do not get onto their hands and into their mouths.

A simple yet powerful disinfectant can be made with three simple ingredients:

white vinegar,

tea tree oil,

distilled water.

If you want to add a punch to your disinfectant you can always add a little bit of dish soap, but with this and a squeeze bottle you're golden to clean whatever surface you so choose to tackle.

3. Plant Herbs - Indoors or outdoors planting herbs are an excellent way of knowing where your food comes from, and is a organic production of flavour you can add to your meals any day. Your home will become more lively with the new flora and your children can decorate the plant pots in which you plant the seeds. A family get-together its a win-win!

4. Make a Cheap Compost bin- Don't throw out your scraps, compost them! Organic materials can be thrown into your compost bin, egg shells, ground coffee, nut shells, fruit cores and more can be used to make a rich dark compost perfect for your lawn to boost and give extra nutrients. All you need is a trash can with a locking lid, a stand to keep it from weighing down on your grass, a drill to make 25 - 30 holes to spread and let the compost release moisture.

Remember to mix the compost and allow the mixture to sit for 30 days minimum to allow for weed seeds to die from the internal heat of the compost, you do not want any surprises to bloom in your garden!

5. Upcycle - Upcycling is new, its cool and trendy. You can upcycle just about anything from furniture to décor, clothing to art; nothing is left uncycled and there's a ton of DYI's out there to give you step by step tutorials on accomplishing what you wish to do. For this earth day, why not give it a go, or plan to dedicate some time to upcycling some old furniture that just doesn't cut it in your living room any more?

No one needs to know you've been using how-to’s and tutorials. Get creative!

6. Farmers market - By buying food locally, you are supporting the local farmers that need it the most and gives them a fighting chance at surviving the globalization economy. The food is seasonal and is ripened naturally without chemicals or gassing; also processed with a minimal amount of processing.

The humane treatment of animals is also a plus side for most animals from small scale farmers are spared from feed lots and cramped cages and given hormone free foods and left to graze grasses the way they were meant to. Meats, poultry and eggs all are great to be bought in farmers markets. So not only are you diving into the centre of fresh and healthy produce but into a kaleidoscope of untapped wellness  as well.

7. Phantom energy - It is as scary as it sounds, phantom energy is when electricity is being sucked up by appliances even when they are turned off or in standby mode. Usually responsible for approximately 10% of your annual household electricity bill this is not only an energy sucker but a money sucker as well.

Electricity costs are expected to rise by 50% in the upcoming year, and you can combat this simply by unplugging your big gadgets such as your TV’s and gaming systems when they are not in use and small household appliances.

8. Water Usage - Now, if anyone told me to cut back on my shower, I wouldn't give them the time of day. Considering the fact that on average showers and baths are the main culprit of water usage in the home amounting for 35% of household water usage, following toilet use and laundry.

To help reduce the amount of water being used you can install a low-flow shower head, use less water in your baths and install aerators in your taps. When shopping for a new home, look at eco option toilets, or you will almost literally be flushing money down the toilet with all the water you will be wasting.

With laundry, front loading washers use less water and use the movement to agitate the clothing to remove dirt and grime, for top loading uses a agitator and more water to slosh things around, use a drying rack to save on electricity.

9. Recycle (Duh!) - One of the  easiest things you can do to help is to recycle! By recycling one ton of paper you can save up to 17 trees, and although it may seem like a lot a recycling facility goes through 300 tons of paper each week this equals to 5100 trees.

With an effort in recycling, a little opportunity and some awareness you can contribute your recycling program in your community  and make a difference.

10. Share some love - Environmentally friendly acts don’t just come out of the blue, they always start somewhere and they start with you! Share this list with friends and incorporate it with your children. Being green should be something that we do without thinking twice about it. Be smart, be green be a earth lovin’ machine! Have a very happy Earth day!

Five Ways to Show Earth Love from the Kitchen

By: Jessica Robertson

For many of us, our kitchen is the centre of our home life. Food makes fellowship, and fellowship makes happiness. With all that good stuff flowing out of the kitchen, let’s be conscious of the impact we’re making on the earth to keep the good coming.

Be kind to the earth from your very own kitchen with these five simple tips.

1.      Big Money

Obviously, the big energy saver would be to switch out those old, energy-guzzling appliances for their newer green counterparts. If that’s an option for you, go for it! The environment will thank you. If that’s a little too pricey of a change for your taste, keep reading.

2.      Be Smart

Save energy the old fashioned way, by making wise choices. Covering a pot makes water boil twice as fast, using half the energy. Use the toaster oven for one-portion cooking. Turn the stove off a few minutes before you’re done cooking, and let the lingering heat do the remaining work. It’s the small things that add up to big changes!

3.      Eat Raw

Not only are raw foods like fruits and veggies and nuts great for your health, they’re great choices for the planet! They don’t require cooking, so they save tons of energy, and they also require less packaging, so you contribute less waste to the landfill. It’s a win-win-win.

4.      Less Plastic

Speaking of landfills, they’re full of our food containers, grocery bags, plastic packaging, and the list goes on. Reducing our use of these readily disposable – but hardly biodegradable – objects is surprisingly easy. A few small changes include storing leftovers in glass rather than plastic (which is also an infinitely wiser choice for your health, by the way), buying food in bulk and dividing it into glass containers at home to reduce wasted packaging, and bringing your own totes to the grocery store.

5.      Wash Nice

Be careful what you wash with. Many popular kitchen soaps and cleaning products are petroleum-based or brimming with other harmful chemicals. We may forget about the soap once it’s down the drain, but it doesn't bio degrade. It’s harmful to our animals, the earth, and us, so choose better cleaners that are plant-based instead. A few earth-friendly brands are likely available in your neighbourhood grocery store.

Keep the love flowing from your kitchen to your friends, family, and the earth!

Earth Day is coming!

       

By: Jessica Robertson

We are quickly approaching Earth Day, the annual holiday when our minds and goals are united to help promote change for the sake of our planet and our future. This year the holiday is April 22, a Tuesday. Most of us won’t get the day off work, celebrate around the table with a family dinner, or exchange gifts, but we can still find joy and importance in the special day!

            What will you do to make your Earth Day memorable for yourself and impactful for those around you? You have just a few more days to decide. Many cities plan festivals focused on community programs that benefit the environment, whether local or widespread. Attending a local event like this could inspire a new habit for your daily life in your community. You could write a letter to your local government leaders suggesting a change you find important, like creating a bike share or improving emissions laws. Be deliberate in making a difference on Earth Day; make memories by planting a tree, riding your bike to work, or taking a stroll around your neighbourhood to pick up litter.

            Whatever you choose to do on Earth Day, let it be an influence to your own soul and to those around you. It is good to serve those around you. Can you make your Earth Day activities an annual tradition? Can you repeat your Earth Day activities every week? Every day, even? Small changes can add up to big improvements. Let’s make a difference for our planet! 

Every Breath You Take

Kate M. Serrano

Who would want to live in a polluted city? We all don’t because we know its health implications – runny nose, cough, sore throat, heart and lung problems to name a few. Poor air quality is caused by both natural and man-made pollutants. Apart from dust and sand particles, the more alarming causes would be traffic pollutants like carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide that when combined with ozone and sunlight cause air quality to drop.  Pollution is measured by the average number of particles in the air per cubic meter. This is referred to as the air quality index (AQI). As the AQI increases, health hazards brought about by air pollution also increases. The AQI also provides a scale of 1 to 10 to indicate health risks associated with air quality. For example, a number from 1 to 3 may mean air quality is ideal for outdoor activities while 7 to 10 means strenuous outdoor activities may cause throat irritation hence should be avoided. Late last year, a day after the World Health Organization published a report linking air pollution to lung cancer, Quartz came out with a list of the Top 10 most polluted cities in the world. These cities are not necessarily the biggest capitals but are the places where heavy industries take place. The city of Ahwaz, Iran which is a center for metal and petrochemical processing is on top of the list. Here is what the rest of the list has:

                        1. Ahwaz, Iran

2. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

3. Sanandaj, Iran

4. Ludhiana, India

5. Quetta, Pakistan

6. Kermanshah, Iran

7. Peshawar, Pakistan

8. Gaborone, Botswana

9. Yasouj, Iran

10. Kanpur, India

The World Health Organization regards air pollution as the world’s most serious environmental health risk. Did your city make the list? I hope not.

Citarum River: What Happened?

By: Kate M. Serrano

Located forty miles east of Jakarta, Indonesia the river Citarum runs over 186 miles from the Wayang Mountain to the Java Sea. This river was once a tropical paradise but has now become notorious for possibly being the world’s most polluted river containing dangerously high levels of heavy metals, rubbish and sewage. The Citarum provides 80% of surface water to Jakarta’s water supply, irrigates farms that supply 5% of Indonesia’s rice, and is a source of water for around 2,000 factories. With the increasing urbanization in the 80s, both human and industrial wastes are common debris seen floating– plastic and packaging makes the river’s surface invisible beneath its carpet of junk. The main contributors to the river’s pollution are the textile factories in the Bandung and Cimahi area. The dyes and chemicals (read: lead, arsenic and mercury) used in the industrial process are churned into the water and at times turn the water color to red, green and yellow coupled with an acrid odor. Plus, the locals in nearby villages do not have a waste management system so trash is directly dumped into the river.

We all know what this means; we cannot underestimate its devastating effect on the local ecosystem. Yes, cancer rates as well as skin diseases, mental illness and slow development among local children are after effects. And instead of catching fish, local fishermen rummage the river for plastic, which they sell for recycling.

The Citarum River has been in desperate need of an effective solution to its pollution problem. What has the Indonesian government done? For a start, the Asian Development Bank approved a $500 million loan for cleaning up the river in December 2008. And to restore the Citarum, an effective and cost efficient waste management system for the locals would be the long term solution.  Currently, a “garbage barge” is used for a trash disposal service. The barge travels up and down the river collecting trash and waste will be transported to a landfill in the village of Sukaharja. If nothing is done to prevent waste from entering the water, the Citarum River will continue being one of the world’s most polluted rivers. Imagine the effect to millions of Indonesians who depend on the river for survival.

    

Sweet Renewable Materials

By: Jessica Robertson

      Many everyday products are oil-based, including plastic, gasoline, and rubber; the non-renewable nature of these materials means their scarcity is increasing. Research is underway heavily to find new options for products so common in our world today. Biodiesel is a perfect example of a renewable material that is not based on oil, being derived instead from plants. While the invention of biodiesel advanced the renewable energy sector, researchers are still searching for more earth-friendly options.

            Isobutene, a product ubiquitous in the chemical industry, will soon be derived from plants, namely sugar. Research found that if sugar is introduced to a particular microorganism, the product of the fermentation and digestion process is gaseous isobutene. This process is highly renewable since sugar grows back, making it a huge improvement on oil.

            However, concern arises when dealing with renewable material derived from edible plants; with so much hunger in the world, is it really justifiable to use food for conversion to energy rather than for feeding hungry mouths? For this reason, the pilot plant in Germany is transitioning from sugar beet, which is edible, to sugar from wood or straw, which is not edible.

Making the production of isobutene completely independent from both oil and food production is a responsible choice for the future of our planet. 

                                      

Beer on my Beef Please

By: Kate M. Serrano

Nothing beats a cold bottle and a hot steak on the grill. What’s more cool is pouring the cold one on your meat before grilling also has a positive effect on health.

Using beer as flavor base of marinade dates back to the old Egyptian and Mesopotamian days. Both civilizations are advanced and archaeological evidence suggests their cuisine was rich and flavourful. A tough steak can be extremely difficult to chew. Beer allows you to enjoy the once tough leaner cuts as its alcohol content helps tenderize the meat by breaking down its proteins. The longer the steaks marinate in beer, the more meat proteins dissolve, and the more tender the steaks become.  Plus, the beer combined with citrus juices or vinegar will make the tenderizing process faster than with just the beer alone. Of course beer marinade doesn’t only work on steak and meat. Wheat or white beers can be used to steam hot dogs or to base sauces for steaks. Also, flavoured beers like apricot or lime are good choices when paired with sauces or marinades of the same flavor.

And here is the good part. According to the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, marinating with beer reduces polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These are the deadly carcinogens that form on meat cooked on a grill or barbeque. Limited exposure to PAHs mean limited exposure to cancer. In an experiment conducted by researchers, they found that dark beers reduced net PAHs by 53 percent. This is twice the effect compared to results from a non-alcoholic pilsner, which reduced only 25 percent.

So next time you plan on a barbeque party, keep in mind that beer-bathed pork and beef may look as healthy as it tastes. Just make sure not to drink the marinade.
                 

Organizing Energy

By: Jessica Robertson

When we think about renewable energy, few downsides come to mind. Wind parks, solar energy, biogas, and other renewable sources have inspired us and reminded us that we can make wise choices for our planet. The variable nature of these renewable sources, however, does mean that their levels of energy production on a day-to-day and month-to-month basis will inevitably undergo fluctuation. In order to bring the highest level of efficiency to the power grid, these fluctuations must be accounted for and the sources combined in an intelligent way.

            Researchers strongly agree that a model that relies heavily on variable and renewable energy sources can still be a perfectly viable model, though more organization is needed than for traditional power supply. Dr. Kurt Rohrig, deputy director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology IWES in Kassel, Germany, and other experts, assert that by using numerous small energy producers that feed into the grid at varying times, the grid can be made highly reliable. This requires a major shift from the current system where big power plants are king, but change is inevitable when the environmental paradigm is shifting as quickly as it is currently.

            The multitude of small energy providers in the new concept would all be grouped in an intelligent software program, causing them to resemble a power plant, but a virtual one. Tests conducted using the software saw deeply promising results. The variations in sun and wind that make power production unpredictable in one locale can be leveled out to an appropriate average when including a larger number of smaller plants through the software.

            Proper organization of renewable energy sources and the power that they produce impacts the planet profoundly. We can reduce the waste and pollution left behind by dirtier forms of energy production by efficiently and intelligently using these environmentally friendly systems. 

Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertention

Personal Article Regarding a Rare Neurological Disorder

By: Daniela Silva

The complexity of its name causes enough confusion and headache in itself, so you can call it by its short form IIH. Also known as benign intracranial hypertension or pseudotumor cerebri it is mainly characterized by an increase in pressure around the brain, however this is with the absence of a tumor. If left untreated it can lead to the swelling of the optic disc, which then causes vision loss. Symptoms include dizziness, head pain, double vision, nausea, vomiting, pulsatile tinnitus,

This neurological disorder happens to mainly women in childbearing age but it can and does affect children and men too. To diagnose a patient a lumbar puncture has to be done to measure out the pressure of the fluid followed by a MRI or CT scan to confirm there is no tumor present. with IIH  There is no known cure for IIH but it is said that weight loss does help and can help temporarily, but when there is no weight to lose, there is only medicine to help suppress the pain. A shunt can also be surgically implanted to allow excess spinal fluid to drain out either into the heart or to the abdomen or belly.

Being Diagnosed with IIH is indescribable, and the symptoms always differ from person to person. Being diagnosed with such a misunderstood and unknown neurological disorder means I don't get the satisfaction of knowing when it is going to go away. I can be great one day and feel as though my head will burst the next. Many people have no idea how seriously this can affect one's standard of living and there needs to be some sort of action to get people aware.

Spread awareness.