Tip: Businesses are encouraging Employee Wellness by holding contests, health screenings, and providing other incentives to help employees get healthy

Inspiring employee healthy lifestyles with employer incentives - phillyBurbs.com : Money: newage industries, fitness, health insurance, health, health incentives: "Employee wellness programs typically include an online health risk assessment and on-site medical screenings for blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index and cholesterol. The programs, while voluntary, can offer financial benefits, including lower insurance premiums, gift cards and employer contributions to health savings accounts."

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Canada's climate change plan 'farce,' says Stephane Dion

Canada's climate change plan 'farce,' says Stephane Dion: "Q: How do you get climate change back on the political agenda?
A: Many initiatives should be taken by business people, scientists, activists, ordinary citizens . . . and journalists! But regarding the current state of federal politics, in a nutshell, the opposition should co-operate to at least keep the government accountable toward its own objective: 17-per-cent reduction for 2020. Environment Canada itself said some months ago that only 25 per cent of the target would be reached with the current policies and regulations."

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Tip: When Off-Balanced, Slow Down, Stay Grounded, Breath Deeply & Go Back to Healthy Living

Linda Novick O'Keefe: Giving Back and Getting Balanced: "Medical conditions caused by unhealthy living habits are largely to blame for the predicted drop in life expectancy. An astonishing 75% of health care costs in the United States are spent on chronic health conditions. That translates to 130 million Americans swallowing, injecting, inhaling, infusing, spraying or patting on prescription medication every month. Healthcare services that focus on preventative interventions and healthy living will play a key role in the effort to turn around this disconcerting prognosis and get us back on track."

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US: As Climate Change Worsens, Scientists Feel Increasing Pressure to Speak Out

As Climate Change Worsens, Scientists Feel Increasing Pressure to Speak Out | InsideClimate News: "Factors contributing to climate change are moving faster than predicted and pushing us toward planetary conditions unlike any humans have ever known—this was one of the salient themes to emerge from this month's meeting of the American Geophysical Union, the world's largest gathering of earth and space scientists. Some scientists think we've already crossed that boundary and are, as Jonathan Foley, director of the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment, said, "in a very different world than we have ever seen before.""

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Tip: Stop Obesity by Supporting "Better Quality Maternal-Child Relationships

Teen Obesity Tied to Early Childhood Bond with Mom | Kids' Attachment to Parents & Stress Responses | MyHealthNewsDaily.com: "The researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,000 children from nine states who had taken part in the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which is a long-term study of children born in 1991. Kids were considered to be obese teenagers if at age 15 their body mass index (BMI) was among the highest 5 percent of children. The researchers had assessed the bonds between the children and their mothers when the kids were 15-months old, 2-years old and 3-years old by watching 15-minute play sessions, and also observing the children's reactions to being briefly separated from their mothers. The findings showed that the lower the quality of the relationship in terms of the child's emotional security and the mother's sensitivity, the higher the risk that a child would be obese at age 15 years.

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Canada: "Can be a Clean-Energy Superpower"

"One of those key solutions will surely include Environment Canada's proposed electricity regulations scheduled to come out in 2012. These regulations will mean that coal-fired electrical generation plants will have to meet a strict performance standard based on parity with the emissions performance of high-efficiency natural gas generation. This will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality for Canadians. The regulations will mean the gradual phase out of traditional coal-fired electricity generation and will have a significant impact on reducing electricity emissions from coal and other sources. This is expected to result in a projected de-cline in the absolute level of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation by 31 megatonnes between 2005 and 2020. This one step alone will position Canada as a leader in reducing CO2 emissions with real action, not just wishful thinking."
(see full article by clicking link Shaw: Canada can be a clean-energy superpower)
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Tip: Gardening offers Healthy Exercise and Keeps the Gardener & the Environment Healthy

ANN LOVEJOY | Healthy garden, healthier gardener » Kitsap Sun: "Gardening offers healthy exercise to people of all ages and ability levels. If you are strong and fit, you can enjoy double digging your vegetable beds and hauling blown down branches out of the woods. If gentle exercise suits you best, get out the rake. Raking leaves is splendid exercise, involving all the body's major muscle groups (arms and legs, back and shoulders, belly and butt). Best of all, steady raking builds strength as it burns off holiday calories. While winter is not a great time to muck about in the garden beds, it is a terrific time to do a bit of tidying and some leisurely pruning. Wet soil compacts easily, so stay out of the beds as much as possible. Do, however, continue to weed, pull ivy, cut down holly and Scotch broom, and dig out thistles. You'll be stretching to prune a high branch, bending to pull weeds, lifting sacks of compost, and pushing the wheelbarrow. Doing so, you'll be getting the same kind of resistance training people pay big bucks for at the gym. You'll be building stronger joints and healthier bones for free!"

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