2Health: How to take care of yourself.

A Place in the Sun: 5 DIY Projects for Summer Lounging

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Welcome to Make It By Monday, GOOD's weekly DIY feature in which we curate, demystify, and add our own tips for craft projects from around the web (and our apartments). This week: Get set for the sun with these DIY lounging solutions.

In New Orleans, Net-Zero Energy Homes Go on the Market

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans more than five years ago, the nonprofit Global Green USA started working to help the city build back in a greener way. In 2006, the organization held an open design competition, asking designers to come up with a single-family home that used net-zero energy. The hope was the design contest, along with an initiative to educate homeowners on sustainably building, would help promote green building practices in New Orleans. But the group also built five houses based on the winning design in the Holy Cross neighborhood and the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward, with the idea of providing affordable housing to a few displaced families. 

By 2009, the houses were finished and ready to go on the market. But financing complications delayed, over and over again, the moment when families could move in. Now, the project is finally completing its first stage. Four of the houses went on the market a week ago. Global Green has already received the first offer on one of them.

“It took a heck of a lot longer than we thought it should,” says Global Green president Matt Petersen. “There are still people who want to get back and haven't. It's not as front of mind to everyone outside the community, but there are still people who want to get back,” including, he says, people who have been following the Global Green project and waiting for the moment when these houses become available.

As a model of green building, the houses succeeded admirably: They earned the LEED Platinum status that Global Green had been aiming for. But finding the right way to sell the houses, so that they fulfilled the other goals the group had set for them, provided more difficult.

Originally, Global Green intended to sell the houses for $175,000, with discounts benefiting lower-income families. The group wanted to attach what’s called a soft second mortgage to each house. These mortgages acts as forgivable loans; they drop the initial price of a house for lower-income buyers, require no monthly payments, and eventually disappear entirely. But they also prevent buyers from purchasing a house and quickly reselling it. If a buyer sells the house within a certain period of time, they have to pay off both their conventional mortgage and the soft second subsidy. 

After failing to find a local lender who could offer this sort of mortgage, Global Green turned to Chase, only to find that the big bank wouldn’t be able to put together this sort of loan, either. In the end, the group put the houses on the market at a lower price point, affordable for the lower-income families even without the subsidized second mortgages. The one-story homes are priced at $110,000 and the two-story homes at $130,000. 

“We’re hoping to have them sold and occupied by the end of the summer,” Petersen says. 

The single-family homes are only phase one of the sustainable building project Global Green started more than six years ago. The fifth house they built is currently serving as a visitors’ center and a model green home. But after receiving long-promised stimulus funding, the group is starting construction this summer on Phase Two of the project, a climate action center that will host the visitors’ center, a corner store, and office space for Global Green. It’s going to be named after Pam Dashiell, who was president of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association in the years after Katrina and who pushed to rebuild her neighborhood in an environmentally friendly way. That building should be finished in the beginning of 2013.

“Every piece has been a challenge, but it's always had good outcomes,” says Petersen. “Every good idea takes a lot longer than you think it's going to. But you’ve got to be ambitious and keep your eye on the goal.”

Photo courtesy of Global Green USA.

Debunking ‘Green Living’: Combatting Climate Change Requires Lifestyle Changes, Not Organic Products

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

When I first heard that the Union of Concerned Scientists was creating a research-based guide to green living, I was ecstatic. How brilliant, I thought, to finally have the answer to the question of which of the seemingly infinite "green" actions make the most difference. Should I obsess about turning the lights off before I left the house? Was composting worth the effort after all? UCS, which has a well-deserved reputation for accuracy and fact-based advocacy, seemed equipped to answer these conundrums once and for all.

Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living came out this week. And true to its promise, it uses research to determine which green actions make the most difference. I’m disappointed in the answers they came up with, though—not because they’re wrong or overly complicated, but because they’re not.

After two years of research, UCS found that the most important strategies for reducing a person’s carbon footprint are to change “what and how you drive, the energy you use at home, and what you eat.”

Those are answers we already knew. The vast majority of the green advice you’ll read? It’s irrelevant. There are four primary activities that dump carbon into the atmosphere: traveling from place to place, keeping buildings at pleasant temperatures, creating electricity, and raising animals for meat.  

The rest of the green living pantheon—bamboo utensils, composting, eating local, reclaimed wood tables, organic cotton sheets—are nice gestures. And they often have other benefits: they might keep chemicals out of the water or provide a livelihood for local farmers. Many are also better than the alternatives they’re replacing. But when it comes to tackling climate change—not only the most dangerous environmental issue the world faces, but also a looming human rights problem—choosing these green products can only make a tiny difference.

If we already know how to live without creating so much carbon, that raises a more disturbing question: Why aren’t we doing it? There is any number of excuses: Fixing buildings requires investing a chunk of cash up front, and deciding on the right retrofits is a complicated process. Meat is too good to give up. Clean energy is more expensive. If Congress had only passed cap-and-trade, we wouldn’t need to be making these choices, because more carbon-intensive products would cost more and fewer people would buy them.

But we’re going to need to figure out how to make those choices. Researchers who study behavior change and climate have found that even if the world did agree to cap carbon emissions, people would still need to change their habits if the planet is to avoid the worst consequences a changing climate will bring. So now they’re experimenting with systems that can nudge people in the right direction. California is running a challenge, for instance, in which cities compete against each other to take smart green actions. At this point, we know the right steps to take. Now we just need to convince people to live more responsibly.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user derekGavey

Infographic: Understanding Social Enterprise

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

This post is in partnership with FedEx

Social enterprises operate all over the world and they are a growing sector in the United States. While there is no singular definition in the U.S., most social enterprises operate in the open marketplace and integrate a social or environmental mission into their bottom line. At GOOD, we view social enterprises as for-profit organizations that aim to do well by doing good. Check out our latest infographic on social enterprises in the marketplace, then read our continuing news coverage on this rapidly expanding sector at the GOOD Business Social Enterprise hub.

Also remember to visit Biztopia, a project brought to you by GOOD and FedEx to showcase additional videos and profiles from the social impact economy.

Billr: The App for Dining on a Budget (Without Annoying Your Friends)

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Perhaps it's a sign you and your friends have "made it" when no one quibbles about who owes what when the check arrives after dinner out. But in this economic climate, who can blame diners on a budget for picking apart the check drink by drink to pay exactly what they owe? The problem is doing the math speedily and accurately, without killing the mood. While a variety of check splitting apps already exist, none may work quite as well—or look quite as nice—as Billr, a new app created by a team of founders with extensive experience living on a budget: college students.

The product is a collaboration among Rhode Island School of Design designer Ivy Hu and Brown students Stephen Poletto and Nicholas Shulman, who did the coding and user experience, respectively. Billr's elegant user interface design lets users quickly create a log of the dishes each person at the table ordered, up to a party of 16. Then a tax and tip calculator indicate the final price each diner needs to pony up, making sure that no one is short-changed. Once the numbers are crunched, Billr can send each person a copy of what they owe by text or email.

The app costs .99 cents in the iTunes store and has debuted to acclaim from users. Reviewers praise the design, but indicate that they're eagerly awaiting an update that will make it easier to split the costs of an appetizer or entree among multiple diners.

Image via Billr

via co.Design

TED’s Taboo: What’s Too Controversial for the Hipster Confab?

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Visit the website for TED, the conference for creative techies and do-gooding hipsters that vaulted the 18-minute lecture into an art form, and you’ll find speakers discussing everything from “Sculpting Waves in Wood and Time” to “Building U.S.-China relations … by Banjo.”

What you won’t find is a recent TED talk by Michael Hanauer, a wealthy venture capitalist, that argues income inequality is a problem that threatens the economy, and that higher taxes on the wealthy are part of the solution. 

Though everybody's talking about income inequality, National Journal’s Jim Tankersley reported yesterday that TED declined to post a video of the talk on its website because it was overtly political—“one of the most politically controversial talks we've ever run,” according to TED owner and curator Chris Anderson.

TED has previously featured talks by former Vice President Al Gore on fighting climate change and Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, advocating for increased access to contraception around the world. These are controversial issues, to say the least, but apparently real talk about rich people is the last taboo at a conference where the entry fee starts at $7,500—and reaches heights of $125,000.

Of course, TED has brought wide public awareness to many important thinkers, and the number of talks freely available online provides a lovely trip down an internet rabbit hole, sans the guilt that comes with massive cat video consumption. (We've written about a lot of these talks.)  New York magazine recently traced the TED conference from its origins as a whimsical experiment in conversation to today’s lucrative confab, and writer Benjamin Wallace suggests that it is beginning to run out of "ideas worth spreading."

Indeed, TED’s stated goal is to circulate ideas—especially ideas that can make a difference—which makes the refusal to publish Hanauer’s lecture all the more baffling. The talk is extraordinarily relevant to the times, after all. While it may be contrarian in some circles, the idea that a flourishing middle class is more important to the economy than protecting the wealthy from higher taxes is hardly out-of-bounds.

Anderson says the talk is too partisan; not because Hanauer endorses a political party or candidate in his speech, but because the idea of raising taxes is confined to one political party. That doesn’t jibe with TED’s published talks about global warming or contraception, which also correlate with one of America’s two political parties. (I won’t name it here lest I offend anyone with partisanship.)

The real offense, it seems, was suggesting that businesspeople aren’t the most important part of the economy. While the folks who can afford to pay to attend TED and the rest of us who watch it for free can bond over exciting new technology, design thinking, and creative solutions to global problems, when it comes to following the money, the divide between these audiences snaps sharply into focus.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user tedxsomerville

In a Majority-Minority Nation, Numbers Aren’t Everything

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Beginning at some point in the next 40 years or so, there will be no ethnic or racial majority in America, and according to the Census, that process already is well under way. For the first time, white births are outnumbered by minority births in the United States: From July 2010 to July 2011, whites accounted for 49.6 percent of all births while other racial groups combined made up 50.4 percent of the newborn population. In several states and 13 of the country's biggest cities, this has been the reality for decades. 

One of the underlying fears propelling reactionary movements like the Tea Party is the loss of power. But how valid are these fears? Does a majority-minority country necessarily translate into more clout for previously marginalized groups? Not always, and certainly not right away. Women make up 51 percent of the population, yet they're underrepresented in leadership positions across the economic and political spectrum. Hawaii (which has never had a white majority), New Mexico, California, and Texas are majority-minority states, but the people who run them aren't exactly investing in the next generation by cutting funds to education and social services. (Indeed, some explicitly link this lack of resources directly to xenophobia.)

Even after minorities outnumber white people in the United States, the former will still have to fight for representation. Take California politics as an example: By 1985, white births were outnumbered by minority births in the state, outnumbering whites by 20 million. Yet Gov. Brown and both of California's senators are white, and only eight out of California's 53 members of Congress are Hispanic. And while California's population is less than half white, they make up 65 percent of the state's likely voters. Latinos, meanwhile, make up a third of California's population, but only 17 percent of them are likely to vote, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

That isn't to say minorities don't wield some power—minority voters were central to President Obama's election in 2008, and the opposition to Arizona's controversial immigration bill was largely galvanized by Latino congresspeople like Rep. Raul Grijalva, who presides over a majority-Latino district. Still, political power doesn't automatically increase with numbers. It requires visibility—plus resources, organization, and class mobility. 

Photo via (cc) Flickr user skampy.

Facebook Doesn’t Need Your Money; Invest in Africa Instead

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Today, Facebook will launch the largest initial public offering in history. Over the course of a few minutes, an eager public will invest $16 billion in Facebook’s 3,000-odd employees. Here in Nairobi, Kenya, where I live, the eye-popping figures produce passive astonishment: A single company will absorb the rough equivalent of half a year’s GDP for Kenya’s 40 million citizens.

Facebook will invest some of its windfall to create growth for its shareholders. But will the investment be productive? Facebook is being forced public by SEC regulations and the desire of some early investors to cash out; founder Mark Zuckerberg has made clear his company doesn’t need the cash. As such, financing growth for Facebook probably means investing in some combination of server racks in Oregon, lobbyists in Washington, and ergonomic keyboards, massage tables, and sushi in the California headquarters.

That contrasts greatly with the landscape in east Africa. As a financial adviser and consultant to small and medium-sized companies in the region, I meet daily with companies that can offer investors attractive returns—and provide market-based solutions to problems in sectors from energy to horticulture. We’re currently supporting a network of health care providers who will offer ordinary Kenyans low-cost, high-quality outpatient care. Most of the other companies we work with have revenue models that are simpler and, perhaps, lower risk than Facebook’s. Yet they can’t raise capital.

Investments in emerging markets like Kenya don’t get funding largely because our capital markets are weak. Entrepreneurs here have little access to the global pool of money—the investors of Silicon Valley or Wall Street, nor the amateur day traders flipping stocks over lunch. Local money tends to chase mega-malls and the slipshod apartment complexes you see rising in cities across the continent.

But those weak markets are the same reason investments in Africa offer such good returns. Companies often can’t finance the second-generation, highly productive investments they need. Imagine a clinic operating without an ultrasound machine, or a barley farm operating without a tractor. The fruit couldn’t be hanging lower. The first ultrasound and the first tractor are astronomically more productive investments than the furniture in the Facebook lobby.

Investing billions in assets that are not highly productive is normal—proof of human progress to be proud of. But it’s hard to make a productive investment in a capital-saturated economy. Financial markets learned this in 2008, when reality bit a generation of investors who binged on unwanted housing in the absence of better ideas. Facebook’s gaudy IPO reinforces this basic problem: The rich world is capital-saturated while the poor world has very little physical capital per member of the labor force.

So why isn’t the world investing in Africa? Part of the answer is that it is. The surprise of the last decade is how much opportunity there has been to invest in Africa, and how well Africa has weathered the recent financial storm. With growth rates around 5 percent annually, Kenya’s economy is expanding significantly faster than Western economies. Last year, private equity investors raised more than $600 million to invest in East Africa’s growth.

On the other hand, we are not past the sense that charity is the best way to send money to Africa. Aid-oriented grants and micro-loans are the world’s conventional offer to African entrepreneurs, and they are literally not taking care of business. The “middle market” in many emerging economies generates most new jobs, yet these small and mid-size enterprises are too big for the lauded microfinance revolution, and too small for traditional banks chasing real estate projects. The companies I work with don’t need $300—they need $300,000.

Another obstacle are continual fears about “risk”— a word often applied to earnest African businesses, but not to JP Morgan. A man I know has built a brand manufacturing lotions and cosmetics from local aloe vera plants, but because he’s based in the much-maligned Democratic Republic of Congo, it’s all but impossible for him to break through to investors and grow. Even companies in east Africa’s comparatively advanced tech scene have a hard time raising smaller amounts of capital. But they deserve the chance to be productive—remember, it only took $18,000 in capital to start Facebook.

Theory tells us capital should flow from capital-saturated countries to poor countries, where it will do more. My hope for the ever-flatter future is that people in rich countries begin to see that the companies who will best use their investment are not listed in New York. Maybe there’s a social network for that. 

Illustration by Dylan C. Lathrop

Juilliard Brings Online Music Education to the Masses

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

As school music programs dwindle under severe budget cuts, a generation of kids is growing up without music education. If they can't afford private lessons, students can always head to YouTube to learn how to play the piano, but the quality of the instruction is hit-or-miss. Now The Juilliard School, the nation’s most prestigious college for the performing arts, hopes to change all that by offering its world-class music courses through Connections Education, an online education provider.

The content for the classes, called Juilliard eLearning, will be developed by the school’s staff and alumni. The first classes—which will be offered this fall to K-12 students as well as adults interested in building their musical skills—will align with national music standards.

Juilliard has yet to announce details about specific classes—or how much they’ll cost—but administrators say students will be able to learn how to sing, read music, and play an instrument through virtual music demonstrations, instructional videos, and animation from Juilliard’s faculty and Connections Education’s teachers. Eventually, the program will also offer classes in music theory and music history.

Perhaps virtual classes can't replace the presence of full-time music teachers in every K-12 school, but if Juilliard eLearning proves to be a high quality—and reasonably priced—option, students may yet receive the music education they deserve.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user cwwycoff1

Sleep Better: 4 Ways to Manipulate Your Melatonin Levels #30DaysofGOOD

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Things are easier said than done, or so the old adage goes, and we couldn't agree more. That's why we do The GOOD 30-Day Challenge (#30DaysofGOOD), a monthly attempt to live better. Our challenge for May? Sleep better.

If you've already set a sleep schedule, optimized your bedroom, and tried some of the sleep apps on the market, take things a step further and start meddling with your melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that's produced in the pineal gland and helps regulate your circadian rhythm. It's sometimes called the "hormone of darkness," because it's produced at night. Melatonin supplements were popular in the 1990s as a remedy for jetlag. Supplements still exist, but there are also a variety of natural ways to increase your melatonin levels.

Cherry juice: For a natural boost, try drinking cherry juice. A 2011 study by researchers at Northumbia University found that volunteers who drank cherry juice for a week experienced a roughly 15 percent jump in melatonin levels, which translated into less daytime napping, almost 30 minutes more sleep each night, and better-quality sleep.

Meditation: Research has also shown that meditation can boost melatonin levels. If you have a hard time falling asleep, consider spending 15 minutes before bed concentrating on your breathing and clearing your mind—it'll actually change your brain chemistry.

Tryptophan: The amino acid tryptophan is used to make melatonin. It's often credited (or blamed) for the post-Thanksgiving dinner coma. Indeed, tryptophan is abundant in turkey, but also in other poultry, dairy, fish, and eggs. Consider a glass of milk before bed.

Supplements: There is also a wide variety of over-the-counter melatonin supplements available. There are pills you can buy in drug stores, of course, but also newfangled products like Lazy Larry "supplement squares," which try to tap into the market for marijuana brownies. These products exist in a legal grey area and aren't without their drawbacks, though, so read up before scarfing one down.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user D H Wright

A Place in the Sun: 5 DIY Projects for Summer Lounging

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Welcome to Make It By Monday, GOOD's weekly DIY feature in which we curate, demystify, and add our own tips for craft projects from around the web (and our apartments). This week: Get set for the sun with these DIY lounging solutions.

In New Orleans, Net-Zero Energy Homes Go on the Market

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans more than five years ago, the nonprofit Global Green USA started working to help the city build back in a greener way. In 2006, the organization held an open design competition, asking designers to come up with a single-family home that used net-zero energy. The hope was the design contest, along with an initiative to educate homeowners on sustainably building, would help promote green building practices in New Orleans. But the group also built five houses based on the winning design in the Holy Cross neighborhood and the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward, with the idea of providing affordable housing to a few displaced families. 

By 2009, the houses were finished and ready to go on the market. But financing complications delayed, over and over again, the moment when families could move in. Now, the project is finally completing its first stage. Four of the houses went on the market a week ago. Global Green has already received the first offer on one of them.

“It took a heck of a lot longer than we thought it should,” says Global Green president Matt Petersen. “There are still people who want to get back and haven't. It's not as front of mind to everyone outside the community, but there are still people who want to get back,” including, he says, people who have been following the Global Green project and waiting for the moment when these houses become available.

As a model of green building, the houses succeeded admirably: They earned the LEED Platinum status that Global Green had been aiming for. But finding the right way to sell the houses, so that they fulfilled the other goals the group had set for them, provided more difficult.

Originally, Global Green intended to sell the houses for $175,000, with discounts benefiting lower-income families. The group wanted to attach what’s called a soft second mortgage to each house. These mortgages acts as forgivable loans; they drop the initial price of a house for lower-income buyers, require no monthly payments, and eventually disappear entirely. But they also prevent buyers from purchasing a house and quickly reselling it. If a buyer sells the house within a certain period of time, they have to pay off both their conventional mortgage and the soft second subsidy. 

After failing to find a local lender who could offer this sort of mortgage, Global Green turned to Chase, only to find that the big bank wouldn’t be able to put together this sort of loan, either. In the end, the group put the houses on the market at a lower price point, affordable for the lower-income families even without the subsidized second mortgages. The one-story homes are priced at $110,000 and the two-story homes at $130,000. 

“We’re hoping to have them sold and occupied by the end of the summer,” Petersen says. 

The single-family homes are only phase one of the sustainable building project Global Green started more than six years ago. The fifth house they built is currently serving as a visitors’ center and a model green home. But after receiving long-promised stimulus funding, the group is starting construction this summer on Phase Two of the project, a climate action center that will host the visitors’ center, a corner store, and office space for Global Green. It’s going to be named after Pam Dashiell, who was president of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association in the years after Katrina and who pushed to rebuild her neighborhood in an environmentally friendly way. That building should be finished in the beginning of 2013.

“Every piece has been a challenge, but it's always had good outcomes,” says Petersen. “Every good idea takes a lot longer than you think it's going to. But you’ve got to be ambitious and keep your eye on the goal.”

Photo courtesy of Global Green USA.

Debunking ‘Green Living’: Combatting Climate Change Requires Lifestyle Changes, Not Organic Products

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

When I first heard that the Union of Concerned Scientists was creating a research-based guide to green living, I was ecstatic. How brilliant, I thought, to finally have the answer to the question of which of the seemingly infinite "green" actions make the most difference. Should I obsess about turning the lights off before I left the house? Was composting worth the effort after all? UCS, which has a well-deserved reputation for accuracy and fact-based advocacy, seemed equipped to answer these conundrums once and for all.

Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living came out this week. And true to its promise, it uses research to determine which green actions make the most difference. I’m disappointed in the answers they came up with, though—not because they’re wrong or overly complicated, but because they’re not.

After two years of research, UCS found that the most important strategies for reducing a person’s carbon footprint are to change “what and how you drive, the energy you use at home, and what you eat.”

Those are answers we already knew. The vast majority of the green advice you’ll read? It’s irrelevant. There are four primary activities that dump carbon into the atmosphere: traveling from place to place, keeping buildings at pleasant temperatures, creating electricity, and raising animals for meat.  

The rest of the green living pantheon—bamboo utensils, composting, eating local, reclaimed wood tables, organic cotton sheets—are nice gestures. And they often have other benefits: they might keep chemicals out of the water or provide a livelihood for local farmers. Many are also better than the alternatives they’re replacing. But when it comes to tackling climate change—not only the most dangerous environmental issue the world faces, but also a looming human rights problem—choosing these green products can only make a tiny difference.

If we already know how to live without creating so much carbon, that raises a more disturbing question: Why aren’t we doing it? There is any number of excuses: Fixing buildings requires investing a chunk of cash up front, and deciding on the right retrofits is a complicated process. Meat is too good to give up. Clean energy is more expensive. If Congress had only passed cap-and-trade, we wouldn’t need to be making these choices, because more carbon-intensive products would cost more and fewer people would buy them.

But we’re going to need to figure out how to make those choices. Researchers who study behavior change and climate have found that even if the world did agree to cap carbon emissions, people would still need to change their habits if the planet is to avoid the worst consequences a changing climate will bring. So now they’re experimenting with systems that can nudge people in the right direction. California is running a challenge, for instance, in which cities compete against each other to take smart green actions. At this point, we know the right steps to take. Now we just need to convince people to live more responsibly.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user derekGavey

Infographic: Understanding Social Enterprise

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

This post is in partnership with FedEx

Social enterprises operate all over the world and they are a growing sector in the United States. While there is no singular definition in the U.S., most social enterprises operate in the open marketplace and integrate a social or environmental mission into their bottom line. At GOOD, we view social enterprises as for-profit organizations that aim to do well by doing good. Check out our latest infographic on social enterprises in the marketplace, then read our continuing news coverage on this rapidly expanding sector at the GOOD Business Social Enterprise hub.

Also remember to visit Biztopia, a project brought to you by GOOD and FedEx to showcase additional videos and profiles from the social impact economy.

Billr: The App for Dining on a Budget (Without Annoying Your Friends)

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Perhaps it's a sign you and your friends have "made it" when no one quibbles about who owes what when the check arrives after dinner out. But in this economic climate, who can blame diners on a budget for picking apart the check drink by drink to pay exactly what they owe? The problem is doing the math speedily and accurately, without killing the mood. While a variety of check splitting apps already exist, none may work quite as well—or look quite as nice—as Billr, a new app created by a team of founders with extensive experience living on a budget: college students.

The product is a collaboration among Rhode Island School of Design designer Ivy Hu and Brown students Stephen Poletto and Nicholas Shulman, who did the coding and user experience, respectively. Billr's elegant user interface design lets users quickly create a log of the dishes each person at the table ordered, up to a party of 16. Then a tax and tip calculator indicate the final price each diner needs to pony up, making sure that no one is short-changed. Once the numbers are crunched, Billr can send each person a copy of what they owe by text or email.

The app costs .99 cents in the iTunes store and has debuted to acclaim from users. Reviewers praise the design, but indicate that they're eagerly awaiting an update that will make it easier to split the costs of an appetizer or entree among multiple diners.

Image via Billr

via co.Design

TED’s Taboo: What’s Too Controversial for the Hipster Confab?

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Visit the website for TED, the conference for creative techies and do-gooding hipsters that vaulted the 18-minute lecture into an art form, and you’ll find speakers discussing everything from “Sculpting Waves in Wood and Time” to “Building U.S.-China relations … by Banjo.”

What you won’t find is a recent TED talk by Michael Hanauer, a wealthy venture capitalist, that argues income inequality is a problem that threatens the economy, and that higher taxes on the wealthy are part of the solution. 

Though everybody's talking about income inequality, National Journal’s Jim Tankersley reported yesterday that TED declined to post a video of the talk on its website because it was overtly political—“one of the most politically controversial talks we've ever run,” according to TED owner and curator Chris Anderson.

TED has previously featured talks by former Vice President Al Gore on fighting climate change and Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, advocating for increased access to contraception around the world. These are controversial issues, to say the least, but apparently real talk about rich people is the last taboo at a conference where the entry fee starts at $7,500—and reaches heights of $125,000.

Of course, TED has brought wide public awareness to many important thinkers, and the number of talks freely available online provides a lovely trip down an internet rabbit hole, sans the guilt that comes with massive cat video consumption. (We've written about a lot of these talks.)  New York magazine recently traced the TED conference from its origins as a whimsical experiment in conversation to today’s lucrative confab, and writer Benjamin Wallace suggests that it is beginning to run out of "ideas worth spreading."

Indeed, TED’s stated goal is to circulate ideas—especially ideas that can make a difference—which makes the refusal to publish Hanauer’s lecture all the more baffling. The talk is extraordinarily relevant to the times, after all. While it may be contrarian in some circles, the idea that a flourishing middle class is more important to the economy than protecting the wealthy from higher taxes is hardly out-of-bounds.

Anderson says the talk is too partisan; not because Hanauer endorses a political party or candidate in his speech, but because the idea of raising taxes is confined to one political party. That doesn’t jibe with TED’s published talks about global warming or contraception, which also correlate with one of America’s two political parties. (I won’t name it here lest I offend anyone with partisanship.)

The real offense, it seems, was suggesting that businesspeople aren’t the most important part of the economy. While the folks who can afford to pay to attend TED and the rest of us who watch it for free can bond over exciting new technology, design thinking, and creative solutions to global problems, when it comes to following the money, the divide between these audiences snaps sharply into focus.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user tedxsomerville

Treat and Improve Seborrheic Dermatitis Skin Condition

Written on May 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by 2Health

Seborrheic dermatitis is a condition of the skin. It mainly affects the scalp and can easily be confused with dandruff. In fact, stubborn dandruff generally is seborrheic dermatitis. Many very young babies have it, and parents refer to it as cradle cap. You can also have seborrheic dermatitis nose, face, the chest, the back and any other part of your body that has sebaceous (oil) glands. It is mainly a very uncomfortable condition and not something that affects over health. However, because of the embarrassment, it is not unheard of for people to suffer from depression if they have seborrheic dermatitis. Many people also experience flare ups, making the condition chronic. This can cause some people to become reclusive because they worry about the condition returning all the time.

Signs and Symptoms of Seborrheic Dermatitis
Seborrheic dermatitis has a number of symptoms. It is most commonly found on the scalp, but you can also have seborrheic dermatitis of the face, the nose or any other oily part of your body. However, symptoms are usually the same. The most common signs and symptoms include:
• Inflammation and redness of the skin.
• Patchy scales on the scalp or thick crusts, mainly with seborrheic dermatitis scalp.
• White or yellow flakes (like dandruff) on hairy parts of your head and face (eyebrows, moustache, hair, beard). This is mainly the case with seborrheic dermatitis of the face.
• Skin that is turning greasy and red and is covered in yellow or white flaky scales. These can also appear on the armpits, chest, groin, male scrotum.
• The condition is also very often itchy and sore, particularly with seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp.

The condition, as stated, can appear anywhere on the body where oil glands are found. Unfortunately, seborrheic eczema is chronic, meaning it will come back again and again. The only exception in this is with babies, who are often born with cradle cap, which generally clears up after the first year.

Treatment for Seborrheic Dermatitis
Seborrheic dermatitis in itself does not have any negative effect on your health. However, there are a number of situations in which you need to see your doctor. Some of these situations include:
• If you are uncomfortable to the point that you are unable to sleep or keep up with your daily routines.
• If you feel embarrassed, anxious or depressed.
• If you suspect some of the scales are infected, perhaps because you have scratched them.
• If self care is no longer effective.

So what sort of seborrheic dermatitis treatment is available? There are a number of drugs available over the counter and some stronger versions that you are able to receive through a medical prescription. Antifungal agents are often used to treat seborrheic dermatitis. Anti inflammatory agents such as corticosteroids are also commonly used, but these do come with significant side effects. Calcineurin inhibitors are creams that have to be prescribed, but they lower your immune system, making you more susceptible to other infections. They are also believed to be linked to cancer with prolonged use. Lastly, you could opt for a seborrheic dermatitis shampoo, which has selenium sulfide, zinc pyrithione, coal tar or salicylic acid within it. Seborrheic dermatitis home remedies do exist, particularly in terms of anti inflammatory natural remedies and coal, but their effectiveness is questionable.

Seborrheic Dermatitis and Diet
Evidence suggests that diet and seborrheic dermatitis go hand in hand, so you may want to consider a seborrheic dermatitis diet. Evidence suggests that seborrheic dermatitis is caused by internal yeast, including candida (which is also a main cause of thrush). It is therefore recommended to eliminate all sugars from a diet and to increase the consumption of vegetables. This will, at the very least, cause you to lead a healthy lifestyle, even if your seborrheic dermatitis may not clear up completely. Anything is worth a shot, however, and doctors would always recommend to try more than one treatment on alternate days.

Make Friends With Your Perfectionism

Written on May 18, 2012 at 9:00 am, by 2Health

Perfectionism can be a frustrating little pest. Wanting everything in our lives to be perfect is the quickest way to cultivate feelings of “I’m not good enough” down every corner we turn. Perfectionism can block us from being productive, intuitive, creative, and authentic. It can keep us from celebrating our progress. Perfectionism can also keep us from beginning something new or completing a project, for fear of not being the best. And it can keep us from enjoying the journey — feeling like our efforts are never enough.

All my life, I’ve felt the frustration of being an imperfect perfectionist. One day, I realized that life would feel a lot easier if I just accepted my perfectionism and learned to love it! Some say perfectionism is the enemy of progress, but if we can learn to harness the power of our perfectionism and make it our friend, it can begin to work for us, rather than against us!

Here are some ways we can make friends with that feeling, give ourselves a break, and love where we are today:

1. Honor the ways your perfectionism works for you.
There are lots of ways your perfectionist tendencies are already working for you. Let’s honor them! Maybe you have a great eye for detail that makes you a spectacular writer or editor. Maybe you’re a brilliant problem-solver, able to pick out discrepancies and find fast solutions with your highly critical eye. Maybe you’re terrific at travel planning, a meticulous chef, or a researcher who leaves no stone unturned. Maybe you love to take on challenges, knowing you’ll follow through. There are lots of ways your perfectionism serves you — make a gratitude list!

2. Laugh at the perfectionist; thank it, and keep moving.
You know the areas that your perfectionism trips you up most. Is it your diet, exercise plan or body? Your work? Your art? Your public image? When you feel the perfectionist tendency arising, notice it. Acknowledge it. Laugh, lovingly — saying “thank you — I realize I have the fierce drive to be successful in this area, which is awesome, but all I can do is put one foot in front of the other, knowing that doing my best — today — is enough!”

3. Celebrate your everyday successes.
At the end of the day, instead of thinking of all the things you still need to get done with that “What’s next?” mentality, take a few minutes to celebrate what you accomplished. Even the smallest positive steps forward are worthy of your celebration and acknowledgment. The more you celebrate the small steps, the more you’ll start feeling like a rock star every day of the journey — not just when your big goals are achieved.

4. Give yourself permission to change course.
If you’ve set up a strict, high-standard goal for yourself, make sure to check in along the way and see if you’re actually enjoying it. Is this course of action really working for you? Does it make you feel good or do you feel pressured and stressed out? Sometimes the only thing stressing us out is our own perfectionism. You’ll get better results if you allow some wiggle room for your intuition to flow in. Let your intuition work hand in hand with your high-achieving mentality, make commitments that feel exciting, and allow yourself the time to reflect and change course along the way.

5. Have compassion for yourself if you take a step backward, or if you’re struggling.
One of the pesky traits of perfectionism is beating ourselves up when we make a mistake or veer off course. If your best friend was going through a slump, a period of struggle, or seemingly took a step backwards from her ideals — how would you treat her? Probably with lots of compassion, encouraging words and love. Treat yourself the same way. Acknowledge that having perfectionist tendencies can make you hard on yourself, have compassion for that, and encourage yourself the way you would encourage a friend.

6. Learn to relax and embrace uncertainty.
Most people with perfectionist tendencies have trouble relaxing. There’s always something more you could be doing, another goal to be attained, something that can be fixed. Taking time to just relax and not work toward a goal can be exactly what you need to enjoy your life as it is now. Realize that no matter how hard you work or how much you analyze and control your life, things can always turn out totally different from what you anticipated. Giving yourself some time to really relax and enjoy life will only make you more productive when you do revisit your goals. So just do your best today, honor yourself for that, and then truly chill out! The serenity prayer helps: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

7. Get support!
Having a friend, mentor, coach, therapist or other sounding board can help you laugh and have fun with your inner perfectionist. When you’re feeling “not good enough” — tell someone! Out yourself. Just saying it out loud to someone else can relieve some of the pressure, help you let go, and make you realize you’re not alone in this wild, crazy, beautiful journey of life.

Jenny Sansouci, a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, writes about nutrition, health and personal development.

Photo credit: Liza

Legs

Written on May 18, 2012 at 9:00 am, by 2Health

Michelle Letendre

Leg day, a painful one as my hamstrings are still very sore, so only quad dominant exercises.

Lunges
115×5
135×5
145×5
155×5
165×5

For time
40 HB Back Squats – 185
8:13

R-Band Pistol Squats – black band, 3×5 per leg

That one really hurt, the lunges took more out of my legs than I had predicted, but the timed portion really hurt, all reps were hamstring to calf nothing else.  After it was done my legs barely had any go for the pistol squats, high rep back squats simply suck in in every sense of it.

Upper Body

Written on May 18, 2012 at 9:00 am, by 2Health

My hamstrings have not been this sore in a long time, the deads have made it horrible to try and pick up anything close to the ground, sooo upper body today.

DB Bench Press
65sx8
75sx8
80sx6
85sx6
90sx4

Chest Supported Row
120×10
150×8
170×6
190×6
200×5

Alternate Sets
Dips – 15, 12, 12, 10
Neutral Grip Pullups – 10, 9, 7, 7

Ab Rollouts – 3×10

It sometimes surprises me that I can do little to no chest work over the course of my elbow injury and come back to it and be able to lift the same weights.  The 90s were heavy, but I could probably still do the hundreds for a rep or 2.  I don’t do chest supported rows that often but they allow you to really focus on the back so I liked it.  Overall good workout!