Archive for August, 2009
11 Tips On Being Environmentally Friendly When Going Back To School
Livescience Staff– 21 August 2007 12:59 pm ET
4) Look for the FSC label on pencils and paper. Many paper products are made from trees specifically grown and harvested for papermaking, thus sparing delicate rainforest ecosystems. The Forest Stewardship Council certifies that wood and paper products are grown and managed responsibly.
5) Purchase supplies with minimal packaging. Packaging makes up about a third of the garbage that piles up in landfills. Also, less processing and packaging means less energy goes into production, and less global warming pollution is created.
6) Brown bag meals and avoid plastic. Pack school lunches in brown, unbleached, recycled paper bags whenever possible. And if your child has a favorite superhero, there’s a good chance the character is printed on a re-usable lunchbox.
7) Prepare lunches using local produce. Be aware of the distance food travels and the emissions necessary to ship and truck it there. Although broccoli is grown at nearby farms, the ones that shoppers pick up at the supermarket traverse an average distance of 1,800 miles.
Refill water bottles. Don’t throw them away. One and a half million tons of plastic are used to bottle water every year. Such large-scale manufacturing and disposal of water bottles can release toxic chemicals into the environment.
9) Look for laptops made by companies working to reduce their global emissions. The ENERGY STAR sticker is a good tip-off that a product is compliant with EPA guidelines. Some backpacks even have built-in solar panels to provide an eco-friendly way to power laptops. Also, turn off your computer and monitor when not in use.
10) Walk or bike to school, not only to get exercise but also to benefit the environment. By burning calories walking, you and your child don’t burn a vehicle’s gasoline and thus do your part to help reduce global warming. Surely, the PE instructor will approve.
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As a green consumer, I’d like to add one more tip to this list:
11) Purchase a low cost, high quality waterproof, washable keyboard and mouse from Man & Machine at Wetkeys.com. Not only are these sanitary keyboards, but they won’t destroy the environment. They are durable keyboards and heavy duty keyboards.
Awesome Washable, Heavy Duty Keyboards A Steal!
I purchased my Washable Full-size Keyboard USB/PS2 – KBWKFC109 at Wetkeys.com for a steal! Man, this thing is a low price, high quality waterproof keyboard that offers better hygiene for all!
It’s also a flexible silicone keyboard and one of the most durable washable keyboards out there! Even better, the cleanability of this thing may decrease your chances of catching deadly bugs like Swine Flu, especially if you share your keyboard.
Back to School and Prepared for Swine Flu
US News & World Report–August 10, 2009 02:08 PM ET–Nancy Shute
We’re well into back-to-school prep, buying glue sticks and comparing lunchboxes. But this year, the process is a bit out of the ordinary. It includes getting up to speed on what our family should do if my child gets swine flu. Last spring, the federal government ordered schools to close if they had a student ill with the new H1N1 flu. Flu experts expect there will be many more H1N1 flu cases this September and October, ahead of the beginning of the usual annual flu season. School-age children are much more likely to get the new flu than are adults, because they have no immunity. We parents need expert advice right now if we’re going to be ready for this new back-to-school drill. September is less than a month away!
* If your child gets the flu, keep her or him home for at least 24 hours after the last fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more. The stay-home rule applies to sick parents, too. The goal is to minimize the spread of flu viruses at school and work.
* If you have a child under age 5 or a family member with a chronic medical condition like asthma, check with your doctor now about how best to care for them during this flu pandemic. Pregnant women also appear to be extra vulnerable, so if you’re pregnant, now’s the time to ask your doctor for a swine flu game plan. A swine flu vaccine won’t be available until October at the earliest.
* Ask your doctor about antiviral medicines like Tamiflu that can reduce the severity of swine flu.
Reduce the spread of the flu virus by having the sick family member wear a face mask and stay isolated from other family members as much as possible or by having just one family member be the caregiver for sick family members.
* If a family member is sick with the flu, keep school-age brothers and sisters home for five days from the time the household member becomes sick. This new advice is designed to reduce the virus spread among schoolchildren, but it will be tough on working parents. Now’s a good time to check to see if your employer has a pandemic flu plan that will let you work at home. The federal government has compiled scads of information for employers and employees on how to deal with the pandemic flu in the work place.
* If the flu pandemic gets worse this fall, state and local health departments may change the rules, asking that sick children stay home for at least seven days. For us parents, this is yet another good reason to have the family flu plan figured out now.
The CDC has a flu hotline you can call for more information: 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636). There’s also a super-flu web site that consolidates pandemic flu advice from various federal agencies.
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Another point to be made is the preventative use of washable computer equipment. We all, as parents, know how much our kids love the computer and love sharing keyboards. This fact, coupled with dirty hands could be a very risky formula. With a washable keyboard that easily remains a sanitary keyboard you are bolstering your household’s chances of remaining disease free.
Schools Should Remain Open When Swine Flu Strikes
According to Bloomberg, swine flu outbreaks shouldn’t close U.S. schools this fall unless so many students or teachers get sick that it interferes with teaching or puts the students at risk, U.S. health officials said.
The pandemic flu, also known as H1N1, can no longer be contained by closing schools, and the disruptions caused by closures outweigh the public health benefits, according to guidelines posted today on the Health and Human Services Department’s Web site. The guidelines, based on lessons learned earlier this year, cover the nation’s 55 million students and 7 million staff members at 130,000 public and private schools.
Health officials around the world are completing plans to deal with widespread outbreaks in the Northern Hemisphere beginning in September. That’s when cooler temperatures and the return to schools may fuel the biggest flu epidemic in decades.
Since US Health Officials recommend schools remain open – washing and disinfecting the computer keyboard and mouse that students and teachers share may be the most important and most overlooked safety procedure that must become standard practice. WETKEYS.com offers a vast selection of cleanable keyboards and mice.
Schools Should Remain Open When Swine Flu Strikes
Nurses offer tips for surviving a hospital stay
CNN reports that as many as 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as a result of medical errors, according to an Institute of Medicine report. Some 99,000 people die each year from infections acquired in the hospital, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Given the dangers lurking in hospitals, we asked several nurses to give us their suggestions about what steps to take to protect yourself and your family.
1. Bring in a list of the medications you’re taking
2. Make sure the hospital gets your name right
3. Ask about every medication they give you
4. Make sure everyone washes hands – In the Consumer Reports survey, 26 percent of the nurses reported observing hand-washing lapses.The National Patient Safety Foundation gives advice on infection in hospitals.
The National Patient Safety Foundation offer advice on preventing infections in hospitals.
Cleaning a washable keyboard has proven to help stop the spread of infectious diseases. Replacing regular keyboards with cleanable keyboards is an excellent approach to help prevent the spread of infection in hospitals.
Nurses offer tips for surviving a hospital stay
Environmentally Friendly Back To School Shopping
CNN reported that back to school shopping is greener than ever before. And with choices like Man & Machines environmentally conscious computer products it’s easy.
Man & Machine, Inc., the leading manufacturer of heavy duty keyboards, hygienic waterproof keyboards & mice and other computer devices announces its sustainability program to minimize the impact these products have on humans and the environment. I buy all my computer products at Wetkeys.com.
Prep Your Kids for College With Healthy Products
Kids all around the US will be heading to college soon. This also coincides with the beginning of flu season and the likely spread of swine flu, which could run rampant in dormitories.
By purchasing a Unotron washable keyboards and mice for your kids, you can decrease their chance of getting ill. They can easily disinfect their cleanable keyboards and mice without damaging this heavy duty keyboard and flexible keyboard. This is especially important if your kids let others use their computer, which is likely in a school environment. I bought my kids these high quality, low price products at Wetkeys.com.
Healthy Gadgets
There are some great new technological gadgets out there that are both healthy for you and the environment. Man & Machine offers environmentally friendly computer products.
Among these products is a hygienic, washable keyboard that can be wiped down after use to minimize harmful germs and bacteria that can build up on keyboards, especially shared keyboards. I puchased my cool gadgets at Wetkeys.com.
How Often Do You Clean Your Computer Keyboard?
According to a post by The Code Project Newsletter, the vast majority of people rarely clean their computer keyboards. Keyboards, especially shared keyboards, can be a breeding ground for all kinds of harmful gunk, like Swine Flu.
To avoid the gunk I’ve made cleaning my keyboard a lot easier by purchasing a Unotron washable keyboard. It’s easy to clean and a sanitary keyboard. I purchased it at wetkeys.com.
Stay Technologically Current and Healthy with Wetkeys.com
I recently purchased my low cost, high quality washable keyboard and mouse from Wetkeys.com. While dealing with the people at Wetkeys, I was amazed at how well informed they are regarding not only their products, but also on what’s going on around the world with regard to health related issues like Swine Flu. They get their information from sources like the CDC and World Health Organization.
In Wetkeys, I not only found a resource for environmentally friendly technology and health maintaining gadgets, I also found a consistent source of information that helps me keep my family safe.
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