Major Cities in Around the World Sign Declaration Investing in Greener Spaces

 

In aims to fight the effects of climate change, 31 major cities have signed a declaration to invest in green spaces.

Mayors from cities like Milan, Toronto, Los Angeles, Paris, and Barcelona signed up to the C40 cities network goal of having 30-40 percent of built-up city surface consisting of green spaces such as parks, or streets lined with trees.

Milan has already set up its goal to plant three million trees by 2030. Barcelona will offer to subsidize 75 percent of the cost of new green rooftops, creating urban allotments and space for renewable energies.

“In Milan, we are committed to plant three million trees by 2030, to use nature-based solutions to increase resilience and protect citizens from the climate crisis, to refresh our neighborhoods with green areas and water, and to regenerate the urban environment in a sustainable manner,” said Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan.

Overall, cities that have signed up to the declaration are the following: Athens, Austin, Barcelona, Berlin, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Durban, Freetown, Guadalajara, Haifa, Lima, London, Los Angeles, Medellín, Milan, Mumbai, New Orleans, Paris, Quezon City, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Rotterdam, Salvador, Seattle, Stockholm, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, and Toronto.

According to a scientific study from Toronto published in the journal Nature, greener spaces can improve wellbeing, mentally and physically. It also states “having 10 more trees in a city block, on average, improves perception in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $10,000.”

‘Random Acts of Kindness’ Day Created in Missouri

 

The governor of Missouri, Mike Parson, has signed bill SB 72 creating the “Random Acts of Kindness Day.”

Starting August 31, Missouri will officially celebrate this day as “Random Act of Kindness Day,” encouraging other Missourians to remember that one small act of kindness can change a person’s life, as well as make an impact on countless people as the act of kindness is paid forward.

This will also encourage the community to go out and do something nice for someone.

In addition, SB 72 bill has also designated the following:

– Walthall Moore Day – May 1
– Law Enforcement Appreciation Day – First Friday in May
– John Jordan ‘Buck’ O’Neil Day – November 30
– Mark Twain Day – November 30

Rehabilitation Program Has Inmates Training Shelter Dogs

 

An inmate rehabilitation program is pairing up shelter dogs with incarcerated people in California, hoping to benefit both parties.

Pawsitive Change is placing dogs from Marley’s Mutts Rescue Ranch with the incarcerated individuals for 14 weeks for a supervised foster program. This is in aims to help the dogs learn socialization skills and to ready them for adoption.

During each cycle, 24 to 30 inmates will be paired with eight to 10 dogs. The founder of the program Jordan Karcher believes this program will also help inmates learn valuable skills, “not only professional animal training, but also the basics of leadership and teamwork.”

 


According to the Rescue Ranch, the dogs that are considered for this program are those who would not be considered adoptable due to behavioral challenges. This also brings a sense of responsibility and other benefits for the inmates, as many of them may decide to pursue a career in animal care after their release.

So far, there have been nearly zero percent recidivism rates among participants.

Meditating and Exercising Can Help You Cope with Stress During the Return to a Life Pre-Covid

 

In Alberta, Canada, many people are rejoicing over the return of life without COVID-19 restrictions, but there are some that might be feeling anxious or stressed about these circumstances. Having these feelings are completely normal, especially after going through an uncertain period like this pandemic.

However, the executive director of Martha Retreat Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta Diane Sim, believes that meditation is a good way to find balance and deal with stress, especially because change can be very stressful.

The retreat Centre formed a labyrinth on the east portion of its property, giving people the space to walk through, and “do some self-meditation.”

“As you walk into the centre of the labyrinth, you think about, ‘What are the things weighing on my shoulders? What’s weighing me down today?’ Sim told Global News.

Statistics by Project Meditation have shown that those who have meditated between 6 to 9 months have improved anxiety levels by 60% of the time. It can also reduce post-traumatic stress disorder 73% of the time.

For those who aren’t a fan of meditating, there is another proven way to help you cope with the stress – exercise.

Since the start of the pandemic, another organization in Lethbridge, Alberta has seen more interest when it comes to physical activity. In fact, there have been benefits to both physical and mental health.

“It’s always been a little safer to be doing activities outside, so running continues to be that type of activity where you can do it outside with even a group of people and keep spaced out a little bit more,” said Shawn Pinder, co-owner of Runners Soul.

This 4-Year-Old Falls During a Skating Competition But Doesn’t Give Up

 

If you’re looking for a reason to not give up on something, well this might be the uplifting video you were looking for.

A four-year-old girl who participated in a roller-skating race with older girls stumbled out of the gate and fell. However, she didn’t give up.

She heard her father encouraging her to continue, and the determined little girl got up, resumed roller-skating with the children up until the age of eight, and won the competition too.

The video below was originally shared in 2020, by Meiah’s dad, Dugas, and has once again gone viral when he re-shared the post.

“For those who remember this, Meiah was only 4 years old. It was a race for kids up to 8 years old. This video has been seen more than 500 MILLION times since it was released in 2020. It’s now going viral again and I want the world to see how much of a fighter she is,” read the caption.

The video now has over 9,600 likes and more than 136,000 views.

 

 

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For 15 Years This Cab Driver Has been Delivering Groceries to the Elderly

 

A cab driver from Calgary has been delivering groceries to seniors within his community for the past 15 years.

Every weekend, Iqbal Alimohd, a cab driver for Checker Cabs, who turns 70 this year, spends his day purchasing groceries for those within the community. At first, it was just a few regular clients. Now, he helps more than 20 seniors.

“With time going by, I see they’re not doing good,” Alimohd told CBC’s Calgary Eyeopener. “And then I told them, ‘From now on, I buy your groceries because you [don’t have] much energy left.”

During the week, his wife and his two sons help track orders for the seniors, while he does his day job. On Saturday’s he heads over to the Real Canadian Superstore, and buys all the groceries on the list, and delivers them. He only charges what he pays for the groceries.

“But my service, my daytime gas, I just charge nothing,” said Alimohd.

Since the start of the pandemic, his two sons, Faisal and Yasin, have started to help with the grocery runs.

“It was such a big commitment that whenever we would want to travel or go anywhere, he would be like, ‘Well, what are my seniors going to do on Saturday?’” Faisal said.

In addition to purchasing in delivering the groceries, Alimohd has become part of their families. He spends his time socializing with the seniors, driving them to appointments, and helping in any way he can.

In fact, his sons didn’t know how much their father has been there for them until they would hear from the seniors or their families.

“It’s uplifting in the sense that I hope other people may take upon it [and] pay it forwards,” said Faisal.

Weight Lifting Outranks Aerobic Exercises for Weight Loss, Study Finds

 

When hitting the gym in aims to lose weight, the first machines or exercises people tend to focus on are cardiovascular. However, new research shows that weight training can be more effective for long-term weight loss.

Researchers from the Iowa State University analyzed data from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, which tracked thousands of participants’ health and fitness for 18 years. It indicated that those who engaged in weight training were 20 to 30 percent less likely to become obese.

The research also reported that practicing weight-based training several times a week for one or two hours corresponded with healthier body weights.

Based on their findings, adding even a little bit of weight training to your routine can go a long way. If you’re just starting off with exercising and creating a workout schedule, make sure you add some time to work on weights, rather than cardio.

 

Jessica Biel Launches Kinderfarms, a Health and Wellness Brand for Families

 

Actress and producer Jessica Biel, 39, has teamed up with entrepreneur Jeremy Adams and co-founder Greg Willsey to launch the new wellness brand Kinderfarms.

The actress came up with this initiative after becoming frustrated by the lack of options in shops when looking for pain management for teething babies.

“You read the back of these labels and then when you start looking up what some of these things are, it doesn’t fit my values as a mom,” the New Year’s Eve actress told PEOPLE Magazine. “It’s like once you have the information and then you start to research different ingredients, you start to think more about like, ‘Well, I wouldn’t put that in my body. Why would I put it in my kid’s body?’”

She also explained that the most important aspect of launching the health and wellness brand is to create products she “could stand behind as a mom and as a woman and as a wife.”

 

 

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“I really trust that the ingredients in these products are effective and non-toxic, just cleaner. That’s the priority,” she says.
Kinderfarms will also donate 1% of all sales to support families globally through the 1% For The Planet campaign.

Volunteers in India Plant 250-Million Saplings in a Single Day

 

Indians across the state of Uttar Pradesh have carried out a mass tree planting campaign aimed to increase forest area. Within a single day, the country planted 250-million saplings.

But this isn’t the first time. Last year, residents in India got together and planted 20 million saplings along the Ganges.

This yearly tradition is led by Uttar Pradesh state government officials, lawmakers, and activists, who have pledged to keep a third of India’s land as forest cover.

Millions of residents took part in this initiative, with trees being planted in farms, schools, forests, highways, and alongside riverbanks. Over the past four annual drives, the state has seen an increase in saplings’ survival rate to an average of 80%.

“We are committed to increasing the forest cover of Uttar Pradesh to over 15% of the total land area in the next five years,” said state forest official Manoj Singh.

According to DW, there has been an increase of 127 square kilometers covered in the forest compared to 2017.

“There has also been an increase in trees and plants. The tree cover has increased to 3.05%, as compared to the national average of 2.89%,” said the official, citing the 2019 Forest Survey of India report.

Mass tree planting has become an easy and inexpensive method of helping the environment, by drawing carbon from the atmosphere.

Forest officials can monitor plantation survival rates and maintain records of success and failure at individual sites with the geo-tagged QR codes.

India will continue to expand its tree coverings in the upcoming years to reach its goal of covering 95 million hectares by 2030.

 

Six Lessons We Can Learn from Simone Biles’ Choice to Not Compete

 

After Simone Biles’ shocked the world by withdrawing from previous medal competitions at the Olympics to focus on her mental health, the gymnast returned on Tuesday winning a bronze medal on the balance beam.

Biles’ decision to pull out of the Olympics highlights the importance of self-care, setting boundaries, especially for the high achievers. It also sends a positive message to the girls around the world, as well as parents to teach their children to listen to themselves and advocate for their own needs.

Here are six lessons we can learn from the Olympian.

 

1) Understand your body and your mind

In an interview with The Washington Post, Tyish Hall Brown, a clinical psychologist in child and adolescent psychology and associate at Howard University explained that the first step for Biles was “identifying within herself where she was.” As an athlete who performs gymnastics while 10 feet in the air, Biles has developed an awareness of where her body is in space.

Katy Hurley, author of ‘No More Mean Girls,’ told The Washington Post that having a moment like this is amazing. “I am working with kids every day to help them take their own pulse and realize where they are.” Having the awareness of knowing how you feel physically and emotionally, as well as your capabilities – is a critical life skill.

 

2) Keeping boundaries

Sarah Vinson, a child and adult psychiatrist in Atlanta believes we need to “stop talking about resilience so much and start talking about boundaries.”

In the past, the U.S. Gymnastics’ culture focused on a win-at-all-costs, that enabled Larry Nassar to sexually abuse more than 150 gymnasts, including Biles. This environment brought more harm to the gymnasts, by not emphasizing personal boundaries, and also ended the career of Kerri Strug, back in 1996 when she attempted to do the vault.

According to RAINN, 1 in 6 women will survive an attempted, or completed rape in their lifetime, with those more at risk being between the ages of 12 and 34. By understanding the importance of boundaries it can offer the most powerful protection.

 

3) You’re the one who’s in charge

It’s important to understand that you are in charge of your own self. “You want to believe that people in charge will look out for you and protect you, but once you realize that’s not necessarily the case,” Vinson tells The Washington Post, “there’s an awareness that it’s really on you to do that.”

Unfortunately, Biles learned that lesson the hard way, after opening up about being abused by Nassar. She’s kept the pressure on USA Gymnastics to accept responsibility for what happened on their watch. This is an eye-opener for the rest of the world to know that the children won’t always be protected by the schools, programs, or organizations, and they should have the courage to stand up for themselves. Especially children of color.

“We see Simone Biles putting herself first. She showed other women and Black girls that you don’t have to be everyone’s everything,” says Hall Brown.

 

4) Don’t forget how important your mental and physical health are

Prior to the 2020 Olympics, another fellow Olympian had withdrawn from the French Open earlier this year. Naiomi Osaka chose to withdraw from the games, citing her mental health, showing how important it is to prioritize both mental and physical health. This led companies like Nike to feature ads about the importance of mental health.

“Simone Biles has encouraged people to talk about it, to not be embarrassed that you take medication and take care of yourself and treating mental health as health,” said Khadijah Booth Watkins, associate director for the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital.

 

5) Having a supportive community

In addition to focusing on mental and physical health, it’s just as important to have a connection to others who are on the same boat as you. Those who you can talk to if it’s about things you won’t talk to your parents about.

“Talking with someone around you might be able to help you get through whatever you’re feeling is so important,” said Hall Brown.

When Biles decided to stop competing, “she didn’t walk away from her team,” she continued. “Some might say she let her team down, but after watching the interviews you see that her focus was not letting her team down. She didn’t want her mental health to get in the way of her team’s success.”

Instead, Biles encouraged her teammates telling them they had trained for this and were ready for it. The team showed support for one another, challenging themselves to go forth to win the silver medal, while Suni Lee won the gold individually.

 

6) Remember that greatness comes in all forms

Looking back at the 1994 Olympics, when Kerri Strug sacrificed everything for gold, it showed such power, hurting yourself for what you love and for pride is so important. However, in 2021, Biles did something very similar, but instead sacrificed gold for the sake of her heart, body, and mind, proving she is the Greatest of All Time.

“What Simone Biles did takes tremendous courage and responsibility,” said Booth Watkins. “She took a different path. It’s a comma, not a period, and it’s going to take her somewhere even better. We don’t want to run a race where we have no energy to finish. We stop to refuel so we can finish. That’s what makes her great and that is going to be what keeps her great.”