everydayliving®

Friday, September 13, 2019

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Decoding Green Labels 101

A guide for consumers to navigate through all those ‘sustainable’ products

TORONTO, Ont. —From “natural” tea, to “green” cleaning supplies to “eco-friendly” clothing, there are endless products being marketed with claims that attempt to convince consumers that they are making the right decision when shopping.

“Canadians are concerned about the state of our environment and worker conditions, and are opting for more sustainable, conscientious products and services,” says Laurie Simmonds, President and CEO of Green Living Enterprises. “With companies using various ‘green’ claims and labels now more than ever, it can be difficult to distinguish between what looks and sounds ethical and sustainable, and what actually is.”

Product certifications alleviate this challenge for consumers, as any certified product has undergone a rigorous third party evaluation; examining everything from environmental impact, ingredient procurement, worker conditions and compensation to name few. Choosing products with the following labels will help you shop smarter and feel more confident about your buying power:

· While many may think it’s the most obvious, Fairtrade is often a confusing term. The Fairtrade mark means the ingredients in a product have been produced by small-scale farmer organizations or plantations that meet social, economic and environmental standards. Equifruit for example, is the Canadian market leader of Fairtrade-certified bananas, with a large number of retail partners in Quebec and Ontario.

· B Certified is to a business what Fairtrade is to fruit or coffee. Launched in 2006, B Certified companies meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability. Dedicated to offering bee-derived superfoods, Beekeeper’s Naturals is a great example of a B Certified company that has undergone strict analysis and understands their overarching duty to the environment. It is one of 2,048 B Corporations in 50 countries around the world, all demonstrating a desire to make change and be part of something bigger.

· Eating organic is one of the most popular ways to lead a healthier, more sustainable life. This can be made easy by purchasing products with the Canada Organic label and certification (define what it means – pesticides, antibiotics, etc..). Canada’s organic standards are among the most recognized in the world and Harmony Organic is a Canadian company that wears this label with pride. With 14 family farm producers, Harmony Organic is passionate about the quality of their dairy, their cows and the earth.

· Sustainable food choices continue to be important to Canadians, changing the way they think about what’s on their plates. With overfishing being the biggest threat our oceans face today, consumers who choose to eat seafood can make a difference by choosing fish that is responsibly sourced or by visiting restaurants, like Hawthorne Food & Drink that use the Oceanwise symbol — an assurance against overfishing, harm to other aquatic creatures and protection of the marine ecosystem.

· The Leaping Bunny logo is one to look out for when purchasing personal-care products and cosmetics. Companies like Skin Essence Organics that are certified through the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, make a voluntary pledge to eliminate animal testing from all stages of product development.

“We are all trying to make better choices for our health and wellbeing that will help build a better world, with a healthy environment and strong communities,” adds Laurie. “Learning about these various labels and certifications is a great step in that direction”.

This April, visit all of these people- and planet-friendly certified companies, plus 400 sustainable companies at the Green Living Show taking place April 7^th to 9^th, 2017, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Please RSVP if you would like to attend as media.

For more info on leading a healthier, greener lifestyle, please visit www.greenlivingshow.ca. ‘Like’ them on Facebook, or follow @GreenLivingPage.

About Green Living Enterprises

Green Living Enterprises is Canada’s leading cause-marketing agency focused on social and environmental program development. Our team is led by award-winning industry experts in the fields of brand and program development; custom content; advertising, marketing and communications; and event management. Green Living Enterprises also includes Greenlivingonline.com and The Green Living Show, Canada’s largest consumer show, dedicated to simple solutions for leading a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

Green Living Show

The Green Living Show is Canada’s largest consumer show dedicated to simple solutions for leading a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. This three-day event offers inspiration for all ages and features influential speakers; innovative products; eco home and garden design; local and organic food and wine tastings; health, wellness and yoga pavilions; eco fashion and green beauty makeovers; electric car test drives; nature exhibits and fun activities for the entire family.

Monday, September 9, 2019

Creating an unnecessary barrier between doctors and patients

A convoluted – and doomed – communication portal in Nova Scotia has failed the health care system and its users on both sides

By David Zitner

Senior Health Policy Fellow

Atlantic Institute for Market Studies

Most businesses encourage clients to electronically access their own information because consumers value the efficiency and convenience of electronic access.

Unfortunately, the Nova Scotia Department of Health (DOH) has a different idea. It has been a successful barrier preventing most Nova Scotians from retrieving and using their own health information.

Few Nova Scotians have access to their own health records or timely, unimpeded, access to the results of recent tests. Most Nova Scotians can’t communicate with doctors by phone or email.

The DOH claims it wants to simplify care by encouraging people to participate in their own care and have access to their own information. However, only a select few Nova Scotians, privileged by DOH policies, can call and speak to doctors over the telephone and can access their health information.

The Department of Health unashamedly reports that after eight years of effort, and at huge financial expense, only a tiny and select group of 30,000 patients cared for by 300 doctors have routine access to a health information portal. The remaining 97 per cent of Nova Scotians are in the second tier for health care, without access to a personal health information portal or the ability to speak over the phone with their doctors (if they have one).

MyHealthNS, using McKesson’s Relay Health, has been an ongoing effort by the Nova Scotia Department of Health to give all Nova Scotians access to some of their health information. Unfortunately, it made a simple goal complicated and became a barrier to Nova Scotia innovation. Not surprisingly McKesson Canada is withdrawing from this failing venture.

In the interest of putting most Nova Scotians at a similar disadvantage, the Department of Health doesn’t allow anyone, including doctors and nurses, to retrieve their laboratory results or other health information from any system other than the cumbersome and doomed Relay Health system approved by the DOH.

Nevertheless, despite inadequate compensation for electronic communication, a few doctors continue to encourage and support patients who want to use ordinary email for their communications.

In the normal world, forwarding an email is easy. The initial recipient of an email report merely forwards the information to another recipient. In the case of health information, the doctor can forward laboratory reports or advice using any email system acceptable to the doctor and patient.

Many patients prefer to take the risk of insecure communication using common email systems to gain safer and more efficient care. They prefer their usual email systems partly because health department systems regularly report privacy breaches.

Sadly, the Relay Health project interfered with existing projects, including ones by the Cooperative Council, that were designed to accomplish similar goals and at no cost to government or patients.

One electronic health record vendor whose product was used by many Nova Scotia physicians reported that the Department of Health wouldn’t allow it to put patients’ email addresses in doctors’ patient record systems. The DOH insisted that clinicians only provide patients with access through the cumbersome Relay Health system.

Rather than taking five or 10 seconds to forward a report with a brief comment, the Department of Health demanded that doctors take substantially more time to use Relay Health.

Every year, some people are harmed, including dying, because a lab report was ignored, mishandled or lost. When patients have access to their own laboratory reports, they have the power to be active participants in their care and prevent the consequences of lost reports.

There are no rational reasons for the Nova Scotia Department of Health to continue to act as a barrier to easy communication between doctors and their patients.

Dr. David Zitner, a retired family physician, was the founding director of the graduate program in Health Informatics at Dalhousie University and is Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) senior health policy fellow.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Organic Living and Beyond

Changing the world, one life at a time through the message of health. And getting iinfo out to everyone so we can make healthy choices for ourselves and family. Visit them on Facebook for more information....