That is the theme for International Women’s Day 2016! And while we’re stepping it up, let’s thank all the women we know and all those that are no longer with us! Raise a glass! And if you’re raising a beer, guess what? It was invented by a woman. As was the dishwasher, the fire escape, monopoly, kevlar and computer software. Among many, many, many other wonderful items. Cheers! 😉
An interesting article by Peter Andrey Smith in The New York Times. “Micro-organisms in our gut secrete a profound number of chemicals, and researchers have found that among those chemicals are the same substances used by our neurons to communicate and regulate mood, like dopamine and serotonin.
“These, in turn, appear to play a function in intestinal disorders, which coincide with high levels of major depression and anxiety.
“Anxiety and depression [among other disorders] have been linked with gastrointestinal abnormalities.”
Working to end the stigma that still surrounds mental illness, Wear Your Label produces clothes with slogans and conversations starters. As the founders say on their website, “One in five people live with mental illness. Five in five have mental health.”
That’s all of us!
Additionally, the company doesn’t separate clothing into the traditional gender binary categories, a decision explicitly in support of transgender and gender non-conforming people, particularly young people.
Drexel University culinary arts and food science students in West Philadelphia “collected thousands of pounds of bruised or misshapen fruits and vegetables from area supermarkets and developed products and recipes in the student-run Drexel Food Lab to put them to better use.
“These new, more appealing products could then be served or sold, diverting the food items from the landfill and creating a more sustainable food system.”
With approximately one-third of all food globally being wasted, far more of these types of programmes are needed. Read the Science Daily article.