New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is calling for a municipal ban on the sale of sugary drinks of greater than 16 ounces

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has banned smoking in New York City as well as Trans-fats in restaurants. He had forced chain restaurants to put calorie counts on menus, and he got sugary soft drinks out of city and school vending machines.

Now, with his continued efforts to curb obesity and lower the cost of health care in New York, Bloomberg is calling for a municipal ban on the sale of sugary drinks of greater than 16 ounces.

The ban applied defines the drinks to be barred that contain more than 25 calories per 8 ounces. This does not include diet sodas.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell responding to the many critics of his extremely controversial big ban, “The idea is you tend to eat all of the food in the container. If it’s bigger, you eat more. If somebody put a smaller glass or plate or bowl in front of you, you would eat less.”

Even progressive liberal comedian-pundit John Stewart is clearly not a fan of the proposal.

The ban would outlaw the sale of sugary drinks 16 oz or more in restaurants and vending machines (including those at gas stations), but you would still be able to purchase large bottles at stores. And of course, the six pack will still be an option is well.

I have mixed emotions about this ban. Soda consumption is one of the most significant contributors of a wide range of disease.

(Image courtesy of The Daily Mail)

But personally, I would rather see our government attempt to educate people as opposed to controlling people. Most people are still unaware of not only of how much sugar is in soda, but also, how bad sugar really is for us. And I would also like to see artificially sweetened foods, including diet soda, banned. Also, as far as laws are concerned, I would much prefer restrictions placed on advertising such as those commercials that try to convince us that Sunny Delight is good for your kids, or that high fructose corn syrup is perfectly healthy “in moderation.”

What do you think of New York’s proposed ban on large sodas?

Who can you trust? Many products that are designed to appeal to the health consious should be avoided.

There are some great companies out there that are trying to make a positive impact on this world by producing healthy, beneficial, environmentally friendly products. There are companies that obviously put profits above our health and our environment. And then there are companies that pretend to care about consumer health and the environment only because they are able to profit by doing so. This is a form of greenwashing called organicwashing.

Organicwashing: a form of greenwashing where companies market a product in a manner that is meant to convince consumers that the product is produced with people’s health and animal welfare in mind, while secretly not giving a damn about anything but profit. Yeah, we made that up. If you are new to organic foods, trying to eat healthier and trying to reduce your environmental impact, it can be overwhelming to find out that the eggs you have been eating and the milk you drink are no better than conventional products you were purchasing before. It’s often enough to make well intentioned consumers throw their arms up and walk away from the more expensive organic products for good. Not only are we going to list for you companies to avoid when purchasing healthier foods, but we will also give you a list companies that are doing a good job of staying green. Surprisingly, some of them are owned by the least environmentally friendly companies. You can be the judge as to whether or not to purchase their products. We will also list a few of the better options to choose from, like companies that are not owned by big bad businesses, green companies that do everything they can to adhere to their original standards. In our comment section below, feel free to add to the list and help this page be a resource to identify the good companies and the organic washers. Not all of these companies are labeled organic, but they are all appealing to the health minded consumer.

Horizon Foods: Milk, Cheese, and Eggs

Horizon is the largest producer of organic milk and organic eggs in the world. They are owned by Dean Foods, the largest conventional dairy company in the world. Dean Foods does not care about organic standards. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Dean food cares a great deal about reducing organic standards. Horizon is often in trouble for bending and violating organic rules and regulations. Dean Foods lobbies to reduce organic standards. And their eggs and milk actually tastes no better than conventional eggs and milk, because they are not much better. For milk, try not drinking it! Consider this: milk is produced by impregnating a cow (or a sheep, or a goat) and then taking away the infant, putting it on formula, and milking the mother. We are ripping apart a mother-infant bond. If you think for a second that the cows don’t know any better, you need to go to a farm and watch it happen. It’s heart-wrenching. There are many other options available. Soy milk is not one we recommend, but there is almond milk, rice milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, and more! The taste is acquired, but believe it or not, cow’s milk is an acquired taste, too.

Silk Soy Milk

Owned by Dean Foods again. The soy beans are genetically modified. And soy milk IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU ANYWAY!

Cascadian Farms

Owned by General Mills, Cascadian Farms, whose principle investors include: Alcoa, Chevron, Disney, Dupont, ExxonMobil, General Electric, McDonalds, Monsanto, Nike, Pepsico, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Starbucks, Target, and Texas Instruments. Every one of those companies has atrocious human rights and environmental issues. 100% of the brand’s cereal and granola products are certified organic, and yet the corporate owners include the nation’s largest agribusinesses involved in GMO/ chemical agriculture. So while Cascadian Farms has done a good job of staying organic, even after they were bought out by this evil company, supporting Cascadian Farms is supporting the worst of the worst companies and everything Cascadian Farms used to stand against. Plus, most grains and the sugar they sell their grains with, really aren’t good for you anyway.

Kashi

Again, most grains are not good for you. And Kashi is grains and sugar too. They are also owned by Kellogg (who also owns Bear Naked). Kashi makes promises of “all natural” and/or “nothing artificial” on the front labels of most of its products. This lead to the August 2011 class action lawsuit filed against the company by Michael Bates. Processed and synthetic ingredients are in most of their products. The lawsuit indicates that a number of these artificial ingredients are listed as “prescription drugs, irradiated substances, pesticides that are a by-product of uranium mining and federally declared hazardous substances.” Kashi also stated that some of its foods “may contain GMOs.” And they followed with, “Many factors outside our control, such as pollen drift from nearby crops and current practices in agricultural storage, handling, and shipping, have led to an environment in North America where GMOs are not sufficiently controlled.”

Hain Celestial Group

Heinz Co. owns nearly 20% of Hain. And Hain owns Garden of Eatin’, Health Valley, WestSoy, Earth’s Best, Hain Pure Foods, Spectrum Naturals, Walnut Acres Organic, Imagine Foods, Rice Dream, Soy Dream, Ethnic Gourmet, Yves Veggie Cuisine, JASON, Avalon Organics, and Alba Walnut Acres, Westbrae, Imagine, Arrowhead Mills, Breadshop’s, Casbah, The Good Dog,The Good Slice, DeBoles, Lima, Biomarche, Grains Noirs, Earth’s Best, and Nile Spice. The Company is a leader in 13 of the top 15 natural food categories. The Cornucopia Institute put together an Organic Soy Scorecard that reveals which soy product companies are truly trustworthy versus those that are not. Cornucopia took into account thesourcing of soybeans, use of toxic chemicals for soy protein extraction, and the use or avoidance of genetically modified soybeans. Westsoy and SoyDream (both owned by Hain Celestial Group) – Refused to share their sourcing information. Hain Celestial Group routinely uses yeast extract in its foods (a form of hidden MSG). Their personal care products (Avalon Organics, and Alba) contain a wide variety of toxic ingredients as well.

Trader Joe’s

Why is trader Joe’s so popular among the green and health conscious? To their credit, when their consumers have spoken out, Trader Joe’s responded with the proper policy changes: they now carry cage-free eggs and GMO-free foods. And they did recently agree to revamp their seafood policies, after a lengthy campaign by Greenpeace to get red-list fish out of its stores. But why did they have to be pressured to do this? And their produce and other foods tend to come in plastic packaging. You can’t buy a fruit or vegetables without buying them being wrapped in SaranWrap, and typically wrapped on a Styrofoam tray.

Stoneyfield

Stonyfield is owned by Dannon. YoKids Squeezers conatian carrageenan. Carrageenan is a water-soluble polymer, also known as a gum, which is used as a fat substitute in processed meats and can be found in condensed milk and some soy milk products. Stonyfield assures us that the FDA says it is safe. And we all trust the FDA. No, kidding, the FDA cannot be trusted anymore than Monsanto. And carrageenan may cause stomach lesions or cancer. There have also been issues about Stonyfield refusing to pay fair prices for milk. And at 99 cents a yogurt, it’s no surprise.

Odwalla and Naked Juices

Pepsi owns Naked. Odwalla is owned by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. We can thank Odwalla for the laws that require juice to be pasteurized. Before they were acquired by Coca-Cola they selling unpasteurized juice. But they were juicing rotten fruits and vegetables with filthy equipment. People got sick. Wikiepedian states, “A period of decline occurred as a result of a fatal outbreak of H7 in 1996 that was caused by using bruised fruit that had been contaminated. Following the E. coli outbreak, Odwalla adopted flash pasteurization and other sanitization procedures.”

Organic Companies You Can Trust

Eden Foods is an amazing company. And while they are pretty substantial in size, the people running this company care a great deal about producing healthy, beneficial products for their consumers. The best egg producer we know of is Vital Farms. They really do care about the welfare of their eggs. “There are many elements we consider vital to our methods: organic green pastures, multiple native grasses, herbs, seeds, and other natural foliage, top quality organic feed, plenty of fresh water, relatively small flock sizes, lots of space to roam and forage, protection for the birds, shelter from inclement weather, and a personal attentiveness to the birds’ welfare!” And their eggs taste incredible! Organic Valley is a pretty good company for eggs and milk. They have been in some trouble, but they do take measures to abide by organic standards, and they aren’t looking to greenwash consumers. But they, along with Whole Foods, and Stonyfield, recently decided it’s time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto’s controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for “coexistence” with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack. Read more at The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?

Organic Bureaucracy

According to many farmers, it has become difficult, even prohibitive, for many small farmers to become certified organic.

And there’s more! Watch this video:

Conclusion

The truth is, organic standards mean very little at this point. And a product labeled as organic is likely to not adhere to these almost meaningless standards anyway. But even if the product does meet the qualifications, the standards leave so much room for manipulating the system. And with the big companies wanting to get in on the organic scene, it is only getting worse and worse. The easiest thing you can do to avoid organicwashing is to avoid buying from big companies! If you see a banana labeled organic sold by Chiquita, don’t buy it! Buy from smaller companies that got into the organic business to make a difference.

The causes of childhood obesity are well-known and complex. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that as many as 18% of adolescents are overweight or obese. Lack of physical exercise and poor nutrition are the leading culprits. Here’s how yoga can help children and teens release excess weight and transform their thinking about food.

1. Yoga is non-competitive. Children and teens suffering with obesity are often discouraged from competitive sports that require speed and agility. Yoga offers an alternative in a non-competitive, compassionate format. Yoga will increase heart-rate and provide much needed cardiovascular support without requiring youth to compare themselves to others. In yoga, everyone wins. For youth facing obesity, this is key. If a child knows he does not have the skills to win, what will motivate him to participate in competitive games? The last thing a child living with obesity needs is to be labeled a “loser.”

2. Yoga encourages youth to discover their own motivation for being physically fit. By it’s nature, yoga practice brings us into closer connection with our innate drive for health. Rather than being motivated by making a certain grade or being on a winning team, yoga practice reveals the personal benefits of increased strength and flexibility, balance, and the ability to focus. Life-long health depends on one’s own motivation towards self-care. The ability to self care begins with awareness of self and body. Yoga builds self awareness by asking children and teens to pay attention to their bodies and breath.

3. Yoga practice works with the mind as well as the body. As a mind-body fitness practice, yoga classes for children and teens address the choices we make for our mind-body systems. Youth learn how their nutrition choices effect how they feel physically. With regular yoga practice, we feel better. When we feel better, we are more likely to make wise choices about what we eat.

4. Yoga practice works to expand consciousness of overall health and well being. Children and teens dealing with obesity find a safe place in yoga to cultivate a positive sense of self that contributes to confidence. Children have expressed to me time and again how much yoga practice helps them feel more able to participate in other physical activities.

Yoga alone cannot fix the problem of childhood and teen obesity. We need to address the issue of access to nutritious foods. Companies likeRevolution Foods are doing just that by providing healthy lunches to participating schools. Yoga does offer multitudes of benefits that can be part of the solution. In closing, consider how stressful it must be in this image driven media age to be an overweight or obese child or teen. The well documented stress reduction factors of yoga practice are a powerful start to transforming health for youth suffering with the debilitating disease of obesity.

Inspire a child or teen to get up off the couch and practice some yoga!

My personal desire for a very simple life without clutter aside, I cringe when I think about the masses upon masses of pure plastic junk that is produced in our country year after year after (gift giving) year and despite the fact that I’ve made it a pre-holiday tradition to express to family members and close friends that I would love to enjoy a simple holiday gathering without the {near insane} hassle of obligatory buying for everyone, we still manage to drive home every year with a car-load of ‘goods.’

A few years ago, I accompanied a friend to their family’s holiday gathering.  Since I wasn’t really close to any attending family members, gift exchange was nowhere near the front of my mind.  Mid-way through the festivities, people began breaking out beautifully decorated packages~ I was so happy and content to sit back and simply watch.  My friend’s aunt (who I adore and who was also hosting the party) quickly noticed my non-participating stance and, wanting me to feel ‘a part’ of the exchange, grabbed a nearby snoring Santa statue and~ to my {slightly amused} horror~ presented it to me as a gift.  Naturally, I graciously accepted ‘snoring Santa’…and, to this day, my friend and I still occasionally indulge in a hearty laugh over the whole ordeal.  ‘Snoring Santa’ found a new home with the quickness.;)

Gift-giving. Rarely do we engage in an activity that solicits such a tangle of thoughts and values.

Of course, ‘snoring Santa’ hasn’t been the only gift that I’ve rerouted under-the-radar. There have been countless gifts from countless holiday gatherings that have failed to make it inside our home. Many (if not most) find a new home almost instantly. My personal desire for a very simple life without clutter aside, I cringe when I think about the masses upon masses of pure plastic junk that is produced in our country year after year after (gift giving) year and despite the fact that I’ve made it a pre-holiday tradition to express to family members and close friends that I would love to enjoy a simple holiday gathering without the {near insane} hassle of obligatory buying for everyone, we still manage to drive home every year with a car-load of ‘goods.’

How important, really, is gift giving? And, HOW MUCH do we really need?? One of my favorite memories as a child was listening to my mom read The Little House on the Prairie book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was drawn to a simple way of living even then and vividly recall Laura’s description of their family’s Christmas. In general, after a long trip to the nearest town, ‘Pa’ would typically have enough left over, after buying needed supplies, to bring each child a stick of candy…and there was one Christmas, in particular, where they were snowed in for months—receiving makeshift gifts and finally enjoying their Christmas meal months later. It was all accepted with a spirit of appreciation for what they did have and the time that they were able to spend together. I adore this variety of rustic gratitude…{much so.}

Now, instead of waking up on Christmas morning to a new pair of socks or a bag of rock candy, children fully expect to be greeted by a slew (a fairly LARGE slew) of bags and boxes.

{sigh.}

On one hand, obligatory gift buying and giving long ago crossed a boundary into a consumer-centered, wasteful holiday tradition that is in desperate need of a lil’ shape-shifting.

The desire to delight your child, grandchild, niece or nephew with the latest and greatest game or toy runs right up against the {very likely} scenario of the toy in consideration being poorly made in another country, lacking in long-term play value, and being composed of umpteen plastic parts (most of which will be eaten by the vacuum or end up in the nearest landfill by the following month).

On the other hand, it is such a pleasure to make or buy a special gift and give it to someone you love with the purest desire to do so.

Either way, even if the act of wildly exchanging gifts is unlikely to change any year soon within your ‘circle of giving,’ there is one strategy that can cut through the conflicts of gift giving and make for much less of a burden~ both for recipients who might not share your unique tastes, and for our planet! This particular purposeful focus hums to the subtle tune of simplicity and freedom from choking consumerism…and~ just as diggable~ makes shopping more enjoyable…in one word:

Consumables!!!

A consumable gift is one that will be used up, one that is not ‘stash-able’ until the next yard sale or thrift shop drop-off…it is not a material thing, a ‘keepsake,’ decoration, trinket; it is not on the fast and savvy track to adding to the clutter section of one’s sacred space. A consumable is anexperiential gift. It is something that will be enjoyed by the recipient…yet, will have an end;). Something to eat, something to read, something to bake, somewhere to go……

Let’s begin with the little ones. I know from experience that a huge plastic art set lacks the play miles that come along with a simple pad of drawing paper and a nice set of colored pencils. Likewise, instead of a huge ensemble of toy pots, pans, pretend food and packaging, go for a baking mix or a certificate for a mom & daughter cooking class. Books are always a perfect gift for a child~ they can be read over and over, supporting quality family together time and, when no longer enjoyed, can easily be donated to the local library or thrift store.

Edibles are a no-brainer. The holiday gift industry is well aware of the ‘for everyone appeal’ of themed packaged food. However, before dishing out for a box of stale crackers, spread and salty meat~ consider creating your own bag of fresh and natural eats…or even a food share at a local farm or farmer’s market.

For your parents? Forget passing along more ‘crafty pieces’ for their already full house. Give them tickets to a play, movie or a certificate for dinner at a local restaurant. Candles, note cards & stamps, soap, lotion, supplies for a project they’ve wanted to complete are all good ideas…or maybe a membership to a fitness center or ‘food/wine/fruit/chocolate of the month’ club.

For a close friend or lover~ get creative! Plan an entire night or outing, include a massage, yoga session or other stress-relieving engagement—or simply orchestrate a relaxing evening at home.

Package up homemade trail mix, fresh fruit or an assortment of teas for colleagues and friends.

Again, think experience! The possibilities are endless and it’s typically much more satisfying (for all involved, really) to piece together unique, useful offerings than it is to pack the trunk full of highly commercialized, ‘one size fits all’ gift bombs.

Cheers to preserving both our planet and our sanity…one [small, consumable] gift at a time 😉 .

I am the chief editor of Organic Lifestyle Magazine. And I’m fat. I am not fat like I used to be. At my peak I weighed 368 pounds with a 56 inch waist. I was a big boy back in the day. I was 17 when I started losing weight. I didn’t do it right, but I had great motivation. I wanted to get laid. Julie was my motivation. She was gorgeous, and way, way out of my league, and I knew I would have to get in shape to have her.

The first time I saw Julie I was the fattest I had ever been. Then I started exercising like crazy and I followed the food pyramid diet. I felt like crap half the time but teenage hormones and the desire to lose my virginity were my fuel.

How I Lost the Weight

I was weightlifting five days a week, I played basketball for ninety minutes a day and ran 6 miles a week once a week. Can you imagine a guy as out of shape as I was playing basketball for ninety minutes without sitting out a game? Like I said, I was motivated.

When I was around twenty-four I ballooned back up to 280 pounds. I was with a woman who was a bit of a chubby chaser who loved to eat and never seemed to gain a pound herself. I fed her and fed myself. We ate. I got fat. She didn’t mind at all. I didn’t even notice.

How I Lost the Weight the Second Time

I lost that weight when I was incarcerated for 18 months for a crime I did not commit. I came out at 210 pounds. In jail we were not allowed to run but I had a workout group that went up and down the stairs repeatedly, did bodyweight exercises, and we made water weights out of trash bags and weightlifted. In prison I ran, played basketball, and used 110 pound floor buffers tied together to make 220 pound free weights for squats and bench.

I am six feet three inches. Right now I weigh 220 pounds. I am stronger than the average person, I can do around 15 chinups, 45 pushups, and I squat 255 and deadlift 345. I can run a few miles and I can ride a bicycle at least 100 miles on level ground.

I’m in decent shape, but nowhere near where I want to be. I want to be the kind of fit that you would expect a health nut to be in. I want a six pack. I want to squat 400 pounds. I want to be able to do more than 100 pushups and more than 50 pullups. I want to be able to complete a hot power yoga class. I want to be able to realistically consider doing a triathlon.

But I’m fat. If I weighed 180 pounds I would have no fat. That means I have 40 pounds of blubber.

Loose Skin

Plus, since I used to be so overweight I have loose skin. Actually, I don’t have loose skin. I have lots of empty fat cells. I have loose fat.

It is a common misconception that people that lost some weight have loose skin. You may, but if you eat right and you are healthy your skin should tighten up. The problem is that when fat is burned it’s not burned like layers being stripped away. It can be kind of random. Imagine a honeycomb, with each cell being filled with fat. A cell here, and a cell there gets burned as you exercise.

Six Pack

The way you get the six pack, the rock hard abs, the tight skin, is to get your body fat very low, like under 7%. Then, if you want to be a little fluffier, a little softer, you can add more fat, and it is added in tight layers as opposed to the flabby jelly I have now.

So here it is. My “before” picture, which is current as of this post, 10/27/2011, here below.

I’m embarrassed. I’ll probably get a bunch of comments that say, “Hey man, don’t be embarrassed…” and I’ll get a few that say, “You should be embarrassed…” But I’m embarrassed. I’ve let this go too long. I want my rock hard abs. I want to be lean. I want to be stronger. I want to be in shape. I want to take off my shirt and impress people.

So I’m putting it out there. I will get in shape. The holidays are going to be tough. I do love to eat! On the next update. I will also tell you all what I am doing and how I am doing it.

My Goals

• Bench 300 pounds
• Squat 400 pounds
• Deadlift 500 pounds
• 50 pullups
• 100 pushups
• 34 inch waist
• 6% body fat
• Visible six pack

I will achieve my goals with weightlifting and High Intensity Interval Training and cardio. I will also add bicycles and yoga when I get closer to my goals.

If you are looking to get in better physical condition, leave your goals and plan of action as a comment below!

We are the 19%

Driving my daughter to school early one morning, I was thinking about suffering. Real suffering. I was thinking about a story I recently heard about mothers in Somalia who embark upon a two-week trek to reach food and water. Along the way, a child becomes too weak to walk any further. The mother is forced to make a decision between 1 child and her remaining six. Does she stay with the 1 child, a decision that will ultimately result in the death of all her children? Or does she leave that one child behind, to die alone, sparing the lives of the other six? This story is stuck in my head. It doesn’t go away. Sometimes, I’ll just be watching my kids eat breakfast

and get overwhelmed with gratitude for being born into a life so abundant with food, water, and shelter. I’m grateful that I am not one of those mothers, yet pained by the fact that I feel absolutely helpless and powerless to change their circumstances.

How is it that we can extract oil from the other side the world, transport it across an ocean to refineries that turn it into a substance that can power millions of vehicles, yet we cannot get these starving children food and water?  Why can’t we get transportation for these mothers and their children who are walking for two weeks and dying along the way?  How is it that we can land on the moon and travel through space, but not get food and water to a country here on our very own planet?

How can we look at ourselves in the mirror and still want more, knowing that there are people in this world whose basic needs are not being met? As a mother, how can I want more, knowing that another mother has to leave her child behind to die to save her other children?

We are occupying Wall Street by the thousands. We are occupying Wall Street because our way of life has become threatened. We have lost our jobs. We have lost our homes. Our cars have been repossessed. We can’t afford to shop at Hollister; we have to settle for Target instead. We scrape the bottom of our purses looking for change to purchase our $2.45 cup of coffee from Starbucks; no more venti caramel macchiatos. We are not the 99%. We are the 19%. The majority, 80%, live in varying degrees of starvation, malnourishment, and extreme poverty, while 1% keep the 19% drunk on material wealth and gorged on stuff, stuff, and more stuff. The 80% are out of sight and out of mind. Industrialized agriculture has stolen their food and killed their soil. Manufacturers in search of cheap labor have polluted their air and water. Corrupt governments have raped their land of natural resources. ALL OF THIS is done so you and I can have more stuff. WE, the consumers, are the problem. WE, the consumers, have ALL THE POWER. If tomorrow, everyone in support of occupy Wall Street spent NO MONEY, and demanded that somebody, somewhere get those mothers and their babies in Somalia some food and water before we will spend another penny, we would see change happen fast. Yes, we might have to get a little uncomfortable. We might even have to get a little hungry for a few days, but WE would know our power and we would never forget it, nor would the corporations or the 1% whose very existence relies on the certainty that tomorrow you and I will wake up and at some point throughout the day, we will spend money.

I hate the high cost of air conditioning. I also hate stuffy houses, the closed windows, and the loss of fresh air. And yet, each year it seems that once those windows are closed and the air conditioner is turned on, it stays turned on until the fall, regardless of the fluctuation of outdoor temperature.

Knowing this phenomenon, I always wait as long as possible to turn on the air conditioner. I strip down to short shorts and tank tops. I run fans and take cold showers. I hold out as long as I can, but when that temperature hangs in the nineties during the day and refuses to drop at night, heat makes sleep impossible. That’s when the windows are slammed shut and the switch is flipped on, usually for the duration.

In the last few years, I lived in a huge house with lots of windows. All but one of them was near to impossible to open. This inability to easily turn that air conditioner off and open the windows made me even more aware of the fact of how many days or nights it was cooler outside than inside.

So why do we do it? Why do we batten down the hatch and flip the switch, never looking back until summer’s end? Summer storms are certainly one factor. When we leave those windows open when we aren’t home, rain blows in. Pollen is a problem. Crime may be another. But I think the primary reason we shut those windows for months on end is a combination of laziness and a lack of knowledge in how to cool our homes naturally.

When daytime temperatures are high and nighttime temperatures drop, it’s fairly easy to keep your house cool. Shut the windows in the morning and open them at night. You can use fans to help cool down the house at night. Set half of them to draw in air and the other half to blow it out. If you have a two-story house, try using the downstairs fans to draw in cool air and the upstairs fans to blow out hot air.

If you do turn on that air conditioner, pay attention to the outdoor temperature each day and each night. Turn off that air conditioner and open those windows every chance you get. Your diligence will be rewarded when you receive your electric bill.