Vivid Living Blog
News, Events and usefully information for Vivid Living.
Everything makes you fat! Cutting out dairy will make you skinny! Full-fat cows milk will prevent your osteoporosis! Carrots help you see in the dark!
Whether it’s an old wives tale or a convincing article found online, health myths are EVERYWHERE. Anyone that has a keyboard can make up a health tip; we’ve put together eight examples of myths that miss the mark.
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We all know that Hong Kong can be hot, humid and damp, and all of us have discovered mold at one point or another in our homes. Humidity can trigger allergies, cause arthritis to flare up, and cause mold to form in and around the home. Mold is even more dangerous to your health. Nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, eye irritation and even skin irritation can all be brought on by mold. In a study conducted by the IOM, sufficient evidence was found linking exposure to damp environments to respiratory tract symptoms, coughing, and wheezing in otherwise healthy people.
As mentioned in our Blog post ‘What you can do to escape air pollution in your home’ it is crucial that we do everything possible to keep our indoor environment a clean, healthy space. This article addresses what mold is, why it occurs and how to tackle it.
Mold is a common type of fungus that thrives in moist warm conditions, and steamy Hong Kong is a natural haven for these airborne spores. Mold infestations can manifest themselves suddenly during periods of temperature fluctuation, but in a subtropical climate like Hong Kong there is always a risk of your home or office being affected by this pesky invasion.
Before you think about tackling or preventing this unpleasant visitor, here is what you need to know about mold.
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Hong Kong, like many developed cities, has seen it’s waste load swell exponentially alongside it’s population. The waste disposal infrastructure is no match for the rate and volume at which we generate refuse. The Hong Kong Audit Commission stated on October 27 2015 that in 2013 Hong Kong created 5.49 million tonnes of municipal solid waste. This is a comparatively large waste load compared to neighboring cities at a similar level of development like Seoul and Taipei, and was almost double the amount of daily domestic waste in Tokyo.
Of this 5.49 million tons of waste produced, 3.48 million tons (63%) were disposed of at landfills, and the remaining 2.01 million tons (37%) were recovered for recycling. In the same year, America recycled 50% of municipal waste. As reported by the Hong Kong Environmental Bureau, all existing landfill sites will be full by 2019.
The government hopes to reduce the amount of rubbish generated by 40% by 2020, partly through introducing waste charging in 2016.
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Getting enough and better sleep seems to be a hot topic. After my last blog post 'How To Turn Your Bedroom Into A Sleep Sanctuary' I received some emails with requests for more tips about gadgets and apps that could help improve sleep. This is an area I’m really interested in so I couldn’t resist to share more.
The sleep-aid market is growing and is expected to reach USD 76 bn in 2019 (BCC Research, July 2014). According to this Time Out article, Hong Kongers on average only get 6.46 hours sleep a day and 2.8 million of us suffer from insomnia. In America, the Center for Disease Control called their sleep problems a public health epidemic: Billions of dollars lost in economic productivity, fatal accidents caused by sleep deprivation, links to the obesity crisis and the rise in sleep apnea. Sleep is crucial for your memory, learning performance, recovery and overall health. We spend more time sleeping than we do eating and exercising combined.
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Sleep is critical for your brain and for your health. According to the Time Magazine article “Power of Sleep”, "Getting the recommended seven to eight hours each night can improve concentration, sharpen planning and memory skills and maintain the fat-burning system that regulates our weight. If every one of us slept as much as we’re supposed to, we’d all be lighter, less prone to developing Type 2 diabetes and most likely better equipped to battle depression and anxiety. We might even lower our risk of Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis and cancer."
Getting enough sleep is equal to finding the fountain of youth. We all know it but most of us just can’t get it right. There is the Hong Kong ‘work hard play hard’ lifestyle, the many electronic distractions we go to bed with, light pollution and noisy neighbors. We spend up to 90% of our time indoors, which is why the built-environment has a profound impact on our health and well-being. Hence, it's pretty clear that your bedroom is the most important room in your home. It should be a refuge that promotes total renewal and deep sleep. So if there is only one place you should start to turn your home into a healthier living environment it's the bedroom. Here are some great areas to begin with:
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