ML Interest Tag: reach

Walmart & TerraCycle Collect More Than 1 Million Car Seats During Recycling Event

by Erica Loop

Walmart recently announced an early end to its first car seat recycling event. If you haven’t gotten a chance to trade in your old car seat for a $30 Walmart gift card, it’s too late—at least when it comes to this year’s event.

After collecting nearly one million car seats in less than one week, Walmart (in partnership with TerraCycle) had to change the end date from Sep. 30 to Sep. 21.

According to a press statement, “The response to-date from our customers has been incredible, far exceeding both our and TerraCycle’s expectations. Due to the overwhelming response from our customers, we are quickly reaching capacity for this program.”

One million collected car seats certainly sounds like a sizable number—but that doesn’t compare to the quantity of plastic water bottles it equates to. The car seats are, “The equivalent of diverting over 200 million plastic bottles from landfills”, according to TerraCycle.

While this event was forced to end prematurely, a Walmart spokesperson noted, “Through the car seat recycling event, we’ll help families to keep their kids safe and help reduce plastic waste from landfills. We look forward to hosting future events supporting the needs of parents and families.”

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Walmart via Instagram 

 

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Get Ready to Ugly Cry! Michael Bublé’s Video Will Bring On the Tears

by Erica Loop

Warning! Do not watch this clip if you’re already reaching for the first day of school tissues. Whether your kiddo is off to kindergarten or college, Michael Bublé’s now-viral video for Forever Now will bring on the waterworks.

If the lyrics don’t get you, the animation itself will. The clip starts with something we’re all pretty familiar with—the box-filled nursery. It then moves into the full baby-centered set-up.

As the video progresses, the room changes. From crib to bed and toys to TV, you can see how, in Bublé’s words, “Time flies by.”

If you’re not crying yet, you will. The room goes from teen-time to something just about every mama dreads—when your baby (even though they’re probably taller than you at this point) flies the coop and moves out.

But don’t worry, it’s not all doom, gloom and grown children. Bublé’s video ends with yet another nursery. And another story begins!

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Pexels 

 

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This Theme Park Just Unveiled a 300-Foot Drop “Giga-Coaster”

by Shahrzad Warkentin

King’s Island amusement park in Ohio has just revealed the newest roller coaster awaiting thrill seekers this spring and it features a massive three hundred foot drop.

The new Orion coaster will be the park’s tallest, fastest and longest steel roller coaster in addition to being just one of seven “giga” coasters in the entire world. A ride qualifies as a “giga” coaster when it features a drop between 300 and 399 feet.

The ride will last three minutes and feature seven hills after the mega drop, reaching speeds of up to 91 miles per hour. Fans will have to wait until Spring 2020 to get their first thrill ride, as the coaster is still under construction. Just hours after the park’s announcement the first pieces of the ride arrived for installation.

King’s Island is already home to a record-breaking coaster, the Beast, which is the longest wooden roller coaster in the world.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

All photos: King’s Island

 

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The World’s First Launched Water Coaster Is Opening Soon

by Shahrzad Warkentin

Next year Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari theme and water park in Indiana will open Cheetah Chase, the world’s first launched water coaster!

What is a launched water coaster? Launched coasters are nothing new. They use force to shoot riders out of the station in order to reach extreme speeds before even reaching a big drop. The new Cheetah Chase will combine that concept with a water slide.

Instead of climbing an exhaustingly tall set of stairs like on most large water slides, riders will simply hop aboard their ride vehicle, which in this case will be a three-seat, toboggan style raft, at the top of a low hill where they’ll be blasted off and uphill at speeds of up to twenty miles per hour.

The other unique feature of this launched water coaster will be side-by-side tracks which allow riders to race each other. “This thing is really unique because you’re really going to have a true race…right from the start,” explained Ray Smegal, chief commercial officer with ProSlide the company that designed the coaster. “So, they’re going to shoot across the surface and get up to about 30 feet per second, and then climb a tall, steep hill with the water. The intensity of the race and that competition is going to really start from the beginning.”

The Cheetah Chase will be constructed in the Splashin’ Safari section of the park located in Santa Claus, Indiana, joining two other existing water coasters. The ride is set to open sometime in 2020.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

All photos: Courtesy of Holiday World

 

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Why Family Pets Are Good for Your Health, According to Science

by Karly Wood

Even if you’re not an animal lover, a new study published from Washington State University may have you changing your mind about adding a fur baby to the family. The study, which was published in AERA Open, an open-access journal, found that spending a small amount of time petting a dog or cat can help with stress reduction.

The university studied the common “Pet Your Stress Away” programs that many institutions are using, in which students can spend time with cats or dogs to alleviate stress. While the research specifically studied students, the results are much more far-reaching.

photo: Paul Hanoaka via Unsplash

Researchers studied 249 students split into four groups who were able to interact directly with animals, watch others interact, view a slide show or wait their turn. The results showed that the students who interacted directly with the pets showed much less cortisol in their saliva measurement (the tool used to determine cortisol levels) after the interaction.

The results were consistent for students with varying high and low levels of cortisol going into the study––proof that some time with your fuzzy friends is good for your health.

Patricia Pendry, an associate professor in WSU’s Department of Human Development states, “What we wanted to learn was whether this exposure would help students reduce their stress in a less subjective way. And it did, which is exciting because the reduction of stress hormones may, over time, have significant benefits for physical and mental health.”

Student or parent, a little time with your furry friend can only help when it comes to ditching the stress.

––Karly Wood

 

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Pregnancy Is as Hard on Your Body as Running a Marathon

by Shahrzad Warkentin

From the added weight strain to the sheer exhaustion, science has finally declared that being pregnant is basically like sprinting through a marathon. A new study says that pregnant women expend nearly the same energy as endurance athletes.

The study published in Science Advances was looking to measure the maximum human energy expenditure and found that endurance athletes competing in long-distance events like Tour de France and Iron Man generally peak at an energy expenditure level of 2.5 BMR. In other words the burn calories at an average rate of 2.5 times their resting metabolic rate. What researchers found surprising about this is the fact that pregnant women expend nearly the same amount of energy, with an average of 2.2 BMR, according to CTVNews.

photo: Freestocks via Pexels

What the study ultimately proved was the limit of what is possible for humans and being pregnant is pretty close to reaching that limit, Herman Pontzer, study co-author and associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University explained to CTVNews.

“I think we all have the potential—but how do we reach it? With pregnancy your body takes over and you have no control over it,” he said. “Every mother who has gone through a pregnancy has experienced that effort themselves.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

 

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What Is Amazon Day? This New Prime Perk Is an Eco-Friendly Game-Changer

by Karly Wood

With the launch of Amazon’s new Amazon Day shipping option this week, you may be wondering, “What is Amazon Day?” The Amazon Prime member-only benefit revamps the way the company handles shipping and is a big move towards reaching their Shipment Zero initiatives, one of which is making half their shipments net carbon zero by 2030.

In short, the perk is a new delivery option that allows Prime members to pick a day to receive their orders and it’s amazing for so many reasons. Whether you’re placing an order for one item or want to coordinate multiple orders to arrive on the same day, Amazon Day helps make deliveries predictable.

photo: Courtesy of Amazon

One of the biggest advantages of using Amazon Day is the ability to receive packages on days you choose, especially to avoid package thefts. Pick a day you plan to be home and receive all your Amazon boxes on that day. So. Easy.

Shoppers will also cut down on the amount of cardboard used since items from orders will be combined—which means fewer Amazon boxes to break down and recycle. Using Amazon Day also lowers the number of trips your delivery driver is making to your home, meaning less gas and fewer emissions going into the environment!

Using Amazon Day is actually very seamless. Once you arrive at your shopping cart, you’ll see the option to “Choose your Amazon Day” when you reach the shipping page.

Once you click, you will be taken to “Your Amazon Day” and can pick the best day that works for you. It’s also worth noting that not every order has to go through Amazon Day once this option has been utilized. (You can still make expedited, regular two-day and Subscribe & Save orders as needed.)

Using the Amazon Day shipping option does still require a roughly two-day order window, so shop accordingly. The new program is already available for use by all Amazon Prime members throughout the United States.

––Karly Wood

 

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Dear Parents of Kids with That Dreaded Stomach Bug: I See You. I Salute You

By Kristen Cudd

Photo: YouTube

Every parent has been there: you’re just sitting there being a nice, normal family experiencing what you think is nice, normal food digestion when WHAM! Your little one turns a ghastly shade of pale, gets super quiet and blows his insides up all over the room.

You immediately begin fooling yourself, wishing, hoping, practically begging in vain. Maybe it won’t happen again. Maybe it was just a one time thing. Surely it’s possible that this was a singular, thoroughly disgusting event.

But you’ve been to this very messy and smelly party before. And deep inside you know: this isn’t over. This is just beginning. What you’ve got on your hands is a stomach bug and the only question now is who will fall next.

Every sloppy and sad episode leaves you pondering, for the love of all things bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, when. Will. This. End?! You’re down to your last set of sheets and your industrial supply of Clorox wipes is running low. Every single time it happens you think, surely that’s it, right? This has to be over now.

And then it’s not.

When you’re knee-deep in puke-stained sheets, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the digestive health tunnel, but I promise you, this too shall eventually—and literally—pass.

Here are five signs that the dreaded stomach bug is done.

  1. A minimum of 90 minutes has passed since you last started a new load of towels, sheets and soiled PJs.
  2. Your kitchen has been used for something other than the dispensing of Saltine crackers and Pedialyte.
  3. The television is off—or alternatively, broadcasting a program of an adult nature (and I don’t mean the X-rated variety, just the actual human actors variety).
  4. No longer is it necessary to share the couch with a bucket and a bunch of wet spots.
  5. Your child resumes copping an attitude regarding his younger sibling, your ongoing and clearly inadequate care of him or your refusal to resume afore-mentioned animated movie marathon.

But don’t get too comfortable if you find yourself reaching all of these milestones and more. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in these offensive trenches, some bugs are built to last—and they won’t be satisfied until they’ve drained every last putrid drop.

This post originally appeared on Long Days, Short Years, Stiff Years.

Kristen is a Texan living in South Bend, Indiana with her husband, two boys, and their rescue dog, Townes. She enjoys yoga, travel, shaking her money maker, things that make her sweat, sleeping through the night and day dates. 

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This 5-Year-Old Is on a Mission to Help the Homeless

by Erica Loop

Austin Perine is on a mission to help the homeless. Like a superhero, Perine is ready to swoop in and help displaced people—and pets too! Incredibly, this little superhero is only five years old.

The five-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama started thinking about the serious issue of homelessness a year ago—at the wise old age of four. After watching an orphaned red panda on TV, Perine asked his father what would happen to the animal. Perine’s dad, T.J., told The Washington Post, “He was fixated on the idea of homelessness and kept asking me questions.”

Along with answering his questions, the dad took his son to see what homelessness really means—first-hand. After seeing homeless people in his home town, the five-year-old donned a superhero cape (that a friend left behind on a play date) and started handing out food to people in need.

For months, the father and son took weekly trips into in-need areas to deliver food to the homeless population, with Austin saying, “Don’t forget to show love,” and “Pay it forward!” to everyone he served. Eventually the Perines’ efforts were noticed, scoring Austin the keys to the cities of Prichard and Mobile, Alabama.

Austin’s efforts have expanded, reaching homeless populations in over a dozen cities, thanks to the support of famous faces such as Steve Harvey, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. The five-year-old continues to wear his superhero cape proudly, helping to feed both people and pets through his Show Love campaign!

—Erica Loop

Featured Photo: President Austin via Instagram

 

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