Connecticut Green Living

Maybe you are chomping on the hollow leg of an Easter bunny right now, hoping it will get you through the current health crisis. Or maybe you are the disciplined sort, waiting til Easter morning to gobble up every piece of candy corn in sight. Whatever your level of discipline (I am a -4 on a scale of 0 to 10 when it comes to Easter candy), you need a time out from the news. So read this: Candystore in L.A. compiled their annual list of worst candies , but happily, also their customers' favorites. Here they are: 10. Skittles-Filled Easter Eggs. Down from #9 last year. Skittles Easter eggs combine the fun and re-sealability of candy in a plastic Easter egg, with the desirability of not being generic jelly beans, says Candy Store. Skittles are a very popular candy overall. They finished as the #1 overall top Halloween candy last year. 9. Sour Patch Easter Bunnies. Up from #10 last year. It’s no surprise that Sour Patch Kids are hugely popular right now. Sour candy and...

Source: CandyStore.com Easter is a really big candy holiday. Did you know more is spent on candy for Easter historically than for Halloween? According to Candy Store, who is always kind enough to send me this data every year (along with images that make me want to eat my laptop screen), The National Retail Federation says Easter candy spending was $2.49 Billion this year. That's down slightly from last year’s $2.63B, which may be due to the Coronavirus outbreak though it's not clear that's the case. However, of the people who do not plan to celebrate Easter, 33% will still buy Easter candy. Yes! This is a really fun list because there's a chocolate cross - yes, you heard that right - and yes, someone manufactures them. Easter Candy Quick Facts: - Among those who celebrate Easter, 87% plan on buying Easter candy - For those who don’t celebrate Easter, 33% plan on buying Easter candy - People will spend about $21 on average - 90 Million chocolate Easter bunn...

"A new waterless aromatherapy gadget that’s unlike any other diffuser on the market" was the promise. Well, given that I have never tried any other aromatherapy gadgets, I can't substantiate that claim. However, I can attest that Guru Nanda, the maker of a line of 100% pure essential oils, has produced a very snazzy diffuser. Called The Guru Nanda Natural Mist Pluggy, it is the only USB powered plug-in essential oil diffuser on the market that uses 100% pure essential oils and no water, according to a statement. It was easy to assemble. The kit came with a lavendar and a eucalyptus bottle of essential oil, as well as a handy clean white waterless diffuser that plugs into any socket. Simply unscrew the top and screw the perfume top to the diffuser, flip, and press either the blue or green button. Instructions on the box say, "When plugged in and then power button is pressed, unit will run for 8 hours then sleep for 16 hours." So far I've been turning it o...

"These are the times that try men's souls ..." - Thomas Paine. Although Thomas Paine was referring to an entirely different crisis in 1776, during this health emergency we are in a similar way forced to come together for our country ... and our world. We are forced to stop thinking only of ourselves while at the same time steeling ourselves for worsening crises. We are faced with the unknown, and we know that some will fall and others survive. Whether you are overloading grocery carts with Charmin or practicing Zen meditation, this health crisis has gone viral. Perhaps in the 21st century we will have to abandon that phrase. Here in Connecticut we have seven reported cases , but because of testing shortages there is no way to know the true number. Nearby New York has the second-most Covid-19 cases in the country at 325*; Massachusetts has 108 reported cases. Schools are closing, as are libraries, public gatherings, Broadway. What is not closing, though, is the human...

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in New York has issued a very helpful statement addressing the mental health challenges we all face during this health crisis. They state: "Right now, many of us are worried about COVID-19 or Coronavirus . We may feel helpless about what will happen or what we can do. When things feel uncertain or when we don’t generally feel safe, it’s normal to feel stressed. Stress can be a normal reaction, but sometimes it can also take a toll on our mental health. We don’t always know it’s happening. You might feel more on edge than usual, angry, helpless or sad. You might notice that you are more frustrated with others or want to completely avoid any reminders of what is happening. For those of us who already struggle with our mental wellness, we might feel more depressed or less motivated to carry out our daily activities. It’s important to note that we are not helpless in light of current news events. We can always choose our respon...

London: "There is just one week to go until the third annual Global Recycling Day , taking place on 18th March 2020. Individuals and organisations around the world are getting ready to celebrate the day and raise awareness of the importance of recycling and the ways we can all turn ‘waste’ into a valuable resource," write the Global Recycling Foundation in a press release. The last decade has been the hottest on record, the Global Recycling Foundation points out on their website, and the world is now "facing a climate emergency of unparalleled proportions. If we don’t make significant and rapid changes, we will see continued rising global temperatures, the melting of icecaps, continents on fire and rapid deforestation." Recycling is a key part of the circular economy, they state, and each year the ‘Seventh Resource’ (recyclables) saves over 700 million tons in CO2 emissions, projected to increase to 1 billion tons by 2030. Toward that mission, Global Recyclin...

In addition to freelance writing, I work part-time at an upscale market in Guilford, Connecticut. It has concerned me that I will have to go in and possibly expose myself to the virus, should an infected customer come through my line. I am not overly anxious about this, but anxiety will certainly grow the minute Guilford gets its fist confirmed case. Connecticut , as of today, has had two confirmed cases -- one of them a New York doctor who works at Bridgeport Hospital, and now a Wilton resident -- and those numbers will grow. How will the state's businesses respond to an outbreak and obvious need for employees to stay home? Seattle, Wash.-based Dorsey & Whitney is in the heart of the viral outbreak in the U.S., with the state suffering 136 cases so far, with 19 of them fatal*. They have put out a statement saying that the White House is considering deferring taxes for the cruise, travel and airline industries to help with the economic fallout, but more than that, the federa...

WASHINGTON (March 5, 2020) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a list of EPA-registered disinfectant products that have qualified for use against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 . “Using the correct disinfectant is an important part of preventing and reducing the spread of illnesses along with other critical aspects such as hand washing,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. He added that EPA is providing this information in "a public and transparent manner on disinfectant products to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 .” Products on EPA’s list of registered disinfectant products have qualified for use against COVID-19 through the agency’s Emerging Viral Pathogen program, according to a statement issued today. This program allows product manufacturers to provide EPA with data, even in advance of an outbreak, that shows their products work against more virulent viruses than SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses, ...

Yesterday, the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK reported that they have administered 13,911 tests for Coronavirus , formally called Covid-19, of which 13,860 were negative and 51 positive. Journalist Chris Hayes of MSNBC retweeted this and pointed out that "For context this is 26 times the number of tests the US has run, as of the last publicly available info. But CDC isn’t making this data available." Scientists and their research are the best in the world right here in the States, but whether the tests are being rolled out quickly enough does remain to be seen. Researchers at Purdue, though, have come up with a possible test they would like to see move forward, though. Only a select number of state and local laboratories have permission from U.S. health officials to use diagnostic tests for COVID-19. If the virus is spreading nationwide, most communities do not have access to the necessary tests. Purdue University biomedical engineers have developed a hand...