Sustainability: Our Challenge. Our Future.

Today is August 12^th – International Youth Day. Designated by the United Nations one decade ago, this day is purposed with raising awareness of youth-related issues around the world.

Sustainability: Our Challenge. Our Future.

This year the United Nations is encouraging youth to prove themselves to be key partners in sustainable development. “Young people often lead by example,” said U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. “Sustainability is the most promising path forward, and youth can lead the way.”

According to the UN, sustainability does not only mean keeping our environment safe for the future, “sustainability encapsulates three facets of life: the environment, society and the economy.” That means that everything we do -- every action we take – can have a ripple effect expanding beyond local communities clear to the other side of the world.

One way in which KooDooZ is embracing the United Nations’ Sustainability Challenge is to encourage KDZ (our site users) to put a sustainable message on a bottle. Literally.

“We’re asking KDZ to design an image or a message that effectively communicates the importance of water as a source of health and wellness for both people and planet,” said Lee Fox, founder of KooDooZ.

The winning “Ripple Effect” design will be produced on white stainless steel water bottles, earning the creator $125-dollars PLUS $1 per bottle purchased on the KooDooZ website for the first year. Additionally, $1 from each bottle sold will also be donated to KidShape, a non-profit organization that builds healthy families.

Sponsoring this challenge is EcoUsable, a company with the mission to save our planet one bottle at a time. “Every day, 60-million water bottles go into landfills,” said Joey Mendelsohn, EcoUsable President and Founder. “We team up with other environmentally friendly companies with similar visions because we can’t do it alone. If we combine our efforts, we will be able to make the difference the world needs for the success of future generations.”

One hundred community friends in Southern California will be gifted with an EcoUsable water bottle on Saturday, August 15^th during a KooDooZ co-sponsored walk to raise awareness for youth health & wellness.

As guardians of tomorrow, youth must be listened to, included and engaged today. It will be with their creativity and energy, that our challenge with sustainability will be turned into an achievement of stewardship.

To Create an EcoUsable “Ripple Effect” Design: (Challenge Ends: 09/30/09)

This challenge serves as a call to action for KDZ (kids & families using KooDooZ) to make a difference by focusing on a global sense of social responsibility. NOTE: “Ripple Effect” is also a term used to describe how one action can trigger another.

• Go to KooDooZ: http://www.KooDooZ.com/
• Click “Get In:” on the landing page and “Log In:” on your KooDooZ desktop
• Click on “Global” on the left side of the bulletin board
• Click on “To Do A Water ‘Ripple Effect’ Design” challenge (Note: you may need to scroll down)
• Click on the “Subscribe” button (the red bulls-eye)
• Complete the challenge To Do List and turn this challenge into an achievement!

Together, KooDooZ and KDZ can celebrate 10 years of International Youth Day while inspiring health and wellness for both people and planet.

Getting in the Spotlight

While this blog has primarily been set up as an informational resource for parents, mentors & families of the kids participating in the KooDooZ beta, I have decided to include a very indepth interview with the founder of REGARD VENTURES, Steve Beauregard, who has been a guiding light in shaping, funding & incubating KooDooZ.

It is my sincere hope that anyone who has the stamina to take their amazing ideas into the public light will have someone as good as Steve to guide them. None of us really does anything completely alone.

There are always helping hands, inspiring ideas and a community behind the achiever.

Interview performed by Tech Zulu

Thanks Steve.

Exercise -- both body & mind

Your brain is not a passive recipient of learning.

To keep its vitality, you have to exercise – both the body & the mind.

It used to be thought that aging brain cells dried up and disappeared. But according to Neurobics by doing brain exercises, and challenging yourself with the level of difficulty, you will actually grow and form new connections. (see article) Our brains are composed of different areas and functions, and we can strengthen them through mental exercise – or they get atrophied for lack of practice.

RECOMMENDED EXERCISES FOR THE BRAIN:

By approaching every day as a learning opportunity, and trying something new, your challenges become your achievements:

• ALTER: Change your routines every way you can.
• READ: Studies show that the amount of reading you’ve done over the years is the biggest predictor of cognitive decline.
• LEARN: Try a series of subtracting or multiplying numbers, learn or foreign language or try to memorize each friend’s phone number
• PLAY: Pick up a musical instrument and teach yourself to play & read music
• VISUALIZE: You can reduce high levels of anxiety or stress by visualizing your own achievements

The tree key principles for a good brain are: novelty, variety &constant challenge – pretty much the same ideology of cross-training your body. Physical exercise improves blood circulation, digestion, and provides more oxygen to the brain. Exercise causes the release of growth factors, proteins that increase the number of connections between neurons. This leads to better learning & memory. In humans, exercise improves what scientists call “executive function” – the set of abilities that allows you to select behavior that’s appropriate to the situation. (see article) While people in their 70s typically begin to experience decline in their executive function, those elderly who have been athletic all their lives may experience less loss. Scientists also believe that exercise is strongly associated with a reduced risk of dementia late in life.

RECOMMENDED EXERCISES FOR THE BODY, TO BENEFIT THE BRAIN:

• SKATE: Skating Provides a complete aerobic workout and involves all of the body’s muscles, especially the heart, as recognized by the AMA. It’s easy on the joints since it causes less than 50% of the impact shock to joints as compared to running. (see article)
• SWIM: Endurance is developed by regularly engaging in any aerobic activity. Swimming is recommended since it is low-impact and engages virtually every muscle in the body.
• CLIMB: Exercises that help strengthen muscles are just as good as lifting weights.
• STRETCH: Allowing your joints to stretch will help improve your flexibility. Try combining your stretch with some visualization!

Physical exercise is important because it influences the rate of creation of new neurons in your brain. Mental exercise is important because it helps determine how those new neurons are used – and how long they survive.

So get out there -- challenge your body & your mind -- and get smart!