Page 2 January 1, 2015 Community Briefs Tree Recycling Encouraged throughout South Bay This year, after the presents are opened and the ornaments are removed from the oncesparkling Christmas tree, Waste Management of Southern California invites Manhattan Beach residents to recycle their tree through its curbside tree collection program. Curbside tree collection for residents will take place the first three weeks following Christmas on customers’ scheduled collection day from December 26 through January 17. For the weeks of December 23 and December 30, collection will be delayed one day for customers normally serviced on Thursday and Friday. When placing trees on the curb for collection, customers should follow these guidelines: Remove all decorations, including tinsel, lights, ornaments and tree stands, and place your tree on the curb for recycling. Place only un-flocked trees at the curb (please note that flocked trees cannot be recycled. They will be collected with your trash.). Trees taller than six feet must be cut in half. For the creative recycler, here are other ideas for repurposing your tree: Place the Finance 6 Surprisingly Common Student Money Misconceptions (BPT) - From sports teams and extracurricular clubs to first jobs and first cars, high school students learn new lessons every day, many away from the classroom. But when it comes to balancing their obligations, many students learn some tough lessons for the first time as they dip their feet into adult life, particularly with their finances. “Only 7 percent of high school students are financially literate and fewer than 30 percent of adults report being offered financial education at school or college,” said Brian Page, finance teacher and personal finance adviser to H&R Block Budget Challenge. “Personal finance can be an overwhelming subject to learn, so many students have developed money misconceptions.” According to Page, many students share these six common misconceptions when it comes to money: 1. A person can save what is left over at the end of the month. Those who save by making automatic savings deposits right from their paycheck save four times more than those who only deposit directly into one account, according to CFED.org. 2. College is unaffordable. Most teens are well aware of the surge in college costs. However, many teens don’t realize that, by comparison shopping, seeking financial aid and looking at alternative pathways to earning a degree, college costs can be more manageable. 3. All debt is bad. “Borrowing now to improve your future self can be a good idea,” Page said. “Student loans not exceeding your first year’s anticipated income makes sense for most everyday Americans.” To find information on anticipated salary, check out PayScale.com. 4. Overdraft protection is free to use. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found the typical overdraft situation is comparable to a small-dollar loan with a 17,000 percent interest rate. 5. I don’t need to budget right now. Teens annually spend nearly $100 billion, reports the University of Illinois. Yet only 17 percent of teens maintain a budget, states an H&R Block survey. Budgeting is important now as small expenses can add up and get you into trouble - for example, the average American spends more than $2,500 a year dining out, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Properly monitoring your spending habits can help avoid overspending. 6. Never use credit cards. It depends. “If you’re unable to control credit card spending, steer clear,” Page said. “However, they can be ideal credit building tools for young consumers who use them responsibly.” Consider starting with a secured credit card, avoid borrowing more than 30 percent of the credit limit each billing cycle and always pay the balance in full and on time. Having these misconceptions doesn’t mean teens are doomed to have a damaging financial future. Proper education through programs like the H&R Block Budget Challenge help teens prepare for the real world so they can correct any misinformation received in the past. • Seniors Exercise Tips Your Heart Will Love (BPT) - A regular exercise routine is an important component of heart health, yet less than one-third of Americans get the minimum 30 minutes of daily exercise five days a week, as recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA). Nationally, as many as 250,000 deaths annually are attributable to a lack of regular physical activity. While exercise is important for everyone, regular aerobic activity can be critical to ensuring healthier outcomes for cardiovascular patients. Even a little exercise goes a long way. “Just 5-10 minutes of daily running, even at very slow speeds, can significantly lower the risk of mortality among cardiovascular patients,” says Ed Dannemiller, a specialist pharmacist in the Express Scripts Cardiovascular Therapeutic Resource Center. “Simply getting the recommended minimum amount of exercise can help reduce cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke by 30-40 percent.” Ed and his team counsel heart patients about the benefits of regular exercise in addition to following the medication regimen and other lifestyle changes. Regular exercise has many other benefits for your heart as well, including: strengthening the heart muscle, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, gaining better control of one’s blood sugar and maintaining bone strength. Exercise can also help heart patients lose weight and lead more active lives without chest pain. If you are considering starting an exercise regime, keep these precautions in mind to minimize your risks and prevent an adverse reaction. • If you recently had a heart surgery or procedure, experience chest pain or shortness of breath, recently had a heart attack, or have diabetes you should consult a physician before beginning any exercise regimen. • If you are on beta blockers, antiarrhythmic drugs and calcium channel blockers, you may have a reduced heart rate and may experience lower gains in heart rates when exercising. Medications such as the decongestant pseudoephedrine, anti-depressants, and thyroid medications can increase exercise heart rate. It is important to know the right aerobic heart rate target to prevent overtraining or under-training your heart if you are on any of these medications. • If you are a cardiovascular patient, high-intensity exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups and heavy lifting may not be recommended for you, so it’s a good idea to first speak with your physician. • You may also need to avoid certain everyday activities that can overly affect the heart rate, such as raking, shoveling and mowing. • Walking, swimming and light jogging are good beginning exercises if you have a cardiovascular condition. But what if you’re already on a workout schedule? Then keep these useful tips in mind: • Maintain a steady pace and rest between workouts. • Do not exercise outdoors in extremely humid, hot or cold temperatures. Extreme temps can make breathing difficult and cause chest pain. Try mall-walking instead. • In cold weather, cover your nose and mouth when exercising outside. • Stay hydrated by drinking water, even when you’re not feeling thirsty and especially on hot days. • Avoid overly cold/hot showers or sauna baths after exercise. • Avoid exercising in hilly areas because it may cause your heart to work too hard. Closely monitor your heart rate with your target rate in mind. • Stop exercising if you experience pain, dizziness, shortness of breath or excessive fatigue. Consult your physician. • Stop the activity in the event of a rapid or irregular heartbeat. Check your pulse after 15 minutes of rest and consult your physician if the rate is still higher than 100-120 beats per minute. A regular exercise routine, along with adherence to the medication regimen, can put you on the path toward better health. • Christmas tree in the garden or backyard and use it as a bird feeder and sanctuary. Fresh orange slices or strung popcorn will attract the birds and they can sit in the branches for shelter. A Christmas tree is also biodegradable: its branches can be removed, chipped, and used as mulch in the garden. Of course, you can get a rooted tree and then plant it in your yard after Christmas. Bigelow Mobile Tea Bar to Visit Manhattan Beach To mark the 70th anniversary of Bigelow Tea, a Mobile Tea Bar has begun a crosscountry tour from Boston to California and back to Florida to meet and inspire tea lovers with fascinating lore and tempting flavors of the world’s favorite brewed beverage. The Bigelow Mobile Tea Bar will first visit Bristol Farms at 1570 Rosecrans Avenue in Manhattan Beach on Sunday, January 18 from 10am-5pm. Tea Lovers will also have the opportunity to learn about the history and culture of tea, the top quality ingredients that go into American-crafted Bigelow Teas, and the company’s commitment to sustainability and the community. For more information about the Mobile Tea Bar, visit: http://bigelowtea. com/bigelowmobileteabar • Burkley & Brandlin LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T L AW Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation 310-540-6000 *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Tree Musketeers from front page on a regular basis. Tree Musketeers hosts several corporate teambuilding and service projects each year. After organizing one such activity for DirecTV employees, Danielle Foley (who handles procurement for the company) commented that “everyone on our team loved the event today. It was an overwhelmingly positive action.” Other ongoing El Segundo programs include restoration Managers Raquel Gerard & Lina McDermott with Adult Partner Dodie Gomez gather tools and signs for volunteers on Arbor Day 2014. Photo by Tree Musketeers Staff. of wildlife habitat below Clutter’s Bluff, planting and maintaining public trees throughout town and a residential tree service from which the proceeds support the nonprofit’s mission. A tree map will also soon be featured on the organization’s website to allow site visitors to view the location, species and other particulars of public trees throughout El Segundo. Residents will be able to add to the tree database over time. Looking a bit further into the future, Tree Musketeers is working with Inglewood Unified School District to bring youth leadership and Arbor Day 2016 to La Tijera School. That database doesn’t begin to encompass the two million trees planted worldwide over the past 17 years and the more than 1.3 million youth participants who have played a role in creating a better environment thanks to the outreach efforts of Tree Musketeers. Little did that original group of eight-year-olds know that their idea would pan out quite like this… •
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