5 Steps to Handle Constructive Criticism Like A Pro (Photo by Andrew Wilus)
Wise people have learned how to handle criticism. They deal with it like any other feedback, calmly and judiciously. They try and see how they can use it to get ahead and meet their goals. Many people, however; find it hard not to react defensively or angrily. Some people even launch a counterattack and shift the blame to the critic. That behavior doesn’t win you any friends or help you get ahead.
Criticism is a fact of life, and the sooner you learn to handle it positively, the better you can use that feedback for your own success.
1. Before you React – Stop!
You will feel the reaction in your body before you can get the words out. And that is where you must stop. Don’t do anything, just breathe and take a moment to calm your defenses. Chances are, the other person won’t notice a thing, but it will give you time to compose yourself.
5 Steps to Handle Constructive Criticism Like A Pro (Photo by Andrea Piacquadio)
2. Remind Yourself that This is Feedback
Your composure time gives you a chance to remember that this criticism is an opportunity to learn something, possibly something valuable. Say to yourself, “This is not personal,” and repeat it as often as you need to until your initial reaction has passed.
3. Practice Your Active Listening
Feedback time is not a time to talk, it’s a time to listen. Try to understand what the other person is saying. Maybe it’s an aspect of your project or goal that you haven’t thought of yet. What initially feels like criticism may offer valuable insight.
Repeat back what you heard and seek clarification if you need to. This is not a time to analyze or push back, it’s a time to understand precisely what is being said.
5 Steps to Handle Constructive Criticism Like A Pro (Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko)
4. Thank Your Critic
Even if it makes you cringe inside, say thank you for the feedback. You don’t have to agree with what they’ve said to be sincerely appreciative of the input. After all, they took the time to say what they thought and give you some advice.
5. Process the Feedback
You may need some time to do this, or you might be able to do it on the spot. If your emotions are running high, it’s probably better to take a break and come back to deal with what has been said. Otherwise, it’s fine to ask questions to clarify the feedback, and maybe seek their suggestions on how to move forward.
Learning to deal constructively with criticism and feedback is an important skill, and one you will be glad you learned sooner rather than later.
5 Steps to Handle Constructive Criticism Like A Pro (Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko)
No-one has visited the Moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race. Nasa has selected the private company SpaceX to be part of its commercial spaceflight operations, but the firm is also pursuing its own space exploration agenda.
To enable flights to the Moon and beyond, both Nasa and SpaceX are developing new heavy lift rockets: SpaceX’s Starship and Nasa’s Space Launch System.
But how do they differ and which one is more powerful?
Starship
Rockets go through multiple stages to get into orbit. By discarding spent fuel tanks while in flight, the rocket becomes lighter and therefore easier to accelerate. Once in operation, SpaceX’s launch system will be comprised of two stages: the launch vehicle known as Super Heavy and the Starship.
Super Heavy is powered by theRaptor rocket engine, burning a combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The basic principle of a liquid fuel rocket engine is that two propellants, – a fuel such as kerosene and an oxidiser such as liquid oxygen – are brought together in a combustion chamber and ignited. The flame produces hot gas under high pressure which is expelled at high speed through the engine nozzle to produce thrust.
The rocket will provide 15 million pounds of thrust at launch, which is approximately twice as much as the rockets of the Apollo era. Atop the launcher sits the Starship, itself powered by another six Raptor engines and equipped with a large mission bay for accommodating satellites, compartments for up to 100 crew and even extra fuel tanks for refuelling in space, which is critical to long duration interplanetary human spaceflight.
Super Heavy separating from Starship. (wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
The Starship is designed to operate both in the vacuum of space and within the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, using small moveable wings to glide to a desired landing zone.
Once over the landing area, the Starship flips into a vertical position and uses its on-board Raptor engines to make a powered descent and landing. It will have sufficient thrust to lift itself off the surface of Mars or the Moon, overcoming the weaker gravity of these worlds, and return to Earth – again making a powered soft landing. The Starship and Super Heavy are both fully reuseable and the entire system is designed to lift more than 100 tons of payload to the surface of the Moon or Mars.
The spacecraft is maturing rapidly. A recent test flight of the Starship prototype, the SN8, successfully demonstrated a number of the manoeuvres required to make this work. Unfortunately, there was a malfunction in one of the Raptor engines and the SN8 crashed on landing. Another test flight is expected in the coming days.
Nasa’s Space Launch System
The Space Launch System (SLS) from Nasa will be taking the crown from the discontinued Saturn V as the most powerful rocket the agency has ever used. The current incarnation (SLS block 1) stands at almost 100 metres tall.
The SLS core stage, containing more than 3.3 million litres of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (equivalent to one-and-a-half Olympic size swimming pools), is powered by four RS-25 engines, three of which were used on the previous Space Shuttle. Their main difference from the Raptors is that they burn liquid hydrogen instead of methane.
Stages of the SLS. (Nasa)
The core stage of the rocket is augmented by two solid rocket boosters, attached to its sides, providing a total combined thrust of 8.2 million pounds at launch - about 5% more than the Saturn V at launch. This will lift the spacecraft to low Earth orbit. The upper stage is intended to lift the attached payload – the astronaut capsule – out of Earth’s orbit and is a smaller liquid fuel stage powered by a single RL-10 engine (already in use by ATLAS and DELTA rockets) which is smaller and lighter than the RS-25.
The Space Launch System will send the Orion crew capsule, which can support up to six crew for 21 days, to the Moon as part of the Artemis-1 mission– a task that current Nasa rockets are currently not capable of performing.
It is intended to have large acrylic windows so astronauts can watch the journey. It will also have its own engine and fuel supply, as well as secondary propulsion systems for returning to the Earth. Future space stations, such as the Lunar Gateway, will serve as a logistical hub, which may include refuelling.
The core stage and booster rockets are unlikely to be reusable (instead of landing they will drop in the ocean), so there is a higher cost with the SLS system, both in materials and environmentally. It is designed to evolve to larger stages capable of carrying crew or cargo weighing up to 120 tonnes, which is potentially more than Starship.
NASA’s SLS and SpaceX’s Starship, on the right, could both get us to the Moon and beyond. (Ian Whittaker/NASA/SpaceX, Author provided)
A lot of the technology being used in SLS is so-called “legacy equipment” in that it is adapted from previous missions, cutting down the research and development time. However, earlier this month, a test fire of the SLS core stage was stopped a minute into the eight-minute test due to a suspected component failure. No significant damage occurred, and the SLS program manager, John Honeycutt, stated: “I don’t think we’re looking at a significant design change.”
And the winner is…
So which spacecraft likely to reach carry a crew to the Moon first? Artemis 2 is planned as the first crewed mission using SLS to perform a flyby of the Moon and is expected to launch in August 2023. Whereas SpaceX has no specific date planned for crewed launch, they are running #dearMoon – a project involving lunar space tourism planned for 2023. Musk has also stated that a crewed Martian mission could take place as early as 2024, also using Starship.
Ultimately it is a competition between an agency that has had years of testing and experience but is limited by a fluctuating taxpayer budget and administration policy changes, and a company relatively new to the game but which has already launched 109 Falcon 9 rockets with a 98% success rate and has a dedicated long-term cash flow.
Whoever reaches the Moon first will inaugurate a new era of exploration of a world which still has much scientific value.
4 Reasons We Should Embrace Criticism (Photo by mentatdgt)
Being criticized never feels good. It can make you feel judged, as though you’re not good enough no matter how hard you try. Most people’s reaction to criticism is to get defensive, make excuses, or blame someone else. None of those options are especially constructive.
It’s up to you how you choose to react to criticism. You can see it as a personal attack, or you can embrace it, get the positives out of it, and move on.
If you feel skeptical about criticism having any benefits, here are some excellent reasons why you should embrace it.
1. Use Criticism for Personal Growth
Often, criticism has more than a grain of truth in, even if it’s delivered a bit harshly. That’s partly why it makes you uncomfortable—deep down it rings true, even if you don’t want to admit it.
Think of criticism as another element in your personal development toolbox, one that offers insight you might otherwise miss. If nothing else, observing and managing how you react to criticism can shine a spotlight on your triggers, your unconscious reactions, and assumptions.
2. Develop Emotional Resilience
Criticism usually comes laden with emotions. You feel shamed, upset, and attacked. Learning to embrace criticism can help you become more emotionally resilient as you learn how to sit with your uncomfortable emotions instead of blindly reacting.
Practicing detachment takes you to a mental place where you can use your problem-solving skills. You can listen, assess, analyze, and work out what lessons to take away from the experience.
Embracing criticism can also help you step away from needing other people’s approval to feel good about yourself. Once you see criticism as potentially helpful feedback, it stops being a judgment of you as a person.
3. Improve Relationships
Once you stop reacting (or over-reacting) to feedback, you allow more space for openness, honesty, and better communication. People can talk to you about problems without feeling they have to walk on eggshells.
Embracing criticism makes for much better relationships as there are fewer barriers or ‘no go’ areas. You don’t want to be seen as prickly, difficult, or defensive, nor do you want to have your self-worth depend on other people’s good opinion of you.
4. Boost Self-Confidence
Embracing criticism will free you from the curse of perfectionism. You can accept that making mistakes is human, and that being criticized is actually okay, even helpful. Accept that criticism is part of everyday life and you’ll be more confident, happier, and freed up to be your best you.
4 Reasons We Should Embrace Criticism (Photo by Jill Wellington)
One-Third Of Drivers Don't Know Their Drink-Drive Limit (Please, scroll down to see full infographic)
There are few issues as serious and wide-spread in their risk to both drivers and pedestrians than the enduring problem of drink-driving. A recently announced infographic from Hilton Garage has taken a deeper look into some of the stats behind the reality of drink-driving, today, as well as the fundamental actions that we can all take to help.
In order to prevent the ongoing increase of drink-drive accidents on the road, Hilton Garage is encouraging people to be more aware of the steps that they can take to prevent such incidents from ever occurring. This includes being mindful of the risk, serving non-alcohol alternatives for people who are driving, keeping an eye on friends who may be at risk of drink-driving, and acting as a designated driver.
Furthermore, the infographic highlights just how many people don’t understand the laws revolving around drink-driving. Many currently don’t understand the drink-drive limits in terms of how much alcohol needs to be in their blood or breath to get them in danger, meaning that they not only risk the safety of themselves and others on or by the roads, they also run the risk of getting in trouble with the law.
Drink-driving continues to be a consistent and persistent issue across drivers of all ages. Driving under the influence is the number one causing factor of road accidents and injuries throughout the UK and, as a result, not only do drivers have a responsibility to avoid drinking and driving. We all have a responsibility to do what we can to prevent it.
If there’s one thing that’s abundantly clear these days, it’s that making money online is something that just about anybody can do with patience, persistence, and belief. If you can’t be bothered to put the time or the work in, then you are unlikely to make much money and will probably give up. However, you can use the techniques below to make money if you have the drive! Take a look and see how you could be making money online:
1: Create Content
Could you become a content creator? The good news is that you don’t need to be a super serious content creator to make money. You can make videos, edit them loosely, and still get views and make money. That being said, the more you improve and take this seriously, the more earning potential you have. You can make money from Instagram posts, YouTube videos, blogs, and other types of content. Some people follow content creators purely because they find them interesting. Some people prefer to have a niche. It’s up to you - the most important thing is that you’re consistent and that you attempt to make your content engaging and valuable in some way.
2: Offer Your Skills As a Tutor
Do you have knowledge on a specific subject? Can you speak a language very well, play an instrument, or are you just great at maths? You could offer your skills as an online tutor to kids, adults, or even both. Have a little faith in yourself and you could make money for simply sharing what you know.
Online Money Making Tricks That Can Work For Anyone (Photo by Karolina Grabowska)
3: Sell Your Old Items
You don’t even need to do much to make money online - go through your things and see if you can sell your old items. Maybe you have clothes, CDs, or gadgets laying around. You could even sell larger items, such as a car or motorcycle online. It can be a little harder, but once you know the best way of moving a motorcycle you can set up the transaction pretty easily. Don’t hang on to things if you’re not using them!
4: Sell Your Photos and Videos
If you like to take photos and videos, you could potentially sell these to sites and get paid everytime somebody uses one. The pictures do need to be of a certain quality, but you don’t need to be a pro. You can even use your phone! Give it a go and see if it could work for you.
5: Write Ebooks
Writing ebooks could be fun if you love to write. It can take a while to build up your profile as a writer and get enough books to make money, but again, consistency is key.
6: Sell A Skill
Do you have a skill? Perhaps you could offer voice overs or logo design. There are all kinds of services people will pay for on sites like People Per Hour and Fiverr. You could even build your own website!
Being Safe At Work: What You Need To Know (Image by malateronald)
Being safe at work is something that all employers and employees need to bear in mind at all times. Although it is the employer’s responsibility to put systems in place that make working safer, the employee also has a responsibility to ensure they are following the rules and not making any mistakes that could ultimately be dangerous.
Read on to find out more about healthy and safety at work and how you can ensure you are always keeping as safe as possible.
Know The Risks
The first thing that anyone, employer or employee, is going to need to know about are the risks involved in any tasks or processes that take place within the business. Some will be more problematic than others, but everything will need to have a risk assessment carried out.
This is particularly true of equipment and tools. There must be a risk assessment about each item, looking at what might be an issue and working out ways to resolve it. If you have ladders, for example, that need to be used a lot, then you might minimize the risk by having harnesses available to use or ensuring that working at heights is always done in pairs (with one to hold the ladder). If you use a conveyor belt then wearing the right safety equipment is essential, and so on.
Once you know the risks you can determine how to avoid or reduce them, and everyone will be much safer. This might involve additional training which is always a good idea.
Implement Regular Break Times
Although it might seem as though it would be more productive to work non-stop without breaks – you will get more done in the same amount of time – it is actually the opposite. Working without breaks leads to less productivity due to tiredness or neglect. The brain needs to rest regularly for it to work at its best, and by forcing someone to work without taking regular breaks, you are causing problems. It is unsafe for someone who is tired due to lack of breaks to continue working.
As a business owner, you should implement regular break times throughout the day, or allow your workers to take breaks as they are required to ensure the safest and most productive team. As a worker, you should always make use of the break times you are given to ensure you are always safe.
Use Protective Equipment
If a task’s risk assessment identifies that you need to use protective equipment or clothing – otherwise known as ‘personal protective equipment’ or PPE – then this is what you must do when carrying out a specific task or using a piece of equipment.
If you are an employer, it is your responsibility to ensure that this equipment is provided, and if you are an employee, you must wear the equipment as instructed. If PPE has not been provided and you need it, then you must speak to your employer about the issue so that it can be addressed.
Whether you mark holidays in December or not, typical winter customs are being disrupted. The pandemic has had a significant impact on society’s ability to connect and has also reduced individuals’ access to wellness-maintaining strategies and activities. For example, COVID-19 has limited and in some cases halted visits with loved ones, gatherings with friends and colleagues, and as cold weather comes, our options for outdoor activities will decrease.
A new perspective and approach may be required to get through this year’s holiday season.
Giving doesn’t have to be monetary. Messages of gratitude can be delivered throughout this pandemic to everyone working on the front lines, including health-care professionals, teachers, delivery services including post office outlets, and all of the those working in businesses like stores, pharmacies and restaurants. Thank you.
Rebooting and connecting
For many people, technology may be the only way to connect to others during the pandemic, and for some this might be the safest way to connect to family and friends over the holidays. (Pexels/Koolshooters)
For a bigger boost, think back to activities you loved as a kid, such as colouring, dancing, baking, singing at the top of your lungs.
We used to worry about how attached we were to our devices and particularly concerned about total screen time for kids. For many, this may be the only way to connect to others, and for some this might be the safest way to connect to family and friends over the holidays. It may be even more essential for those who live alone and/or who may have lost a significant person in their lives this year.
As we reflect on how to approach the holiday season, it’s important to scale our expectations and be compassionate with ourselves and others in these unusual times. We do need to make space for all of the emotions — good and bad — that we are experiencing. This may include frustration, anger, anxiety, sadness and disappointment.
It’s important to proactively set up activities and actions that can connect us to our humanness: expressing our kindness and gratitude to others, being in harmony with our technology, and trying to reconnect with moments and times in our lives that were meaningful or joyful.
About Today's Contributor:
Kerri Ritchie, Professional Practice Coordinator, Psychology, The Ottawa Hospital, & Clinical Professor, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and Caroline Gerin-Lajoie, Psychiatrist, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, and Executive VIce-President, Physician Wellness and Medical Culture, Canadian Medical Association
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
Office Decor Ideas For A Practical Workplace (Photo by bantersnaps)
Office decor is not generally a priority that the average office manager thinks about. You paint the walls a neutral colour and put in the furnishings you need, and you’re done, right? In fact, the decor you choose can make a big difference to the way your team feels and their ability to be productive.
Here’s how to decorate for a practical workplace.
Storage
Make sure you offer enough storage space. A lot of office managers think that they want a ‘clear desk’ policy for a paper-free office, but then don’t offer enough storage space for people to actually keep their desk surfaces tidy. As well as communal storage space for things like the stationery cupboard, individual employees need space to put things away too. Add sets of drawers under desks, or trays or boxes to go on desks. Stationery, paperwork, and personal items can be put away, keeping desks clear and free of distraction.
Safety
Remember to consider safety when you’re planning your office. The most common accidents in offices are trips and falls. Your storage will come in handy here, as clutter can be put away. Secure any trailing cables with trunking so people can’t get their feet caught, and consider finishing any stairwells with anti-slip stairs.
Lighting
The office needs to be well lit. Too bright and not bright enough can both cause problems like headaches and eye strain, especially for those looking at backlit computer screens all day. Get in as much natural light as you can, so avoid covering windows or opting for heavy blinds where possible. Overhead lighting shouldn’t be too bright. Instead, add task lighting on desks, so people can light their own workspace to the level they need, without struggling with glaring lights overhead.
Comfort
Comfort should be thought about in two ways. First, make sure that any workspaces have been set up in an ergonomic way. An ergonomic set-up will make a desk more comfortable to sit at for long periods and reduce the risk of back and shoulder pain. Make a workspace ergonomic by adding adjustable chairs, and extra items like footrests, wrist supports and stands for screens.
You should also think about comfort in a less practical way. Is there anywhere for employees to sit other than their desks? Some comfortable places to sit around the office, like sofas or banks of chairs. These spaces can be used on lunch breaks, as break-out spaces for meetings, or just somewhere quiet to sit away from the desk.
Personality
Offices don’t need to be stark. Most offices choose bland colours and don’t think much about adding extra items except maybe their logo on a wall. You can add some personality and make the space more interesting to be in by bringing your brand colours into your decor choices. Avoid boring corporate looking artwork, and instead display your best ad campaigns or other relevant artwork that says something about who your company is. This looks more interesting for employees and visiting clients alike.
This holiday season, musical legends Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra are returning in animated form with first-ever official music videos from UMe for some of the most iconic and beloved songs in the Christmas canon.
This holiday season, musical legends Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra are returning in animated form with first-ever official music videos from UMe for some of the most iconic and beloved songs in the Christmas canon. In the beautifully hand drawn and painted videos created by Fantoons Animation Studios, Crosby brings joy to a down in the dumps town with his trusty Bing-O-Matic in "Winter Wonderland" and croons over a multigenerational military family's holiday gatherings in "White Christmas," guitar-clad Berry helps Santa with his Christmas rounds in vintage comic book style in "Run Rudolph Run," Fitzgerald and Frosty delight in a winter wonderland storybook setting in "Frosty The Snowman" and Sinatra delivers mid-century style, glitz and grace as only he can in the holiday classics, "The Christmas Waltz" and "Mistletoe and Holly."
"UMe is incredibly honored and excited to partner with these legendary artists and estates to celebrate their iconic holiday songs and give them official videos," says Bruce Resnikoff, President and CEO of UMe, the global catalog company of UMG. "Last year was the first time we created holiday videos and we had such a tremendous response that we've gone all in again this year and our content team and Fantoons have really outdone themselves. These songs are some of the most popular year to year and we hope these videos brighten up fans holidays as well as attract new audiences across the digital platforms they inhabit. Similar to before, the video assets and creative will be deployed across UMe's holiday marketing and advertising campaigns for a cohesive look and feel and to achieve greater engagement across a broader audience."
Bing Crosby - "White Christmas" (screengrab)
Mary Crosby of The Bing Crosby Estate:
"Keeping dad's spirit alive, especially during the holidays, is not only of huge importance to us as a family, but to everyone. During these trying times his voice gives hope and comfort to all of us. I am thrilled that there is another way dad is being seen and heard. I love the videos Universal came up with and, of course, love his music! Dad believed supporting the troops was one of the most important contributions that he made in his life. When he was asked about his career it wasn't his awards or the fame that came his way, it was that 'in some small way, if he made the life of a soldier a little bit easier then, that was what mattered. The video for 'White Christmas' is a wonderful tribute to his love and appreciation for the troops."
Chuck Berry - "Run Rudolph Run" (screengrab)
Charles Berry Jr. of The Chuck Berry Estate:
"What an honor to have 'Run Rudolph Run' given such a dazzling visualization as its first music video! The marriage of animation and music could not be better – you can't beat flying reindeer, Santa Claus and electric guitar! My dad always told stories in his songs and his poetic skills are on full display here. The lyrics tell a Christmas story that young and old can't help but enjoy. Fun, frolicking and certainly perfect for the season, it was a holiday favorite in our house and we hope this video for a timeless Chuck Berry song brings joy and helps people get in the spirit this holiday season."
Ella Fitzgerald - "Frosty The Snowman" (screengrab)
Richard Rosman & Fran Morris Rosman of The Ella Fitzgerald Foundation:
"Since it was released 60 years ago, Ella Fitzgerald's Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas has remained a perennial and beloved standard for the holidays, livening up countless festivities and family gatherings with its joyful and jazzy takes on Christmas classics, including the swinging 'Frosty The Snowman. The Ella Fitzgerald Estate is thrilled to partner with UMe to bring Ella and Frosty to colorful life in this fantastic, beautifully animated video and hope that both Ella's fans and the new generations just discovering her music will love it. What a wonderful gift for the song and album to receive as it celebrates its 60th anniversary!"
Frank Sinatra - "The Christmas Waltz" (screengrab)
Nancy Sinatraof Frank Sinatra Enterprises:
"I really think he might be the voice of Christmas. I just think that the sentimentality of my dad's recordings is what grabs people. He was emotional when he sang them, and people are emotional when they hear them. That doesn't really change."
The Videos:
These videos are just some of the many ways that UMe is celebrating its unmatched Christmas catalog and helping to turn up the joy this holiday season. In addition to the new animated videos, a variety of "Christmas With…" collections for artists including The Beach Boys, Bing Crosby, Brenda Lee, Burl Ives, Chuck Berry, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, The Jackson 5 and Nat King Cole are available to stream on your favorite DSP and there's of course the annual Christmas Music playlist which features some of the most popular songs and artists across the holiday music canon, pairing timeless classics with contemporary favorites.
For those looking for more holiday entertainment, The Ed Sullivan Show's official YouTube channel is celebrating the season with a music-and laughter-filled holiday playlist. Classics include "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby, "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry, "Jingle Bells" by Paul Anka, and more. Festive fun lights up things with "Mrs. Claus Interview" by Stiller & Meara, "Deck The Halls" by the Baird Puppets and holiday cheer with The Muppets.
'Tis the Season to Be Safe: Top Tips for Your Family During COVID-19 - Poster
The holidays normally are a time to get together in person with friends and family. However, the pandemic may mean virtual celebrations this year. Regardless of how you celebrate, it's important to protect yourself from possible dangers associated with holiday trees, candles, and cooking fires, as well as unsafe toys.
To keep the season safe, here's what you need to know:
'Tis the Season to Be Safe: Top Tips for Your Family During COVID-19 ( Photo by Polesie Toys)
Toys:
Data:
Choking on small parts and riding toy injuries: CPSC reports that in 2019, there were an estimated 162,700 toy-related, emergency department-treated injuries and 14 deaths to children younger than 15, with most of the deaths associated with choking on small parts, like small balls and small toy parts and riding toys.
Toy recalls: continue to decline, with nine toy recalls in fiscal year 2020, three involving a lead violation, compared to 172 recalls in 2008, with 19 involving lead violations. Toys were also recalled for defects, such as choking, entrapment, ingestion and laceration hazards. Recalled toys present choking, entrapment, ingestion and laceration hazards, among other hazards that pose the threat of death or injury to a child.
Scooters: The number of injuries associated with non-motorized scooters significantly decreased from 2015 to 2019 for children younger than 15, from about 45,500 to about 35,600 injuries.
Tips:
Follow age guidance and other safety information on the toy packaging, and choose toys that match your child's interests and abilities.
Get safety gear, including helmets for scooters and other riding toys–helmets should be worn properly at all times and be sized to fit.
Keep small balls and toys with small parts away from children younger than age 3, and keep deflated balloons away from children younger than 8 years old (discard broken balloons at once).
'Tis the Season to Be Safe: Top Tips for Your Family During COVID-19 (Photo by Andrea Piacquadio)
Cooking:
Data:
Cooking fires are the # 1 cause of residential fires.
An average of 1,700 cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving Day each year, more than three times the average number on any other day of the year.
In the last two decades, there were 220 fire or scald/burn incidents involving turkey fryers, resulting in 81 injuries and $9.7 million in property loss.
Tips:
Never leave cooking food unattended on the stove.
Keep children away from the cooking area, and keep flammable items, like potholders and paper or plastic bags, away from the stove and oven.
Only fry a turkey outside and away from your home–not inside your garage, or on your porch. Do not overfill the oil in the turkey fryer and follow the manufacturer's instructions on use, including thawing your turkey thoroughly and maintaining control of the oil temperature.
'Tis the Season to Be Safe: Top Tips for Your Family During COVID-19 (Photo by Jonathan Borba)
Decorating:
Data:
On average, there are about 200 decorating-related injuries each day during the holiday season, with about half of the incidents involving falls. And in the 2018 holiday season, about 17,500 people were treated in emergency rooms due to holiday decorating-related injuries.
In the 2019 holiday season, there were six deaths associated with holiday season decorations.
From 2015 to 2017, on average, there were about 100 Christmas tree fires and about 1,100 candle fires (in November and December), resulting in 20 deaths, 160 injuries and nearly $50 million in property damage each year.
Tips:
Make sure your live Christmas tree has plenty of water, and look for the "Fire Resistant" label when buying an artificial tree.
Place burning candles in sight, away from flammable items, and blow them out before leaving the room.
Only use lights tested for safety by a national recognized testing laboratory. Throw out sets with broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections.
The Video:
About the U.S. CPSC:
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
Ranked: The Environmental Impact Of Five Different Soft Drink Containers (AndriiKoval/Shutterstock)
People are increasingly aware of the harm plastic waste causes to wildlife, and many would avoid buying single-use plastics if they could help it. But are the alternatives to plastic much better?
Let’s look at one example – fizzy drinks. You might assume that plastic bottles are the least green option, but is that always the case?
To find out, we compared five different types of pressurised drinks containers. We tested their environmental impact according to a range of criteria, including how each contributes to climate change and the pollution each produces during manufacture, use and disposal.
Here they are, ranked from worst to best.
Fifth place: glass bottles
It might come as a surprise, but glass bottles actually ranked last in our analysis. You might instinctively reach for a glass bottle to avoid buying a plastic alternative, but glass takes more resources and energy to produce. Glass making involves mining raw materials such as silica sand and dolomite, and that can release pollution which, when inhaled, can cause the lung condition silicosis.
High temperatures are also needed to melt these materials, a process overwhelmingly powered by fossil fuels. During production, the glass itself releases carbon dioxide.
Our analysis found that glass bottle production used the most natural resources, due to the sheer amount of material used. A one-litre glass bottle can weigh up to 800g, while a similar plastic bottle weighs around 40g. That extra weight means vehicles transporting glass bottles consume more fossil fuels to deliver the same amount of liquid. For these reasons, we found that glass bottles have about a 95% bigger contribution to global warming than aluminium cans.
If a regular glass bottle is the worst, then surely those made from 100% recycled glass are much better, right? Unfortunately, no.
Some energy is saved in recycling rather than extracting, processing and transporting raw materials. But recycling glass still uses a lot of energy because of the high temperatures needed to melt it. More energy means more greenhouse gas emissions, and during the process, the glass may release carbon dioxide again.
In the UK, the recycling rate for glass is 67.6%. This would need to improve for glass bottle production to be self-sufficient by recycling alone.
Third place: plastic bottles
In third place is the plastic bottle. Plastic has ideal qualities for containing drinks. It’s strong, resistant to chemicals (so the ingredients in your drink don’t degrade the plastic), and it’s lightweight, meaning more can be transported on less emissions. That gave plastic a significantly lower impact on global warming than glass in our analysis.
But the effects of plastic waste globally are well documented. Glass and aluminium don’t break up into harmful microparticles like plastic does.
Plastic recycling requires less energy due to the lower temperatures involved in melting the raw material. But plastic, unlike glass or aluminium, cannot be endlessly recycled. Each time it’s recycled, the chains of molecules that make up plastics are shortened. All plastic reaches a point when it can no longer be recycled and so becomes destined either for landfill, incineration or the environment.
Second place: aluminium cans
In second place are aluminium cans. We found that they contribute less to global warming than glass and plastic because making them consumes less energy and resources. Cans are lighter than glass and aren’t made from fossil fuels either, like plastic.
Because of the processes involved in making them, cans also contribute less to environmental problems like acid rain and oxygen-free zones in the ocean. That’s because creating glass and plastic requires more electricity, and so it generates more sulphur dioxide pollution on average – a leading cause of acid rain. Making glass and plastic, and extracting the materials to make them (particularly soda ash for glass production), also releases more phosphates into the environment, which can overload rivers and coastal seas and deplete oxygen from the water.
But aluminium has its own environmental impacts. Making it involves refining bauxite ore, and mining bauxite can pollute water in the countries it’s sourced, including Australia, Malaysia and India. Rivers and sediment contaminated with heavy metals threaten the health of people and wildlife near mines.
Recycled aluminium cans were the least environmentally damaging single-use container we looked at. Aluminium can be constantly recycled with no change in properties. Recycling an aluminium can saves 95% of the energy used to make a new can and no new material needs to be mined or transported.
But aluminium isn’t always recycled. The UK’s recycling rate for aluminium packaging is just 52%. This must be drastically improved to make recycling the main supply of new cans.
Even if some of these containers are better than others, all of them have an environmental impact. The best option would be to phase out single-use packaging entirely, and introduce a system of reusing containers. Think self-serve drinks machines in local shops, where you could fill a bottle that you bring from home, or bottle return and reuse schemes.
Reducing waste and reusing materials, where possible, should come before recycling something. By reusing bottles, we reduce the amount of single-use packaging that needs to be created, reducing waste and a whole host of global environmental problems.
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