Smartphone production and infrastructure, along with our tendency to upgrade our devices every couple of years, are threatening the planet. Read on to learn more about the problem and what you can do to help minimize it.

The environmental costs of smartphones

Life is about balance. We provide you with strategies for a lifelong commitment to strength and well-being in all areas of your life. 

Lifestyle

Protect our planet better. Sustainability is the foundation of natural health. We teach you how to embrace a more sustainable lifestyle, one step at a time, because a healthier planet means a healthier you.

Sustainability

No App for This

The Most Vegan and Vegetarian-Friendly Cities in the U.S.

The Best Places to Practice Yoga in the US and Beyond

Many people grow up without life skills that are not only practical but also important for sustainable living. If we know how to repair a hole in a sweater, we won’t toss it in the landfill. If we know how to preserve some bruised fruit, we won’t trash it. Relearn forgotten life skills; everyone will benefit.

Let’s learn from our grandparents

Skill Building for Sustainability and Resilience

COVID has served as a wake&#x2d;up call for Canadians about the conditions older adults have been facing. But they don’t have to face their battles alone. There are myriad ways we can show up for our seniors, whether through volunteering or by supporting those in our community.

Stepping up for seniors

Kind Is Beautiful

Take time in your mornings with a routine designed especially for you that will help support your mental health and make every day a little better. Try these seven steps that will help you make the most out of every morning.

Your new morning routine for better mental health

Take Back Your Mornings

Finding time to unwind is important to achieving balance. Short getaways, somewhere local, can be a great way to find some downtime when you don’t have a lot of time. We chose a short retreat to BC’s Nectar Yoga for some inner connection and outer exploration. Find out why vacationing close to home could be just what you need.

Seeking solitude and inner connection

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Finding “Home” Close to Home

Is midlife malaise dragging you down? You’re not alone. Read on for ways of navigating midlife slumps with a positive attitude toward your past and future and enthusiastic engagement in the present.

Mastering midlife with imagination and some new perspectives

What Crisis?

You deserve self-care time

alive's October 2021 Challenge: Make Time for Self-Care

Getting your garden ready for winter is an important step that many dismiss. By preparing for colder weather, you’ll keep your garden thriving into next year.

Just remember to bundle up before you head out 

7 Ways to Get Your Garden Ready for Winter

Getting old doesn’t have to mean growing slow or falling ill. Active aging invites us to rethink each decade and experience the many aging&#x2d;related benefits that come with physical exercise.

Enjoy a longer and more vibrant life

Active Aging for a Stronger Future

Bioplastics are touted as a solution to the deadly problems associated with conventional plastics. But most of these apparently “eco&#x2d;friendly” alternatives come with complications of their own. Read about different types of bioplastics and the ways some experts are navigating our plastics problem.

Explore the promising but problematic world of bioplastics

Is Bioplastic Better? Pros and Cons of These “Eco-Friendly” Alternatives

For people struggling with the heartbreaking challenge of infertility, IVF can offer hope for a healthy pregnancy and baby. However, undergoing IVF is also a stressful and demanding time: physically, mentally, and emotionally. During this time, many people look to holistic health practices as a complement to IVF.

How combining IVF with holistic health can birth positive outcomes

Natural is the way. We bring you credible approaches to preventative health, holistic treatments, and supportive supplements.

Health

Balancing Out

If we want a food system that’s clean, fair, and sustainable, then we can’t leave seeds out of it. Learn the surprising, often&#x2d;forgotten importance of these little carriers of life, along with ways you can exercise seed sovereignty yourself.

How to reclaim wise stewardship

Exercising Your Seed Sovereignty for a Better Food System

Depression can happen to anyone, at any age or stage of life. If you’re battling depression, these 10 everyday strategies could help.

These simple and natural methods can help ease your depression symptoms

Everyday Strategies to Help Treat Depression

While the exact causes of hypertension are unknown, there are things you can do to help lower your blood pressure if it’s high. Check out these 10 factors that contribute to high blood pressure.

These are the major contributing factors of high blood pressure

10 Causes of Hypertension

Our indoor environments mean that we can accidentally forget about what’s happening in nature. The less we interact with the natural world, the more disconnected we can feel. Seasonal living offers a way to rekindle our relationships with nature. In the process, we can uncover the joy and beauty in the natural world hidden in plain sight all around us.

Discover the joy of reconnecting with the seasons

How to Reconnect with Nature Through Seasonal Living

Your next step in our 12 Months of Wellness Challenge

alive's September 2021 Challenge: Shop Local

Like adults, Canadian children and youth have reckoned with the effects of the pandemic. Despite these challenges, many have shown incredible resilience. Here, we showcase youth who’ve adapted to the pandemic while creating opportunities for themselves, and others, in the entrepreneurial and volunteer worlds.

Portraits of enterprising young Canadians

Unstoppable Youth

Shifting into a low&#x2d;waste lifestyle with kids is easier than you think! With one step at a time, you can simplify your life, make less trash, and connect more with each other in a way that is sustainable for both your family and the planet.

An empowering approach to eco-friendly parenting

Slow, Simple, and Sustainable

Children are at different and increased risk of environmental toxin exposure than adults. Thankfully, there are many steps that parents and caregivers can take to reduce kids’ exposure to toxins.

Lifestyle strategies for toxin-free childhoods

Clean Living for Kids

If you’re hungry, eat; if you’re tired, sleep; if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. It seems simple, doesn’t it? And, yet, getting children to sleep through the night is many parents’ greatest challenge—but it’s critical that you do.

Why is something that should be so simple so challenging, and how can you fix it?

Go to Sleep, Kid!

Children have faced new and unique challenges over the past couple of years, particularly in relation to school routines and learning. But kids are built to learn, so here are some ideas to help create the right conditions for their success.