For the fall the Parish Care & Wellness have decided to focus on living green. If the planet is not healthy, we will not be healthy. We are called to be stewards of many things including our bodies and our earth.

Right here in greater Des Moines there is a group with ONE SMALL CHANGE that can have a big impact. You can buy a multi-use bag, or put to good use canvas or vinyl bags that are already lying around at home.

Roughly 90 million shopping bags are distributed in Greater Des Moines each year. It takes 430,000 gallons of petroleum to produce 100 million plastic bags…that means 385,312 gallons of petroleum to make plastic bags for our area.

Personally I have used canvas bags for the last 10 to 12 years. A local grocery in Phoenix encouraged shoppers to use canvas and I bought a set of 3, and added 1 canvas bag that I got at a conference. Last year I upgraded to 3 great bags from "Heifer International." I hang my bags on a shelf near my car and grab them as I head out to the store. My Mom thinks it is easier to just keep her bags in the car.

Dahl's a member of BAG A BETTER ENVIRONMENT and HyVee both have bags for sell at their stores. You can also purchase bags at Fair World Gallery and support a world neighbor.

Your one small change can make a big difference for our world.

To recognize May as Blood Pressure month the Parish Care & Wellness committee nurse volunteers are offering blood pressures in the west lobby both Sunday, May 6 and Sunday, May 20 between services.

If you don't know your how your blood pressure is running these days, stop by and let us tell you. Maybe you are walking around with " the silent killer." There are four people at church who have benefited from medications, after we found they had elevated blood pressure. Several others use us to help track their pressure on a routine basis.

There was a question in a recent "Cuisine at Home" magazine. "I can't tell one bottled water from another. Can you help?" The answer given will be posted on the bulletin board at church. It was cautioned that bottled water does not guarantee quality. The water is often high in sodium and low in fluoride. Drinking water was described as tap water that has been filtered and disinfected by water treatment plants.

There is so much information on the Internet. Under Medline Plus it was related that rust is the biggest threat to drinking water. "If you clean up water and then put it into a dirty pipe, there's not much point. I consider this distribution system to be the highest risk and the greatest problem we are going to be facing in the future," Timothy Ford, a microbiologist and water research scientist with Montana State University said.

The Safe Drinking Water Act was set in 1974. However even after an extensive purifying process, water ends up in your glasses after traveling through mostly iron pipes laid under city streets up to 100 years ago. Plastic was introduced about 30 years ago.

Close to home the Des Moines Water Works site listed it's Consumer Confidence Report. Water is drawn from the Raccoon River, the Des Moines River and the infiltration gallery at either of the two treatment plants located on Fleur Drive and at Maffitt Reservoir. The water is time softened, filtered, fluoridated and disinfected before delivery to us. Nitrates are removed to keep the water below EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) maximum contaminant level of 10 milligrams per liter.

"The sources of drinking water (both tap and bottled) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells. As water travels over the surfaces of the land or through the ground, it can dissolve naturally occurring minerals and in some cases radioactive material and can pick up substances from the presence of animals or humans". For this reason, regular testing of the water is required.

You in West Des Moines live in the Walnut Creek Watershed. West Des Moines Water Works 2006 water quality report stated test results for West Des Moines water during 2006 detected no contaminants that exceeded EPA or State of Iowa limits for safe drinking water. Good tips for preventing storm water pollution were given. West Des Moines obtains water from 19 shallow wells, 3 deeper wells and some is purchased from the Des Moines Water Works.

Drinking water including bottled water may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. Their presence does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk. The EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791) can give you information regarding potential health effects.

Two randomly selected examples of bottled water via www.bottledwater.com are Aquafina and Colorado Crystal- Rocky Mountain Beverage Company. Colorado Crystal source is atop the world's largest flattop mountain in Colorado. Protected by National Forest, a series of springs at 10,000 feet above sea level surfaces "percolate" through layers of silica and lava rock. The water is piped by an enclosed system to the bottling facility where the only processing is ultraviolet light and added carbonation from natural CO2 wells in Colorado.

Aquafina (a Pepsi product bottled at selected Pepsi Cola bottling plants) uses municipal tap water that is processed using reverse osmosis, charcoal filtration, ozonation and filtration steps called the HYDRO-7 filtration system.

One wellness tip - regardless of the source of water, do not to repeatedly fill a plastic bottle over and over without thorough cleaning in between uses.

Heartland Health & Wellness has the CPR Anytime for Family & Friends kits. Look for the sign-up sheet on our bulletin board. Borrow a kit for a week and practice CPR by yourself and with your family. There is an easy to follow 22 minute instructional DVD that will teach you how and when to do CPR. This is the kit sold by the American Heart Association.

Sign-up and learn or sign-up to refresh yourself in performing CPR. February, a good month to put heart and hands together. You can also call Melissa Schnucker to reserve a kit anytime.

Are you tired of being overweight? Are you sluggish and lack the energy you used to have? Do you have high blood pressure or cholesterol? Are you overall just unhappy with your health and physical capabilities? Heartland is offering you a possible remedy to your current situation.

Jamie Cord, last year's statewide winner of Lighten Up Iowa and now ambassador for the Lighten Up America program is going to give two introductions and presentations to this years program Dec 31st and Jan 7th. He will be monitoring and having monthly motivational meetings for everyone involved to inspire and keep you on course to your goal. Jamie has lost 120 lbs in the last 11 months and is going to share his tips and advice to a healthier lifestyle.

Please get involved, no matter what you reason or goal. It will be fun and rewarding for everyone involved. Let's put together teams from Heartland and support each other to make healthy choices together.

This time of year with holiday overeating you may have heartburn. But if you have persistent heartburn, ie. daily, you might be suffering from Gastroesophageal Reflux or GERD. This disease is caused when the stomach juices made up of acid and enzymes that our stomach uses to digest our food flow back up into the esophagus (the tube that stretches from your mouth to your stomach.) Chronic reflux can damage the esophagus causing narrowing, irritation, and sometimes ulcers and precancerous changes.

Certain foods such as chocolate, coffee, high fat foods, tomatoes, peppers, carbonated drinks, smoking, and alcohol can weaken or loosen the muscle ring at the base of the esophagus. Another factor that forces the muscle ring or sphincter open at the base of the esophagus is pressure. This pressure can come from obesity, pregnancy, tight belts or large meals.

If you have persistent heartburn you should talk with your physician because this is not a symptom that should be ignored. There are many over the counter medications available to treat heartburn, however your physician can help to select the most effective treatment for you.

For more detailed information go to Health Info Iowa, select General Health Resources, and then choose Healthfinder or InteliHealth. Info from these sites was used as well as resources from the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Gastroenterological Association

Blessed Christmas and Holidays! From Health & Wellness Ministry