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Bad Habits: why we bite our nails, and what licking our lips does to us

9/30/2018

 
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Licking your Lips
Have you ever been outside on a cold, morning, and you notice your lips are dry, so you lick them? It turns out this only makes them worse! Here’s why: The saliva on your tongue and in your mouth evaporates really fast and when you lick your lips, that saliva evaporates, leaving your lips drier than they were before. Winds and harsh weather can also contribute to dry lips. Your lips have thinner skin than the rest of your body and they don’t have oil glands, both of which makes it easier to dry out. 

Dos and Don'ts for dry lips
According to The Washington Post, don’t:
  1. Lick them!
  2. Eat lots of food that have citrus and salt, they sting dry lips.
  3. Pick your lips, it will cause them to bleed!

According to The Mayo Clinic, Do:
  1. Drink lots of water.
  2. If you have a humidifier, use it in your house.
  3. Wear lip balm, but if you tend to lick your lips, try unflavored lip balm so you're less tempted to.

Biting Your Nails
Biting your nails is a common bad habit, and it can result in too-short nails that hurt. So why do we do it?

People bite their nails for a number of reasons, says WebMD. They could be stressed, worried, sad, insecure, or even just bored or hungry. A range of people bite nails too, such as little kids, teens, and adults, and studies show that if your parents bite their nails or if they did as a kid, their child will be likely to as well.

How do I stop?
Biting your nails doesn’t do anything good for you. According to WebMD, it can mess up the tissue around your nails and make them grow in with a weird shape. If you bite your nails a lot when you're not thinking about it, put socks over your hands whenever you're watching tv or reading. You can also get sick from biting your nails. Just imagine how many things your hands touch every day, and when you bite your nails, that bacteria has the chance to get into your mouth.

So next time you think about biting your nails or licking your lips, just think about what you’re really doing to yourself.

Story by Mattie-Clark Palme

iPhone Xs vs. iPhone Xr: Which Is Better?

9/30/2018

 
PictureiPhones from Apple.com
Many of you have probably heard about the new iPhones and may think about getting one. In this article I will be sharing with you about all of the new phone features. 

Colors:
The iPhone Xs and Xs Max comes in silver, space grey, and gold. The iPhone Xr has a much more colorful range. It comes in white, black, blue, yellow, coral, and red! This is the first time other than the iPhone 5c that you are able to choose colors such as yellow, blue, and coral but these colors are only available for the iPhone Xr.
 
Price:
The price for the iPhone Xs Max varies from $1,099 to $1,449 depending on how many GBs you purchase. The iPhone Xs ranges $999 to $1,349. And last but not least, the iPhone Xr starts at $749 and goes up to $899, again, depending on the GBs you want.
 
GB of Storage:
If price is an issue, you’ll want to stick with a 64 GB iPhone. But you can also go with a 128 GBs, 256 GBs, or all the way up to 512 GB of storage!
 
Display size:
The smallest of the three new iPhones is the iPhone Xs. It has a screen size of 5.8 inches. The iPhone Xr is 6.1 inches. And the iPhone Xs Max has a massive 6.5 inch display screen, which is the biggest display screen apple has come out with yet.

Waterproof:
The iPhone Xr can be submerged in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. But the iPhone Xs and Xs Max are slighty more waterproof because they can be submerged in 2 meters of water for 30 minutes!
 
Release dates:
The iPhone Xs and the Xs Max was released on September 21st. The iPhone Xr will be released next month on October 26th.
 
Battery Life:
The iPhone Xs has 12 hours of battery life if you are on the internet. The iPhone Xs Max has 13 hours of battery life when you’re on the internet. But the iPhone Xr has an outstanding 15 hour battery life!
 
Camera Details:
In all every new iPhone has about the same picture quality, but the only difference is that the Xs and Xs Max have another telephoto lens so you can zoom in more.

Fun Facts: Apple decided to make the iPhone X before they made an iPhone 9 because it was the 10th anniversary of iPhone. Also, the iPhone Xr and Xs has 25% louder of an external speaker than the iPhone X! According to The Huffngton Post, in all of the iPhone ads it is always 9:42am.
 
I think these phones are really cool and advanced, but I don’t think it is worth the extra money to buy the iPhone Xs instead of the Xr because they are so similar. I would pick the iPhone Xr because there are more color options and it is cheaper than the iPhone Xs. I hope this article helped you and thank you for reading!

Story by Tate Lloyd

How much does it take to save the planet? Going green is easier than you think.

9/30/2018

 
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Sustainable and green living has become more popular in the past few years. Many people are investing in greener homes and making smarter decisions on what they buy and how it can be disposed of after their use of the item. Many people who have invested in better quality items that last longer save lots of money each year because they don't have to buy items to replace cheaply made clothing, shoes, and other items we use everyday. There are many brands that have created clothing lines that are made out of old clothing that have been refurbished into new trendy pieces of clothing but how easy is it to get your hands on environmentally friendly clothing.

There are many well known clothing brands that not a lot of people realize they are made green and the company will fix or recycle old clothing. Some of those brands are Insecta shoes which is a vegan Brazilian brand that makes everything from shoes to perfume and they are all vegan and made out of old clothing scraps and plastic water bottles. Another very familiar brand that is eco friendly is Patagonia which make all of their polyester items out of plastic bottles and have recently expanded their use of the recycled polyester into other Patagonia products too. The popular brand has kept millions of plastic bottles out of the landfills. The last brand is not a clothing brand it's a cosmetic brand but is still well known, that brand is Dr. Bronner's and some of the first soaps were made over 150 years ago in Germany in jewish corners. The company was not given the Dr.Bronner's name until 1948 when it was founded. The company is all about reducing their footprint and make all of the soap bottles out of 100% post consumer recycled packaging making it even easier to dispose of for customers creating less waste.

Is it all really making a difference? The answer is yes but only if we continue to produce and create new products that are still post consumer friendly. There are so many more ways to go green besides just buying from eco friendly brands, some easy steps you can do everyday to create less waste is making a compost at your home. According to the U.S. Environmental protection agency in 2014 20% of landfill waste is food scraps that's over 35 million tons of food going to waste.By composting you reduce those numbers and the amount of methane going into the air and you can make rich and healthy soil to grow your own food with and finally it reduces your own carbon footprint.  Few more easy ways to reduce waste is to stop using single use plastic bags, using a bamboo toothbrush instead of a plastic one which can't be recycled, buying second hand  and lastly turn down free samples of things you get offered at events, meetings, and even charities because if more people turn them down less of the items will be made.

After reading this hopefully you have been inspired to look at the amount of waste your producing and try to eliminate items you have in your life to only what you need, and to always try and buy things that are post consumer and eco friendly. This will not only decrease your carbon footprint, but to continue this huge environmental movement that could potentially save our planet.

Story by Barret Bryson

The Importance of Car Safety

9/28/2018

 
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When people say they see their life flash before their eyes, they really do. Recently, I was involved in a car accident and it was the scariest experience of my life. From this I learned how many people are affected by reckless driving and really how important car safety is. It was a normal Tuesday morning and I was on my way to school. Everything seemed normal until it wasn't. All I can remember is a loud noise and a car filled with white smoke. It was terrifying.

Did you know nearly 1.25 million people die in car accidents each year, that's 3,287 deaths each day. North Carolina is responsible for 267,494 of those deaths. In 2016 Buncombe county had 23 deaths due to car accidents. Car accidents are the leading cause of death that occurred in 15-29 year olds. Apart from the deaths, another 20-50 million are injured or disabled each year from car wrecks. Worldwide car accident are the 9th most premature death. According to ASIRT, by 2030 car accidents will be in the top five of the most deaths worldwide.

In order for this issue to stop, or at least slow down we need to fix it. The most important thing to do is put your seatbelt on as soon as you get in the car so if anything were to happen you would be as safe as possible. The next thing is to always remain focused on the road. If you feel yourself dozing off, pull over and get some water to wake you up, get out and walk around, and if  you really have to take a nap because it's always better to be safe than sorry. Don't ever look at your phone while you're driving, whatever is happening on your phone can wait. The most accidents occur during rainy or snowy weather. To stay safe listen to your local radio station to see if it's risky or not to be on the road. When you are driving try and stay mindful of all of these things and keep as safe as you can.

Story by Maya Fuchs

Sources:
https://www.stricklandlawnc.com/nc-car-accident-statistics/
https://www.asirt.org/safe-travel/road-safety-facts/
https://www.consumersafety.org/safety/cars/
https://ankinlaw.com/car-accidents-rise/
https://www.statefarm.com/simple-insights/auto-and-vehicles/5-tips-to-remember-for-driving-safely-in-the-rain

How to Take Care of Hair that has Been Dyed

9/27/2018

 
PictureThe products I use.
I have had dyed hair since the beginning of the summer, sometimes it can be difficult to figure out what’s going to work for your hair, I am here to help you figure out what can help you keep your colored hair in tip top shape.

  1. After dying your hair wait approximately 48 hours before watching your hair. This helps it set into your hair, if you wash it directly after dying it, it will fade.
  2. Use shampoos and conditioners without sulfates. Sulfates have the ability to damage hair with or without color. Sulfates will drain color in hair.
  3. Only wash your hair every other or every three days
  4. Use cold or lukewarm water to wash your hair
  5. Some products that I recommend are
  1. Ion intense moisture conditioner- My hair can tend to be coarse and dry, This conditioner leaves hair soft, silky and does not strip color. It smells fantastic and the amount that you get is great for its price point. It is $10.99 and comes in a 10.5 fl. oz. bottle.
  2. Ion moisture shampoo- This shampoo is $12.49 and comes in a 33.8 fl. oz. bottle. It does not strip color at all. It does leave hair very matted but in pairing with the conditioner it leaves hair smelling good.
  3. L'Oréal Paris Hair Expert Color Vibrancy Intensive Shampoo- This shampoo is $4.99 and you get a large 12.6 fl oz. bottle. This shampoo can leave hair a little dehydrated depending on your hair type. Barely strips color.
  4. L'Oréal Paris Hair Expert Color Vibrancy Intensive Conditioner- This conditioner makes hair pretty soft and silky but you need to leave it in for about 5 minutes for it to work. And again it is $4.99 and it comes in a 12.6 fl. oz. bottle.
  5. Gemstone Color shampoo- It is $24.00, which is quite expensive for the small 8.5 fl. oz. bottle. It makes hair smell good and feel good. This shampoo does not strip color at all. The only downside to this is the price for the amount of shampoo.
  6. Gemstone Color conditioner- The price for this is $25.00 and again, you only get 8.5 fl oz.  The conditioner smells fantastic, leaves hair silky and smooth and it does not strip color at all.

Story by William Euler 


Beach Safety Tips

9/24/2018

 
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Sunburn - Have you ever been to a beach? Have you ever been forced by an adult to wear sunscreen? Do you think they are just putting it on you to be annoying? Well to answer your question, they're not. Sunburn and sun poisoning are very harmful and can cause severe skin burning and blistering, massive fluid loss and dehydration, loss of bodily fluids, and infection. Sometimes, too much exposure to the sun and severely untreated sunburn can cause shock or poor circulation to vital organs such as your brain, heart, kidneys, liver and lungs.  Sometimes in rare cases, you can die from sunburn. The two most common types of burns are first and second, second degree burns result or end up in redness on your skin and even blistering. Extensive heat is also a very important but very harmful thing. Heat is one of the leading weather killer in the U.S . It causes more deaths than floods, hurricanes, lightning and tornadoes combined together!
Here are some things to look out for to know if your burn is severe or not: A headache, chills and a fever… if you have any or all of these symptoms that are accompanied by sunburn seek medical help right away!
Rip Currents - Rip currents are accounted for 80% of rescues usually done by surf beach lifeguards. What are rip currents? Rip currents are powerful channeled currents of water pulling away from shore that can easily pull swimmers out to the ocean. Rip currents can usually occur or extend from shoreline, through the breaking lines and the surf zone. Here are some tips to help you make sure to not get pulled out to sea: recognize the danger of them, don't fight it if you get caught, make sure you always swim at a beach with lifeguards or professionals around, swim parallel to shore, swim back to shore or land at an angle.
Lightning - It is never okay or safe to swim during lightning. Lightning regularly strikes water less than land, but when it does strike the ocean or water that you are in it conducts and spreads the electricity… it can even kill fish and hit boats nearby. Their is also no safe place in the water during any kind of storm! Here are some tips and ways to stay out of the storm: Go into substantial buildings, and hard topped cars or vehicles. Rain shelters, small sheds and open vehicles are not safe to be in, and at least wait 30 minutes till you hear the last crack of lightning.
Sharks - Shark attacks or getting bit by a shark are slim, especially when you're on shore. Some attacks or bites near shore can happen if a shark is in the sandbar or swimming in between the sandbars and can get trapped by low tide.  According to ABC’s Amanda Onion, their were 91 incidents of shark encounters last summer.  Also if you are near drop-offs that can also lead to one. The chances of getting bit by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067 in a lifetime. Here are some tips to help prevent attacks and to be safe: Don't wear bright or shiny jewelry because it can resemble fish scales, don't swim too far off from shore if alone, always swim in a group, don't go in the water if you have a cut or are bleeding, also avoid very neon or brightly colored bathing suits, don't swim at night or during twilight, and avoid to swim at dusk or dawn if swimming, surfing etc.
Falling Coconuts - Now this may sound like a joke to you, “falling coconuts she's gotta be kidding right?” That's probably what you are thinking right now… but think about it. 9 pound coconuts falling from nearly 100 feet off the ground, now that can hurt someone badly. Coconuts can even be more deadly than a shark attack. ABC says that people are more 15% more likely to get killed by a falling coconut than getting bit by a shark.

Story by Sydney Edwards



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