SHOPPING GUIDE

Custom Crystal Creations at 16 Cedar Stree in Dobbs Ferry

Last Year’s ‘Shop Local’ Is Becoming Tradition

by Allison Gorman

Last December the mantra was “Shop local.” Now the concept seems to have caught on as a holiday tradition. Marcie Manfredonia, president of Custom Candle Co, in Bedford Hills, is one of many small business owners who tell us they’ve seen an uptick in seasonal shoppers this year.

“I think that this year’s holiday shopping season is different,” she says. “More people are shopping local and trying to get more meaningful and personal gifts.”

Your CBD Store, in Mount Kisco, makes holiday buying easy by customizing gifts and even shipping them to the recipients for free. But shopping local is the right thing to do all year long, says owner Cathy Parlitsis. “It keeps your dollars invested in your local communities, so it also benefits the community,” she explains.

Ann LaGoy, owner of green-products company Sound Earth, agrees that patronizing small businesses keeps money close to home. “We are your neighbors, friends, investors in our communities,” she says. “It is well known each dollar spent locally circulates many more times within the local economy than big box stores.”

Ongoing supply-chain issues, especially bottlenecks in overseas shipments, have reinforced the idea that shopping local is a pragmatic as well as ethical choice. Parlitsis says having products that are US-grown and -manufactured has been an extra blessing for her store this year.

Shira Adler, who sells holistic wellness products online through her company Synergy by Shira Adler, says she’s prepared for the holiday season, despite the bottlenecks.

“We anticipated the supply-chain issues plaguing companies this year, but we are fully ready to go,” she says. “The only delays we can’t control may come from mail-delivery service companies, so order early.”

CBD Gift Boxes & TRIM Products

(Prices vary) Gift boxes are very popular around the holidays at Your CBD Store, in Mount Kisco, says owner Cathy Parlitsis. “Giving the gift of health and good sleep is sure to be appreciated,” she says.

The fully customizable boxes usually contain a tincture, a topical cream and either a gummy or sleep product. “These work well, because it’s best to get CBD in you and on you,” Parlitsis says. “Additionally, gift boxes receive a 15 percent discount, which certainly helps.” Shoppers can also assemble a Self-Care Box, choosing from a variety of bath bombs and beauty products.

Another product that Parlitsis predicts will be a big hit this holiday season is the store’s new TRIM weight-loss line.

“Like THC turns the ‘munchy receptor’ in the brain up, THC-v turns it down,” she says. “Why not give the gift of good health this season?”

TRIM products are available as capsules and a tincture and are backed by research showing that 100 percent of the study participants lost weight over a 90-day period.

Shop in person at Your CBD Store, 222 E. Main St., Mt. Kisco, NY, and Your CBD Store, 1582 Rte. 9, Wappingers Falls, NY. Order by phone at 914.276.5409 to have gifts packaged and shipped at no charge. Shop online at YourCBDStoreMtKisco. comand CBDWappingers.com. See ad, page 20.

($34.99 and up) Marcie Manfredonia, president of Custom Candle Co, says custom liquor bottle candles are her most popular gift this holiday season, perhaps because they’re so personalized.

“It’s the perfect gift,” she says. “It allows you to choose your favorite liquor bottle and fill with the wax color, scent, and wick type of your choice. You can purchase it by itself, or you can add other items along with it. We have a wide range of candles and small gifts that can be made into beautiful gift baskets.”

In addition to its storefront in Bedford Hills and a second one opening soon in Mount Kisco, Custom Candle Co has an online store and ships domestically and internationally.

Shop in person at Custom Candle Co., 25 Depot Plaza, Bedford Hills, NY. New location opening soon at 720 Bedford Rd., Mount Kisco, NY. Order by phone at 914.218.8357. Shop online at CustomCandleCo.com. See ad, page 21.

Aroma Bracelet Gift Set

(Under $30)

Ann LaGoy, owner of Sound Earth, says the Aroma Bracelet Gift Set her favorite product she’s selling this year. “I love this item because it is beneficial to the person wearing it,” she explains. “Each bracelet is made with semiprecious stones, and each scent is made with therapeutic-grade essential oils. Both have a specific positive purpose: relaxing, soothing, invigorating—pick your pleasure.”

She says she also loves it for its reasonable price.

“The giver doesn’t have to break the bank to express their care for the receiver,” she says. “It’s less than $30.” (Bliss Butter: $59.99; Synergy Sprays: $39.95 each; CBD Tinctures: $79.95 and up) Synergy by Shira Adler products are organic and free of gluten, pesticides, toxins, solvents—and really anything that doesn’t belong in a clean, pure, plant-based therapeutic. Its combo holiday gift set, featuring three CBD-infused personal-care items—Bliss Butter, a1500mg tincture and any aromatherapy Synergy Spray of the customer’s choosing—is already shaping up to be a seasonal favorite, says Shira Adler, founder and CEO of Synergy by Shira Adler and a second company, EcoSynergy.

Bliss Butter is a highly absorbent topical made with 500mg full-spectrum hemp extract (that’s CBD and everything else that comprises a “full spectrum” of cannabinoids and plant-based therapeutic agents), plus 10 essential oils, in a shea-butter base. In can be used daily as needed.

The tincture is a high-milligram, full-spectrum hemp extract (CBD+) “with just enough organic MCT oil as a carrier oil for maximum absorption,” Adler says. It’s applied with a dropper (a quarter to half full) to the area between the cheek and gum, where it’s entirely absorbed in under five seconds. No swallowing required.

Adler calls these portable, affordable Synergy Sprays “the world’s only CBD-infused aromatherapy series of our proprietary blends—four or five oils per blend—meant to layer on each other.” To use, spray two or three times in front of your face and inhale deeply.

Shop online at ShiraSynergy.com. Follow Shira Adler on social media @The1ShiraAdler and @ShiraSynergy. See ad, page 21.

Eat Walnuts to Reduce Bad Cholesterol and Heart Disease

Healthy older adults that ate about a half cup of walnuts every day for two years gained a modest reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad cholesterol”, reports a study of 636 people from San Diego’s Loma Linda University. Other risk factors for heart health—small LDL particles and intermediate-density lipoprotein— also decreased, signaling a lower chance of cardiovascular events. “Many people are worried about unwanted weight gain when they include nuts in their diet,” says study co-author Emilio Ros, M.D., Ph.D. “Our study found that the healthy fats in walnuts did not cause participants to gain weight.”

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Eat an Avocado Daily to Redistribute Belly Fat

The deep visceral fat that surrounds internal organs is a major indicator of metabolic syndrome and diabetes, but it can be decreased in women by eating an avocado each day, report researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For 12 weeks, 105 overweight or obese men and women were fed a meal that for only half of the participants included an avocado. The women that ate avocados experienced a reduction in visceral abdominal fat, as well as a reduced ratio of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat closer to the skin, indicating a redistribution of fat away from the organs. Fat distribution in males did not change.

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Try Garlic to Relieve Endometriosis Pain

For women suffering from pelvic and back pain associated with endometriosis (uterus growth), garlic may karolina grabowski/Pexels.com help. In an Iranian study published in the journal Evidence-Based Alternative and Complementary Medicine, half of a group of 60 women with the disorder were given 400 milligrams of garlic in tablets daily, and the others received a placebo. Over a span of three months, researchers found that the women taking the garlic tablets had significantly less pelvic and back pain, as well as significant reductions in discomfort during menstruation and sexual intercourse.

Drink More Water to Help Prevent Heart Disease

Staying well hydrated throughout life could reduce the risk of heart failure, according to a study presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2021 Congress. Researchers from the U.S. National Insnapwire/Pexels.com stitutes of Health reported that people that drink sufficient water every day have a reduced risk of the thickening of the heart’s left ventricle. Their conclusion was based on the analysis of 26 years’ worth of serum sodium levels in 15,792 middle-age Americans. Higher serum sodium concentration in midlife was associated with heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy 25 years later. Few people meet daily hydration recommendations (54 to 71 ounces for women and 67 to 101 ounces for men). According to the researchers, when people drink less fluid, the concentration of sodium in the blood increases, and the body attempts to conserve water by activating processes known to contribute to the development of heart failure. “The findings indicate that we need to pay attention to the amount of fluid we consume every day and take action if we find that we drink too little,” says study author Natalia Dmitrieva.

global briefs Green Future

Planting 500 Billion Trees

The UK tech company Dendra claims their drone can plant two trees per second using artificial intelligence for guidance in an effort to re-green the Earth. Their ambitious goal is to plant 500 billion trees by 2060 with 400 teams of two drone operators and 10 drones per team. The plan would plant 10 billion trees per year 10 times more cheaply than planting by hand, especially in remote areas. First, the replanting areas are identified using a combination of satellite images and drone-collected data. Then, specialized drones carrying seedpods that contain a germinated seed and nutrients use pressurized air to fire the seeds into the ground once in proper position as determined by an algorithm. The seedpods penetrate the ground and start to grow when activated by precipitation.

The World Wildlife Fund estimates the planet is losing 27 football fields of forest every minute due to deforestation. Dendra CEO Susan Graham says, “We need to use technology to scale up our restoration efforts, and the scale we’re talking about is tens of billions of trees every year. We’ll be able to see the ecosystems that we’ve restored from space.”

tom fisk/Pexels.com University of Rhode Island research published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters describes a new technique for measuring the presence of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in indoor air, which found them in kindergarten classrooms, offices, laboratories and a home. We have known about toxic “forever chemicals” in food and drinking water, and it seems they are also ubiquitous in the air.

PFAS are a class of approximately 9,000 chemicals used to improve stain, water or heat resistance in products. The public health concern is that they don’t break down in the environment. PFAS accumulate in animals and humans and are linked to health impacts including cancer, birth defects and immune suppression.

The scientists think PFAS enter the atmosphere when compounds break off of treated products like coats or carpets and attach to dust. “It’s an underestimated and potentially important source of exposure to PFAS,” says study co-author and Green Science Policy Institute Senior Scientist Tom Bruton.

According to the Institute, schools and offices can protect students and employees by replacing carpeting, but that doesn’t prevent PFAS from entering via coats or shoes. Bruton writes, “As long as they continue to be used in products, we’ll all be eating, drinking and breathing PFAS. We need to turn off the tap and stop all unnecessary uses of PFAS as soon as possible.”

Shine On

Large-Scale Solar Power Cost Plummets

A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) describes a significant decrease in the cost of renewable energy sources compared to 2020, with solar leading the pack by a wide margin. The 10year average adjusted costs of generation for a plant over its lifetime are 85 percent for utility-scale solar; 56 percent for onshore wind; 48 percent for offshore wind; and 68 percent for concentrated solar power. IRENA pixabey/Pexels.com continues to see drops of between 7 percent and 16 percent in these categories this year. According to the same report, the 62 percent of new renewables added last year had lower costs than the cheapest fossil fuels. New renewables are increasingly competitive against existing fossil fuels. In the U.S., 61 percent of current coal capacity already has higher operating costs. Phasing out these coal plants would start saving money almost immediately. IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera states that because renewables cost more upfront than keeping old coal rolling, action is needed to make sure emerging economies are not left behind. “We are far beyond the tipping point of coal.”