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I Challenge You to Take Oprah Winfrey’s ‘No Phone Zone’ Pledge

 

On Friday my co-worker Stephanie Schlegel told me about Oprah’s ‘No Phone Zone’ campaign that asks us to take the pledge to make our automobiles a no-phone zone. So I headed on over to the Oprah Winfrey Show’s Facebook page and clicked on the ‘No Phone Zone’ link where I saw four videos. I didn’t immediately watch the videos. Instead, I paused and stared at the faces of Kelly Cline, Shelly Forney, Jerry Cibley, and Jennifer Smith.

I just knew that each of them was going to have a heart-wrenching story that would bring tears to my eyes. It was the middle of the workday and I didn’t exactly need to be sobbing while I worked, so I didn’t watch any of them and clicked to another window and continued with my work.

A few minutes later I clicked back to the tab with the videos and decided to watch Shelly Forney’ story. Shelly shares with us how she was on the phone with her dad as she was driving home one evening and as she reached her street she told her dad that she had to go because she noticed at the end of the street there were flashing lights and emergency vehicles.

As any mother would feel in this situation, your heart starts racing for fear it’s your family, and for Shelly it was. As she got closer she saw a child’s body but had no idea it was her daughter until she saw her daughter’s mangled bicycle. Her daughter Erica was hit and killed by a woman driving a SUV who was distracted by her cell phone at the time of the accident. Shelly says in the video, “I cannot get her back because of a person on a cell phone.” 

Watching that video brought me to tears, as I knew it would; and yet, I couldn’t take the pledge. I wasn’t about to click and take the pledge if I wasn’t going to really mean it and stick to it.

In my sadness for Shelly and her loss, I sat for a minute and thought about how much I talk on the phone, hands-free of course, while driving. If I’m not listening to the radio or a podcast while driving then I’m catching up on returning phone calls. I’ve always found driving to be a great time to get caught up on calls, so taking such a pledge would end that and I wasn’t sure if I could truly stick to it and never use my phone in my car again. So, I clicked away from that window and went back to work.

Shelly’s story just stayed with me as I continued to work and I couldn’t shake it. I later went back and watched all four videos. Each of them told a heartbreaking story of how they had lost a loved one to texting or talking on a mobile phone while driving.

The story that hit me the most was that of Jerry Cibley and his 18-year-old son Jordan who died after Jerry had called him while Jordan was driving. During that call Jerry said that all of a sudden the phone went dead and he assumed, like we all do when that happens to us, that the battery died. But then 15-20 minutes later police officers showed up at his door and informed him of the accident. Jerry rushed to the hospital and it was there that they informed him that his son Jordan had died. They believe that Jordan had dropped his cell phone while talking to his dad and when he reached down to get it, he hit a tree and was killed instantly.

Jerry’s story had me sobbing and it was in that moment that I realized that my life or your life is not worth that phone call or text message, so right then I took the ‘No Phone Zone’ pledge.

Yes, it’s going to be very difficult to make this change, stay committed to the pledge and not use my phone while driving, but it’s worth it and so far I’ve stuck to it. Of course, it’s only been two days, but I think the easiest way for me to stick to it is to remove temptation and just put my iPhone on airplane mode while driving. I encourage you to do the same.

Join Oprah and the rest of us who have taken the ‘No Phone Zone’ pledge and let’s save lives because the life we could be saving might be your life. And if you need a little push, like I did, just watch the stories of Kelly Cline, Shelly Forney, Jerry Cibley, and Jennifer Smith and I think you’ll agree that a phone call or text message is not worth risking your life or someone else's life. Take the pledge.

For more info visit the Oprah.com's 'No Phone Zone' page.

#nophonezone

Her Last Words “Don’t Let Me Die”

We watch from afar the devastation that is wreaking havoc all across Haiti after it was hit with a 7.0 earthquake. Images of death and destruction stream across our television screens. Every story grows more heartbreaking and brings you to tears. One such story hit me hard yesterday and that was of an 11-year-old girl who had been trapped under the rubble, was cut free and later died from her injuries.

CNN Correspondent Ivan Watson shared her story (video). He had visited the site where she was trapped with her leg pinned under the rubble and at one point she held his hand and said, “don’t let me die.” Those exact words she would say again right before she died. Heartbreaking.

There are thousands of similar stories unfolding all across Port-au-Prince, Haiti because there isn’t enough medical care to treat the injured. So many who survived the earthquake are dying now from their injuries due to a lack of medical care. There just aren’t enough doctors and medical facilities to handle the thousands in need of care.

Help is pouring into Haiti from all over the world and we all need to do our small part to help those in need. All of us can’t be part of a rescue or medical team or other type of team offering aid going into Haiti, but we can financially support them. Whether it be the Red Cross, your church, local gym or other place that’s offering aid to Haitians, you can get involved through donations and supporting companies and individuals offering aid.

Red Cross Red Velvet
There are thousands of individuals, companies and organizations offering relief aid to Haiti. Yesterday, my favorite cupcake maker, Sprinkles Cupcakes, donated 100 percent of its proceeds from the sales of its special Red Cross Red Velvet cupcakes.

Clinton Haiti Relief Fund
Even Chelsea Clinton is helping in a unique way by teaming with SoulCycle in New York City with a 90-minute cycling fundraising session on Thursday, January 21. 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Haiti through the Clinton Haiti Relief Fund.

Zanmi Lakay
For my SF Bay Area friends, if you’re up for some yoga on MLK day then head on over to Bernal Yoga in San Francisco. Yoga instructor Debbie Steingesser is doing a Haiti Relief Donation class with live music by Marla Leigh. 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Zanmi Lakay, a Bay Area-based “non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for current and former street children in Haiti by providing educational and economic opportunities and resources to help these children while they are on the streets and to help build a life for them off the streets.”

Jen Pantaléon who runs Zanmi Lakay will be on hand at Bernal Yoga on Monday sharing documentary photos from Haiti and answering questions. Jen and her husband Guy, who is Haitian, are heading to Haiti on January 26 for a trip that had been planned prior to the earthquake. Obviously, their trip’s focus has shifted and now more than ever they can use donations to aid in the relief efforts and continue their work in helping Haitian children.

To donate to Zanmi Lakay visit their site here. And for more information about the Haiti Relief Donation yoga class visit Bernal Yoga.

CES: Polaroid Snaps Up Pop Diva Lady Gaga

Photo/Image credit: ninemsn's Dolly

The blogosphere is buzzing this morning about the news that Polaroid has teamed with Pop Diva Lady Gaga. Last night at a press conference (and in a press release issued last night), Polaroid revealed that Lady Gaga is its new Creative Director. Polaroid plans to collaborate with Lady Gaga and introduce a specialty line later this year.

This news is definitely bubblicious, but it doesn’t surprise me and just seems like a natural next step for her as she grows her Haus of Gaga, which includes music, fashion, photography, and technology products. Last year she introduced heartbeats by Lady Gaga, in-ear headphones developed in conjunction with beats by dr. dre and Monster.

Lady Gaga was not in attendance at the press conference last night, but she will be at Polaroid’s booth today at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Only time will tell if Lady Gaga can help Polaroid rise from the ashes. But one thing is for sure, she is one smart, beautiful and talented lady!

New Year Resolution: To Stop Voting for Foods that are Making Us Sick and Fat

photo credit: istockphoto

It’s that time of year again where many of us reflect on our accomplishments of the past year and set new goals for the coming year. I’ve never been a big fan of making New Year resolutions because statistics show that most of us can’t keep them. However, I do make them, but what I am a big believer in is consistently setting and working towards new goals throughout the year and continuing one’s education for life.

One of my goals for the coming year is to be committed to clean eating and remembering to vote with my dollars for clean, sustainable, non-GMO and organic foods. And in doing so, it’s my small way to vote against the corporate and government corruption of putting profits before people, animals and our environment.

This is not only a personal issue of mine, but it’s also a national crisis. Our food supply is one of the unhealthiest in the world and yet we are one of the richest and supposedly one of the most educated nations in the world. I say supposedly because we tend to bury our heads in the sand when it comes to our self-responsibility of maintaining a healthy BMI, exercising regularly, clean eating, and understanding our food supply. Most of us have no idea where the food we eat comes from and what’s done to it before it winds up on our plates.

Those who control the food system want to keep it this way and continue to put profits before people. For years we have let greedy government officials and corporate executives have the power because every time we buy the cornucopia of unhealthy products that they have put before us, we are essentially telling them that’s what we want. It’s simple supply and demand.

I think it’s time to stop putting profits before people, and stop buying from companies who produce unhealthy and non-sustainable products and buy only from companies who genuinely care and produce clean, sustainable, non-GMO and organic foods. Because it is only then that they’ll stop producing the harmful foods and products that line the shelves of American grocery stores.

How do we do this? We vote with our dollars every time we shop and eat out. In addition, we have to educate the market because right now the marketing of lies and spin through advertising and other marketing vehicles bombard the average consumer on a daily basis. We all have the power to educate others by simply telling our family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. And we can take it a step further by blogging about it, researching and writing books, or even producing a documentary, such as the one done by Filmmaker Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, investigative journalist and author of Fast Food Nation.

Kenner and Schlosser are the producers of Food Inc., an eye-opening documentary about America’s food industry. From Food Inc.’s site:

Food Inc. lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Food Inc. trailer available at: www.foodincmovie.com

If you haven’t seen Food Inc. I encourage you to see it, host a screening of it and help educate others about this crisis. With the power of social networks there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be spreading the word about this crisis to protect our own health and that of future generations.

As you reflect on your past year’s accomplishments and set New Year resolutions, I encourage you to join me in making a commitment to clean eating and voting with your dollars by purchasing clean, sustainable, non-GMO and organic foods.

Remember, at the end of the day the most powerful and effective way to make our voices heard is to vote with every dollar we spend.

Related Links:
AP INVESTIGATION: Monsanto Seed Biz Role Revealed
10 simple things you can do to change our food system
Environmental Working Group “The Power of Information”
Top 10 Environment Stories of the Decade -- That You Might Have Missed