Remember the last time you had the flu or a lingering cold? Get much done? When we’re healthy, we take our good health for granted. Despite what our politicians and healthcare providers might suggest, good healthcare does not necessarily provide good health. Our lifestyle and daily habits contribute to feeling great just about every day of the year.

Some companies provide a good healthcare plan when it comes to physician access and medical coverage. But what does that matter when the stress-filled, unhealthy environment in a cubicle – with no access to the outdoors and fresh air – ends up giving us poor health? The American healthcare system is great – perhaps the best in the world – if we crashed in our car. It’s designed for treatment, not prevention. It’s a healthcare system based on the poor health of relatively well-off people who can pay (by credit or otherwise) for the services it provides.

Given all the debate on a national healthcare plan offered by the United States, below are a few promising trends many people are discovering.

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There was no such moment, or crisis, that transformed my life of power suits, lattes, or gotta-have-it-all-now mindset.  Instead, my sustainable journey (which very much continues to this day as an evolving journey) resulted from a growing understanding about the issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, both through personal experience and by learning of these changes from other organizations or individuals.

One such organization that serves as a compass for my endeavors is the Worldwatch Institute, a nonprofit organization that produces the authoritative State of the World book series as well as numerous other books and resources to build an ecologically sustainable society that meets human needs. Each year, a new State of the World book is not only jam-packed with interdisciplinary research and analysis that a non-scientific mind (like mine) could comprehend, but organized in such a way to make it both practical and powerful for anyone searching for ways to express a vision for how to live on a planet without destroying it or exploiting its inhabitants.

Each year, the State of the World book series focuses on a particular theme which might address energy, community, food and agriculture, population, health, trade policies and natural resource use, just to name a few.  For 2008, their State of the World: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy provides both a timely analysis of how our “free trade” global economy has gone astray and insights into the powerful movements afoot, including localization, a triple bottom line approach to business, microfinance, and the low-carbon economy.

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It’s no surprise, then, that moms are also some of the best everyday environmental heroes. Often, it’s the mom who reminds children to “eat your veggies and go outside to play.” Moms also do a lot of the shopping for environmentally conscious products.

In Korea as well as the United States, eco moms are making environmentally conscious decisions with their children’s health in mind.

A recent New York Times article about today’s “EcoMom” has caught the attention of the media in Korea, where the well-established term for green living is: chamsari, or well-being.

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What is wellbeing? Outside of norebang (Korean kareoke) and polar bear hats, it’s just about the biggest trend to hit South Korea. Since 2000, it’s helped Koreans to stop smoking, buy organic foods, and get back to nature.

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Her statement details the establishment of the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, in honor of her mother. "Set to open in October the state-of-the-art facility will enable [Mount Sinai's doctors] to continue to learn new ways for all of us to live healthier, more productive lives and will teach patients, caregivers, and physicians how best to manage the aging process."

After a lengthy paragraph about how each of her publications is contributing to this healthy living commitment through its editorial content, she closes with a very intriguing, yet general, paragraph about her eco-intentions.

It is impossible to celebrate the value of healthy living without considering the health of the environment in which we live. We believe that all companies can be more mindful of our environmental impact. With that in mind, we are exploring ways of making greener practices part of our business plan, including the creative content we generate, the products we offer, and the materials we use to keep our offices clean. You’ll hear more from us on that in coming issues.

What does the September issue have to offer readers? Here’s what Body+Soul’s website has to say:

Get healthy now! Our newest issue gives you 138 ways to look and feel your best. Learn the key to lasting weight loss, make delicious recipes featuring the ultimate power food, and discover natural anti-aging secrets. Plus, our complete guide to supplements for a healthier heart, brain, bones, and mood and a no-fail walking guide.

The introductory "Whole Living" section of the magazine is filled to the brim with useful tidbits, taste tests, product recommendations, and the latest health research. An interview with "traveling chef" Jim Denevan is on page 27, detailing his spectacular efforts on strengthening people’s appreciation for where our food comes from. Eco-entrepreneur Nau is featured on page 30; a personal favorite of mine, it’s great to see the brand getting such wide-spread attention.

Cheryl Richardson’s monthly life coach column does a delightful job of explaining how you can make your life better and more meaningful by subtracting energy-draining activities and people: "addition by subtraction," as she calls it. On page 53, this month’s power food is papaya; admittedly, I’ve never had one. Of course, after reading all of this tropical fruit’s benefits (along with a two taste-bud tempting recipes), I’m a bit more open to trying them out. I know that creamy dressings aren’t the healthiest for you, but when I didn’t find mention of them in page 58’s "Dress It Up" article, I was notably disappointed. Personally, my first choice is always ranch, and I’d be amped to find out about a less fattening, do-it-yourself, Martha Stewart version.

While it is pretty obvious that our food choices can cause us mental stress (Why did I have that last slice of pizza? How many calories were in that cake!?), medical studies have proven that the old phrase "you are what you eat" is more true than ever. "Food + Stress" is a very informative piece about how what we eat affects all manner of our mental functions. The accompanying "Good-Mood Foods" chart is already hanging on my fridge, right next to where I write my grocery list.

A favorite in the green community, Ideal Bite founders Heather Stephenson and Jennifer Boulden are featured in a two-page spread, starting on page 70. Along with their back story, a selection of their favorite "eco-creature comforts" are featured, including Sigg reusable water bottles, bamboo cutting boards, and recycled note cards. The following article, offering up four mix-it-yourself cleaning recipes, is common knowledge for most sustainable readers, but the additional "helpful hints" that follow each concoction are more than useful.

For many of us, aging reminds us of medicine cabinets full of prescriptions, nursing homes, and tearful goodbyes. Tracy Gaudet, M.D.’s article "Aging Well", starting on page 91, presents a much more pleasant, accomplished, introspective view of what getting older means. Yeah, I’m only 23, but hey, I want my 50th and 60th birthdays to be loads of fun, too, so reading this piece helped to put a lot of things in perspective. I recommend it to people of all ages.

Weight loss … do we really want to hear about this again? I was a bit hesitant when I started to read Celina Ottoway’s "Beyond Willpower" article, but even before I finished the first page, I knew this was something different. Three kids and a job make it quite tough to find time to eat right, let alone exercise. A week-long visit to the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts gave her an invaluable depth of information. The most useful part of the article covers her return from the weight-loss program, when she is thrust back into her real life. A feature like this is all the more proof that a change in perspective and a bit of effort can do wonders for your well-being - mentally, physically, and emotionally.

"The Best Supplements For Your Health" is another piece that, at first, I assumed I knew all of what I was about to be presented with. In terms of the specific supplement information, I was correct, but the "What To Look For In A Multivitamin" proved to be most useful. I’ve been taking the same organic women’s multivitamin for about a year now, but was very surprised (nay, shocked) to find that it didn’t meet half of the requirements suggested in the chart on page 122.

Written by senior editor Terri Trespicio, "What You Get From Giving" sheds light on the unique benefits of giving with compassion. After the article’s introduction, readers are presented with a host of ways to give back to others, whether it be in your day-to-day life or via a specific volunteering opportunity. In the end, not only is giving (no matter the form) helpful for our own personal health, it benefits the community and society as a whole, making it a priceless part of our humanity.

You’re stressed and you need to clear your head - what does every magazine suggest you do? Talk a walk, of course. B+S takes it to next level in "Get Walking" by providing us with four different walking "plans" to help improve our fitness, stress relief, posture, and inspiration. Each plan is easy-to-follow and well-explained, making this a perfect tear-out-and-keep reference article.

This is just a small sampling of the great coverage in September’s Body+Soul magazine, so stop by your favorite newsstand and pick one up - you’ll be pleased, I assure you.

Why is green building getting such traction in the education sector?

1. Opportunity for improved health and well-being
2. Operational cost decreases and other fiscal advantages such as energy cost savings

While the market research findings also discovered that higher first costs are the primary challenge to building green, many green building owners are starting to realize greater benefits through operational cost decreases. Pictured above is the J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building at Southern Methodist University, constructed by Turner Construction.