Search

"This can't be real": Couple's unbelievable op-shop find

An Australian man has made an epic discovery in his local op shop. Rob Klaric was browsing Lifeline's Mosman store on Sydney's north shore when he spotted two framed photos of himself and his wife, which they had lost while moving house more than 30 years ago. The photos were taken in 1988 when he and Leonie, his wife of 35 years, were backpacking across Europe. But turns out luck was on their side and they were reunited with their prized possession more than three decades later. "I'm still buzzing with this. I mean, what's the chances?" he told 2GB's Ben Fordham. "I've walked into a store and I see these pictures and I thought I was hallucinating." The photos hold special meaning for the couple, as it was taken in his mum's backyard when they went to visit her in Europe. "We backpacked across Europe, [went] to my mother's place in the north of Italy – so the photos are iconic because it's [taken] in my mother's backyard and Mum's just passed away a few years ago now." A year later, the couple got married, and the year following they had these images framed before they lost them in a move in 1933, when a removal company misplaced the boxes they were packed in. "I still tremble because I thought, 'this can't be real'." "The ironic thing is that my picture, apologies Leonie, mine was more expensive. It was $12 and hers was $8," he said. Klaric wondered if his late mother had something to do with the special find. "But look, it's got my mum, my beautiful old Italian mum, it's got her fingerprints all over it," he said. "Because those pictures were right in the middle [of the shop], on the floor, you would have never seen it unless you walked through the store. And if it was on the left or the right you wouldn't have seen it. "I think she's looking down from Heaven." Images: DailyMail

Family & Pets

Readers response: How do you feel about online shopping compared to traditional in-store shopping?

When it comes to shopping for things we want and need, many people have a preference over whether they shop in a physical store or online. We asked our readers which they prefer when shopping for food, clothes or anything else their hearts desire, and the response was overwhelming. Here's what they said. Ellen Polsen - Why would one buy online? I like to feel and see the things I purchase, particularly garments, as fabrics today are mostly rubbish. Jennie Craven - I do a little of each. But usually use stores that I know or brands where the sizing is correct for me. I always use a payment system that I understand. Gail Ladds - I love online shopping! I often forget that I’ve bought something then get a nice surprise when it arrives lol. Debra Coats - Online is okay when you cant go to the store. I did online shopping for about 8 months after open heart surgery but when i was given the all clear to shop and drive, I was in my element as its a moment of getting out of the house and seeing others around me. Karen Peardon - I have done some online shopping (mainly craft supplies) only because I have been very ill for months but I love in-store shopping more. Retail therapy!! Christine Whyte - Have not and will not ever do it, very old school and too wary of the dangers out there, besides I like getting out and choosing for myself. Helga Bonello - I like to see feel and touch products before I buy. Online scammers are a worry, besides we need a reason to go out and be sociable. Olimpia Palumbo - My family does on line shopping and usually end up with the worst fruit and sometimes the wrong items. Image credits: Shutterstock

Money & Banking

5 foods to add to your shopping list to save money – and they’re good for you too

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clare-collins-7316">Clare Collins</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a> Food prices are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-13/anglicare-cost-living-unemployment-groceries-fuel-rent-prices/103972166?utm_medium=social&utm_content=sf273549397&utm_campaign=abc&utm_source=linkedin.com&sf273549397=1">adding pressure on household budgets</a>, especially for Australians on the lowest incomes. To help save money on the weekly groceries, consider adding these five staples to your shopping trolley: eggs, oats, carrots, UHT milk and apples. These foods rate highly on the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20181811/">nutrient-rich foods index</a> and on cost, meaning they represent good value for money when it comes to buying nutritious food. Loading up on these items helps push more expensive, less nutritious foods out of your trolley. Keeping a supply at your place will also save extra trips to the shops, which saves petrol and time. <h2>1. Eggs</h2> Eggs are extremely good value at around A$6 a dozen (50 cents an egg). Meat, chicken and fish prices vary from $12 a kilo for mince, $12–$20 a kilo for chicken, to $20–$50 a kilo for steak and fish depending on cut or type. Selecting the cheapest cuts still costs $2–$3 a serve, compared to two eggs at a $1 serve. When you swap a red meat meal for an eggy dish, this can add up to a big saving. Try our egg recipes on the <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/filter/meals--dinner,lunch/superfoods--eggs">No Money No Time website</a>, from <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/sweetcorn-and-zucchini-fritters">fritters</a>, to <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/mushroom-omelette">omelettes</a>, or <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/clares-rainbow-rice">fried rice</a>. These recipes also help use up other items you have in the pantry, fridge and veggie crisper. Eggs are a good <a href="https://www.australianeggs.org.au/nutrition/nutrients-and-vitamins">source</a> of protein and also contain choline, lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamins A, B2, B12, D, E and folate, and minerals iron, zinc, iodine and selenium. For people concerned about eggs raising cholesterol, a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38370115/">recent review of research evidence</a> concluded there wasn’t likely to be any adverse effect on overall disease risk when consuming up to one egg a day. <h2>2. Rolled oats</h2> Rolled oats vary a lot in price from about $2 a kilogram for “own brand”, up to $9 for premium varieties. Oats are really <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/filter/keywords--Oats">versatile</a>. For breakfast you can make <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/microwave-porridge">porridge</a>, <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/easy-overnight-oats">overnight oats,</a> DIY muesli or <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/gingerbread-granola">granola</a>. Oats make a pastry substitute for a <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/clares-rolled-oats-quiche">quick and easy quiche base</a>. Or blitz them in a food processor and use as a breadcrumb substitute. For dessert, you can use them to top a comforting <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/wholegrain-apple-crumble">apple crumble</a>. <a href="https://www.glnc.org.au/resource/oats-2/">Oats are a wholegrain</a>, meaning they retain every part of the original grain – the germ, bran and outer layers – and hence more fibre and nutrients. Oats are a rich in beta-glucan, a soluble fibre that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34236436/">helps lower blood cholesterol levels</a> by binding with bile acids in the gut, meaning they can’t be converted into LDL (bad) cholesterol. They <a href="https://www.glnc.org.au/resource/oats-2/">also contain</a> B vitamins of thiamin (b1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6), pantothenic acid (B5) and folate (B9), as well as vitamin E and the minerals iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. <h2>3. Carrots</h2> It’s hard to get better value than a bag of carrots at about $2.50 a kilo. They last for ages in the fridge and can be eaten raw, as carrot sticks or with <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/moroccan-carrot-dip">carrot dip</a>, or baked to make carrot veggie “<a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/vegetable-chips">chips</a>”. Try grating carrot as an extra on a salad roll or <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/basic-beef-burgers">burger</a>, or mixed into grated cheese to extend it when topping tacos, pasta or pizza, or even a dish like <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/carrot-and-cauliflower-macaroni-cheese">mac and cheese</a>. Other versatile uses include soup, <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/carrot-puree">carrot mash</a>, <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/baked-carrots-with-honey-thyme">roasted carrots</a> or, for something sweet, carrot muffins or <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/easy-carrot-cake-bliss-balls">bliss balls</a>. Carrots are rich in the carotenoids <a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/">alpha-carotene and beta-carotene</a>, which get converted into vitamin A in the body and used in antibody production and to maintain <a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-Consumer/">healthy functioning</a> of your eyes, skin, lungs and gut. <h2>4. Longlife skim milk</h2> Longlife skim milk costs about $1.60 a litre. While some fresh varieties are around the same price, the value of longlife milk is that you can keep a store of it in the cupboard, meaning you never run out and it has a long shelf life. Milk makes great <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/banana-breakfast-smoothie">smoothies</a> and is an essential ingredient in dishes from quiche to <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/cauliflower-cheese-bake">cauliflower cheese</a> to <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/clares-lemon-orange-delicious">lemon delicious</a> pudding. <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/milk#nutrients-in-milk">Milk contains</a> protein, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and vitamins A, B2 and B12. Research shows regular milk consumption is <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/milk#milk-and-health-conditions">associated with</a> a lower risk of developing osteoporosis, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and colon cancer. <h2>5. Apples</h2> A bag of apples costs about $4 or 60 cents an apple and $4–$5 for a large can of stewed apple. Apples make a portable snack. Add <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/comforting-apple-porridge">them to porridge</a>, serve <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/pork-loin-rolls">with pork</a>, <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/carrot-and-apple-coleslaw-with-mustard-vinaigrette">in coleslaw</a> or in <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/wholegrain-apple-crumble">apple crumble</a>. Apples <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35502671/">contain</a> dietary fibre and pectin, vitamin B6 and C, and the minerals potassium, calcium, nitrogen, magnesium and traces of zinc, iron and copper. In <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31667463/">observational studies</a>, people who ate more apples had a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and death from any cause. For easy, tasty, economical meals that are quick to prepare, without too much effort, along with our food budget tips, visit our team’s <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/">No Money No Time</a> website.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/229903/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clare-collins-7316">Clare Collins</a>, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-foods-to-add-to-your-shopping-list-to-save-money-and-theyre-good-for-you-too-229903">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

How sustainable is your weekly grocery shop? These small changes can have big benefits

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michalis-hadjikakou-129930">Michalis Hadjikakou</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carla-archibald-283811">Carla Archibald</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ozge-geyik-1402545">Özge Geyik</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/pankti-shah-1547393">Pankti Shah</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> You might think eating more sustainably requires drastic changes, such as shifting to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/vegan-diet-has-just-30-of-the-environmental-impact-of-a-high-meat-diet-major-study-finds-210152">vegan diet</a>. While a plant-based diet is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00795-w">undeniably</a> good for the Earth, our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550924001945#f0025">new research</a> shows modest changes to your eating habits can also have significant environmental benefits. We assessed how food products on Australian supermarket shelves stack up against key environmental indicators, such as carbon emissions and water use. We found swapping the most environmentally harmful foods for more sustainable options within the same food group, such as switching from beef burgers to chicken burgers, can significantly reduce carbon emissions – by up to 96% in some instances. The last thing we want to do is take the pleasure away from eating. Instead, we want to help consumers make realistic dietary changes that also help ensure a sustainable future. So read on to find out which simple food swaps can best achieve this. <h2>Informing sustainable diets</h2> The environmental impact of foods can be estimated using an approach known as a <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(19)30128-9#:%7E:text=In%20this%20Primer%2C%20we%20introduce,cycle%20of%20a%20product%20system.">life-cycle assessment</a>. This involves identifying the “inputs” required along the food supply chain, such as fertiliser, energy, water and land, and tracking them from farm to fork. From this we can calculate a product’s “footprint” – or environmental impact per kilogram of product – and compare it to other foods. Most studies of environmental footprints focus on the raw ingredients that make up food products (such as beef, wheat or rice) rather than the packaged products people see on shelves (such as beef sausages, pasta or rice crackers). Of the studies that do focus on packaged foods, most only consider a fraction of the products available to consumers. What’s more, a lot of research considers only the carbon emissions of food products, excluding other important measures such as water use. And some studies use global average environmental footprints, which <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216">vary significantly</a> between countries. Our research set out to overcome these limitations. We aligned environmental footprints with the products people find on supermarket shelves, and covered a huge range of food and beverage products available in Australia. We also included many environmental indicators, to allow a <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2120584119">more complete picture</a> of the sustainability of different foods. <h2>What we did</h2> Key to our research was the <a href="https://www.georgeinstitute.org.au/projects/foodswitch">FoodSwitch database</a>, which compiles food labelling and ingredient data from images of packaged food and beverages. It covers more than 90% of the Australian packaged food market. We combined the database with a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652623029748">mathematical method</a> that sums the environmental impact of ingredients, to quantify the footprint of the product as a whole. From this, we estimated the environmental footprint of 63,926 food products available in Australian supermarkets. We then simulated the potential benefits of making “realistic” switches between products – that is, switches within the same food category. <h2>Our findings</h2> The results show how making a small dietary change can have big environmental consequences. For a shopping basket composed of items from eight food groups, we simulate the benefits of swapping from high-impact towards medium- or low-impact food products. Our analysis assumes a starting point from the most environmentally harmful products in each food group – for example, sweet biscuits, cheese and beef burger patties. A shift to the medium-impact foods for all eight items – such as a muffin, yoghurt and sliced meat – can lead to at least a 62% reduction in environmental impact. Shifts towards the most sustainable choice for all items – bread, soy milk or raw poultry – can achieve a minimum 77% reduction. This analysis ends at the supermarket shelves and does not include additional food processing by the consumer. For example, raw meat will usually be cooked before human consumption, which will expand its environmental footprint to varying degrees, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-00200-w">depending on the method used</a>. See the below info-graphic for more detail. The full results are available in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550924001945">our study</a>. <hr /> <iframe id="sR5yB" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: 0;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/sR5yB/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <hr /> <h2>What next?</h2> Many people are looking for ways to live more sustainably. Insufficient or complex information can fuel confusion and anxiety in consumers, <a href="https://theconversation.com/reducing-eco-anxiety-is-a-critical-step-in-achieving-any-climate-action-210327">leading to inaction or paralysis</a>. Consumers need more information and support to choose more sustainable foods. Supermarkets and retailers also have an important role to play – for example, by giving sustainable products <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07439156211008898">prominent shelf placement</a>. Attractive pricing is also crucial – particularly in the midst of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/cost-of-living-crisis-115238">cost-of-living crisis</a> when it can be difficult to prioritise sustainability over cost. Government interventions, such as information campaigns and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07439156211008898">taxing high-impact products</a>, can also help. Food labelling is also important. The European Union <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/circular-economy/eu-ecolabel/product-groups-and-criteria_en">is leading the way</a> with measures such as the <a href="https://docs.score-environnemental.com/v/en">eco-score</a>, which integrates 14 environmental indicators into a single score from A to E. Apps such as <a href="https://www.georgeinstitute.org/projects/ecoswitch">ecoSwitch</a> can also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1326020024000268?via%3Dihub">empower consumers</a>. The diets of people in developed nations such as Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/sustainable-shopping-want-to-eat-healthy-try-an-eco-friendly-diet-89086">exert a high toll on our planet</a>. More sustainable food choices are vital to achieving a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/EAT">sustainable future for humanity</a>. We hope our research helps kick-start positive change.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/234367/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michalis-hadjikakou-129930">Michalis Hadjikakou</a>, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sustainability, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Engineering & Built Environment, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carla-archibald-283811">Carla Archibald</a>, Research Fellow, Conservation Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ozge-geyik-1402545">Özge Geyik</a>, Visitor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/pankti-shah-1547393">Pankti Shah</a>, PhD student, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sustainable-is-your-weekly-grocery-shop-these-small-changes-can-have-big-benefits-234367">original article</a>. </div>

Food & Wine

Shop around, take lunch, catch the bus. It is possible to ease the squeeze on your budget

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-de-zwaan-180752">Laura de Zwaan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> It’s no secret that the cost of living has increased substantially over the last year, with rises of between <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/employees-annual-living-costs-highest-record#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CLiving%20costs%20for%20employee%20households,per%20cent%20was%20in%201986.">7.1 and 9.6 per cent</a> for all households. So what can households do to manage these increases? It might sound simple, but starting with a budget is the best approach. Even if you already have a budget, price increases mean it will need to be updated. For those new to budgeting, it is just a list of your income and expenses. Make sure you match the frequency of these so you are working out your budget over a week, or a fortnight, or a month. There are plenty of budgeting apps and websites that can help, such as the <a href="https://moneysmart.gov.au/budgeting/budget-planner">Moneysmart budget planner</a>. Once your budget is up to date, you can see your financial position. Do you have a surplus of cash – congratulations! You can save that money to help you in an emergency. But what about if you have less income than expenses? You need to work through a process of figuring out where you can cut back. Some expenses are easy to cut back on: <ul> <li> If you have multiple streaming services, drop back to one at a time. Check for any other subscriptions you might be paying for – if you are not using them frequently, now is the time to cancel. You can always resubscribe when money isn’t tight. </li> <li> If you are spending a lot of money on take out or paying for lunch, find cheaper alternatives such as eating at home and packing a lunch using cheaper ingredients. Switch to tap water for normal drinks, and take a travel cup of coffee with you. </li> <li> Check and see if public transport is cheaper for you. If you are using a lot of fuel and paying for parking, public transport could be a better option. </li> <li> Groceries can be a huge cost for families. It is always worth shopping around to not pay full price. Understand unit pricing and buy the products you use when they are on special. It might be necessary to switch to cheaper products. </li> <li> Check if you are paying too much for your utilities like internet, electricity and gas. There are comparison websites you can use, including the <a href="https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/">Energy Made Easy</a> website. You can also make simple changes such as turning off lights and using a saucepan lid when boiling water that will reduce your usage. </li> <li> Check other products you might be paying for, such as car, home and health insurance to see if you can save money by switching. Be careful with any life or disability policies. It is best to speak to a financial adviser before changing those as there can be implications for cover. </li> </ul> Other expenses, like housing, can be a lot harder to manage. Rising interest rates have pushed up mortgage repayments for homeowners. Mortgage interest charges have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-03/record-high-living-costs-businesses-contracting-interest-rates/102296992">risen by 78.9% over the year</a> to March 2023. For many homeowners, their repayments are unaffordable compared to when they first took out their mortgage. If you are struggling to afford your mortgage, the first step is to talk to your lender as soon as possible. Moneysmart has <a href="https://moneysmart.gov.au/home-loans/problems-paying-your-mortgage">useful information</a> on what to do when you can’t meet your mortgage payments. You may also be able to <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/super/withdrawing-and-using-your-super/early-access-to-super/access-on-compassionate-grounds/access-on-compassionate-grounds---what-you-need-to-know/">access some of your superannuation</a> so you don’t lose your home, however bear in mind that this is a temporary solution and uses your retirement savings. Increased demand for rentals has seen average rents across Australia increase by <a href="https://content.corelogic.com.au/l/994732/2023-07-05/z2tcd/994732/1688600749Ly8Iv9wt/202306_CoreLogic_RentalReview_July_2023_FINAL.pdf">27.4% since the COVID pandemic</a>. Supply of rental properties is low, which means many people may not be able to find a suitable alternative if their rent increases and becomes unaffordable. It might be necessary to take on a housemate, or move to a cheaper location (make sure to consider additional costs such as transport). If your circumstances have changed suddenly and you cannot pay your rent, contact your landlord or property manager. If you are paying a lot in credit card or other personal debt repayments such as numerous Afterpay-style accounts, it could be a good idea to speak to a bank about consolidating. This can help move some expensive debt, such as that from credit cards, into lower interest debt and simplify your budgeting as there is only one payment. If debt is making your budget unmanageable, then you can call the <a href="https://ndh.org.au/">National Debt Helpline</a> or for First Nations Australians there is <a href="https://financialrights.org.au/getting-help/mob-strong-debt-help/">Mob Strong Debt Help</a>. A final option could be to increase your income by taking on more work. This can be a good solution, but if you already work full time it might be unsustainable. Two common side hustles to boost income are gig work, such as Uber driving, and multi-level marketing, which is selling goods like Doterra and Herbalife to family and friends. However, both are <a href="https://www.twu.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/McKell_QLD_Gig-Economy_WEB_SINGLES.pdf">low</a> <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/216593/1/MLM_report_Print.pdf">paid</a> and in most cases you would be better off earning minimum wage as a casual employee.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210895/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-de-zwaan-180752">Laura de Zwaan</a>, Lecturer, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/shop-around-take-lunch-catch-the-bus-it-is-possible-to-ease-the-squeeze-on-your-budget-210895">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

Climb the stairs, lug the shopping, chase the kids. Incidental vigorous activity linked to lower cancer risks

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emmanuel-stamatakis-161783">Emmanuel Stamatakis</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-ahmadi-1241767">Matthew Ahmadi</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Many people know exercise reduces the risk of <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2521826">cancers</a>, including liver, lung, breast and kidney. But structured exercise is time-consuming, requires significant commitment and often financial outlay or travel to a gym. These practicalities can make it infeasible for <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/42/11/901">most adults</a>. There is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02100-x">very little research</a> on the potential of incidental physical activity for reducing the risk of cancer. Incidental activities can include doing errands on foot, work-related activity or housework as part of daily routines. As such they do not require an extra time commitment, special equipment or any particular practical arrangements. In our <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2807734">study</a> out today, we explored the health potential of brief bursts of vigorous physical activities embedded into daily life. These could be short power walks to get to the bus or tram stop, stair climbing, carrying heavy shopping, active housework or energetic play with children. <h2>How was the study done?</h2> Our <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2807734">new study</a> included 22,398 <a href="https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/">UK Biobank</a> participants who had never been diagnosed with cancer before and did not do any structured exercise in their leisure time. Around 55% of participants were female, with an average age of 62. Participants wore wrist activity trackers for a week. Such trackers monitor activity levels continuously and with a high level of detail throughout the day, allowing us to calculate how hard and exactly for how long people in the study were moving. Participants’ activity and other information was then linked to future cancer registrations and other cancer-related health records for the next 6.7 years. This meant we could estimate the overall risk of cancer by different levels of what we call “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33108651/">vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity</a>”, the incidental bursts of activity in everyday life. We also analysed separately a group of <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2521826">13 cancer sites in the body</a> with more established links to exercise, such such as breast, lung, liver, and bowel cancers. Our analyses took into account other factors that influence cancer risk, such as age, smoking, diet, and alcohol habits. <h2>What we found out</h2> Even though study participants were not doing any structured exercise, about 94% recorded short bursts of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33108651/">vigorous activity</a>. Some 92% of all bouts were done in very short bursts lasting up to one minute. A minimum of around 3.5 minutes each day was associated with a 17–18% reduction in total cancer risk compared with not doing any such activity. Half the participants did at least 4.5 minutes a day, associated with a 20–21% reduction in total cancer risk. For cancers such as breast, lung and bowel cancers, which we know are impacted by the amount of exercise people do, the results were stronger and the risk reduction sharper. For example, a minimum of 3.5 minutes per a day of vigorous incidental activity reduced the risk of these cancers by 28–29%. At 4.5 minutes a day, these risks were reduced by 31–32%. For both total cancer and those known to be linked to exercise, the results clearly show the benefits of doing day-to-day activities with gusto that makes you huff and puff. <h2>Our study had its limits</h2> The study is observational, meaning we looked at a group of people and their outcomes retrospectively and did not test new interventions. That means it cannot directly explore cause and effect with certainty. However, we took several statistical measures to minimise the possibility those with the lowest levels of activity were not the unhealthiest, and hence the most likely to get cancer – a phenomenon called “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/reverse-causation">reverse causation</a>”. Our study can’t explain the biological mechanisms of how vigorous intensity activity may reduce cancer risk. Previous <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2017/02000/Brief_Intense_Stair_Climbing_Improves.10.aspx">early-stage trials</a> show this type of activity leads to rapid improvements in heart and lung fitness. And higher fitness is linked to lower <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002934320300097">insulin resistance</a> and lower <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109704017036">chronic inflammation</a>. High levels of these are risk <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109704017036">factors for cancer</a>. There is very little research on incidental physical activity and cancer in general, because most of the scientific evidence on lifestyle health behaviours and cancer is based on questionnaires. This method doesn’t capture short bursts of activity and is very inaccurate for measuring the incidental activities of daily life. So the field of vigorous intensity activity and cancer risk is at its infancy, despite some <a href="https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/43/46/4801/6771381">very promising</a> recent findings that vigorous activity in short bouts across the week could cut health risks. In another recent study of ours, we found benefits from daily <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02100-x%22%22">vigorous intermittent lifestyle activity</a> on the risk of death overall and death from cancer or cardiovascular causes. <h2>In a nutshell: get moving in your daily routine</h2> Our study found 3 to 4 minutes of vigorous incidental activity each day is linked with decreased cancer risk. This is a very small amount of activity compared to <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/24/1451">current recommendations</a> of 150–300 minutes of moderate intensity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week. Vigorous incidental physical activity is a promising avenue for cancer prevention among people unable or unmotivated to exercise in their leisure time. Our study also highlights the potential of technology. These results are just a glimpse how wearables combined with machine learning – which our study used to identify brief bursts of vigorous activity – can reveal health benefits of unexplored aspects of our lives. The future potential impact of such technologies to prevent cancer and possibly a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02100-x">host of other</a> conditions could be very large.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210288/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emmanuel-stamatakis-161783">Emmanuel Stamatakis</a>, Professor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle, and Population Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-ahmadi-1241767">Matthew Ahmadi</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/climb-the-stairs-lug-the-shopping-chase-the-kids-incidental-vigorous-activity-linked-to-lower-cancer-risks-210288">original article</a>.

Body

11 garage sale finds you should never pass up

Vintage furniture Want to snag the biggest bargain on vintage furniture at a garage sale? The key is to wait until the end of the day. By then, the sellers are wondering how they are going to get that heavy old sofa off of the grass and back into the living room – and they’ll be more likely to take your initial offer. Be careful with upholstered items (bed bug alert!), but once you’re confident it’s clean, try to look past garishly coloured fabric and eye-popping patterns: you can always reupholster a piece of furniture to better suit your sense of style. Artwork Garage sale artwork is a great way to add some colour to your home. It’s fun to pick up art for two reasons: You might learn about interesting local artists, or, even if you don’t like the image, you can always repurpose the frame. This is key for larger paintings and drawings, because big frames can be so expensive. Haggle if you want, since art is subjective and the sellers might not have too many interested buyers. Also, odds are that they’re tired of looking at it and just want it gone. Vintage jewellery Not to sound old-fashioned, but they don’t make jewellery like they used to – costume jewellery included. Since the popularity of items like brooches has declined over the years, you can usually get a deal on these accessories, and if you like, the possibilities for upgrading them are endless. Give tarnished silver a good polish with a paste of baking soda and warm water. For gold, paying a few bucks for solid pieces should pay off – you can always sell them for scrap or have them melted down to create something new. Kitchenware When you see pots and pans at a garage sale, look for rust, non-stick surfaces that are scratched or flaking, and chemical coatings that might leach out into your food. Cast-iron ware, on the other hand, can be salvaged and restored no matter what the condition – and it’ll last forever. Also, if you find the following items in good working condition, snap them up: stainless steel baking items, kitchen timers, serving utensils, Pyrex or ovenproof glass baking dishes, and quality knives (you can always take them in to be sharpened). Just make sure to wash these great garage sale finds well before use. Small kitchen appliance If you’re in the market for an ice cream maker, single-serve smoothie blender, or rotisserie, consider scouring garage sales first. People hold sales to sell off unused items that take up space on their countertops, and bulky, highly-specialised small appliances are often priced to move. You’ll usually be able to scoop them up for a fraction of their retail price – even if they’ve only been used once or twice. Jackets When it comes to apparel, jackets can be among the best garage sale finds. Since sellers spring-clean before their sales, bulky or unworn winter coats and vests are some of the first things to hit the to-go pile. Check for holes and wear before purchasing, and dry clean or give a good washing before putting in the closet for next year. For children, buy the next size(s) up and store in a closet for future seasons. Tools Tools like drills, saws, nail guns and compressors can be great garage sale finds. As long as the seller can prove that they’re in good working condition, snap them up. Ask how old the product is and how much it has been used over the years. Always keep an eye out for rust, which usually means the integrity of the metal is compromised, making the tool more dangerous to work with. Silverware Odds are you can pick up a stylish silverware set for cheaper than what you can find new at most stores, plus you’re likely to hear a cool back-story to boot. There’s also a chance that what you’ve got is actual silver. How can you tell? On the back of silver-plated items there will be markings that can include the company name, the country in which it was made, a product number, and the E.P. (electroplate) marking. Don’t miss this garage sale find! Bicycles Bikes can be a great garage sale find, but it’s important to take them for a test drive before you commit to the purchase. Hardcore bargain-hunters might consider bringing a wrench to adjust the seat and get a real feel for how it rides, paying particular attention to the condition of the brakes and tyres. (Although tires can always be filled with more air, check the treads for wear and the sidewalls for cracking.) For kids’ bikes, the owner’s children might not have used the item much before they outgrew it, but ask. Exercise equipment This is one of the best garage sale finds! A lot of people lose interest in their fitness gear quickly, which means you can get the equipment you’ve been looking for at half the price or better. Look for big-ticket items (elliptical machines, treadmills) as well as other indoor merch like hand weights in the spring, when New Year’s resolutions are long forgotten. Research the equipment first: It’s important to know where certain machines tend to wear out the most. Books Bulk up your home library with new favourite reads, especially children’s books (kids outgrow their books quickly as their reading comprehension increases) and hardcover classics. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/food-home-garden/home-tips/11-garage-sale-finds-you-should-never-pass-up-2?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Home & Garden

Essential money conversations retirees should have with family

Discussions about funding retirement, aged care and inheritances may be uncomfortable. However, not having them risks your wishes going unmet and family conflicts where details aren’t clear. Hence having discussions about money while you are able to is one of the best (and cheapest!) investments you can make – for both you and your family. Precisely what those discussions entail will depend on your circumstances – and theirs. Yet many points apply almost universally: What matters to you Even the best laid plans mean nothing if those responsible for enacting them don’t know what they are or understand your reasoning behind them. Your will provides a legal overview of who gets what upon your death, while nominated beneficiaries determine how assets are divided from superannuation and some other structures. A separate letter of wishes can informally share your wishes, covering more than just legalities. Sharing this before your death allows family to clarify your wishes and ask questions. Go through: <ul> <li>How your money should be managed now and longer term (e.g., you may want money set aside for grandchildren’s education, or have instructions for a dependent’s ongoing care).</li> <li>Funeral arrangements; cremation or burial; where you will be laid to rest.</li> <li>Plans for anyone other than direct family, charities etc.</li> <li>Any non-negotiables among your wishes.</li> </ul> Partner protections Ensure your partner knows how they will be looked after if they outlive you. Similarly, your kids should know what if any support they will need to provide – especially important for blended families. Where beneficiaries have divorced/separated, will you exclude their ex from your estate? Are your records updated to reflect this? Ensure everyone knows the difference between joint tenants and tenants in common for property owners – only one automatically leaves your share of the property to your co-owner. Health matters How do you want to be looked after in your final years? Don’t assume your loved ones already know everything. Communicate your wishes, small and large – medications, dietary requirements, retirement living, palliative care, resuscitation. Discuss whether power of attorney and enduring guardianship are needed should you be unable to make decisions over your health and finances (e.g., due to dementia or stroke), and who will assume those responsibilities. Family legacy Consider the legacy you want to leave and whether this aligns with your family’s expectations. Is dividing assets equally among your children really fair if one is well-off while another struggles or has complex needs? Do your plans on inheritance unwittingly create headaches for the recipients – such as leaving property to someone who cannot afford to maintain it, or tax liabilities that eat into any financial gain? Discuss non-financial legacy too: do your offspring know about your (and hence their) heritage? Are there special family mementos/stories to pass on? This knowledge may be lost if you don’t share it now. Place to call home Given their financial, logistical, and emotional implications, living arrangements are crucial to discuss before things need to change (and change can be imposed suddenly, such as by a health emergency). Consider: <ul> <li>Where would you want to go if you need high-level care?</li> <li>Is your current home suitable in your advanced years? How would any required modifications be paid for?</li> <li>Would you move nearer your kids? Downsize, upsize or sea/treechange?</li> <li>If you move, would you need to sell your current home? Could it be retained somehow?</li> <li>Do you want/expect kids to care for you? Are they capable of doing so? </li> <li>Could/would you live with one of your children? If so – such as paying to build a granny flat on their property – how does this affect your will? Would they be forced to sell so their siblings receive their inheritance?</li> </ul> Team united Having everyone on the same page helps things to run smoothly – especially during difficult times such as a death or serious illness in the family. Stay aligned by: <ul> <li>Introducing adult children to your financial adviser, lawyer, and accountant.</li> <li>Ensuring everyone knows where to find your will and who is your executor.</li> <li>Disclosing what is and is not up to date.</li> <li>Providing contingency access to passwords, important documents, keys etc.</li> <li>Sharing relevant policy details (e.g., life insurance).</li> </ul> These discussions may be sensitive and difficult to initiate, but are crucial to ensure your wishes are known and enacted. Plus, they may encourage your loved ones to think about their own wishes – and give you all peace of mind for the future! Helen Baker is a licensed Australian financial adviser and author of the new book, On Your Own Two Feet: The Essential Guide to Financial Independence for all Women (Ventura Press, $32.99). Helen is among the 1% of financial planners who hold a master’s degree in the field. Proceeds from book sales are donated to charities supporting disadvantaged women and children. Find out more at <a href="http://www.onyourowntwofeet.com.au">www.onyourowntwofeet.com.au</a> Image credits: Getty Images

Retirement Income

10 things you should never pay for on holidays

It’s funny how we spend so much time and energy budgeting our dream trip, but by the time we get over there we end up wasting a lot of it on unnecessary expenses. And in the end of the day, the more money that’s spent on these expenses, the less you can dedicate to your actual holiday. We’re going to look at 10 things you should never pay for on a holiday. Avoid these expenses and your next trip will be much richer (in more ways than one). 1. Unnecessary ATM withdrawal fees Many ATMs overseas charge you for the privilege of using them, as well as exorbitant international transaction fees. Travel money cards ensure you will only be paying the minimum withdrawal fees when accessing your money. 2. Excess luggage fees Avoiding these fees is as simple as reading the fine print. Before booking your flights, make sure you’re aware of circumstances that incur excess luggage fees and pack your bags lightly so if you do get a lot of souvenirs you won’t face the charges. 3. Wifi A stable, secure internet connection isn’t too hard to come by in 2016, and if you’re smart you don’t have to pay for it. If your accommodation does charge for wifi, simply pop into a McDonald’s or Starbucks that generally offer free wifi to customers. 4. Tacky souvenirs Unless you notice something that might be meaningful for someone close, tacky souvenirs are generally a waste of money (and will probably just get thrown out anyway). 5. Breakfast Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but can be quite expensive depending on where you’re travelling. Try to book a hotel that offers a free breakfast buffet and save! 6. Calling home It’s no secret that making an international phone call can cost a mint, but if you’ve got a wifi connection and Skype there’s no reason you can’t touch base for free! 7. Walking tours Now this is a suggestion that’s a little controversial, but many cities offer free walking tours (often on a tip-based payment system) that are just as good as the paid ones. 8. Taxis While there are exceptions (emergencies and travelling in underdeveloped countries) it’s generally much cheaper to skip the taxi in favour of public transportation. 9. Counterfeit merchandise While the price is appealing, in the end of the day counterfeit merchandise really isn’t worth your while, and is generally produced by unsavoury means. 10. Food near tourist sites You’ll never see a bowl of pasta cost as much as the one that comes from the restaurant next to the Colosseum, so try and avoid eateries surrounding major sites. Have you every unnecessarily paid for any of these travel expenses? Do you have a trip on the cards, and if so where are you planning to go? Image credit: Shutterstock

International Travel

6 essential tips and tricks for your kitchen

Whether you’re friends with a professional chef, watch every cooking show on which you can lay your eyeballs, or your mum was some kind of wise, kitchen magician, it seems that everyone has their very own secret cooking tips to make life easier, or at least less stressful, in the kitchen. We’ve gathered a few of our own just in case no one’s ever shared them with you until now. 1. Where there’s smoke… People often think that setting off the smoke detectors is a sign of an unskilled cook, but, as long as you’re not burning anything, don’t be afraid of a little smoke or vapour. Some foods just need that extra heat to reach their flavourful best, and that’s okay. Just make sure you’re safe. 2. Dressing in a jar If you’re not a fan of off-the-shelf salad dressings, the natural solution to lifeless salads is making your own dressing. The annoying part of that is mixing such small quantities of ingredients in a bowl can be ridiculously fiddly. Next time, pop those ingredients into an old (clean) jam jar and give it a good shake. Not only will it be easier, you’re guaranteed to combine everything much better than you could with any whisk. 3. When life gives you lemons If you’re using lemons or limes when you’re cooking, save the leftover skins once you’ve juiced them. You can use them to disinfect your chopping board without any chemicals. Plus, the smell is pretty fantastic. 4. Perfect pasta When cooking pasta, the best tip we can offer is to remove the noodles from their water just before they’re completely cooked. Then, with just a little bit of the starchy water, pour them into the same saucepan in which you’re cooking your sauce. Cooking the pasta with the sauce for at least a minute or two will help infuse the flavours. If you’re not already cooking your pasta this way, you soon will be. 5. You crack me up If you find that you’re constantly picking tiny shards of eggshell out of your dishes before you cook, you might want to adjust the way you crack your eggs. Rapping the eggs onto a sharp/thin edge of a bowl of counter causes these small fractures. If you crack the egg onto a flat surface, you’ll avoid a lot of the fuss. Plus, it’s really easy to do that cool one-handed egg crack this way. Bonus! 6. No-stick cheese There’s a reason buying pre-grated cheese is so ridiculously expensive – grating cheese yourself is one of the most loathed kitchen tasks around. But if you spray your grater with a little cooking spray before you start, it will help the cheese glide over a little easier. Plus it’s going to make cleaning a dream. Images: Getty

Home Hints & Tips

What not to buy when you’re on a cruise

It’s hard to resist shopping when you’re on a cruise holiday, with great buys both onshore and on board. But follow these tips to get the best deal when you cruise. Check the authenticity When buying antiques, designer goods and jewellery, do your due diligence and make sure what you’re buying is real. The stallholders will often guarantee it is “100 per cent silk” or “100 per cent leather” but don’t take their word – do your own research. Is there a catch? Many friendly locals may offer you a free ride to town with the catch of stopping at their showroom for a tour (for example, jewellery, clothes etc). Often you’ll feel compelled to buy something just to be able to leave their company. Know the currency conversation Most destinations that see a lot of cruise ships will allow you to pay in US dollars, but consider how much things would cost in a local currency. Know the conversation rate so you don’t get swindled. Can you bring it home? Remember to have you souvenirs ready to show when you return home. If your souvenirs are made from timber, shells, fur or seeds, it’s important to declare them – otherwise you could be facing a hefty fine. Image credits: Getty Images

Cruising

5 essential tips for buying clothes online

It all seems so easy – a few clicks and you can have a pretty pile of clothes (or shoes, bags, jewellery – anything you like really) delivered to your door. But if you’ve ever gotten a bit click-happy with your online shop and then had buyer’s remorse, read on. We’ve got some advice that will ensure you’re left with nothing but five-star reviews for the items you purchased. 1. Buy from stores you trust Often we are left dissatisfied when we buy clothes from a brand we don’t know. The fit isn’t quite right, or the quality might be off. Try to point your credit card at labels that you know and love. You’ll know your true size, you’ll know how well the clothes stay in shape after ten washes, and you’ll know you can return it with no hassles. 2. Check your wardrobe Often we are attracted to clothes that we think we love, but it turns out we already own something pretty similar. This could explain why you might have five blue and white striped tops (and so perhaps you don’t need another?). Think about whether the items you want to buy fit into your current collection. If you’re buying shorts, do you have some shirts to go with them? If you have your eye on a dress, do your sandals go with it? 3. Check the returns policy Many online shopping hubs offer free returns – but it always pays to check the details. Some will only offer store credit, while others offer your money back (no question asked). You’ll also want to be sure that you can either return the items in the post (without paying for postage), or that you can pop in-store to get a refund in person. Don’t get stuck with a bag full of ill-fitting clothes that you can’t easily give back. 4. Look for discounts first Many sites offer discounts online, but you have to know where to look to find them. Simply search online for the store name and the word ‘discount coupon’ and you should find a few options to try. Or if you want to save time, download the Honey app, which automatically applies any working coupon available on the web. Then just enjoy the savings. 5. Sign up to be notified about sales If there is a brand or site you use often, sign up to the newsletter so that you’re in the loop about big discount sales. Often there are change of season sales, pre- and post-Christmas offers, and more. Stay in the know and plan your splurges accordingly, rather than buying now and then seeing everything half price the following week. Image credits: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

“Rip off”: Charity shop blasted over extortionate sale

A local charity shop has come under fire for selling a pair of designer shoes for a hefty sum. The op-shop at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast is selling a pair of gold embellished Christian LouBoutin loafers for $500 after being discounted from $1,483. The eye-watering price tag was posted to Facebook and caused outrage among locals, as the shoes were propped up on a red velvet pillow. A woman by the name of Jo Sherwood posted the image to the Palm Beach community Facebook page, writing, “You know when Palmy has gone really upmarket (sic) … designer shoes at Vinnies.” Despite her claims, a spokesperson for the St Vincent de Paul Society has clarified the designer loafers were not from a Vinnies but another independent op shop in the area. Many were quick to slam the hefty price tag, calling the sale a “rip-off”. “It’s bloody disgusting the prices they charge on anything. I saw a Kmart dress in there last week, they were selling it for more than Kmart sold it for,” another wrote. Others were quick to call out many op shops who seem to have forgotten who they are there for. “Think they need to remember they are selling donated goods, not operating a boutique store,” someone replied. Another said that “all op shops have forgotten that they are meant to be there for the poor people, not just the hipsters.” Image credits: Facebook

Beauty & Style

Bride’s online dress disaster

Bride-to-be Zuzanna was full of excitement ahead of her engagement party - she was free of stress, and she had an amazing dress … until she didn’t. Zuzanna had been under the impression that her Amazon find - a gorgeous white lace maxi dress with nearly 3000 promising reviews - was going to be everything she dreamed. But that dream was destined to become a nightmare, with the online retail supergiant sending her a much shorter version of the garment. Gone was any vision of a long skirt swirling around her ankles as she strode in to her upcoming engagement party, with the new hem barely grazing Zuzanna’s knees in a picture she posted to Facebook group What I Asked For VS What I Got. “It’s not a bad dress at all,” she wrote, “but it’s really not what I was going for.” Continuing from there, Zuzanna took the opportunity to warn others who might have had the same idea as her, pleading for them to “be careful what you order. I bought this dress for my engagement party on Saturday … I definitely will not be wearing it!” She then explained that it had taken her by surprise to open her package and made the unexpected discovery, as the reviews for the product had been so positive. Her misfortunes weren’t to end there, however, with Zuzanna noting that the dress’ “material is super cheap feeling, but I feel like I could have worn it once before it fell apart in the wash.” She hadn’t had any problems with her Amazon purchases before, and hadn’t even considered that poor outcome, though it now meant she’d have to go out in search of another dress for her party. “I don’t hate the dress,” she surmised, “it's just not right for the occasion and that's so sad.” And although Zuzanna seemed to have come to terms with her fate, and didn’t seem too upset about it, people in the comments still wanted to offer her their support, with a few suggestions on how she should proceed with Amazon. “They have a short dress on the site, they probably scanned the wrong item when they sent it to you,” one said. 'It's probably a mistake,” another wrote, before sharing that they actually “had several of these maxi dresses” and that Zuzanna should try contacting the company. Meanwhile, others seized the opportunity for some fun, with one asking “where's the other half of the dress?” “Wow,” said another, “you must be really tall!” Images: Facebook

Beauty & Style

“Thank you stranger”: Woolies shopper left stunned

A shopper at Woolworths was left shocked after a cashier’s unexpected act at the checkout. The single mum shared her feel-good story in a post on Facebook. “There was such a beautiful young lady working the checkout register tonight,” she wrote in the post. “I had a rough day, and when she asked how my day was, I answered with: ‘Not a great one’.” The mum-of-three was paying for her groceries with vouchers she’d been gifted from friends who wanted to “lend a hand” as her family was struggling. After she put her shop through the checkout, the vouchers didn’t cover the entire cost, so she asked the cashier to take a bag of bread rolls off the total. The Woolies worker surprised the mum by covering the cost of the bread rolls herself. “I don’t recall her name, but I feel that she deserves a massive thank you, as she made my day and turned it around with her kindness,” the mum said. “So thank you stranger - you made an old tired mum have faith there’s still kindness in the world.” Woolworths responded to the mum’s Facebook post and said they would share her feedback with the store’s management team so the staff member can be acknowledged for her random act of kindness. Image credit: Shutterstock

Food & Wine

“Very questionable”: Kmart mocked after customer's "ridiculous" delivery

A woman has taken to Facebook to mock Kmart over her recent delivery. The shopper shared on Facebook she had ordered a 20mm combination padlock from Kmart and was caught by surprise when it was delivered to her home on February 13. The woman had received a large cardboard box, and when she opened it, it was filled to the brim with plastic wrap to protect the item. However, once she dug out the plastic, she saw a small padlock at the bottom of the unnecessarily large box. “My delivery arrived today,” the woman said on Facebook. Other Kmart fans were shocked by the large box for such a small item, with many users deeming it “ridiculous.” “Omg! Seriously,” a user commented. "Ridiculous honestly yet a pair of jeans get scrunched up into a bag for delivery," another added. "It's absolutely rubbish that they waste like that," a third chimed in. Another comment read, ”How ironic ... how easy is it to break this lock that it needs to be so protected when shipped? Would you need it if it is so fragile? Very questionable Kmart ... What a waste,” Many other users joined in on the teasing, claiming they also received small items delivered in unnecessarily large boxes. "This happened to us recently with a car air freshener," one shopper said. "Yeah they keep sending me one item in a stupidly big box. I’d be much more appreciative of multiple items jammed into a big box to stop wastage or happy to wait for all items to be ready together," another claimed. "I thought my three bowls packed like this was bad!" another commented. Back in May 2021, another Kmart shopper complained that she received a small book in a “huge box.” Although some said it was “terrible”, other users claimed the size of the box shouldn’t matter because it’s recyclable. A Kmart spokesperson told Yahoo Lifestyle that the complaints have been forwarded to Kmart’s online team, and they will reassess how they manage and replenish packaging materials. "Regrettably, in this instance, it appears the team member who has packed this order did not have available or use the most appropriately sized packaging components," the spokesperson said. "While our team are trained and aim to minimise packaging use and waste, it is likely that they did not have access to appropriately sized packaging options so used what was available in an effort to pack and dispatch this order as quickly as possible." Image credit: Facebook

Food & Wine

Wrapping presents leads to mother's cheeky Christmas discovery

Queensland mother of four Nicole, was wrapping her Christmas presents early this year, when she had to take a second glance at a few images on what she thought was fairly innocent and cute wrapping paper. What she didn’t realise, was that after wrapping a few presents she accidentally selected something a little too inappropriate. The paper, innocently named "Christmas Wrapping Paper Roll" online actually contained X-rated cartoon images. One of an aroused snowman and another of a randy reindeer mounting another. I purchased them online and only noticed when I was wrapping my third present - thankfully the first two were for me and my partner!" she laughed. "When I first saw it I had to send photos to my friend and mother to see if they noticed anything off while wiping laughing tears from my face." Nicole said she wasn't planning on ditching the paper from Typo completely, but with her younger children, she wasn't keen on her kids asking about the birds and the bees over Christmas lunch. "I have only wrapped small presents in it now with strategically placed name labels," she said of her work-around. "I find it hilarious and have showed everyone. I put the post up on social media in case someone hadn’t noticed or may have left it too late to buy more paper ... and to give people a laugh!" Feeling the need to share, Nicole posted snaps of the paper in the Christmas Mums Australia Facebook group, and wasn't the only one to find it funny. Over 340 members of the group commented on Nicole's post. “This is the best!” one person commented. “That’s gold! I love it,” added another. As the laughter and jokes kept coming, many shoppers said that others shouldn’t be so surprised by the images, given Type, the store Nicole purchased from is known for selling cheeky items like this. Images: Typo

Family & Pets

Black Friday: so many online returns end up in landfill – here’s what needs to happen to change that

<a href="https://www.salecycle.com/blog/featured/11-black-friday-and-cyber-monday-online-retail-stats/">Two of the busiest</a> online shopping days of the year are upon us. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/65cd5dda-a5ea-411a-b0ef-08caee388b47">recession</a>, retailers will be desperately hoping that shoppers take advantage of discounts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday to bump up annual sales figures. While this would boost a sector that has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-retail-sales-rise-by-06-october-2022-11-18/">yet to fully recover</a> from the COVID pandemic, there’s a major downside. The more that shoppers buy online, the bigger the problem with returned goods. Almost <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/2333/e-commerce-in-the-united-kingdom/">60 million people</a> shop online in the UK – in other words the vast majority. But most shoppers buy more than they intend to keep. They order multiple sizes and colours to find the perfect item, safe in the knowledge that there’s a convenient and “free” return option to dispose of the rest. <h2>The returns nightmare</h2> This has become so standard that there’s even a name for it – “wardrobing”. Around <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2020/06/12/how-your-return-policy-can-influence-new-sales-and-long-term-loyalty/?sh=4749b17a1c42">66% of </a> people in the UK consider the returns policy before buying online, and abandon orders when the policy isn’t obvious. <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/instagram-shoppers-buy-clothes-wear-once-ootd-picture-return-186572">One in ten shoppers</a>even admit to buying clothes solely for the purpose of taking a photo for social media. <a href="https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2019-08/royal-mail-delivery-matters-returns-2018.pdf">More than half</a> of all clothes purchased online are returned. Put another way, each British shopper returns an average of <a href="https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2019-08/royal-mail-delivery-matters-returns-2018.pdf">one item per month</a>. But if people have become used to treating their bedrooms and living rooms as the new in-store changing room, it’s not only clothes that cause an online returns problem. For example, <a href="https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2019-08/royal-mail-delivery-matters-returns-2018.pdf">42% of electrical goods</a> ordered online get returned, mostly because they arrive damaged or faulty. Returned goods are much more <a href="https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/170890/">complex to process</a> than other stock because they tend to arrive as single items that need inspecting individually to see why they were returned. They need sorting and possibly repairing or cleaning before being returned to stock, which for many retailers is in a different location. The associated costs are significantly higher than shipping out new products. According to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/26/business/retail-returns/index.html">one US expert</a>, every dollar in returned merchandise costs a retailer between 15 and 30 cents. Returns were estimated to be costing retailers <a href="https://www.clearreturns.com/portfolio-item/black-friday-costs-uk-retailers-180m-in-returned-goods/">about £20 billion a year</a> in 2016, roughly half that of shop-bought products. Since then, it will have <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/286384/internet-share-of-retail-sales-monthly-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/">increased considerably</a> – particularly during COVID as online sales went through the roof. Every time you move a product there are also environmental costs associated with the journey. According to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01246-9">one recent study</a>, the carbon emissions from returning a product are about a third higher than shipping it out in the first place. <h2>What can be done</h2> It is tempting to think we need rules to curb all this over-buying and returning. But that would be very difficult to police and also potentially disastrous for online retailers. In any case, the sector is developing its own solutions: <a href="https://internetretailing.net/delivery/25-of-top500-brands-now-charging-consumers-for-returns/">a quarter</a> of leading UK brands now charge customers for returns, including fast-fashion players like <a href="https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2022/11/end-free-returns/">Zara and Boohoo</a>. They will not be doing this lightly: the Royal Mail <a href="https://www.royalmail.com/business/system/files/delivery-matters-uk-edition-2018.pdf">estimates 52%</a> of shoppers would be unlikely to use a particular online retailer if they had to pay for the returns. We both still see reports online claiming that substantial amounts of returned clothes end up in landfill, but this is not what we hear from our discussions with leading retailers. <a href="https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/You-and-your-home/Waste-and-recycling/Furniture-andhousehold-items/Clothing">Over 95%</a> of returned clothing can be reprocessed and made available for resale as a new product – subject to cleaning and sewing repairs and retailers having access to ozone cleaning facilities to remove perfume/aftershave smells, which is actually a major one issue. Our understanding is that many retailers are approaching that sort of turnaround figure. ASOS reportedly <a href="https://www.asos.com/responsible-fashion/packaging-and-delivery/6-ways-our-returns-are-more-responsible/">resells over 97%</a> of its returns, for instance. <h2>Challenges with bulky goods</h2> Unfortunately it’s very different with bulkier goods like furniture or kitchen appliances. These often require additional packaging, two-person collection and much more besides. Take memory foam mattresses. A consumer returning one won’t be able to squeeze out all the air and put it back in the modest-sized delivery box. The return will therefore be the size of a mattress, and you can’t get that many on a truck. Mattresses have also been slept on so there are hygiene considerations. The cover needs to be washed or discarded, depending on its condition. The mattress has to be inspected for damage like scuff marks, then cleaned and sanitised before being reboxed to be sold as reconditioned. There are comparable challenges across the board with bulkier products. To give another example, electrical items are expensive to repair and by law need to be tested before they can be resold. Faced with such issues, retailers frequently take the easy way out. They let returns languish in distributors’ warehouses before eventually sending them to landfill. We have seen this first hand in <a href="https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/170890/">our research</a>, working with four major retail brands that use returns specialist Prolog. One beauty retailer insists their returned electrical products in beauty kits be destroyed to protect their brand, leading to many being sent to landfill. We were able to demonstrate that these items could be processed more sustainably by harvesting the unused components for new kits, retained by Prolog Fulfilment for supplying missing components to other customers, or salvaged for warranty replacements. These sorts of options are available with a bit of investigation. Sometimes value engineering is also possible, where engineers repair returned products and provide feedback to manufacturers about common reasons for returns. Carbon footprints can also be reduced. For instance, the delivery company could hold the returns rather than sending them back to the retailer’s distribution centre. It’s still commonplace for retailers to process returns in a different location from where they ship out new products, so companies need to look at this too. These failures are both unacceptable from a sustainability point of view but also a major missed selling opportunity. Many returns could be refurbished with little effort and sold as “A-” grade at a small discount. When products can’t be resold, other options include resizing, donating to charity or working with specialist recycling companies to dismantle and recycle the smaller components to prevent any material going to landfill. As everyone gears up for the Black Friday weekend and then Christmas, it’s time for these retailers to do better. Consumers also need to be aware of this issue and apply more pressure. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-friday-so-many-online-returns-end-up-in-landfill-heres-what-needs-to-happen-to-change-that-195310" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Beauty & Style

Drugs – 4 essential reads on how they’re made, how they work and how context can make poison a medicine

Pandemics and disease outbreaks put a spotlight on the hurdles researchers face to get a drug on the shelves. From finding prospective drug candidates to balancing time and financial pressures with ensuring safety and efficacy, there are many aspects of drug development that determine whether a treatment ever makes it out of the lab. Broadening the definition of “medicine” and where it can be found, however, could help expand the therapeutic options available for both researchers and patients. Here are four facets of how drugs are developed and how they work in the body, drawn from stories in The Conversation’s archive. <h2>1. Matching drug to target</h2> The most effective drugs are, in a sense, the product of good matchmaking – they bind to a specific disease-causing receptor in the body, elicit a desired effect and ideally ignore healthy parts of the body. Drugs <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-drugs-know-where-to-go-in-the-body-a-pharmaceutical-scientist-explains-why-some-medications-are-swallowed-while-others-are-injected-182488" target="_blank" rel="noopener">travel through the bloodstream</a> to reach their targets. Because of this, most drugs circulate throughout the body and can bind to unintended sites, potentially causing undesired side effects. Researchers can increase the precision and effectiveness of a drug by designing different ways to take it. An inhaler, for example, delivers a drug directly to the lungs without its having to travel through the rest of the body to get there. Whether patients take drugs as prescribed is also essential to ensuring the right dose gets to where it needs to be often enough to have a desired effect. “Even with all the science that goes into understanding a disease well enough to develop an effective drug, it is often up to the patient to make it all work as designed,” writes pharmaceutical scientist <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas-Anchordoquy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anchordoquy</a> of the University of Colorado Anschutz. <h2>2. Searching for drug candidates</h2> Researchers have discovered a number of drugs by chance, including <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-real-story-behind-the-worlds-first-antibiotic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">penicillin</a> for bacterial infections, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200928-how-the-first-vaccine-was-born" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vaccines for smallpox</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2017.172" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warfarin</a> for blood clots. While serendipity still plays a role in modern drug discovery, most drug developers take a systematic approach. Scientists typically start by identifying a particular molecular target, usually receptors that trigger a specific response in the body. Then, they look for chemical compounds that react with that target. Technology called <a href="https://theconversation.com/discovering-new-drugs-is-a-long-and-expensive-process-chemical-compounds-that-dupe-screening-tools-make-it-even-harder-175972" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high-throughput screening</a> allows researchers to quickly test thousands of potential drug candidates at once. Compounds that match screening criteria advance to further development and refinement. Once optimized for their intended use, compounds go on to safety and efficacy testing in animals and people. One way to ease the search for optimal drug candidates is to work with compounds that are already optimized to work in living beings. <a href="https://theconversation.com/nature-is-the-worlds-original-pharmacy-returning-to-medicines-roots-could-help-fill-drug-discovery-gaps-176963" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Natural products</a>, derived from organisms like microbes, fungi, plants and animals, share similar structures and functions across species. Though not without their own development challenges, they could aid the search for related compounds that work in people. “There are thousands of microorganisms in the ocean left to explore as potential sources of drug candidates, not to mention all the ones on land,” writes medical chemist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8_T1ueYAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ashu Tripathi</a> of the University of Michigan. “In the search for new drugs to combat antibiotic resistance, natural products may still be the way to go.” <h2>3. A drug by any other name may be just as effective</h2> Existing drugs can find a second (or third, fourth and fifth) life through repurposing. Most drugs <a href="https://theconversation.com/many-medications-affect-more-than-one-target-in-the-body-some-drug-designers-are-embracing-the-side-effects-that-had-been-seen-as-a-drawback-184922" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have many functions</a> beyond what researchers originally designed them to do. While this multifunctionality is often the cause of unwanted side effects, sometimes these results are exactly what’s needed to treat a completely unrelated condition. Sildenafil, for example, failed to treat severe chest pain from coronary artery disease, but proved to be potent at inducing erections as Viagra. Similarly, thalidomide, a compound that caused birth defects in thousands of infants around the world as a morning sickness drug, found redemption as a cancer treatment. Because drugs inherently have more than one function in the body, <a href="https://theconversation.com/repurposing-generic-drugs-can-reduce-time-and-cost-to-develop-new-treatments-but-low-profitability-remains-a-barrier-174874" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repurposing existing drugs</a> can help fill a gap where pharmaceutical companies and other developers cannot or will not. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iDKZaA4AAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gregory Way</a>, a researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz, uses artificial intelligence to predict the various effects a drug can have and believes that this lack of specificity is something to explore rather than eliminate. Instead of trying to home in on one specific target, he suggests that scientists “embrace the complexity of biology and try to leverage the multifaceted effects drugs can offer.” <h2>4. Poison as medicine</h2> If so many drugs can have toxic effects in the body, be it through side effects or taking the wrong dose or for the wrong condition, what determines whether a drug is a “medicine” or a “poison”? Biomedical scientists evaluate drugs based on their active ingredient, or a specific compound that has a specific effect in the body. But reducing medicines to just a single molecule ignores another important factor that determines whether a drug is therapeutic – the context in which it is used. Opioids treat intractable pain but can lead to debilitating and lethal addiction when improperly administered. Chemotherapy kills tumors but causes collateral damage to healthy tissues in the process. Another pharmaceutical paradigm, <a href="https://theconversation.com/poison-or-cure-traditional-chinese-medicine-shows-that-context-can-make-all-the-difference-163337" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traditional Chinese medicine</a>, has historically acknowledged the malleability of drugs through the use of poisons as therapeutics. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4q0hYSwAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yan Liu</a>, a medical historian at University of Buffalo who studies this practice, notes that ancient texts did not distinguish between poisons and nonpoisons – rather, Chinese doctors examined drugs based on a continuum of potency, or ability to harm and heal. They used different processing and administration techniques to adjust the potency of poisons. They also took a personalized approach to treatment, aware that each drug works differently based on a number of different individual factors. “The paradox of healing with poisons in traditional Chinese medicine reveals a key message: There is no essential, absolute or unchanging core that characterizes a medicine,” Liu writes. “Instead, the effect of any given drug is always relational – it is contingent on how the drug is used, how it interacts with a particular body and its intended effects.” This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/drugs-4-essential-reads-on-how-theyre-made-how-they-work-and-how-context-can-make-poison-a-medicine-192590" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> and is a roundup of of articles from The Conversation’s archives. Image: Shutterstock

Books

"A kind of meditative peace": Quiet hour shopping makes us wonder why our cities have to be so noisy

The idea behind “quiet hour” shopping is to set aside a time each week for a retail experience that minimises noise and other sources of sensory overload. It is aimed at people who are <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/10/explainer-neurodivergence-mental-health/">neurodivergent</a> – an umbrella term for people with autism, ADHD and other sensory-processing conditions. What began as a boutique or specialist retail strategy has become more mainstream. Major <a href="https://www.coles.com.au/about-coles/community/accessibility/quiet-hour">supermarket</a> <a href="https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/au/en/media/news-archive/2019/woolworths-rolls-out-quiet-hour-to-select-stores-across-australia.html">chains</a> and <a href="https://insideretail.com.au/news/westfield-tuggerah-introduces-quiet-hour-for-people-with-dementia-autism-201907">shopping centres</a> in Australia and overseas have introduced it in recent years. In newly published <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/07255136221133188">research</a> we explored quiet hour as an aspect of the impacts of sound on how people experience city life. As expected, we found it did benefit people who are neurodivergent. But other people also welcomed the relief from sensory overload once they’d overcome the feeling of having wandered into an eerily quiet “post-apocalyptic scene”. Our work has made us question the acceptance of urban noise and light as being part and parcel of a vibrant city. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> As families around Australia prepare for Santa’s arrival Coles and Woolworths supermarkets become a centre of activity. Both stores offer ‘Quiet Hour’ on Tuesday for a low sensory shopping experience. Coles hours: <a href="https://t.co/jZV0f5bGwm">https://t.co/jZV0f5bGwm</a> Woolworths hours: <a href="https://t.co/X5iMm05cOr">https://t.co/X5iMm05cOr</a> <a href="https://t.co/R5CyXcB9R3">pic.twitter.com/R5CyXcB9R3</a> — NDIS (@NDIS) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDIS/status/1458706093492817923?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <h2>What does quiet hour involve?</h2> Quiet hour is intended to make retail spaces more inclusive or sensory-friendly. Its features include retailers or mall managers agreeing to: <ul> <li> switch automatic doors to open </li> <li> pause collection of trolleys </li> <li> turn off the PA and music </li> <li> fix flickering lights and turn off as much lighting as practicable </li> <li> remove scented reeds and pause automatic scent dispensers </li> <li> switch off hand dryers </li> <li> turn down the volume on checkout scanners. </li> </ul> One of the tools we used for mapping quiet hour was a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/07255136221133188">thematic analysis</a> of reports about it in Australian print media from 2017 to 2019. We found the following themes: <ul> <li> an emphasis on the kinds of discomforts associated with retail environments </li> <li> the importance of providing a “low-sensory environment” as a form of inclusion </li> <li> while lighting was often mentioned, the main recurring theme was the reduction of sound. </li> </ul> <h2>Why does reducing sound matter?</h2> Sound and sensory hypersensitivity are important themes in neurodivergent people’s accounts of how they struggle with everyday experiences others take for granted. Leading autism researcher and advocate Sandra Thom-Jones <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/growing-in-to-autism-paperback-softback">writes</a> that neurodivergents’ sensitivity to sound is complex. It’s affected by “what the sound actually is, how loud it is, whether I am expecting it, and whether I can control it”. People might assume everyone has the ability to <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203033142-4/radio-texture-self-others1-jo-tacchi">frame which sounds are important</a> and which are “irrelevant to what we are listening to or doing”. However, the ability to single out sound sources and block out background noise is a major point of differentiation between neurotypicals and neurodivergents. Thom-Jones, who received her autism diagnosis at age 52, <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/growing-in-to-autism-paperback-softback">reports</a> that when she is “in an environment with multiple sounds” she tends to “hear all of them”. Thus, when she is catching up with a friend in a café, she may be “listening intently” to what her friend is saying but she will also be “hearing the piped music, the people talking at the next table, cars driving past, the coffee machine”. <h2>Others welcome quiet hour too</h2> Given how neurodivergents process sound, quiet hour is likely to increase their sense of comfort in retail spaces. However, quiet hour also suspends or – to use a term coined by <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Frame_Analysis/XBpmAAAAIAAJ?hl=en">Erving Goffman</a> – “rekeys” the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/symb.506">sensory frames</a> of all shoppers. A quiet hour could benefit lots of people who may not have a specific condition but simply prefer a quieter retail environment. We found this is an under-researched area, but did find anecdotal accounts to suggest this. Take the <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/12-07-2020/the-quiet-hours-in-praise-of-supermarket-serenity">case</a> of New Zealand actress and author Michelle Langstone. She reports visiting stores across Auckland and Rotorua that offer quiet-hour shopping. She stumbled upon it by “sheer luck”. At first, she admits, it felt “a bit like a post-apocalyptic scene”. Once she adjusted to the unfamiliar sensory environment, she felt herself succumbing to changed supermarket routines, “I cruised every single [aisle], taking in the quiet for nearly 45 minutes, at the end of which I felt a kind of meditative peace come over me.” Langstone also <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/12-07-2020/the-quiet-hours-in-praise-of-supermarket-serenity">reports</a> avoiding impulse buying. That first time she left with “only [the] bread and eggs” she had gone to the shop for. She was able to focus on shopping rather than “multi-tasking”, and quiet hour left her with a “feeling of goodwill towards all shoppers”. In other words, even if the strategy is about levelling the sensory playing field for neurodivergents, it seems to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/soin.12232">change the shopping experience</a> for other people too. <h2>Why the bias towards the noisy city?</h2> As researchers interested in sound and space, quiet hour made us reflect on how we think about these issues and our attitudes to noise. It made us question, for example, why one of the most cited texts in our field is entitled <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/noise">Noise: The Political Economy of Music</a>? Studies of silence or quietude are rare in urban or spatial studies. One has to turn to fields such as the study of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1466138109339041">meditation practices</a> or the silence associated with <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-au/A+History+of+Silence:+From+the+Renaissance+to+the+Present+Day-p-9781509517350">nature or sacred spaces</a> to find positive accounts of reduced noise. This needs correcting. Sound intensity matters if cities, buildings or public spaces are to foster hospitality and “<a href="https://www.metrolab.brussels/publications/the-qualities-of-hospitality-and-the-concept-of-inclusive-city">support people in their activities by facilitating their stay</a>”. What quiet hour teaches us is that an inclusive or welcoming city is a city that “<a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Resonance%3A+A+Sociology+of+Our+Relationship+to+the+World-p-9781509519927">resonates</a>” with different kinds of minds, bodies and styles of sensory processing. Quiet hour might therefore be both an inclusion strategy and an experiment that forces us to think more deeply about our cities and how they sound. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-kind-of-meditative-peace-quiet-hour-shopping-makes-us-wonder-why-our-cities-have-to-be-so-noisy-193461" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Travel Tips

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date

Search

"This can't be real": Couple's unbelievable op-shop find

Readers response: How do you feel about online shopping compared to traditional in-store shopping?

5 foods to add to your shopping list to save money – and they’re good for you too

How sustainable is your weekly grocery shop? These small changes can have big benefits

Shop around, take lunch, catch the bus. It is possible to ease the squeeze on your budget

Climb the stairs, lug the shopping, chase the kids. Incidental vigorous activity linked to lower cancer risks

11 garage sale finds you should never pass up

Essential money conversations retirees should have with family

10 things you should never pay for on holidays

6 essential tips and tricks for your kitchen

What not to buy when you’re on a cruise

5 essential tips for buying clothes online

“Rip off”: Charity shop blasted over extortionate sale

Bride’s online dress disaster

“Thank you stranger”: Woolies shopper left stunned

“Very questionable”: Kmart mocked after customer's "ridiculous" delivery

Wrapping presents leads to mother's cheeky Christmas discovery

Black Friday: so many online returns end up in landfill – here’s what needs to happen to change that

Drugs – 4 essential reads on how they’re made, how they work and how context can make poison a medicine

"A kind of meditative peace": Quiet hour shopping makes us wonder why our cities have to be so noisy