Two Big Sustainability Trends To Bring To Your Wedding This Year

 

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You’ve seen countless wedding trends that pop up for a year or so and disappear into the abyss. Themed weddings were a big thing a few years back, but now nobody cares about them. It’s good to be aware of flashing trends like these so you can avoid adopting them for your wedding and looking back in anguish at how cringe everything was. At the same time, it’s also great to know of long-term trends that will always be a hit - and that brings us to today’s topic. 

Sustainability is one of the most prominent wedding trends in 2025 and it looks set to continue being a big focus for many years to come. People are realizing how non-eco-friendly a lot of weddings can be, so they want to switch things up and introduce some more sustainable elements. It’s a great trend to jump on, and here are two excellent ideas to get started. 

Minimizing Food Waste

Research from a major grocery store across the pond suggests that as much as 10% of all wedding food is wasted on your special day. That equates to a lot of food thrown in the garbage - not to mention a massive waste of money. 

Cutting down on food waste is therefore one of the biggest sustainability trends for modern weddings. You can achieve this in two simple steps: hire a catering company and partner with local food banks/charities. 

A catering company lets you manage how much food you produce, and you can run a set menu so you only provide a specific number of meals. Partnering with local food banks or charities gives you somewhere to donate any uneaten food products at your wedding. Maybe you have some small bites leftover from a buffet. Take them to a food bank or homeless shelter and they don’t go to waste. 

Cutting Down On Transportation

Despite the fact that eloping is making a comeback, many couples are eager to cut back on transportation for their weddings. When you elope, it’s usually just you and your partner - not the entire family. For more traditional weddings, couples look to hire coaches or buses so loads of people aren’t driving dozens of cars on the big day. 

There’s also this big trend of one singular wedding venue for the day. You get married and have the celebration in one place, which slashes your wedding’s carbon footprint because everyone travels to one location. It also helps your wedding budget because you’re not renting out two separate venues; churches and other places of worship are notoriously expensive! 

The one venue option also gets rid of a very non-sustainable wedding tradition: driving away in a wedding car. As nice as this is, most wedding cars are old classic vehicles that guzzle gas and pump out loads of fumes. Removing that from your itinerary helps to make the wedding that little bit more eco-friendly. 

Once you start thinking of sustainability ideas for a wedding, thousands flood your mind. These two have arguably the biggest impact in terms of making your wedding a greener place. Use them to spark as many other ideas as you can think of to get on board with a trend that’s genuinely worth following.

Tips for Better Dental Health

 When it comes to your oral health, you should be doing everything that you can to ensure that your teeth stay at their best and brightest. Of course, everyone knows the basics of dental care like brushing twice a day, flossing, avoiding sugary snacks etc, but there are plenty of other things that you need to know as well.

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For bigger changes and treatments for you or your kids, you may well want to go to the professionals like teen orthodontics specialists. However, if you are looking for a few things that you can do by yourself, these are what we will be taking a closer look at in this article.

Angle the Brush Correctly 

First and foremost, when you are brushing your teeth, you need to ensure that the bristles are angled correctly. You should be aiming to get the head of the brush at a 45-degree angle to the gum line when you are cleaning both the inside and outside surfaces of your teeth.

Don’t Forget About Your Tongue

To make sure that you are really tackling any plaque and bacteria that has gathered on, around or under your tongue, you should be cleaning it on a daily basis. You can either use a toothbrush or a specialised tongue cleaner to do this. Some toothbrushes even come with a tongue cleaner on the opposite side to the bristles. The other advantage of cleaning your tongue on a daily basis is that it will help you to prevent bad breath.

Wear a Mouthguard for Physical Activity 

While sports are good for your body, they do present potential hazards to your mouth. If you want to take extra care of your teeth, it may be worth investing in a mouth guard yourself - particularly if you are planning on engaging in any ‘rougher’ physical activities. Even if it is not a team sport, there is always a chance you could trip into something and damage your mouth.

Don’t Use Mouthwash Straight After Brushing 

Hopefully, you are already using toothpaste which contains fluoride. But if you are using mouthwash right after you brush, it may not have had the chance to take full effect. So, you should aim to wait at least 15 minutes after you have brushed so that you have given the fluoride a chance to work its magic. 

Chew More

After eating or drinking (particularly sugary food), you could chew sugar-free gum to help protect your teeth and gums. An alternative solution is to finish off your meal with a cube of cheese which plays a part in reducing the effects of acid on your teeth.

Get Out in the Sun

You may not have automatically thought of stepping outside into the sunlight as a way to improve your oral health, but the vitamin D that you receive from the sun helps to keep both your teeth and your gums strong and healthy.

Seal Off Your Back Teeth

The back teeth are often prone to problems as they are harder to reach and so you often don’t brush them as well as you can. To help protect them, you could apply a thin protective coating known as a sealant which is designed to prevent both decay and cavities. Taking an extra precaution like this can make all the difference in the long run.

Avoid Bad Habits

There are plenty of bad habits which can have a detrimental effect on your dental health. For example, excessive nail biting can end up causing hard to both your teeth and your gums. Similarly, grinding or clenching your teeth is something which you should get out of. The last thing that you want is to have an improper bite or crooked teeth. While brushing on a regular basis is important, you don’t want to brush too hard as this can wear away the protective enamel on your teeth. Avoid putting your teeth through any trials that you don’t really need to. If you are the kind of person who crunches on ice whenever you have a drink or use your teeth as a bottle opener, these are two habits which you really need to get out of. Finally, people tend to eat a huge amount more sugar than they need on a daily basis, so if you can cut out some drinks or snacks from your life, your mouth will thank you for it.

So, there you have just a few of the things that you can do (beyond the obvious) to improve your dental health.    

Cowboy Beans

Last weekend we had plans to go to Lake Erie, which is pretty close to our house. In under an hour we can be there, ready for some water fun. Adam wanted to fish from the bridge access, and the kids are always up for a swim. I knew I would be busy packing the towels, floats, changes of clothes, and snacks for the next day, and I certainly wouldn't want to come home and cook after a hot day on the beach. So, I pulled out my slow cooker and made a big batch of cowboy beans. We happily reheated them, and had hearty meals for 4 days. We could have stretched it to 5 days with the addition of potatoes or smoked sausage, but we were pretty full of beans at that point.

Cowboy beans are awesome. They make enough to feed a crowd, so they are perfect for potlucks or family meals. They reheat like a dream, and they are budget-friendly.

Ingredients

2 28 oz cans of baked beans

1 15 oz can of pinto beans

1 15 oz can of great northern or navy beans

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of black beans

1 can of pork n beans

1 1/2 pounds of bacon

1 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef

1 cup of ketchup

a few dashes of steak sauce or bbq sauce

1/4 brown sugar

1 large onion, diced

2 tablespoons of mustard

Directions: 

Brown the ground beef, drain.

Fry the bacon until crispy and drain.

Open and drain your canned beans (not the pork n beans or baked beans!)

Chop the bacon into small chunks.

Add all ingredients to the slow cooker and stir.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Why we love this recipe: 

It is protein packed, easy, and pairs well with corn bread, potatoes, hot dogs, smoked sausages, and more! 

It has plenty of smoky bacon flavor in each bite.

It can feed a hungry crowd AND it is budget friendly!

I always have plenty of canned and dry beans in my pantry to whip this up, even when I am low on ingredients for other dishes.

Find more crock pot recipes here: 

Chicken and Dumplings

Slow cooker dinner rolls

Shredded chicken tacos

 

5 Strategies for Raising a Happy and Healthy Child

 All parents want their children to be happy and healthy. After all, this won’t just ensure that they have an enjoyable childhood, but can also set them up for success in their adult lives, too. It’s much easier for young adults to find success in all aspects of their lives, including their professional and personal relationships, if they’re mentally and physically in tip-top condition.

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There are, of course, many variables that’ll influence your child’s existence, some of which might negatively impact their overall well-being. The way to combat those is to do what you can — and you can do a lot — to nudge their physical and mental well-being in the right direction.

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In this post, we’ll run through a bunch of strategies for developing a well-rounded child, all of which are relatively easy to follow.

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Healthy, Delicious Meals

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Eating healthy meals is paramount for ensuring that your child’s mental and physical well-being can be in peak condition. Varied meals consisting of fresh, healthy ingredients can have a significant impact on your child’s overall health. In contrast, unhealthy meals — such as those that contain processed foods — can have the opposite effect. By taking the time to prepare good-for-you meals, you’ll be giving your growing child’s body and mind the sustenance they need to be at their best. Research also suggests that children who follow a healthy diet in childhood tend to go on to lead healthy lives as adults, making this approach a gift that’ll benefit your child for the rest of their lives.

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Fun Physical Activities

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Did you know that this generation of children is the least active on record? Thanks to the rise of personal devices and other factors, many children just simply aren’t getting the levels of exercise they need to be at their best.

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Yet it’s important that children do engage in physical activity, which isn’t only beneficial to their physical wellbeing, but also boosts their mental health and confidence, too. The key to getting your child moving is to find an activity that they enjoy. After all, it’s simply not realistic that they’ll be eager to put on jogging shoes and go for a long run multiple times a week. Signing them up for exciting activities such as soccer, dancing, or karate classes will ensure that they get their full dose of physical activity while also having fun. Plus, aside from getting fit, they might just discover that the activity they choose becomes a passion that sticks with them for the rest of their lives.

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Self-Care Habits

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You won’t always be there to look after your child’s mood or emotions. Teaching them how to do it themselves can be powerfully influential and can result in long-lasting benefits that can set them up for success in their later lives. Teach them the power of meditation, yoga, exercise, and sleeping well, and they’ll have a lot of the tools required to make themselves happy and healthy.

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Limit Screentime

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It’s probably not possible, nor recommended, to prevent your child from using screen devices all the time. Still, it’s important to be mindful of the effect that excessive screen time can have on a child’s overall well-being. Studies suggest that too much time in front of a screen can increase a child’s risk of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

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So how do you manage screens in a world that encourages us to use them all the time? It’s simple — you set boundaries. Your children may not like that the internet is turned off after a certain hour, or that you have screen-free Sundays, but it can be a gamechanger for their well-being. Without screens, they’ll have the time and space to engage in other, genuinely beneficial activities that support their health and happiness.

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Be a Happy Parent

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Finally, keep in mind that raising happy and healthy children is about more than what you do for them. What you do for yourself counts for a lot, too. Children pick up a lot from their parents, much more than simply what they’re told. You’ll be a role model for their happiness, and as such, it’s important that you treat your own well-being as a priority. Many parents put all their energy into their children because they believe that it’s the right thing to do, but actually, it’s vital to invest in your self-care too. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and in any case, your child will be much more  likely to walk around smiling if they see that you have a smile on your face. Remember: positivity is infectious!

Effective Strategies to Boost Retail Sales

 Running a retail business in the economy isn't easy. While brick-and-mortar stores are experiencing a comeback post-COVID pandemic, it's still not the easiest sector to thrive in. This complexity can leave many retailers scratching their heads as to how to improve things and boost sales and profits.

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Because when the usual strategies aren't working, you need to dig deeper and find new methods to embrace for your future success.

Rethink Layout and Merchandising

First impressions matter in any business, and if your store is messy or cluttered or doesn't have the best displays capturing people's attention as they walk through the door, chances are you'll miss out on important sales.

Take a walk through your store and put yourself in the customers' shoes. How easy is it to move around? What is stopping people from browsing? And are you able to navigate the products with ease? You need to have a smooth flow through the store that maximises high-impact areas, i.e., promotions at the door when people walk in, and you need to utilise end-of-aisle displays and locations that can nudge people towards making impulse purchases, such as till points.

Improve Customer Service

If your customers don't feel happy shopping in your store or are not appreciated, they won't be back; that's a given. However, good customer service is hard to pin down and implement consistently across retail stores. You need knowledgeable, approachable staff who are happy to be there and engage with customers. You need to implement regular training sessions and ensure all standards and expectations are adhered to in relation to customer service, so you're finding the sweet spot that works for your customers - use customer feedback here to help guide you to improve on what you're already doing.

Increase Payment Options

Nothing kills a sale faster than limiting how people can pay. These days, the majority of shoppers prefer flexible payment options, and more people than ever are opting to use digital transactions to complete the sale. This means you need to incorporate payment options that work for your customers. So remove that "cash only" sign and bring in credit card equipment that allows you to accept payment methods such as chip and pin, contactless and mobile wallet options for purchase.

Promotions and Loyalty Schemes

Special offers are proven ways to get people in the doors and the checkouts ringing. Multipurchase offers, loyalty rewards that bring down the cost of next purchases or giving out freebies when a certain threshold of sales is met, are all excellent sales drivers and great ways to encourage repeat custom and deliver extra value to your regular customers.

Work with your team and customers to see what would work for them. Would collecting stamps to get a free purchase or a certain item be more enticing, or would a discount code when they've spent a certain amount work better? It might take a bit of time to find the right offers for your customers, but it's definitely a great way to build a loyal customer base.