50 CHATELAINE • APRIL/MAY 2019
health NOTES
The newPAI Projector
from Bosch turns your
countertop into a touch
screen, so you can scroll
through recipes, make
calls while cooking
and even cut down on
food waste (put leftover
items or impulsive
grocery purchases
under its lens and it will
tell you what to make
w ith them). bosch.caCONNECTED
KITCHEN
Studies show
commuting through
green space boosts
your mood.Green roofs improve
air quality and
reduce energy use.Go to
sleep
The biggest mistake
people make in the
bedroom is not m a k i n g
sleep a priority, says
Dr. Elliott Lee, an
Ottawa-based sleep
specialist. Research
shows that half of us are
cutting our sleep hours
to add more time to the
day. “And we’re hard-
wired to overestimate
our abilities when
sleep deprived,” Lee
says. Here are three
of his top tips for
getting more sleep.- SWITCH OFF
“Light from your laptop
tricks your brain into
thinking it’s daytime,
suppressing production
of the sleep hormone
melatonin , ” Lee says.
The psychological
stimulation will also
keep your mind racing
long after your head
hits the pillow. - DITCH THE CLOCK
Sleep is a funny thing—
the harder you try to
do it and the more you
think about it, the harder
it is. “When there’s a
clock in the bedroom,”
Lee says, “it creates a
sense of hyperarousal
that sabotages sleep.” - COOL DOWN
“In general, cooler
temperatures at night
are best—for many
people, the magic
number is 21 to
23 degrees Celsius,”
Lee says. But instead of
cranking the AC, the
Ooler off ers a more
earth-friendly approach.
This futuristic gadget
(on the market later
this year) “cools your
bed, not your house”
by regulating the
temperature of your
mattress cover while
you sleep.
POWER WALK
What if the energy you burn at
the gym could help keep the
lights on and reduce your carbon
footprint? Enter the Verde G690
treadmill, which generates
electricity and powers the grid
during workouts. (It’s capable
of capturing up to 74 percent
of the energy you produce.)
gosportsart.comA new concrete jungle
Heat, smog and CO2 can make summers in the city tough to take.
Urban Canopee, a French start-up, has a cool solution: city-protecting plant
structures, which debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. These leafy
green umbrellas promise to fi ght the eff ects of climate change and help us breathe
better by providing shade and improving air quality. Each pot features its own solar
kit, a self-regulating smart irrigation system and an adaptable frame designed for
climbing plants that absorb CO2 like trees do but in a fraction of the space.