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One of my favorite quotes/speeches comes from our 26th President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt.  His “man in the arena” speech was given after he left the Presidency in 1910 during a visit to Paris.  It is too long to recite in its entirety here, but it begins like this:

Ah, the simple joys of summer: warm evenings on the back patio with friends, fresh tomatoes on a BLT, and the sweet smell of chlorine after a long afternoon at the local pool—it doesn’t get much better than that. But that pool-perfume we associate with swimming has more applications than just summertime fun. In fact, chlorine is a fascinating chemical, essential to everyday life, and used in the production of everything from life-saving medication to the phone in your hand. Hold on to your swim caps—let’s dive in.

It wasn’t so long ago that two thirty-somethings stood on a beach near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, witnessing the first powered flight in the history of the world. The year was 1903: Wilbur Wright was airborne for roughly three seconds. A century later, homosapiens have been transformed from a species incapable of flight to one that has walked on the moon--it’s hard to imagine so much innovation in only a few generations.

Stop, drop, and roll: most anyone who hears this phrase knows exactly what to do and why: they’re on fire! As acts of fire prevention, we clean our chimneys, install smoke detectors (and change their batteries), and instruct children never to play with matches. But is fire safety really that simple? Not exactly. And it becomes even more complicated when added risks—like proximity to flammable substances or large crowds—are part of the equation. So how can we prevent fires? Enter: the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Let’s have a little Q&A. 

Paint is pretty powerful. Not paint-ings, like Picasso or Monet. Just paint. Painting beige walls a “dusty rose” transforms a room from a boring home-office to an expectant nursery, while a coat of “sage green” on wooden cabinets takes a dated kitchen into the twenty-first century. Paint can change a familiar space into something totally unrecognizable, but it can also serve as a form of self-expression: agonizing over two shades of green allows those of us who are artistically challenged to tap into our inner Rembrandt.

Run a comb through your hair and apply a dollop of Coppertone® to your face: voila, presto, you’re ready for anything! Bring on the day, you can handle it—at least, that’s how it used to be. These days, most of us require a much more complicated beauty regimen, with North Americans spending upwards of $35 billion annually on makeup products alone. Between Instagram influencers, un-aging Hollywood celebrities, and the endless rows of cosmetics displayed at our local drugstores, it’s clear that the beauty and personal care industry is big business. But what has to happen before all...