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☆ This $119 houseplant is bioengineered to remove harmful air pollution in your home.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ellyn Lapointe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Biotech company Neoplants just released the first houseplant grown to reduce indoor air pollution. Neo P1 can remove 30 times more VOC's, harmful indoor pollutants, than a typical houseplant. This week, the France-based biotech company Neoplants released the first houseplant bioengineered to remove harmful chemicals from indoor air. AdvertisementUnpacking the Neo P1 systemThe Neo P1 system comes with a marble queen pothos potted in a specially designed "shell," and a six-month supply of power drops. AdvertisementStriving for sustainabilityEvery part of the Neo P1 air purifying system is manufactured in the US.

Persons: —, you'd, Glenn Morrison, Patrick Torbey, Lionel Mora weren't, Mora, Torbey, Morrison, Neoplants, Jennifer Brophy, " Mora, it's, we'll Organizations: Biotech, Neoplants, Service, American Lung Association, University of North, Business, Stanford University, MIT Tech Locations: France, University of North Carolina, Torbey, VOCs, Neoplants, Paris

☆ Couple pays $1,600 a month for a 1-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn—they have 150 houseplants: Take a look inside
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Celia Fernandez | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mickey Todiwala. "I'm just a homebody that wants to stay at home all day to play with my cats and plants," Wai says. Mickey Todiwala. Mickey Todiwala. Mickey Todiwala.

Persons: Vionna Wai, Chucky Hui, millennials, Hui, Ding, Wai, Mickey Todiwala, I've Organizations: CNBC, Florida Beauty Locations: Bensonhurst , Brooklyn, U.S, Florida

☆ After 2 years of applying for the NYC housing lottery, she finally won her bid. Now she pays $1,000 in rent for her Manhattan apartment.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A millennial woman won the New York City affordable housing lottery after applying for two years. Nkenge Brown, 30, now pays around $1,000 in monthly rent for her one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. AdvertisementNkenge Brown first heard about the New York City housing lottery system four years ago while she was at work. "Someone told me that they won a lottery apartment, and I was like, 'What's that?'" In 2018, the odds of winning the housing lottery were 1 in 592, per the Times.

Persons: Nkenge Brown, she's, —, Brown, " Brown, Nkenge Brown Nkenge Brown, that's, Nkenge, it'll, cafés, Nkenge Brown Brown, she'd, I've, There's Organizations: New, Service, New York City Department of Housing Preservation, Housing Development Corporation, New York Times, Times Locations: New York City, Manhattan, Upper Manhattan, Chelsea, Paris

Shop at Amazon Shop at DreoTyphur Sous Vide Station If you’ve been wanting to venture into the benefits of cooking with Sous Vide, Typhur’s Sous Vide Station incorporates all functions of sous vide cooking into one unit, with a built-in tank, scheduling functions, and step-by-step cooking instructions on a large LCD display. Shop at Amazon Shop at TramontinaAdvertisementSustainability and alternative materialsEco-friendly materials are at the forefront of home and kitchen design. Shop at Amazon Shop at UmbraFull Circle Grate Expectations Stainless Steel Coarse Grater with Food Catcher Full Circle should be on your radar for eco-friendly cleaning tools and hydration solutions. From earth tones and pastels to vibrant collections, you can coordinate your kitchen in monochrome hues, prints, and textures. Shop at Amazon Shop at Walmart Shop at TargetLuma Nugget Countertop Ice Maker We've been searching for a more affordable nugget ice maker, and this small appliance from Luma might be the one.

Persons: It's, Dreo ChefMaker Combi Fryer, you’ve, Zyliss, Joe Derochowski, Dyson, Brabantia Organizations: Business, Shop, kraft, Cork, Walmart, Everest

NEW YORK (AP) — Garden centers enjoyed a pandemic boom, particularly with millennials, as people looked for outdoor activities during lockdowns. To regain the sales momentum, garden centers must navigate a number of challenges as another spring season kicks in. At Flowercraft Garden Center, a San Francisco garden center that is in its 50th year of operation, houseplants, vegetable starter plants and citrus trees are selling well, said general manager Lydia Patubo. That was good for an area suffering from a yearslong drought, but bad for garden center business. Even though his sales have plateaued since the pandemic, he feels the 34-year-old garden center is in a good spot.

Persons: Danny Summers, Summers, That’s, ”, Lydia Patubo, Patubo, San Francisco, ” Patubo, Chris Cordrey, “, ” Cordray, hasn’t, Kat McGraw, ” McGraw Organizations: Survey, The Garden Center Group, Garden, ”, East Coast Garden, National, Administration, Co, Atlanta, “ Locations: U.S, San Francisco, San, California, Millsboro , Delaware, Chattanooga , Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee

☆ Vineyards Use AI, IoT Tools to Make Wine Effectively, Sustainably
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Bella Sayegh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The company's president and winemaker, Chris Kajani, wanted to stay connected with customers and distributors amid shutdowns and social-distancing practices. AdvertisementIn March 2020, Kajani started reworking her operations, hosting virtual tastings, keeping in contact with members of the vineyard's wine club, and meeting with distribution partners using a Cisco videoconferencing platform. Chris Kajani, the winemaker and president of Bouchaine Vineyards, is using technology to improve harvesting. Jyotsna Bhamidipati for BIRemy, a former wine technical consultant, said that buying wine without knowing what's good can be overwhelming. AI-powered tools are making headway in the commercial wine market by helping vineyards find optimal wine blends.

Persons: Chris Kajani, Kajani, Vintners, McClenehan, Alexandre Remy, Remy, Jyotsna, Vaughn Walton, Walton, Piper, Pied Piper, Katerina Axelsson, Axelsson Organizations: Cisco, Bouchaine, Atlas Wine, Oregon Wine Research, Oregon, University's Oregon Wine Research Institute, OSU, BI Remy Locations: Napa , California, Bouchaine, Somerset , California, Oregon, California, America, Walton

☆ CEO quit his 6-figure job at Microsoft—and landed a $300,000 'Shark Tank' offer for his new startup
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A self-proclaimed "serial plant killer" went on ABC's "Shark Tank" — and came away with a $300,000 offer for his houseplant health company Flora. Flora was founded in 2022 by Aabesh De, a former Microsoft employee who quit his "cushy" six-figure job to build a soil meter and accompanying app that alerts people about the health of their houseplants. "My dear mother gave me her prized rose bush plant that she had for years," De, 29, said on the show. "I would never go for a subscription model after buying [the soil meter]," she said. "I think you're smart as hell, and I like to invest in people who are smart as hell," Greiner said.

Persons: Aabesh De, De, we've, weren't, Robert Herjavec, Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, O'Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Greiner, You've Organizations: Microsoft, CNBC Locations: Flora

☆ I couldn't participate in extracurriculars at Yale because of the school's competitive environment. It's not just a Yale problem.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Serena Puang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

At my public high school in Arkansas, no one else seemed to be applying to as many schools, but I kept reminding myself that it would be worth it. I matriculated at Yale, bought room decor, and learned the hard way that Yale dorms didn't have air conditioning. It's not just a Yale problemIt's not just Yale that breeds a hypercompetitive environment. The university actually felt a lot less overtly competitive than high school because people weren't all trying to achieve the same narrow set of goals. Competitive clubs are a product of a value system we bought into as children so that we could get into these schools.

Persons: I'd, we're, Crisp, It's, Mira Debs, I'm, I've Organizations: Service, Business, Yale, Ivy League, Yale Dramatic Association, College Locations: Arkansas, The, Yale

☆ I worried I didn't teach my daughter everything she needed to know to survive her first year in college. I gave her a crash course.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-04 | by ( Karen M. Alley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Before she left for college I gave her a crash course on laundry, cooking, and banking. AdvertisementWhen my daughter graduated from high school and set her sights on college, I started to panic. AdvertisementNow, as she's about to enter her second semester of college, I realize I had nothing to worry about. Caroline took initiative, asked questions, and figured out what to do all on her own. She finished her first semester of college and is about to start her second semester of freshman year.

Persons: —, Caroline, doesn't, She's, they've Organizations: Service

☆ Barbie, Her House and the American Dream
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Anna Kodé | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Barbie, Her House and the American Dream Take a stop-motion journey with the young, single homeowner of the Dreamhouse. Today according to Mattel, the toymaker behind the iconic doll, a new Barbie Dreamhouse is sold every two minutes. A vintage Barbie doll puts a record on, dances and sits down. He came to Barbie’s house.”Now, Ms. Dalsing lives in Saint Joseph, Mo., in what she called her own dream house. “In the early 2000s, single women were the fastest growing group of home buyers in the United States,” she said.

Persons: Ken isn’t, Barbara Millicent Roberts, Roberts —, Barbie, ” Ruth Handler, Ken, Handler’s, —, Barbie’s Dreamhouse, ”, Deborah Dinner, wasn’t, weren’t, Barbie’s, Felix Burrichter, “ Barbie Dreamhouse, ” Barbie’s, Sue Dalsing, Dalsing, “ Ken didn’t, “, ” It’s, Elliot Handler, Handler, Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s Barbie, Hugh Hefner’s, Helen Gurley Brown’s, ’, Brown’s, Brown, Young, Tiffany, Barbie —, Houseplants, Burrichter, might’ve, Maddie Bone, Bone, Homer, …, Ms, Amy Castro, ” Ms, Castro, Isabelle Roy, ‘, Roy, He’s, Barbie couldn’t, Christie, Kim Culmone, Catherine E, McKinley, Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Greenwood, Spencer, It’s Organizations: Mattel, New York Times, “, Cornell University, Survey, Wisconsin ., Furniture, The Times, Spice, University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Locations: crave, Britain, Saint Joseph, Mo, Barbie’s, Wisconsin, Levittown, Waldoboro, United States, Canadian, Alberta, Palm Springs

☆ Opinion | Requiem for the Newsroom
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Maureen Dowd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — I don’t want this to be one of those pieces that bangs on about how things used to be better, and they’ll never be as good again. But, when it comes to newsrooms, it happens to be true. “What would a newspaper movie look like today?” wondered my New York Times colleague Jim Rutenberg. Now we sit at home alone staring at our computers. There’s a reason they made all those newspaper movies, ‘All the President’s Men,’ ‘Spotlight,’ ‘The Paper.’

☆ These 11 easy habits helped me break my social media obsession and unplug from technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Betsy Ramser Jaime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Adopting the right habits can help you be more present and spend less time looking at screens. Betsy Ramser Jaime outlines the habits that have helped her go hours without reaching for her phone. About seven years ago, I cut my social media use by 99% — and I don't feel like I'm missing anything, I feel like I've gained far more. When you really learn to appreciate the trees and the setting sun, you're reminded that each day is completely unique. Wander around a libraryWhen you need a break from your day, try visiting a library.

☆ An Urban Farmer and TV Host on Why She Recycles Almost Everything
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Joanne Kaufman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jamila Norman has a few houseplants, for the record, all thriving, at her home in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta. But although she has room out back, there is no garden. “My friends shame me for it,” Ms. Norman said. “They shame me for it all the time.”Is she ashamed? She has brought her knowledge and can-do spirit to full flower as the host of the Magnolia Network series “Homegrown.” On each episode, Ms. Norman, also known as Farmer J, helps someone transform an often wild-and-woolly outdoor space into a beautiful, functional backyard farm.

☆ Plants let out an ultrasonic scream when their leaves are cut or they don't get enough water
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

They may be filling your house with deafening clicks, but these are too high for you to hear, scientists have found. Plants that aren't stressed are almost quietTomato plants are being recorded in a greenhouse in this picture from Tel Aviv University. For instance, tomato plants emit sounds of stress before they started looking dehydrated, Hadany said. Animals — and perhaps even plants — may be able to hear the soundsA fruit bat might be one of the animals who can hear noises from plants. It's also possible plants themselves could react to these sounds, Hadany said.

☆ I quit my job as a nurse to house-sit — and I've now lived rent-free in LA, Portugal, Costa Rica, and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Claire Turrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Costa Rica and Mexico were the top two. We booked a trip to Costa Rica, but in March 2020, the pandemic hit and all our travel plans were put on hold. We checked out the site, and we typed in "Costa Rica" when it asked "Where do you want to go?" So far, we've stayed in 10 homes in landscapes as varied as the desert of Palm Springs and the jungle of Costa Rica. Our first house-sit was at a jungle casita in Costa Rica, where we looked after a little rescue dogIt proved to be one of our favorites.

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