Lifestyle

In a recent episode of NBC's popular television series, Dateline, producer Andrea Canning tried something unusual -- she decided to test herself and her children for the presence of chemicals BPA. phthalates, and triclosan in their urine, and in discovering levels much higher than the national average in herself and her children, attempted to make a lifestyle change to correct the imbalance. The episode focused on these particular chemicals, and Canning's attempt to eliminate them from her life through a change of daily routine.

With the Christian observation of Lent approaching, many people have begun an annual search for a way to better understand the suffering of Jesus through personal sacrifice.

Maria Rodale's blog on the Huffington Post featured an article by Beth Terry recently, addressing a problem that many of us are facing around this time of year: the problem of holiday plastic. Terry gives thought to a number of plastic packaging options used during Christmas for gift wrapping, shipping, and holiday festivities and shares insight into how to use them to prevent them becoming waste. Terry suggests a few simple solutions for a waste free post-Holiday purge, including:

By Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Nuaimi

Last Friday over 1.6 billion Muslims around the world celebrated the beginning of the holiest of times: Ramadan.

During Ramadan, all Muslims fast from first light until sundown (dawn to dusk), abstaining from food, drink and sexual relations. The sick, elderly and travelers, as well as pregnant or nursing women, are permitted to break the fast and make it up later in the year. If they are physically unable to do this, they must feed a needy person for every day missed. Children begin to fast from puberty, although many start earlier.

A story in the New York Times this week explores how Mexican families use bottled water for just about everything: cooking, cleaning, and even bathing. Residents profiled in the story complain of yellow tap water that seems unfit to use for anything. Many buy every drop of water they use from either multinational companies or local sellers who have invested in filtration systems.

A startling new figure reported by the Independent indicates that shoppers in the United Kingdom have used a shocking 7. 96 billion single use bags last year, marking an increase of 400 million bags used in total. The article notes that plastic bag usage has increased all across the UK with the exception of Wales and Scotland. Wales, which is subject to a 5p bag tax, has seen a drop in usage of about 22 percent, while Scotland has, despite having no ban at present, dropped usage by a much smaller 0.3 percent.

The Guardian published an article yesterday that reported that the World Bank has determined that urban waste is set to increase steeply in the next twenty years. The report, aptly titled "What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management" has provided information on a country and region basis regarding waste generation and disposal, and according to contributor Mark Tran, the report noted:

In Portland, Maine [United States], Riverton Elementary School has implemented a new recycling program that has saved the school around $50,000, as well as eliminating about 50% of the school's waste. In an article published today on Bangor Daily News, contributor Seth Koenig reports that a recent concern regarding the longevity of styrofoam has also led to another important change in the District. According to the article:

The Polaris Institute, according to Ban the Bottle.com, has recently found that bottled water is more than simply an unnessecary expense for the environment, it also creates financial hardship for low-income communities. A study published last month found that the use of plastic water bottles averaged at about 4.6% of a household's mediam income in California's Central Valley, where groundwater is often contaminated by nitrates. Writer Hannah Ellsbury continues, writing that

According to a story by author and journalist Charles Fishman on Fast Company's FastCoExist website, despite organized efforts to curb our consumption of bottled water, Americans are drinking more packaged H2O than ever before. In 2011, a staggering 9.1 billion gallons of bottled water was sold, the highest total volume ever sold in the States, with an average of 222 bottles sold to each and every person last year.