Health

Health related posts. Sustainable living of course includes our environment, but just as important is eating and keeping healthy. For many reasons, our modern way of life has made us unhealthy.

New York bans super-sized, sugary drinks – a step in the right direction!

Brian Brinks
Super Sized

Hooray! Seriously. This is a BIG step in the right direction. So they banned the sale of sugary drinks over 16oz, this includes pop, iced-tea and other calorie packed beverages. I mean lets be honest, 16oz is already a big enough drink. Now it has gotten right out of hand in the past few decades in […]

Toxic flame retardants: In our homes, our dust, our lives

Brian Brinks
Toxic flame retardants are found in many household products including items found in your child's nursery

Here are some excerpts from an article on SaferStates.com on this issue: Toxic flame retardants are one of the most common sources of toxicity in our homes and our lives. They are used on everything from computer casings, to furniture, to carpeting, to children’s products. “The problem is, they don’t stay put,” says Rebecca Williams, a […]

Banning Junk Food in School Vending Machines Seems to Work

Brian Brinks
Chunk and his Ice Cream

Well that is a no-brainer really, but at least we now have some empiricle evidence that shows a children with greater access to junk food and pop (in schools as this study shows, but ultimately everywhere) are bigger. This should help local and federal governments enact new rules and regulations to help minimize childrens’ exposure to unhealthy and fattening junk […]

Is childhood obesity abusive?

Brian Brinks 1 Comment
1 in 3 US children considered overweight or obese

After reading about the 200-lbs. 8 year old boy who was taken from his parents home recently for neglect, I thought I would input my two cents … Is childhood obesity abusive? This is a tough question to answer as there are a lot of perspectives to consider. The responsibility of feeding and caring the […]

Did a government study just prove that BPA is safe?

Brian Brinks

Not sure if you have heard yet or not, but BPA has been proven to be safe! Imagine that. Well the truth is the study that proved this well known hormone-disruptor is ‘safe’ had many omissions and some very questionable testing methods. So in the end we have a study that produced some very questionable results, using very questionable methods, nothing new here. But the said truth is, this was a (US) government funded study done jointly by the Department of Energy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Center for Toxicological Research, which gives the study more clout in the eye’s of many. What’s even worse is the fact that the US government, who should be working to protect it’s citizens, is sponsoring clearly biased science, casting doubt on a very real danger to human health. You can read more on the study and how it was flawed from the start here:

http://www.grist.org/food/2011-09-26-did-a-government-study-just-prove-bpa-is-safe

Every Piece of Plastic Made Still Exists Today

Brian Brinks 3 Comments
Plastic Sea. Photo Source: Coastal wiki

The title says it all, but doesn’t tell the whole story. Plastic, unfortunately is our toxic legacy. And believe me, global warming, nitrous/phosphorus pollution and habitat destruction are also our legacy, but we can’t discount the negative effects plastic is having and is going to continue to have in our ecosystem and our lives. I […]

The smelly stuff in your body products is listed as fragrance or parfum

Brian Brinks
Parfum/Fragrance - The Hidden Toxins in Our Bath Products

You might have seen my post “The Story of Cosmetics“, which outlines the toxic chemicals used in our everyday bath products. It’s crazy really. Why would we willingly douse ourselves in toxic chemicals everyday? Well the truth is most don’t know; the manufacturer’s do a great job of hiding the ‘true’ ingredients of their products […]

Apple under fire for pollution and poisoned Chinese workers

Brian Brinks 1 Comment
Apple Gadgets Toxic Legacy

It’s sad really, so many people vying for the the latest and greatest iPhone and iPad, all the while completely unaware Apple is not living up to it’s responsibilities to manufacture their goods in an environmentally sustainable way. And yes I know Apple isn’t the only company who simply doesn’t care about the welfare of […]

Pick Your Poison, Tobacco vs Fast Food

Brian Brinks

An interesting take mirroring societies reaction and regulation of big tobacco with the fast food industry, which, sadly, seems to be causing more harm to western civilization than tobacco ever did.

Think about the people who tell you to buy their products. Many Americans grew up watching Ronald McDonald saying that Chicken McNuggets were just about the greatest food ever conceived. The Trix Rabbit’s countless failed attempts to get a bowl of our cereal made us cherish each sugary bite. Now think about those old commercials from the 1950s, when Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble light up a Chesterfield in the backyard or Lucille Ball makes Ricky happy by handing him a Phillip Morris cigarette. Why does one seem innocent and the other strangely evil? Imagine for a moment if history had played out differently, if respective epidemics were sensationalized at opposite times and a generation of Americans grew up with an alternative version of the demonized Big Tobacco industry.

Read the full article by Demian Kendall at SpliceToday.com.