Use of public transportation keeps you fit and protects you from accidents

From Huffpo, commenting on a new report from the American Public Transportation Association:

Use of public transit simply means that you walk more which increases fitness levels and leads to healthier citizens. More importantly, increasing use of public transit may be the most effective traffic safety counter measure a community can employ,” noted APTA president William Millar. Apparently communities with vast public transportation networks don’t just live longer because of the exercise — they’re also less likely to be the victim of a fatal auto accident. The traffic fatality rate in the Bronx, New York is four in 100,000 contrasted by the traffic fatality rate in auto ridden Miami, Kansas which is 40 in 100,000.

Using public transportation also saves you a lot of money: "Riding public transportation saves individuals, on average, $9,381 annually and $782 per month based on the August 10, 2010 average national gas price ($2.78 per gallon- reported by AAA) and the national unreserved monthly parking rate." It is also important to note that when you pay $35 to fill your tank with gasoline, you haven't actually paid for most of the costs of using gasoline.

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Whose oil spill was it?

The Editors at Scientific American have reminded us that oil users (and that includes all of us) are pushing the big oil companies into taking the drilling risks they take:

[I]f we expect oil companies to manage risk better, then society as a whole needs to do the same. The market forces that encouraged BP to take ill-considered risks are largely of our own creation, as stockholders, consumers and citizens. The hodgepodge of subsidies that masquerades as our current national energy policy invites disaster; it fails to grapple with the urgent need to stop wasting energy and start encouraging clean sources. Every day we still need 85 million barrels of oil—the equivalent of more than 25 Ixtoc spills—to keep the wheels of our society turning.
If you do the math, you'll see that 85 million barrels of oil equals 3,570,000,000 gallons per day. That equals 148,750,000 gallons per hour, 2,479,166 gallons per minute, and 41,319 gallons per second. Americans are currently using an amount of oil that makes us staggeringly dependent on a dwindling natural resource that is mostly imported. And most of that imported oil is sending huge quantities of American dollars to regimes whose interests run counter to American interests. Our oil dependence should thus be seen as a major risk to our national security. We could slash this usage dramatically with reasonable conservation measures. But politicians believe that it is suicide to ask Americans for any form of sacrifice, even when national security depends on it.

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The mystery of early puberty

A new study available from the journal Pediatrics (subscription required) shows that girls are entering puberty at steadily younger ages. WebMD explains:

The researchers assessed the onset of puberty by a standard measurement of breast development. They compared the findings to a 1997 study of age of puberty. They found the following in a study of girls aged 6-8:
  • 10.4% of white girls in the current study had breast development, compared to 5% in the 1997 study.
  • 23.4% of African-American girls had breast development, compared to 15.4% in the 1997 study.
The early onset of puberty is found to be correlated with both race and body-mass index (BMI). But what's causing girls to enter puberty sooner?
The researchers also collected urine and blood specimens from the girls to look at levels of compounds called endocrine-disrupting chemicals, Biro says, to see what role these environmental exposures might play in early puberty. ''It appears that some of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals are interacting with body composition and this may be the reason some girls are going into puberty earlier and others later," Biro tells WebMD. "That would have to be speculation," he says of the interaction idea. "But we do know BMI is doing it."

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Some good clean fun at the farmers market – how to make soap.

The Tower Grove Farmer's Market in South St. Louis was busy this morning, as it usually is. img_3494A lot of people were purchasing organic produce because they believe that it is important to put only wholesome ingredients into their mouths. Stephanie and Bryan Shaner run a small family business called Ravenscroft. They sell produce, but they also make and sell their own soaps. I had the opportunity to discuss soap-making with them this morning. I learned that the process is fairly straightforward, based upon a family recipe described by Stephanie. It involves melting oils (they tend to use coconut, canola, olive oil or palm oil), and mixing them with lye (Bryan mentions that lye, also known as "sodium hydroxide" or "caustic soda" was traditionally made by pouring water through wood ash). img_3506As the mixture starts to thicken ("saponify"), they add the essential oils (the various natural ingredients that constitute the scents, such as lavender, mint or juniper). With homemade soap, one can be assured that the bar is free of petrochemicals. Here's some more background on the ways that soaps are manufactured. Stephanie estimated that her soap has a shelf life of about one year. By using homemade soaps, one can avoid all of the potentially harmful additives that one finds in petroleum-based (glycerin) commercial soaps. I was surprised to hear that the main ingredient in homemade soap is plant oil. After all, if I spilled some plant oil on my hands, wouldn't it be logical that I would reach for a bar of soap, made largely of plant oil, to clean up the oil on my fingers? Stephanie indicates that it does seem counterintuitive, but that mixing and heating a bit of lye with the oil effects a dramatic transformation in the oil, allowing the oil to be transformed into soap. Again, here's more on that process. Stephanie and Bryan Shaner - Image by Erich Vieth Stephanie urged that not only should we care about what we eat, but we should also care about what we put on our skin. Because homemade soap is free of the many additives of commercial soaps, some of her customers have found that rashes and other skin problems clear up simply by switching to homemade soap. Stephanie indicates that she and Bryan are planning some workshops to teach others how to make soap. This is obviously more than just a money-making opportunity for her. She tells her customers, "There is nothing on this table we wouldn't help you to make yourself." I bought a few bars, and my family and I will be trying them out. The going rate at this market was three bars of soap for $10. After I try them out, I'll report back in the comments. I'm interested in these natural ingredient soaps for the same reason that I've switched over to homemade shampoo (BTW, that "no poo" experiment has been wildly successful for me. I am perfectly happy with baking soda shampoo and apple cider vinegar conditioner). Some might think that making these sorts of changes are trivial. I would respond by saying that we can clean up our environment one thing at a time, and there are hundreds of things each of us can do to live healthier and more sustainable lives. (See the recently released report by the President's Cancer Panel and see here. Figure, too, that even little changes can make a huge difference when tens of millions of people follow suit.

Continue ReadingSome good clean fun at the farmers market – how to make soap.