Cigarette Litter

I have never smoked cigarettes nor do I care to. I find smoking a disgusting habit but what really bothers me more is how people pollute every day with their cigarettes. On my first visit to Chicago one of the very first things I noticed was how clean the streets were. The New York City streets and sidewalks are littered with cigarettes. People finish smoking and just throw the butts into the street. In fact, today I saw a man throw his cigarette down the sewer. The water in there is sent to a facility where it is cleaned and recycled- why on earth would you throw your cigarette in there. Cigarette filters are not biodegradable and need to be disposed of properly. While I commend Mayor Bloomberg for outlawing smoking in restaurants and bars and drastically reducing smoking rates in New York City, I wonder why there is not a crackdown on cigarette butt littering. I thought we were living in an age where most of us agree that litter is bad for the environment, why are cigarettes not considered litter for which people should be fined.
Check out this website to learn more about cigarette butt littering.

Float On!

As a teenager in the 90's I had an unhealthy obsession with Brad Pitt. I collected pictures of him from magazines, saw all his movies and memorized every factoid about his life. He was a teen idol. Now, he has become a different kind of idol and I don't really remember when his birthday is. I don't care what his motivations are but he is definitely changing the way we think about urban design- paying special attention to environmental impacts. After Hurricane Katrina Mr. Pitt ran a design contest. He wanted people to design homes that were environmentally friendly but also flood proof. One particular proposal, aptly called the Flood House, is quite amazing. It is not just a concept anymore, it can be ready for move-in next month. This house is not just for disaster scenarios but will come in quite handy when all the icebergs melt due to climate change. The base of the house can be used as a raft in up to 12 feet of water. My only complaint is that it will obviously have no basement- where am I supposed to store all my seasonal clothes?
Read the article here.

Eggs To Go!

I realize in my last post I gave advice that not everyone is able to follow. Not everyone can afford or has access to local farmers, but if the Germans have anything to do with it this is not a problem without a solution. A German farm has begun selling produce out of a vending machine so that their products can reach all consumers at any time of the day. How cool would it be to have these machines? But I still love my peanut M&M's so this machine would have to be next to the old junk filled one.
Read the article here.

Let's Hope We Are Not What We Eat!

A very important lesson that I learned while getting my Masters of Public Health (I graduate in 2 weeks!) is that just because something is approved by a federal agency (FDA, USDA) does NOT mean it is going to be 100% safe. This is especially true with food products. The New York Times (clearly my newspaper of choice) has been running some very interesting articles about meat production in the United States. This week's article is about a young woman who contracted E. coli from eating a hamburger. She became so ill that doctors put her in a coma and when she awoke she was paralyzed.
I don't want to get on a soapbox but it seems that I have to. The article points out that ground beef is the usual suspect in E.coli infections because the meat usually comes from different parts of different cows and sometimes even from different slaughterhouses. Each slaughterhouse might have different levels of caution when inspecting their meat and you can really never trust any of them. Some of the meat comes from parts of the cow that are likely to have come in contact with feces, a carrier of E.coli. E.coli cannot be effectively killed by thorough cooking. (stop me if I am heading into Oprah land). These are all reasons why you should eat local, organic meat. You should know your farmer and know his/her practices. They are most likely not mass producing meat and getting it from other slaughterhouses. They usually pride themselves on being part of the process from birth to slaughter and not using meat of sickly looking animals. (although E.coli cannot really be determined with the naked eye)
What I really find shocking is that the USDA allows meat grinders to create their own safety plans. WHAT?
Here is the link to the article.
Do you eat local meat? If so, from where?