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Do you play any organized sports? Do you prefer to workout solo? The New York Times has just published the findings of a study that link girls' participation in high school sports with tangible benefits for their success, as well as increased prospects for educational and professional success. They speculate that organized sports has a similar effect on boys, but it's just that boys weren't in the group that was studied.  Check out the article here: As Girls Become Women, Sports Pay DividendsI, for one, have always been one for solo runs and workouts, but I did participate in marching band in high school and college, which is more athletic than many people realize. Additionally, it has a highly organized structure and set of rules, much like more traditionally recognized organized sports. I am thinking about getting into local athletic opportunities a little bit more, such as the Outdoor Adventure Social Club. The activities, like hikes and rock-climbing, don't necessarily have the same rules as organized sports, but it's an opportunity to get a move on and to starting meeting people.  What about you? What sports do you participate in? Are you thinking about trying something new? Do you think sports help you do better in your daily life? Hit me up in the comments section below!
It's taken me awhile to appreciate the virtues of NPR, or National Public Radio, as I've gotten older. When I was in my early teenage years, I couldn't imagine anything more boring than a car ride in which I was relegated to the acute torture of listening to NPR. Any bad music station was better than all that boring talking! However, as I've begun to listen to NPR more and more, I've come to realize how rich a source of information it really is.
 When I listen to NPR, I feel smarter and more informed about the world. Their reporters do a great job reporting the news, and on weekends, they do wonderful portrait stories, such as those featured on the show, This American Life, that showcase things going on in America that I would probably never learn about otherwise. I especially like their program entitled Fresh Air with Terry Gross, a show in which Ms. Gross "conducts in-depth interviews with prominent cultural and entertainment figures, as well as distinguished experts on current affairs and news."
Recently she held an interview with Daniel Pauly of the Fisheries Centre at the University of British Columbia, in which he talked about his article that appeared in The New Republic, entitled "Aquacalypse Now: The End of Fish."
Terry introduced the topic this way: "the fishing industrial complex is depleting the ocean of many types of fish and hurting the world's largest ecosystem. He says this approach to fishing is just not sustainable, and, he warns, don't be misled by all the new kinds of fish that have become popular in the past few years. They're actually an example of the larger problem."
This is too bad, because I really, really love fish, especially salmon. As for all you fish-haters out there, consider yourself lucky in this case!
The fish that have recently become popular have enjoyed a rise in sales because the stock of traditionally desirable fish has been depleted, causing fishermen to mine deeper into the ocean and further deplete marine wildlife in order to meet the demand for fish. Many fish that used to have gross-out names like 'slimehead' or the 'Patagonian toothfish' have been rechristened to sound like you might want to eat them, now sporting names like 'orange roughy' and 'Chilean sea bass,' respectively.
Toothfish, yummy!
All is not lost, though! Mr. Pauly suggests that we stick to eating fish that are more environmentally sustainable, such as farmed catfish or tilapia, which are herbivorous. (Farmed salmon is not sustainable because salmon are meat-eaters, and thus they have to consume three pounds of other fish before we can get one pound of commercially viable meat from them). Mussels, oysters, and other bi-valve sea creatures are environmentally friendly, as are herring, sardines, and anchovies - basically, the smaller the fish, the better for the environment!
What about you? Are you a fish-hater or do you love to chow down on our marine friends? Will you consider changing your fish-eating habits, or at least listening to NPR more often?
I don't know how many of you have been to Whole Foods lately, but if you get anything from the salad bar or the hot bar, you'll notice that all the containers and cutlery are either recyclable or biodegradable. It's part of a burgeoning trend to produce "zero waste."
Zero waste used to be an ultra-liberal concept - I remember a few years ago when my aunt spoke admiringly of a couple she knew that sent only one bag of trash to the landfill per year. I couldn't even imagine it.
Nowadays, however, the idea of zero waste is becoming more and more common as landfill permits become more difficult to procure, as places to dump become scarcer, and as we realize the detrimental methane-producing effects of throwing all our trash into the landfill.
Why are landfills going the way of the dinosaur? Simple. Do you want to live next to a landfill? Neither does anyone else. We are simply running out of space to dump our trash. Did you know that every American, on average, discards 4.6 pounds of waste per day? It's much better if we can recycle it, rather than leave it to take up space for thousands of years.
Read the NYTimes article here:
Nudging Recycling From Less Waste to None
There are two challenges to recycling:
1. Sorting is a hassle. People will sometimes inadvertently throw biodegradable items into the recycling bin, which then gets heated up at the recycling center, only to melt and gum up the machines. We either need to be better educated in how to properly dispose of our waste, or we need smart machines that can do the sorting for us.
2. Composting is a tough sell. People are worried that it's stinky, that it will attract pests, and that it's simply just more work than tossing that apple core into the trash and never thinking about it again. But it's a worthwhile effort, because that nutrition gets returned to the soil, rather than being smothered in the landfill, only to produce methane, a gas that contributes to global warming. The key to happy composting is, again, education.
So how about you? Are you close to achieving zero waste, or do you still have a long way to go? Hit me up in the comments section below!
Did any of you get a chance to read the cover story of Sunday's New York Times? It's horrifying, detailing the illness and paralysis of Stephanie Smith after she contracted E. coli after eating a tainted burger.
It was an unsympathetic indictment of the industrial meat processing and distribution system in the U.S., and I wholeheartedly agree that they deserve a good thrashing.
These industrial meatpackers are in the game for profit, and they routinely resist changes to the system that would make our meat safer, and the FDA routinely doesn't penalize them for it. The world is not all about money. Human life should be worth something to these folks.
With all of the things that industrialization has made possible in our modern world, I believe that food safety is one of its worst casualties. Yes, we are able to feed more people, but at what price?
While I don't agree with my fellow blogger squabattack that vegetarianism is the way to go, I do think that our consumption of meat can be reduced, and that the meat we do eat can be more carefully selected. There is a new and admirable movement to buy meat from local butchers who emphasize quality over cost. The little bit extra you are going to pay for this type of meat is going to be worth it, in terms of quality, safety, and taste. I think we are all willing to pay a bit more for safe quality meat.
Research your local scene for this type of meat. Do you have a farmer's market that sells locally butchered meat? What about a local food cooperative, where you can pay a flat rate and pick up a bounty of fresh, seasonal produce and meat every week? These are two huge ways to contribute to the restructuring of how we eat food.
How do you make a difference? I welcome suggestions in the comments section below.
Exciting environmental news from Charlottesville, VA: Dave Norris, our mayor, and Kristin Szakos, a city council candidate, just revealed their bike and pedestrian safety platform.
Translation: they are undertaking an effort to get more bikers and walkers safely on the road.
Irony: Szakos carpooled to the meeting, asserting that "There really is no safe way to get here on a bike" (as reported by Lisa Provence writing for The Hook).
How this affects me: My bike is in the shop getting a tune-up from a 4-year hiatus spent in the garage. Why haven't I ridden my bike, you might ask. Two reasons: 1. As a student I could walk everywhere and didn't need to bike, and 2. The Charlottesville roads are frickin' scary to bike on.
In other news...
Biggest enlargement of Charlottesville's carbon footprint: Thursday, October 1st's U2 concert, just one more installment in their 360 tour that includes The Claw, the biggest stage in the history of rock'n'roll, which takes 104 trucks to transport.
It's crazy, right? Especially given that Bono is all about saving the world. Granted, he's putting his fame and money behind the specific cause of alleviating childhood poverty, which is admirable.
However, I think his commitment to the abstract principle of doing good in the world requires him to make more of an effort in other aspects of his behavior, such as how much his behavior is contributing to global warming.
I realize that it's difficult to act in accord with all of our principles 100% of the time, but isn't this a gross act of negligence? Couldn't U2 still put on a good show despite a drastically smaller stage?
It's a question that's up for debate, and I'd love to hear your opinion. Do you think U2 should be held to a higher standard? Or do you think their current efforts are adequate and should be praised, inconsistent though they may be? Or do you just love Bono so much that obviously, he can do no wrong?
Hit me up on the comments section below!
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