We get away with things to. It’s just human nature. We speed when there aren’t speed traps, we jaywalk when the pedestrian crossing’s a little too far away, we steal toiletries from hotels, things like that.

While jaywalking and missing toiletries might always exist, someone’s doing something about pharmaceuticals and the deeds that they are getting away with.

I have nothing against big pharma. I think that they are responsible for many great things – vaccines, cures, treatments, things like that. They have done a lot towards the extension of human life.

However, their business practices (what with the civil lawsuits and what not) have been found wanting. Transparency especially. Couple that with rumours and other such conspiracies, us folks without a medical degree can’t possibly keep up. And I need my sinus medicine!

From Fast Company:

Here comes AdverseEvents, “a California-based startup, is pushing the debate out into the open with a centralised database of how many side effects are happening from what drugs and what the patient outcomes are – and according to cofounder Brian Overstreet, ‘it scares the crap out of the pharmaceutical companies.’ “

How does it work?

“AdverseEvents’ propietary algorithm, which took 18 months to build, takes into account data from the FDA, direct patient reporting, and even information from social media sites (AdverseEvents analysts are alerted to side effect discussions on patient discussion boards, for example, and try to extract data).”

“Pharmaceutical companies are, as you might imagine, not thrilled that AdverseEvents exists; they’re used to controlling side effect information.”

Genius. I’ve bookmarked the site. I’ll also be on the lookout for the mobile app. Please offer it to BlackBerry users.

The National Climate Change Secretariat in Singapore has launched a portal to gather public feedback on climate change. According to the website:

The NCCS-2012 will build upon our approach to environmental issues as outlined in previous publications such as the Singapore Green Plan (2006) , the National Climate Change Strategy (2008), the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint (2009) and National Communications on Climate Change (2010).

These policies relating to climate change will have an impact on many of us. The Government is therefore embarking on a series of public consultations to seek feedback and ideas on climate change-related issues. We aim to reach out to different segments of the population through an online consultation exercise, focus group sessions and community forums.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean kicked off the process, and “feedback from the exercise will go towards developing the national climate change strategy 2012″, which “will be an important foundation to the long term strategy and actions needed to tackle climate change beyond 2020″. (He has some quotable quotes on CNA, which you might want to check out)

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Check out the website, and have your views heard

1. Advocado and Other Good Fats
   Advocado has a lot of things going for it not the least of which is its fat content. You'll notice as you age those with little flesh on the body, especially in the face, begin to age faster. A little flesh keeps us looking younger. Bath yourself in good fats like olive oil and advocado. If you're concerned with cutting the fat, focus on the bad fats like lard and excessive amounts of butter.
2. Water-based Fruits
   Hydration is a big part of looking young because it helps that skin retain moisture. When the skin is dehydrated it lays flatter on the body and wrinkles begin to show. This means not only drinking loads of water, but also making sure that you're loading up on water heavy fruits and vegetables. Some really good choices include watermelon, cucumber, and citrus fruits.
3. Guava
   Guava is great for your skin because it's loaded with Vitamin C. According to the Dr. Oz show, it has 4 tims as much as citrus fruits. Vitamin C serves as the body's natural Botox, keeping your skin cells full and wrinkle-free.
4. Sweet Potatoes
   Sweet potatoes have beta-carotene, which is known to balance your skin's pH, helps combat dryness, and promotes cell turnover, all resulting in smoother skin. Combining good fats lke coconut or olive oil with beta-caratene makes it even more effective.
   
5. Seasonal Berries
   Berries are among the highest in antioxidant content. Berries like blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries have some of the highest antioxidant capacity. These antioxidants fight the free radicals that cause wrinkling on the skin.
   
6. Omega Fatty Acids Oil
   "Essential fatty acids are responsible for healthy cell membranes, which is not only what act as barriers to harmful things but also as the passageway for nutrients to cross in and out and for waste products to get in and out of the cell," Ann Yelmokas McDermott, PhD, a nutritionist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston told WebMd.
   Omega 3 is made up of three acids EPA, DHA, and ALA. ALA can be found in hemp seeds, flax seeds, and chia seeds. DHA and EPA are found in algae, spirulina, blue-green algae, and chlorella. Omega 6's are found in many vegetarian foods including olive oil, whole grains, and advocados.
   

* the original article includes another item: Oysters. I don't really support the farming and consumption of Oysters, and so have opted to leave it out of my version.

From Yahoo Green:

1. Find your sleep number
First, figure out how many hours of sleep a night will make you feel rested in the morning. You know you’re getting enough sleep if you don’t feel sleepy during the day. Most adults need about 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

(5 Steps to a Better Night’s Sleep)

2. Don’t try to make it up
If you aren’t getting enough sleep, you can’t “make it up” by sleeping late on the weekends, for instance. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Sleeping longer on certain nights or frequent napping will only inhibit your ability to get a good night’s rest the following night. By trying to make up sleep, you are sabotaging your chances of consistently getting a good night’s sleep.

3. Get on a schedule…and stick to it
Staying up later on the weekends is equally as damaging as trying to make up sleep on the weekends. Our bodies need a schedule…a consistent routine. Try to go to bed and get up at about the same time every day, allowing for the amount of rest you calculated, even on weekends. If your bedtime is 10 p.m. during the week, stick to that same time on the weekends.

4. Get your parent on a schedule…and stick to it
Just like your body needs a routine, so does your elderly parent’s. Set a schedule that you can stay close to every day. We set a routine and schedule for our kids as they were growing up, so try to do the same for elders. For kids and elders, a routine is comforting, predictable and encourages feelings of safety and relaxation. Make breakfast at about the same time every day. Schedule dinner, bath time, a relaxing pre-bed activity and bedtime for the same time every day.

5. Don’t misuse your bed
Use your bed for two purposes only: sleep and sex. If you continually use the bed for activities that are not conducive to sleep, like reading, watching television or eating, you may be tempted to pick up a book or reach for the remote when you should be settling down for sleep.

6. Turn off your mind
Worrying and constant stress are often the culprit of a sleepless night. Sometimes, your thoughts race and it seems impossible to “turn off your mind” long enough to fall asleep. Relaxation techniques, practiced on a regular basis, can help. Get in the habit of relaxing before you head to bed. Some techniques to try: a hot bath, gentle music, meditation or prayer.

(6 Secret At-Home Stress Relievers)

7. Create a comfortable environment
Being comfortable is a key to good sleep. Light, interruptions and sound can interfere with slumber. Keep your bedroom dark during sleeping hours (room darkening curtains work wonder.) Reduce noise levels as much as possible. If traffic or noisy neighbors are a problem, to cancel out distracting and jarring sounds, try a bedtime alarm that has “white noise’ settings: waves, rain, bird sounds or whatever background noise you find soothing. Sound Machines allow you to ease into sleep with white noise. Keep your room at a temperature that’s not too hot, and not too cold. Get a comfortable mattress and bedding.

(Soundproofing for a Better Night’s Sleep)

8. Avoid caffeine
Coffee, soft drinks, tea and anything with caffeine should be avoided from the late afternoon on through bedtime. Caffeine may be a great energy booster for you during the day, but in the evening, it can keep you awake or make your sleep restless.

9. Cut out alcohol and nicotine
A glass of wine may make you sleepy and help you get to sleep faster, but alcohol often wakes you up after a only a couple of hours of sleep. The same goes for smoking. Though smokers often feel like it calms them down, nicotine is a stimulant.

10. Don’t eat or drink before bedtime
Our bodies use drinks and food as sources of energy, so consuming them when you should be winding down for the night can interrupt sleep. In particular, spicy foods, tomato products and high-sugar snacks are known to cause sleep problems.

11. Exercise earlier
Exercise is crucial for good health, but trying to squeeze in a workout once the kids and parent is in bed makes it more difficult to sleep. Physical activity that raises your heart rate gives us rejuvenation and extra energy, which is great during the day, but not so good when bedtime approaches. Exercising too close to bedtime can cause difficulties falling asleep.

Wet wipes, a modern invention born (I feel) from our obsession over cleanliness and germ warfare (not the WMD kind). While personally I don’t see a need for it generally, I will not deny that there are circumstances when I wish I had a couple of the wipes myself.

The problem? They leave quite an undesirable impact on the environment. Not only are they designed to be a one-use product, they also tend to carry a load of harmful chemicals.

The solution? Make your own!

From wikiHow:

1. Soak a bunch of washcloths in water, or a gentle cleaning solution if you like.
2. Wring them out, and place them in a dry-bag, zip-lock bag, or (my favourite option) a used wet wipe packet.
3. Prepare another similar container. This will serve to hold your “used” wipes.
4. After using a wipe, place in the “used wipes” bag.
5. After you run out of fresh wipes, wash them in hot water, and if you must use some oxygen bleach.
6. Rinse and repeat.

Brilliant!

I personally think that this has a lot of other potential palatable applications, but you be the judge.

From WSJ:

PLANO, Texas—Later this month, at a pilot manufacturing plant here, PepsiCo Inc. plans to start churning out batches of a secret new ingredient to make its Lay’s potato chips healthier.

The ingredient is a new “designer salt” whose crystals are shaped and sized in a way that reduces the amount of sodium consumers ingest when they munch. PepsiCo hopes the powdery salt, which it is still studying and testing with consumers, will cut sodium levels 25% in its Lay’s Classic potato chips. The new salt could help reduce sodium levels even further in seasoned Lay’s chips like Sour Cream & Onion, PepsiCo said, and it could be used in other products like Cheetos and Quaker bars.

At an investor conference Monday in New York, the company said it is committed to cutting its products’ average sodium per serving by 25% by 2015 and saturated fat and added sugar by 15% and 25%, respectively, this decade.

The designer salt is one of the latest and most intricate efforts yet by a food company to vault ahead of concerns among government officials about the possible health effects of the widespread use of sodium in processed foods.

Eating too much salt can contribute to high blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease. Most Americans consume about twice their recommended limit daily, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pressure is growing on U.S. food companies to act, because most of the salt Americans consume is in processed foods. In January, New York City, as well as other cities and health organizations, called for restaurants and makers of packaged foods to cut salt 25% within the next five years.

Sodium intake recommendations may also be lowered substantially in new U.S. dietary guidelines this year. And First Lady Michelle Obama is pressing food companies to cut fat, salt and sugar in their products.

The new salt represents PepsiCo’s latest step to cut back on unhealthy ingredients in big sellers like soda and potato chips. The company has also switched from frying its potato chips in transfats to using sunflower oil, and it has boosted spending to $414 million in 2009 from $282 million in 2006 for product development. To lead the research effort, it has hired health experts and scientists, including Mehmood Khan, a former Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, and Derek Yach, a former World Health Organization chronic diseases chief.

By 2015, PepsiCo aims to cut sodium in its salty snacks 25%. “What we want to do with our “fun for you” products is to make them the healthiest “fun for you” products,” Chairman Indra Nooyi said. “We want our potato chips to be fried in the healthiest oils with the lowest salt.”

Cutting salt out of foods is difficult because it adds body to foods as well as enhancing flavor. In addition, little is understood about how salt is perceived on the tongue.

PepsiCo said it has had to dig deeper than other food makers that have reduced sodium by gradually removing salt, using salt substitutes or grinding salt into small particles that contact the tongue in more places.

That’s because salt is one of only three ingredients in Lay’s Classic potato chips (the others: potatoes and oil). Reducing the amount or using substitutes would alter the chips’ flavor, said Greg Yep, a global research and development vice president.

So PepsiCo had to come up with a way to deliver the same saltiness while reducing sodium. Prodded by a U.K. government salt-reduction campaign, it first slashed sodium 25% in its seasoned Walkers crisps in 2006, replacing some of the salt with other seasonings and using smaller salt particles.

But those methods couldn’t be used on plain Lay’s chips, which couldn’t mask the changes with seasonings. The smaller particles gave a hit of saltiness that was intense but too fleeting.

Instead, working with scientists at about a dozen academic institutions and companies in Europe and the U.S., PepsiCo studied different shapes of salt crystals to try to find one that would dissolve more efficiently on the tongue. Normally, only about 20% of the salt on a chip actually dissolves on the tongue before the chip is chewed and swallowed, and the remaining 80% is swallowed without contributing to the taste, said Dr. Khan, who oversees PepsiCo’s long-term research.

PepsiCo wanted a salt that would replicate the traditional “salt curve,” delivering an initial spike of saltiness, then a body of flavor and lingering sensation, said Dr. Yep, who joined the company in June 2009 from Swiss flavor company Givaudan SA.

“We have to think of the whole eating experience—not just the physical product, but what’s actually happening when the consumer eats the product,” Dr. Yep explained.

The result was a slightly powdery ingredient that tastes like regular salt. Small groups of U.S. and U.K. consumers couldn’t tell the difference when comparing the two salts on chips last summer, PepsiCo said. PepsiCo declined to give details while the new salt is in development.

PepsiCo is gearing up pilot manufacturing at its Frito-Lay headquarters so that it can conduct wider consumer testing and fine tune the technology.

It could take two more years before the new salt is introduced, Dr. Yep said. In the meantime, PepsiCo is reducing the salt in new versions of seasoned Lay’s such as Sour Cream & Onion this year by an average of 25% by switching to natural ingredients and rebalancing other flavors so that less sodium is needed.

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Now the stuff written in this email is not entirely true, or can be a potential source of misinformation (as such emails tend to be). I’m going to attempt to demystify things, so let’s get cracking!

Let me start saying that there are very small amount of mercury in older bulbs that are FLUORESCENT and this mercury, is sealed in the glass tubing. Mercury is essential for the fluorescent bulb to provide light, and it is still in use in lighting products, because it’s an efficient way to do it. Over the years, however, bulb manufacturers have been steadily decreasing the mercury contained in CFL bulbs.

So how much Mercury is contained in fluorescent bulbs? An average of 4 milligrams (mg), according to the US Environment Protection Agency. Is this 4 mg’s harmful? Here’s Treehugger’s little analysis:

“A CFL containing 5 mg of mercury breaks in your child’s bedroom that has a volume of about 25 m3 (which corresponds to a medium sized bedroom). The entire 5 mg of mercury vaporizes immediately (an unlikely occurrence), resulting in an airborne mercury concentration in this room of 0.2 mg/m3. This concentration will decrease with time, as air in the room leaves and is replaced by air from outside or from a different room. As a result, concentrations of mercury in the room will likely approach zero after about an hour or so.

Under these relatively conservative assumptions, this level and duration of mercury exposure is not likely to be dangerous, as it is lower than the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard of 0.05 mg/m3 of metallic mercury vaporaveraged over eight hours. [To equate these values, we could estimate the average indoor airborne mercury concentration for 8 hours, beginning post-spill at an estimated starting value of 0.2 mg/m3 and decreasing from there. If one assumes the the air exchanges completely in one hour (a fairly standard assumption), then the 8-hour average concentration would be 0.025 mg/m3.]“.

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Now of course, I’m not saying that one should not be cautious when a bulb (that contains mercury) breaks, do get everyone out of the room, air the room, and wait for a few minutes before attempting to clean up. Handle these bulbs with care, like you would with anything that’s toxic.

But, I’ll also need to point out, that this isn’t any different from eating processed foods, using batteries, thermostats and all other electronic, cleaning and beauty products that contain toxic chemicals (that’s most of them, by the way). In fact, you’re probably already enjoying some mercury with the seafood that you’re eating! (Please Read “Are Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs Dangerous” from Scientific America). At the end of the day, there are lot’s of other things that you interact with on a daily basis that are not good for you (please see The Story of Cosmetics).

And this brings me to my bigger problem with the email: It is not “Energy Saving Bulbs” that contain mercury, but any lamp that is Fluorescent.

“Energy Saving Bulbs” are, in this email, referring to CFL’s or Compact Fluorescent Lamps which are a class of fluorescent lighting. Now Fluorescent lighting has been around for literally, decades. CFL’s are the newer class of (energy efficient) lighting that replaced the old fluorescent tube technology (they made it smaller, hence the word, compact).

Although, old fluorescent tubes, are still very common in a lot of buildings and some homes, the point I’m trying to make is that mercury (or any other toxic chemicals) in our products are not a recent phenomenon. Please point this out to anyone who tells you that “Energy Saving Bulbs cause serious danger“, because that’s not entirely true (as you will see below).

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OK. So perhaps you’re the sort that doesn’t want to take a risk, or would like to be able to drop a light bulb without worrying about it, here are some alternatives:

• Incandescent, which are the ancient, energy inefficient lighting that are being phased out at IKEA (please also read Energy Star’s comparison between Incandescent lighting and CFL’s, and how CFL’s actually help reduce the macro amount of Mercury pollution in the air and oceans). This is the bad, and expensive alternative.
• Energy Efficient Light Emitting Diodes (LED) which were considered a very expensive lighting choice once upon a time, due to high retail prices. In 2011, we’re starting to see them become competitive with CFL’s, over their long lifecycle. And they can look pretty nice as shown below.
• VU1’s Electron Stimulated Luminescence™ Bulb, a new technology, uses accelerated electrons to stimulate phosphor to create light, making the surface of the bulb “glow”. Energy efficient, relatively cheap and mercury free, what a win! check them out.

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I think I’ve sorted through these issues with enough detail, but if you have any questions, concerns, or would like some help with energy saving lighting (or anything else), please contact us!

Now, my current rejection of this cultural phenomenon did not happen overnight. It was a gradual thing that stemmed from all the stuff that I’ve read till now, when it doesn’t ever show up in my decision process of “what do I want to eat”.

If you would ask me “why” (like most people do, with disbelief in their eyes), here are some decidedly good enough reasons:

• My health, and stuff like this, and this (those who bought 40 McNuggets a few weeks ago ought to read these)
• The overall grossness of plastic tasting, overly processed and preserved food
• Sustainability concerns (like retarded amounts of packaging), and them not replying my questions about such concerns
• Oh yes, and my stomach tends to react badly to fast food nowadays

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As much as I don’t want anything to with McDonald’s, I really cannot ignore an article like this – McDonald’s does feed a few hundred million people a day, and it’d be a serious good thing if they could do this cleanly (not minding the above cited reasons).

From Fast Company (link to full article):

McDonald’s started looking at its supply chain impact in 2009. As part of a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund, the fast food chain invited in the nonprofit for an unfettered look at what McDonald’s buys, how much it purchases, and who it buys from. The WWF performed a detailed analysis, and came up with the five categories listed above as a starting point. “This year is mostly about goals and targets,” says Bob Langert, VP of Corporate Responsibility at McDonald’s.

The top priority for McDonald’s is cleaning up the beef supply chain. “Beef has its fair share of impacts on the world, and we have a role to play to reduce its impact. We have done a carbon footprint analysis, and beef rises to the top as the number one priority,” says Langert. In concrete terms, that means keeping track of and reducing CO2 emissions from farms, as well as developing a program to trace and certify sustainable beef in the Amazon to make sure that no beef from deforested areas is used.

McDonald’s next priority is the poultry supply chain, and more specifically, the impact of poultry feed on rainforest destruction. ” The impacts of how animal feed like soya is grown and raised is almost equal to the impact of the animal itself,” explains Langert. McDonald’s has already committed to a moratorium on soya purchased from deforested areas in the Amazon. The company is still trying to figure out next steps.

Most of McDonald’s goals are still being formulated–the most comprehensive goal this far is for palm oil (the company plans to use only certified sustainable palm oil by 2015). And foodies hoping for the chain to start using only local, grass-fed organic beef should look elsewhere. But whenever a gigantic corporation like McDonald’s shifts its food policies in the right direction, attention must be paid.

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Am I going to start “loving it” again? I’ll think about it.

“The estrogenic chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) has bee villified in recent years for its ubiquitous presence in numerous consumer products. But even plastic-containing products claiming to be BPA-free can still leach chemicals with estrogenic activity (EA), according to a new study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives Journal. The leaching can get worse during regular types of use, such as microwaving or dishwashing.”

“Studies suggest exposure to EA can change the structure of many types of human cells, raising concern about adverse impacts on infants and children, including birth defects and behavioral disorders.”

“Researchers contend that EA-free plastic can be commercially produced at a cost in line with conventional plastic.” However, “many scientists believe that it is not appropriate to bet our health and that of future generations on an assumption that known cellular effects of chemicals having EA released from most plastics will have no severe adverse health effects.” Further, “plastics having comparable physical properties but that do not release chemicals having detectable EA could be produced at minimal additional cost”.

I have another recommendation. Glass milk bottles. Shatter-proof glass bottles. Problem solved.