Green Daily

That photo to the right? That guy really was bitten by a lot of bedbugs. He was cat sitting at someone else's apartment and woke up to this.

Bedbugs are many things. None of them friendly. They are tiny, dedicated, bloodsucking, fearsome and stick to all matter of clothing and furniture. And they have spread from New York across the country, braving the cold and the heat.

In Cincinatti, Ohio one in six people have had problems with bedbugs. Taskforces have been established in California, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Minnesota. The University of Florida and Texas A & M have both spent substantial amounts of money on clean-up and infestation control.

Burning clothing and furniture is frequently used as one way to ensure that the dreaded creatures are not still alive. No amount of Raid or Tea Tree Oil will get rid of them. Yep, those bedbugs are something.

Dirt has nothing to do with bedbugs. A clean, well-maintained home or business can still have bedbugs. This is not a bug of poverty. The creatures were wiped out with DDT, but now that the pesticide is no more, the bedbugs have returned, international travel helping them get around.

They could get you soon, creating itchy welts while you sleep. Some people are allergic to them, and can get quite sick when bitten. Their eggs are white and sticky, the size of a speck of dust. They hide in the crevices of furniture, particularly mattresses and they can live for years without food. When humans disappear bedbugs will still be around. So what can you do to avoid the bugs? Avoid places that have them, for one.

But it's hard to know when brushing against someone in the airport will result in a few bedbugs of your very own. Well, good night. And don't let the bed bugs bite.

[via LA Times]

A few years ago, the idea of socially conscious food pretty much began and ended with Newman's Own products. Over the years, however, as ideas like organic, sustainable, and fair trade have entered common usage, grocery stores, restaurants, and numerous food companies have laid claim to the socially conscious label. One of the latest is Me and Goji, a website that lets you design your own breakfast cereal.

Me and Goji comes pretty cloe to the platonic ideal of a perfect cereal website. In a clear, easy-to understand manner, it allows users to combine a wide-range of flakes, nuts, fruits, and flavors to make a personalized cereal. As customers add and subtract from their "bowl," the sidebar keeps track of the price and nutritional info of their concoction. Information about the origins and composition of ingredients is available at the click of a mouse, as are recommendations and advice. Having designed the perfect cereal, customers can name it, save the recipe, and order capsules of it. Delivery is quick and easy, and the saved recipe makes re-ordering a snap.

In addition to using all natural, organic ingredients, Me and Goji donates 5% of its profits to charity. Moreover, through initiatives like their October 2008 "[pink] and Goji" breast cancer awareness cereal they have increased knowledge of various good causes, while giving customers an opportunity to show their social conscience through their food choices. They even offer "green tags" to help users offset the carbon used in shipping!

Perhaps best of all, Me and Goji produces tasty, wholesome cereals. While socially conscious food is hardly a new idea, it's nice to see a company that makes it so incredibly good!

When it comes to dying the eco-friendly way, we've definitely given quite a bit of coverage to the vast array of green afterlife alternatives at Green Daily. And at the risk of seeming like I have an unhealthy fascination with morbid topics, this crazy bathtime product seems to beg for a discussion of a new subject in eco-friendly deaths -- the environmentally conscious suicide.

The Electric Bath Duck seems to have one purpose and one purpose only. Aside from the slow and insidious threat of phthalates, this rubber ducky is designed to give you instaneous results: electrocution. As morose as some may find it, there are a variety of ways to get the job done, and the suicide rubber ducky has to be close to the bottom of the list when it comes to resource consumption and carbon emissions. First, there's the wasted bathtub full of water, then the wasted kilowatts of electricity -- especially if that power was generated from a coal fired plant.

On a scale from 1 to 10, ten being the greenest, where do you rank rubber ducky suicide?

[via BoingBoing]

When it comes to the three R's, I'm about as gung-ho as it gets. Still, there are useful things that have been discarded ... and then there's junk. While there are some pretty good uses for junk these days, like building boats, and even fueling a Honda Accord -- one R that often gets tragically overlooked is Reduce. Never does that fact seem more obvious than in the case of hoarder Gordon Stewart, 74, who police believe died as a result of his improper garbage disposal habits.

According to a story in the Telegraph, Stewart rode his bike (bonus points for carbon friendly travel) through town often, collecting cardboard boxes full of junk and taking them back home. Police were called when neighbors noticed that they hadn't seen Stewart in a few days. When police entered his home, they found that every spare inch had been crammed full -- and that Steward had created an elaborate network of tunnels to get around.

The stench was apparently so bad that police called in the Specialist Search and Recovery Team -- a team that usually deals with underwater searches or contaminated sites. Authorities believe that Stewart died of dehydration, after being trapped in his own Garbage.

[via Boing Boing]

Actor Matt Damon is a charitable guy. That's no secret. He and Charlie Engle co-founded the H2O Africa Project to help communities in Africa gain access to clean drinking water.

If you or your children are gamers, you may already be familiar with Fable 2 from Microsoft's Lionhead Studios. The game is set in an open-ended, consequence-based fantasy universe and is available only on the Xbox 360. According to PETA, it is also a vegetarian's dream come true.

In their 2008 year-end awards, PETA awarded Fable 2 their prestigious Game of the Year honors, citing pro-vegetarian themes that teach gamers the real-life benefit of a vegetarian diet. Apparently, in the game your character can eat a plant-based diet to rack up "purity points", whereas eating meat will make your character fat and evil. PETA is certainly no stranger to gaming as they've recently caused a stir with their Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals Flash game, poking fun at the Nintendo game Cooking Mama which uses predominantly meat-based recipes.

It's no secret that health and lifestyle concerns have jumped to the top of the list -- second to employment, of course -- when it comes to relocating these days. According to a survey conducted by Hong Kong think tank Civic Exchange, a city's air quality is rapidly becoming a make or break issue for a thriving metropolis. Their study found that 1 in 5 residents of Hong Kong had considered vacating the city simply because of its horrible air quality.

Sure, plenty of people are talking tough, but would they really move just to escape the smog? According to the results, of the 1.4M Hong Kongers who have considered fleeing the aveoli-scorching air, about 500,000 said they are "seriously considering or already planning to move." Sure, metropolises like Mexico City or Beijing haven't suffered too much because of their air, but in the developed world (Hong Kong is still included in that right?) -- breathability is a new and important way for cities to compete for healthy, affluent, and educated professionals.

[via Treehugger]

The contraceptive pill is polluting the environment and is in part responsible for male infertility problems, according to a report in L'Osservatore Romano, a Vatican newspaper. The report states that the pill has had "devastating effects on the environment by releasing tons of hormones into nature" through female urine. The report goes on to say that there is also sufficient evidence that a cause of male infertility is the environmental pollution caused by the pill.

Critics of the report countered with arguments such as the fact that hormone-mimicking compounds are everywhere and that the hormones in oral contraceptives, once metabolized, no longer have an effect.

Last year, an AP investigation found that the local drinking supplies of 41 million Americans are contaminated with pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones. The source of this is contamination is thought to be urine. Bottled water is probably not an answer as much of it is tap water and most home filtration systems probably won't do the trick either, as most manufacturers don't test to see if their filters can remove pharmaceutical contaminants.

With cold season upon us, people keep telling me how much they love their neti-pots. How they never get sick anymore, how great they feel, how they don't need medications, on and on with the love.

Neti pots perform nasal irrigation, where the nasal cavity is flushed out and the mucus membranes are moistened, usually with a saline solution. Jala neti, a ancient Ayurvedic technique, is a common practice in areas of India and other parts of South Asia, and is performed as routinely as brushing one's teeth.

I'm ready to take the plunge, because anything that can relieve even a little bit of the symptoms of the common cold, without side effects, sounds like a good thing. But then I saw this video and I'm not so sure.

Here are some other natural remedies for cold symptom relief; it's never a bad idea to stock up before you need them!

In a satirical piece from The Enduring Vision, Martin Palmer of Cincinnati, Ohio suffers from shame over his organic diet. His friends and relatives belabor his strange eating habits and shrinking waistline. They implore him to eat more fast food.

Though this piece is comical, are you receiving any flack for your diet? I was recently berated by my husband for choosing fresh milk from as small local dairy for the kids over stuff trucked in from out of state. I also got weird looks when switching from plastic to stainless steel water bottles until BPA was addressed on the Today Show.

Who thinks you're crazy?

1. Keep up with preventative care. Get flu shots, vaccines and cancer screenings. An ounce of prevention really will save money in the future.
   
2. Find a doctor who lets you email her. Take a photo of your rash and email it; send a note to ask about a drug reaction. You'll save money and have better communication with your professional.
3. Order your drugs online. Whether you opt for a warehouse in Arizona or one in Toronto, this doc says your drugs will be safe and you will save money.
4. When you do go to the doctor, get all that you can out of your visit. Don't stick with the raspy cough you came to discuss. Refill a prescription, ask about a mole you think is worrisome.
5. Go to Walmart. Generic drugs are incredibly cheap there and the health clinics are, too.
6. Keep exercising and eating well.

[via Salon.com]

Was I putting my nephew at risk for a future lung or heart disease when I left a smoky restaurant--hair and jacket wreaking of tobacco smoke--and picked him up in my car? It seems so.

A study published in the journal Pediatrics focused on the carcinogens, heavy metals and even (gulp) radioactive material that is deposited in hair, fabric and even on glass as a result of smoking. Children crawling around on the rug or tugging at the window a parents smokes out of will be exposed and consume these toxins.

The study asked participants if they were aware of third-hand smoking risks, and found that providing them information on the risk prompted those participants to say they were much more likely to enforce a strict smoking ban around their children.

[via NY Times]

My Christmas credit card bill arrived, bearing tidings of a frugal January. No more grass-fed beef for me, no more shitake mushrooms and Israeli couscous. But I can still eat healthy foods, and so can you.

Spinach and greens in general are cheap, exceptional and versatile foods. Last night I ate mustard greens and kale with onion, turkey bacon and walnuts, a great dish for very little. Chipotle pepper and cheddar cheese is another option. Spinach is great in a salad or as a side. Greens are loaded with vitamin C, iron and other minerals.
Oats, no matter the kind, are an inexpensive and fabulous way to stay health and feel full. They are high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. Buy the large tub of quick oats and load them up with turmeric and cinnamon, or raisins and brown sugar. There's no need for packets.

Eggs have gone up in price, and if you buy free range organic eggs you'll pay a premium. Even with the added cost eggs are an economical and versatile protein source. Perfect your omelet; make a quiche, fry with rice; mix with spinach or build a sandwich.

Texturized vegetable protein (TVP) sounds like a food from Mars, but is actually the building block for soy burgers and more. This protein source can be bought in bulk, is extremely cheap and takes on the flavor of anything. Try using it as ground beef in chili, on nachos or in tacos.

Apples are a great source of pectin and vitamin C, and you can usually find the common varieties, like granny smith, for very little. Try them with peanut butter for breakfast; add them to your oats; replace your cookie with an apple.

And don't forget about beans, beets and brown and wild rice.

[via Divine Caroline]

I'm sure many people have resolved to quit smoking in 2009 and may turn to patches and gum, but are there any natural solutions that aren't full of chemicals?

I haven't tried these remedies, because i don't smoke, but I found it interesting to learn that there are alternatives if you don't want to use patches or gum and don't want to quit cold turkey either.

• St. John's Wort may lessen cravings but make sure to check with your doctor if you take any prescription drugs. You wouldn't want any adverse interactions going on there.
  
• Replace your habit with something else. When you want to smoke, chew a piece of gum, take a walk or find something to keep your hands busy and your mind elsewhere like origami or paperclip folding. Just make sure you don't pick something that can turn into it's own bad habit like eating candy or other junk foods.
  
• Set up a reward system. Use your cigarette money for something else if you don't smoke for a week or get a massage after several weeks of not smoking. Make the rewards something you really want.
  

If you really want to quit, you can do it.

The EPA made a misstep in its evaluation of the chemical perchlorate, according to a report that came out this week. The report was criticized for failing to consider the effects of perchlorate in tandem with other chemicals on human health.

Perchlorate, which can be found in areas where jet fuel residue has accumulated, potentially blocks the uptake of iodide by the body. Iodide is added to most of the world's table salt to prevent iodine deficiency, which can cause goiters as well as mental problems.

One medical geographer, Larry Ladd, is concerned enough about perchlorate levels in drinking water that he has created this website which provides resources about the chemical's potential affects on human health. The EPA provides this page about perchlorate, though it focuses primarily on decisions about regulating the chemical.

The EPA has not set a standard for acceptable amounts of perchlorate in drinking water, and does not require cleanup of perchlorate contamination.