Ecoscraps

I meant that the added emissions of this notorious gas guzzler may have a negative effect on the health of their citizens. Geez! Get your mind out of the gutter!

On January 28, 2009, the Indonesian Ulemas Council issued a fatwa, a religious edict, forbidding all Muslims from practicing yoga
that includes meditation and chanting.

The council is not a government entity, but it receives funding from the Ministry of Religion. The fatwa is an attempt to influence morality in Indonesia, but yoga class attendance has not been affected by the fatwa. There is a formal ban on yoga in neighboring Malaysia.

Image:  j / f / photos on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

Eco-anxiety: the growing anguish experienced by someone who can’t handle the thought that they are in any way contributing to global warming, species extinction, depleting natural resources, and the like.

Does this sound like you?  If so, maybe it’s time to seek eco-therapy.

Some experts say all the worst-case scenario/gloom and doom type stories about the environment, which seem to be favored by the media, are taking a mental toll on some people.

Because of this, a new kind of therapy has been developed. Read the rest of this entry »

A study of the change in life expectancy in the USA in concludes that the change in air cleanliness has increased life expectancy by 21 weeks or significantly less than half a year. The question is, with today’s life expectancy of 78 years, what kind of return on investment is this over and above than the sheer beauty of clean air!

The study lead by Arden Pope, an epidemiologist at Brigham Young University in Utah, found that life expectancy had increased by 2.72 years between 1980 and 2000. Fifteen percent of this increase could be attributed to air quality, giving the reported 21 weeks. The reduction in smoking and general increase in socioeconomic conditions were the two most significant factors improving life expectancy.

Photo credit: Augapfel on Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Investigations at the University of Porto show that marinating beef in red wine or beer may reduce the levels of potentially cancer-promoting compounds in cooked meat.

Using beer or red wine marinades reduced the level of heterocyclic amines in pan fried beef by up to 88 per cent. Heterocyclic amines, formed during the browning of meat and fish, are reported to promote carcinogenesis in humans. So marinading possibly has the potential to reduce the risk of cancer in barbecuing.  More research is underway to more comprehensively define the benefits and marinade recipes.

Image credit: by combust on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

A new study has researched how city life affects your brain.  The results:

Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory, and suffers from reduced self-control…Natural settings, in contrast, don’t require the same amount of cognitive effort.

The study also explains why children with ADD do better in natural settings, as well as why hospital patients recover more quickly when they can see trees from their windows.

A new study published in the journal “Minerva Cardioangiologica” finds that Pycnogenol, an extract of French maritime pine bark, reduces the symptoms of jetlag.  According to the Environment News Service, “Pycnogenol lowered symptoms of jetlag such as fatigue, headaches, insomnia and brain swelling in both healthy people and hypertensive patients.”  French maritime pine bark extract has also been shown to reduce the symptoms of ADHD in children.

Image:  Biotech Weblog

From lubricants to condoms to things that go “bzzzz,” Planet Green has the lowdown…

Freshman entering the University of New England and Ripon College are given free bikes if they promise to leave their cars at home.  At Ripon College, 200 Trek mountain bikes, helmets and locks were given to freshman that signed up for the program. Dr. David C. Joyce, Ripon’s president and competitive mountain biker, explained, “We did it as a means of reducing the need for parking, but as we looked at it from the standpoint of fitness, health and sustainability, we realized we have the opportunity to create a change.”

Via:  New York Times

Image: University of New England

The Q Drum, developed in South Africa, is aiding water transportation for those in poorer nations with distances to trek just to gain this most basic resource. The design allows relatively easy towing of 50 liters of water across reasonably flat terrains.

Sources: Green Upgrader

Image: Q Drum