Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

• San Francisco already has the highest recycling rate in the United States, with 72%. And now, city officials are poised approve more recycling legislation. The new ordinance would require residential and commercial building owners to sign up for composting and recycling services; via Green Inc.

• Wal-Mart is greening up too. Wal-Mart owns Sam’s Club and Sam’s Club is clearing their shelves of things like power tools and making room for eco-friendly products like water-saving toilets. The move is in response to customers’ demand for ways to cut expenses and lower bills; from Shop Talk.

• Livestock is a major contributor of global warming greenhouse gases and the average Belgian citizen eats 1,800 animals in their lifetime. So, officials from the city of Ghent are proposing a “Veggie Day” urging its 240,000 residents to give up meat for one day a week; Environment explains.

• Philadelphia is installing solar-powered trash-compacting garbage cans throughout the city. By July, 500 BigBelly trash cans will be deployed, saving the city $12.9 million over 10 years. Regular garbage cans need to be emptied 19 times a week, the composters only need 5 empties a week; EcoGeek reports.

• People in the U.K. want more green! A new survey showed 75% of Britons think public money should go into renewable energy, 60% want more funding devoted to setting up solar panels and 53% insist companies responsible for the most pollution should pay higher taxes; via Green Living Tips.

• Don’t go swimming in Brooklyn. New York’s beaches are closed due to concerns over sewage. So, if you try taking a dip, you’ll get arrested. It happened to one man when he ignored an officer’s warning and hit the surf. Officials will only reopen the beaches once more testing has been done; TreeHugger explains.

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A new report in the Journal of Environmental Quality claims crops grown in fertilizer made with livestock manure actually absorb the antibiotics injected into cattle. Researchers point out that an alarming 70% of antibiotics produced in the United States are fed to livestock and 90% of those antibiotics are excreted in farm animal urine and feces. Putting vegetables at risk, even those grown on organic farms, exacerbating the fear over antibiotic-resistant bacteria; Environmental Health News investigates.

It gets worse! Last week it was discovered many pharmaceuticals, like cholesterol-lowering medications, painkillers and tranquilizers, are polluting our drinking water. Eek!

Also, in humans, antibiotics are over-used and misused. According to Dr. Fuhrman, doctors are too quick to prescribe antibiotics for conditions that will resolve on their own, like ear infections.

Via TreeHugger.

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You shouldn’t eat a lot of meat. It’ll boost your risk of heart attack, cancer and other diseases. But the rearing of livestock also beats up the environment, polluting water supplies and generating huge amounts of greenhouse gases. That’s why many scientists are scrambling to repurpose cattle emissions, i.e. cow farts, burps and poop, into sources of energy, specifically methane fuel.

Now, those systems cost money and might not always be practical. So here’s a simpler solution, don’t eat as much meat! It doesn’t mean you have to go vegetarian, vegan or even flexitarian, but some experts insist if Americans cut meat consumption from 12 ounces per capita to only 3.1 ounces per day, roughly the size of a deck of cards, we’ll slow global climate change; Fresh Greens explains.

Not a bad idea. Especially when you consider Dr. Fuhrman’s food pyramid, he recommends eating foods like meat and dairy very infrequently.

Via Serious Eats.

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