vegthreads

Each day you inhale 14,000 liters of air, that’s 150 bathtubs full of air.  In the 26,000 breathes you’ll take over the course of your day you’ll inhale a wide variety of suspended particles, and hazardous air pollutants that can adversely affect your health leading to such things as skin and throat irritation, organ damage, and even an increased risk of cancer.  Besides being our lifeline here are 5 incredible things about air you probably didn’t know.

1. The air inside your home can be anywhere from 2 to 5 times more polluted then the air outside.  Common indoor air pollutants such as mold and pet dander can combine with radeon (the stuff your air conditioner pumps into the air in your home) to form a nasty concoction that can lead to adverse health effects.
2. Ozone is a very reactive gas that protects us from harmful UV radiation.  Ozone gas is mostly found in the stratosphere high above the earths surface however ozone gas can also form on the earths surface by the mixing of primary pollutants such as nitrogen oxide with volatile organic compounds leading such things as coughing, headaches, and asthma irritation.
3. The United States has the lowest air standards among developed nations.  Canada actually has the toughest standards.
4. The high level of carbon dioxide in our air is leading to what is termed acidification of the earth’s oceans.  Literally weakening the ph of the earths ocean, and turning them into an acid baths resulting in the death of marine, and plant life.
5. Studies done at Harvard University report a strong link between the quality of air our children breathe, and their IQ.  Doctors suggest the effects on our young people of breathing polluted air are just as bleak as a child who is forced to live with a mother who smokes.

The Dangers of Plastic In Your food

When you store food in plastic, buy food in plastic containers, or drink beverages housed in plastic bottles the plastic ultimately ends up inside the food you eat, and the beverages you consume. The migration or movement of these toxic substances is considered OK by FDA standards so long as the migration is within a “acceptable range”, the thing is these substances can be extremely toxic even at very low levels. These toxic substances upon entering your body create free radicals which can destroy cells in your body, ultimately interfering with the endocrine system. These Endocrine disruptor’s or ED’s offset natural hormonal balance within the body leading to an array of adverse health effects.

One of the more well known endocrine disruptor’s is Bisphenol-A or BPA a monomer used in the popular Nalgene water bottles, Lexan brand products, and many baby bottles. The list of negative health effects associated with BPA is quite vast including serving as the leading known cause of miscarriages. Known to produce aneuploidy a chromosomal abnormality which ultimately leads to death of the fetus, BPA is also strongly linked to Alzheimer’s. With only 5% of Alzheimer’s cases demonstrating a genetic link BPA serves as the leading organic cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

The FDA’s Misconceptions

The FDA standards hold that as long as migration of toxins is held to an “acceptable level” the product is deemed safe for us in food and drug administration. Unfortunately migration of plastics into the food we consume can be toxic at even extremely low levels. In many cases an extremely low dose is far more dangerous then an extremely high dose. In fact the belief that a higher dose is more dangerous then a lower dose is simply not the case with many chemicals at all. This belief stems from the 15th century alchemist Paracelsus who stated “The dose makes the poison” this misinterpretation is at the root of FDA policy on the topic, and undoubtedly has done us more harm then good.

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This afternoon my long time friend Bobby an I sat down an had a few drinks at our local pub.  After chatting about the usual turn of events the direction of our conversation quickly steered towards my blog.  Bobby had a plethora of questions about my blog, and me being the uber environmental geek I’m was more then eager to share my blogging life story with him.

Now in my third month blogging, I’ve had my share of ups and downs.  At times I feel like no one is even reading my blog (but hey I guess your probably reading this right now).  But I’ve also had some blogging success stories.  My post How to Make Fertilizer With Beer was incredibly successful, and has now been viewed by over 3,000 people.  Just the other day I received my 10,000th unique visitors which was almost as exciting as the time I figured out how porn could save the rain forest.

Blogging has also come at a price to me.  The obvious costs associated with buying a domain name, hosting the blog.  But also the cost of my time, my girlfriend hates my blog because it takes time away from our relationship.  She refers to it as my child, and most likely plans to destroy it by any means possible.  Likewise I’ve only received $8 so far in revenue, if you consider the fact that I’ve probably put an average of 20 hours per week into my blog for the last three months that means I’m literally making pennies an hour.  At that rate those poor people in China make far more then I do.  But…

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When I first saw this video I was totally blown away. The folks over at SSI have created a shredder that eats anything. In the video below the shredder devours a fridge, a sofa, and a giant monster truck tire. There are additional videos on Youtube of the shredder even eating a Dodge Daytona!

Imagine if we installed one of these shredders at everyone of our dumps around the nation, our footprint would be dramatically decreased. Alright enough chitchat check out the video!

Upon entering the home of my friend Gary I noticed he proudly displayed large gallon jugs of booze. The jugs were of course empty, and served as a pleasant reminder of his conquests. Gary isn’t the only friend of mine who proudly displays his empty bottles like trophies. A lot of people do. Maybe my friends are just alcoholics, maybe its a college thing. Whatever the reason, I’ve prepared a useful how-to on turning those empty bottles in surround sound speakers. With a good sound system in place, and plenty of alcohol at hand this is one how-to thats sure to land you in the sack!

Alright first things first. Gather six empty one gallon glass bottles. They don’t have to be wine/liquor bottles but hey why not, plus I could think of a few creative uses for the booze! Alright now that you got the bottles in place, and most likely a hangover lets get started on building these speakers!

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