Ted Kennedy died late last night. He spent his career fighting to get health care coverage for all. May his legacy be completed by passing real health care reform in the coming months as a fitting tribute to him.
Kirsten Firminger: August 2009 Archives
Wednesday August 26, 2009
Categories: Interdependent Activism & Politics
Remember Ted Kennedy by giving the American people real health care coverage
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Add to StumbleUponWednesday August 19, 2009
Categories: Interdependent Activism & Politics, Right Lifestyle
Greening our amusement (parks)
Kirsten & her very enthusiastic husband getting ready to ride another roller coaster
My husband is what you would call a roller coaster enthusiast. By the end of this roller coaster riding season, he will have ridden 218 different roller coasters and visited 53 amusement parks since his obsession began at the age of nine when he rode his first roller coaster. Just from being his girlfriend, and now wife, I have ridden 93 roller coasters since 2006 (he keeps track of this number, not me).
While these numbers are not as high as other enthusiasts out there, we certainly have spent a significant amount of time in amusement parks. And in that time, one of the big things that bothers me is all the trash that I see being produced at the parks, particularly the large quantities of plastic bottles, plasticware, and Styrofoam cups and plates. There is rarely a recycle bin in sight. In 2008, 122.7 million people visited amusement parks in North America alone (186 million worldwide). That is a lot people creating a lot of trash.
Wednesday August 12, 2009
Categories: Right Lifestyle
Want to lose weight? Eat mindfully.
Photo courtesy of Kirsten Firminger
In a new research article being published in this month's Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Dr. Alan Kristal and colleagues found that people who eat mindfully (defined as those were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full) are less likely to be obese.
The actual article describes the process of developing and validating a way to measure mindful eating. I find it interesting because it can be used as a guide to examine my own eating habits.
Kristal and colleagues ended up with 5 factors, or categories, of behaviors that were thought to comprise mindful eating. They were:
- Disinhibition - this involves noticing when you are full and how much you eat. Negative examples would be agreeing to the following statements: "If there's good food at a party, I'll continue eating even after I'm full." or "When I'm at a restaurant, I can tell when the portion I've been served is too large for me."
- Awareness - paying attention and appreciating the food you are eating. For instances, agreeing with the statement that "I taste every bite of food that I eat." or "I notice when foods and drinks are too sweet."
- External cues - being aware of how situations trigger cravings or influence you to eat more. The researchers measured this based on peoples agreement with statements such as "I notice when just going into a movie theater makes me want to eat candy or popcorn." or "I recognize when food advertisements make me want to eat."
- Emotional responses - do you eat for emotional reasons? would you say that "When I'm sad I eat to feel better." or "When I'm feeling stressed at work I'll go find something to eat."
- Distraction - this last category is another indicator of how much you pay attention to the eating process. For example, how much would you agree that "I think about things I need to do while I am eating." or "I eat so quickly that I don't taste what I'm eating."
Some of the ideas I take away from this are means to reconnect with my body and my food during the eating process, including:
Filed Under: advice, diet, Dr. Alan Kristal, eating habits, food, meditation, mindfulness, research, weigh loss
Wednesday August 5, 2009
Categories: Interdependent Activism & Politics, Right Lifestyle
Setting sail for the plastic vortex
As reported by the Mercury News, Project Kaisei researchers have sailed to collect data about the Great Pacific Garbage patch (or plastic vortex), which is created by plastic debris and other trash brought together by ocean currents. Some scientists estimate it is twice the size of Texas.
Courtesy of NOAA Marine Debris Program.
The goal of the expedition is: "To study the North Pacific Gyre and the marine debris that has collected in this oceanic region, to determine how to capture the debris and to study the possible retrieval and processing techniques that could be potentially employed to detoxify and recycle these materials into diesel fuel. This first research expedition, scheduled for the summer of 2009, will be critical to understanding the logistics that would be needed to launch future clean-up operations and testing existing technologies that have never been utilized under oceanic conditions."
NOAA encourages individuals to help prevent the creation of marine debris by taking the following steps:
For more information about how we can all help reduce the impact of all this garbage, see the NOAA Marine Debris Program website.
You can follow Kaisei researchers progress during their expedition on their latest video updates on YouTube.
Courtesy of NOAA Marine Debris Program.
The goal of the expedition is: "To study the North Pacific Gyre and the marine debris that has collected in this oceanic region, to determine how to capture the debris and to study the possible retrieval and processing techniques that could be potentially employed to detoxify and recycle these materials into diesel fuel. This first research expedition, scheduled for the summer of 2009, will be critical to understanding the logistics that would be needed to launch future clean-up operations and testing existing technologies that have never been utilized under oceanic conditions."
NOAA encourages individuals to help prevent the creation of marine debris by taking the following steps:
- Reduce, reuse, recycle. Choose reusable items and use fewer disposable ones.
- Keep streets, sidewalks, parking lots and storm drains free of trash - they can empty into our waterways and oceans.
- At the beach, park or playground, dispose of all trash in the proper receptacles or take your trash home with you. Pick up any debris you see while out.
- Support legislation and other measures that help stem the marine debris problem.
- Practice mindful meditation (okay, I added this last one)
For more information about how we can all help reduce the impact of all this garbage, see the NOAA Marine Debris Program website.
You can follow Kaisei researchers progress during their expedition on their latest video updates on YouTube.
Filed Under: great pacific garbage patch, marine debris, NOAA, Pacific Ocean, Plastic vortex, Project Kaisei
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Welcome to One City. You've lived here your whole life, whether you know it or not. One City blog is an outgrowth of The Interdependence Project, a Buddhist-inspired nonprofit organization led by Ethan Nichtern, dedicated to teaching the insights of Buddhism, meditation, mindfulness, and interconnectedness in the 21st century world.
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