AlternativesMagazine

By Josephine Marcotty Star Tribune MARCH 28, 2017 Despite its cold winters, Minnesota — and the Twin Cities in particular — has long been recognized as one of the country’s biking-est places. Minneapolis leads the nation in the concentration of bike lanes and paths (5.8 per square mile), the number of regular commuters (4 percent, according to the U.S. census), and has the second-lowest biking fatality rate among the top 50 largest cities. Additionally, a new report released that the state’s bike industry also produces $780 million in annual economic activity, 5,519 jobs and millions of dollars in health care savings because of reduced obesity, diabetes and heart disease. And 13.6 percent of Twin Cities residents commute by bike. Biking to work three times a week was associated with a 32 percent lower likelihood of obesity and 28 percent lower risk of high blood pressure — which produce substantial health savings and result in fewer premature deaths. READ complete article here ...

By Mark Hyman , MD Type 2 diabetes in America has tripled since the 1980s, and  researchers estimate one in three Americans will have diabetes by mid-century. More than one-third of American adults are obese1. And one in three Medicare dollars is spent on diabetes making it the biggest driver of our federal debt. Sadly, these numbers continue to increase. Overall, it’s not a pretty picture, and experts predict things will only become worse. I use the term “diabesity” to describe the continuum of health problems ranging from mild insulin resistance and overweight to obesity and diabetes. Diabesity is the underlying cause of most heart disease, cancer, and premature death in the world. Tragically, these conditions are also 100% preventable and reversible. Most people believe diabetes is not reversible. That’s unfortunate,considering its numerous complications including kidney failure, amputation, stroke, and dementia. I’ve also heard experts claim obesity is difficult to trea...

The Problem of Plastic Water Bottles… What seems like a harmless plastic water bottle contains hormone disrupting chemicals like BPA and Phthalates. BPA has been shown to cause hormone imbalance in the body and has even been linked to various types of cancers, obesity, miscarriage, infertility and neurological disorders.  Phthalates have been banned in many parts of the world and are especially concerning for men and boys as they have been linked to lower testosterone and male infertility. The Price of Convenience As harmful as plastics are to us individually, we are all facing unwanted exposure from worldwide plastic pollution. Sure, plastic water bottles are inexpensive, disposable and convenient, but they are also terrible for our ecosystem. In fact, many of the negative health effects attributed to the harmful components in plastic may come from our planet’s growing plastic burden. Many tons of plastic waste are dumped into the ocean each year ....

"What the Senate did should outrage the conscience of every animal lover in America." Sarah V. Schweig March 22, 2017   The U.S. Senate just voted 52-47 to allow barbaric hunting tactics such as killing hibernating bear families in their dens — and now the lives of countless animals on 76 million acres of federal wildlife refuges in Alaska are in President Donald Trump's hands. Now the government is set to overturn previous U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regulations that were put in place to protect our wildlife, allowing hunters to lure grizzly bears with food to shoot them at point-blank range. They will be able to legally enter bear and wolf dens to kill mothers and their young cubs and pups. Hunters will also be allowed to shoot bears from airplanes. Steel-jawed leghold traps and wire snares will be allowed on these national lands. READ entire story here. Post your comments. Sow (female bear) and cubs back in the den after being tagged.

I had never been so fit. Never smoked. Drank socially. Cycled a lot for the past 13 years. And the lump I had found in my left breast while taking shower didn’t even look like a tumor, according to my doctor. Plus, I was young, just 39 years old. But it was cancer. Do you know anyone who takes the common advice of “live each day like it’s your last” seriously? If you do, you’ve probably been inspired by the many ways that they live life to the fullest. Because cycling is a big part of our format, we hear stories and receive articles about how cycling changed their life, or saved it. "Cycling was the Force that Kept Me Alive" is one of those articles. It's about Erika Sallum a São Paulo, Brazil based journalist, who was given the news, "yes, it's cancer." Cycling didn't prevent her from getting cancer, but, as she said, it was what kept her alive. It's a great inspirational article, especially if your battling cancer, or someone you...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipe6CMvW0Dg from Educate - Inspire - Change --- "If we all look at our inner most desire, we will see our dreams are not so different. We share a common goal – Happiness. We tear apart the world looking for joy, without ever looking within ourselves”   This is a short documentary film made by Spencer Cathcart questioning our freedom, the education system, corporations, money, the American capitalist system, the US government, world collapse, the environment, climate change, genetically modified food, and our treatment of animals. I urge you to listen to it the whole way through. If everyone in the world would hear every word in this video and then act upon their feelings the world would change overnight… At this moment you can be anywhere, doing anything. Instead we sit alone before a screen.  So what is stopping us from doing what we want, being where we wanna be? Each day we wake up in the same room, following the same path to live the same ...

What Will It Take To Keep Plastic Out Of The Oceans? A three-pronged overhaul of our global packaging and recycling systems could potentially raise our plastic recycling rate from 14% to 70%. Ben Schiller 03.03.17 Something like 9 million tons of plastic enter the world's oceans every year, and, at current rates, the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better. As developing countries expand, they tend to consume more packaged goods while failing to implement adequate collection systems. By 2050, there could be more plastic in the water than fish, according to one estimate. Forty years after the first recycling symbol appeared, only about 14% of plastic is currently recycled. But by redesigning packaging along circular economy principles, reusing more plastic bags, and by investing in recycling infrastructure, it should be possible to get that number nearer 70%, a new report estimates. "Businesses and governments are now, for the first time, recognising the need t...