The Chinese courts sentenced a dairy producer and distributor to death today. It also sentenced a dairy executive from San-Lu Dairy to life in prison. These are the first people convicted in the melamine scandal that killed six children in China and sickened thousands.

Melamine is a chemical used in fertilizer and plastics. It can appear to be a protein, and was used by producers to boost profits by adding melamine to watered down and powdered milk. The majority of the illnesses stemmed from San-Lu products.

Families of victims say government officials should also be tried for lax oversight. Chinese lawyers are also filing a class action lawsuit with the Chinese Supreme Court on behalf of 213 families affected by the unscrupulous practice.

Chinese officials have tried to quell the anger over this scandal by blocking foreign journalists from attending the proceedings and keeping residents from traveling to the courthouse in Shijiazhuang.

[via NY Times]

For anyone thinking about raising chickens for the first time this year, now is the time to start your orders and look for deals. For the largest mail-order companies like McMurray Hatchery, their hatching season starts in January and February, and they begin their first shipments of day-old chicks around the second or third week of January. Depending on your climate and the set-up you have for your chickens, this the best time to start raising them for the best productivity throughout the year.

Wait, they ship live baby chicks in the mail?! Yes, and its been working for them for 94 years so far. You can head on over to their website or sign up for their free catalog for complete information on the ordering process. Also, be sure to check out Green Daily's Suburban Farmer series on raising chickens in a suburban setting.

If you haven't already, hop on over to Monday's post and type in three words to describe January into the comments. This will enter you into a contest for a couple of Method cleansing products guaranteed to make you feel better about the dreary, snow encrusted world outside.

We at Green Daily are giving away a bottle of Method's Marine Naturals Body Wash in Sea Mineral Scent and a Water Flower Foaming Hand Wash to one lucky winner. They each have a light scent to make you smell delicious as you spend your nineteenth hour (and counting) curled up in a quilt in front of the the fire.

Be sure to leave us a comment (NOT HERE, THERE) as we try to help you cope with winter one day at a time.

Ok, so I took the plunge and bought a neti pot, thanks to all of the great things I've heard about them, both in my daily travels and here from our readers on Green Daily. And no, my neti pot is not actually for sale, since that would be gross. But I would resell it if I could.

Oh. My. That was awful. I don't think I was doing it right, because there is no way people would keep doing it if it felt the way it felt in my nose. The water was either running down my throat, or coming out my other nostril. Now, it is supposed to come out the other nostril, as demonstrated in this video here. But when I could get it to come out my other nostril, it hurt like heck. I don't know if it was the discomfort, or something else going on, but I looked like I had been crying for hours when I was done.

I bought a basic pot from a drugstore that came with salt packets and I only used half of the salt to start with, as directed on the package.

What am I doing wrong! Any tips?

April might be the cruelest month but January is pretty lousy. This is why I am excited to be offering two items from Method's line of personal care products designed to keep you clean and happy this winter.

The first item is a bottle of Method's Marine Naturals Body Wash in Sea Mineral Scent. Made with sea salts, aloe and vitamins A and E, the wash is guaranteed to scrub and soften your skin. Method warns that you might never want to put your clothes on again.

The second part of this giveaway is a bottle of Method's Water Flower Foaming Hand Wash. Great by the bathroom sink or kitchen sink, this bottles light scent will remind of of spring as you gaze longingly out the window.

• To enter, leave a confirmed comment below with exactly three words to describe the month of January.
• The comment must be left before 5pm EST on Friday, January 24th.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• The winner will receive one bottle of Method's Marine Naturals Body Wash and Water Flower Foaming Hand Wash (valued at $12.00).
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States (including the District of Columbia) who are 18 and older.

Click here for Official Rules.

GOOD LUCK!

Sure, it's no surprise that every now in then, some city planners don't take bicycle transit seriously. They throw in a couple of completely useless token bike lanes just to say their city is bike-friendly, score some brownie points, and move on to the next luncheon, ribbon cutting, or strip club. If no one complains, then can go about their business pretending that they've made everyone happy.

That's why the guys at SlateV.com decided to go around drawing attention to these so-called bike lanes, an awareness campaign that I think is pretty impressively vigilant. Of course, bikers do have a reputation for going vigilante, but I digress. This is the type of stuff bikers should be doing to pressure their towns to take bike commuting seriously. Slate asked cyclists around the globe to report all stupid bike lanes, and the results came pouring in. Check out some of these idiotic lanes after the break.

Number five plastic is ubiquitous. Your prescription bottles have it, your yogurt containers, the lids to your soda bottles, and more. Well, I found a little something out that I thought might interest all of you out there in Greenville.

Stonyfield Farms will take their yogurt containers back if your community doesn't recycle #5 plastic and you can't stand the idea of throwing them away. I tend to use my quart containers of #5 plastic for other things (paint brushes, leftovers, bulk catnip), but usually I end up needing to throw some away.

Stonyfield explains on its Website that the company chose to go with #5 because it can use less plastic in making the containers than if #2 were used. Moreover, many communities don't actually recycle wide mouthed #2 containers. The company believes its reduction in packaging outweighs the benefits of using #2. But if you aren't happy throwing away your #5, you can send your clean yogurt containers to the company. Their people will recycle them for you.

One more thing about #5 - more communities are recycling them. St. Louis, for example, happily accepts #5 plastic. Houston and Chicago do, too. Check out your community's recycling page to figure out what's available in your area.

This is the second case of the deadly virus in two weeks. A two-year old girl contracted the virus in her hometown in the central Chinese province of Hunan. It's unclear how she contracted the disease.

H5N1 is the bird flu virus that's not easily transferred from birds to humans, but a recent outbreak of the virus amongst humans has caused concerns that the virus has mutated, making it easier to use a human as its host. While most avian flus are asymptomatic, this particular strain is deadly for poultry, and potentially lethal for humans. Amongst poultry it spreads thoroughly and rapidly.

The girl was taken to the hospital last week, but her symptoms have worsened. Another woman recently died from the virus. She contracted it after buying ducks at a market in the Hebei province.

[via BBC]

In the ever-ongoing battle over Bisphenol-A or BPA, Scientist Frederick vom Saal weighs in. The resistance to ban the use of BPA or at least label it by the manufacturers is not unlike tobacco company tactics. Vom Saal even goes as far as to say that companies that make BPA laden products will one day get "sued into the Stone Age."

Vom Saal has been studying BPA and its effects since 1995. He has had his worked published many times over and has testified in front of congress. Over the past decade he has linked the ingestion of BPA with obesity, heart disease and cancer. Vom Saal is certain that the chemical is shortening lives.

Organic and natural mattresses are all the rage, for adults and especially for babies, with models made from soybeans, stuffed with husks and infused with green tea, according to a recent NY Times article. But how do you know what you're really buying? It turns out that no governmental agency regulates the labeling of mattresses as "organic" or "natural," and various trade groups don't offer guidelines either.

There is also disagreement about the toxicity of conventional mattresses, varying from the opinion that they are a source of great exposure to toxins, to the opinion that mattresses are nothing to worry about. Polyurethane foam used in mattresses can emit volatile organic compounds (V.O.Cs). Manufacturers did voluntarily stop using fire retardants like P.D.B.E.s, however questions remain about the fire retardants that replaced them. There are also concerns about the mattress covers, which are often made of vinyl. Natural mattresses are often made of latex foam, but even that is often blended with a synthetic.

As for now, customers are on their own trying to figure out what they're buying, but one thing is certain, one can't rely on the label "organic" or "natural" in this category.

I've run across all sorts of stories this year about exotic eco-meats, from camel steaks to rat sandwiches. But that was all in a distant land called the non-US. Now, it looks like the trend has made it to North America. Cheap, carbon-friendly, and relatively safe -- raccoon meat is reportedly working its way back to the table in some American homes. Some call it the other dark meat, others call it disgusting, people are apparently warming up to the idea of eating the pervasive varmints.

Why are people all of the sudden opening their minds to the previously taboo source of protein? Your guess is as good as mine. Though I'm sure that the low price tag doesn't hurt. Raccoon meat generally costs $3 to $7 -- per animal. And as I mentioned, it's pretty green as well. Still, others swear that they eat Rocky Raccoon for his delicious flavor. Maybe this quote from Missouri Department of Conservation biologist Jeff Beringer can help put it in perspecitve:

"During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good. If you think about being green and eating organically, raccoon meat is the ultimate organic food."

Personally, I prefer animals that don't eat out of my trashcan.

Vicks VapoRub can cause respiratory distress in kids under the age of 2 when applied under the nose, said researchers from Wake Forest yesterday. According to the researchers, using the product this way can cause a young child's airways to swell and fill with mucus. The researchers advise that parents should never use any over-the-counter cold medicines, including Vicks, on any children under 2 without consulting with your child's doctor. While the researchers only tested Vicks, they warned against similar products including generics.

A Proctor & Gamble spokesman said that the product is labeled that it should not be used in children under the age of 2 in any way, without a doctor's advice, and never under the nose. The researchers advised that no one should use it under the nose, regardless of age.

As to the safety of Vicks VapoRub in general, it rates as a 4 on the Cosmetics Database safety scale, rating as Moderate Hazard.

Here are some natural remedies for cold season, that will at least help relieve the symptoms a bit.

There's water in our drinking chemicals ... I mean, there are chemicals in our drinking water. You know what I meant. A while back, Patricia reported that researchers had discovered that all sorts of pharmaceutical drugs swimming around in the nation's tap water. Now, thanks to the watchdogs at the Southern Nevada Water Authority we know exactly what they are.

After completing a tests on water from 21 US water utilities, researchers have compiled a list of the Ugly 11 (I couldn't come up with a better name for it). To avoid over sensationalizing the research -- which is probably what I should be doing -- I'll give you the disclaimer that these compounds were found in "extremely low concentrations." Take that for whatever its worth. Here they are in all their impure glory:

• Atenolol - a beta-blocker used to treat heart/cardiovascular diseases.
• Atrazine - banned in the EU, this organic herbicide is suspected of harming salmon populations and a lot of other bad mojo.
• Carbamazepine - a mood-stabilizer and anti-convulsant, used to treat manic depression.
• Estrone - a hormone blamed for gender weirdness in fish.
  
• Gemfibrozil - an anti-cholesterol drug, because we're fat.
  
• Meprobamate - a tranquilzer used to ease psychiatric symptomes, because we're crazy.
• Naproxen - a prescription anti-inflammatory.
• Phenytoin - another anti-convulsant used to treat epilepsy.
• Sulfamethoxazole - an antibiotic used to combat strep throat.
  
• TCEP - a reducing agent used in biochemistry, waterever that means.
  
• Trimethoprim - an antibiotic used to fight urinary tract infections. Vaguely ironic, because urine is one of the primary ways that it gets into our drinking water.

[via BoingBoing]

Turmeric - Not enough can be said about this slightly sweet, pungent, orange spice. Sprinkle it in your oatmeal, on your chicken, in your bath water... wait. Don't do that last one. But use it and feel it's anti-cancer and anti-inflamation properties work on your body. It's also known to be good for joint health.

Pomegranate juice - No, it's not just an expensive fad. This stuff apparently lowers blood pressure and is loaded with antioxidants. But don't take pomegranate juice instead of your blood pressure medication, got it?

Prunes - Yummy, sweet, sticky and full of antioxidants and digestive system goodness. An eating tip for those disgusted by the idea of eating a dried plum: Wrap it in prosciuto. For those who don't eat pork, try chopping up plums in a dried fruit mixture.

Pumpkin seeds - Loaded with magnesium and other minerals. Some say you can never have enough of these fibrous beauties. And you might consider eating more pumpkin, loaded with fiber and a great replacement for oil in cakes and sweet breads.

Sardines - You can't go wrong with them. Sardines are loaded to the gills with omega-3's and calcium. Vitamin B, potassium, zinc and more but no mercury. Really, what's a little fishy taste for all that beauty?

Blueberries - Frozen or not, blueberries have plenty of vitamin B and other great memory-saving properties. Eat them, and then eat more of them.


[via New York Times]

When I was a teenager the movie, "Arachnophobia" came out. I went with my brothers and cousins to see it at the local movieplex. We saw the afternoon show and when it finished we ran from the dark theater's exit signs, and through the dreary parking lot. We kept running until we were nearly to my house.

I don't scream at spiders today, but I'm willing to kill them, even when I know I don't have to. Sara Harris wants me and you to consider revising our approach to spiders. Harris lives in southern California, where the weather is perfect for all things, including black widow spiders. Harris recently wrote about living with black widow spiders instead of against or in fear of them. A black widow recently bit her, causing two days of horrific pain, swelling, itching and more. A mother, she compares it with childbirth.

But she also cautions against killing all black widows she finds, even now, after being bitten by a black widow and developing a sixth sense for knowing where they are. Instead, she suggests a respect and awareness. That spiders are just as much a part of the beautiful world as she is. They have a right to live. So she keeps her eyes out, and keeps her kid's eyes out. She tries to establish a sense of peace with her domestic enemies.

By the way, black widows are, indeed, black, shiny spiders with spindly legs. On their bellies you'll see a red hourglass marking. Black widows are venomous, but their venom won't kill a healthy adult or child. Infants and toddlers are at risk. If you are bitten, see your urgent care clinic or emergency room. Get ice on the wound to slow the venom.


[via Living on Earth]