Blog Archives

Why use toilet paper? No need to flush our forests

This post now on the syndicated BasilandSpice and on Google News We’re facing mass wildlife extinctions this century.  One big reason: the human population explosion and resulting habitat loss. You might be surprised to learn how our personal hygiene choices

Posted in Agriculture, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Endangered species, Indonesia, Malaysia, Overconsumption, Resources, Southeast Asia, Sustainable choices for your home, Sustainable Living, Wildlife, Wildlife habitat, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Nonorganic potatoes among top 7 foods experts avoid

Photos and text by Sally Kneidel On my weekly shopping jaunt yesterday, I was irked to find the grocery store was out of organic baking potatoes. Frustrating. I was planning to have them for supper last night, and I already

Posted in Agriculture, Ecosystems, Farming, Food, Organic Tagged with: , , ,

How food affects your brain: 10 facts we now know

Readers – I just received an email from Cindy Cullen at the Culinary Arts College, asking if I would post a link to their article How Food Affects Your Brain: 10 Facts We Now Know.” Some interesting information in the

Posted in Birds, Endangered species, Fish, Fish, Food, Livestock, Organic, Wildlife Tagged with: , , , ,

New study: chocolate reduces risk of stroke and heart attack by 39%

This post now on Google News I’ve seen various studies over the years about the benefits of dark chocolate, but none as convincing as this one. In an article published yesterday in the European Heart Journal, German scientists report a

Posted in Food, Health Tagged with: ,

Invasive 8-inch-long African snails reappear in Florida

I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about Burmese pythons and other giant constrictors now living wild in Florida.  Thousands of them are successfully breeding there.   I got a lot of pingbacks from that post, mostly from indignant

Posted in Agriculture, Ecosystems, Health, Invasive species, Wildlife, Wildlife habitat Tagged with: , , ,

We were made to run barefoot, says new study from journal Nature

Photo and text by Sally Kneidel, PhD This post now on Google News and on www.basilandspice.com New research from Harvard University suggests that running barefoot might be beneficial.  Says Daniel Lieberman of Harvard, “One shouldn’t be scared of barefoot or

Posted in Health, Human behavior Tagged with: ,

Review of documentary “End of the line: where have all the fish gone?”

Review by Sally Kneidel, PhD, of sallykneidel.com My husband, an ecologist, keeps a list of people whose profession matches their name, such as peanut specialist Shelly Nutt, ornithologist Christopher Bird, editor Zachary Read.  But the best is Dr. Boris Worm,

Posted in Animal welfare / animal rights, Ecosystems, Endangered species, Food, Health, Sustainable choices for your home, Wildlife, Wildlife habitat, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Antidepressants may help only the severely depressed

According to the CDC, about one in five Americans are affected by depression and/or anxiety. That seems about right to me, or maybe even a low estimate. Perhaps women talk about it more, but it seems to me at least

Posted in Health, Pharmaceuticals Tagged with: ,

Natural daylight may improve children’s eyesight

This post now on Google News and on wwwbasilandspice.com In the last 30 years, the number of nearsighted Americans has increased dramatically, by 66%.  Nearsightedness, or myopia, is the inability  to focus on distant objects. In the early 1970s, 25%

Posted in Climate change, Environmental footprint, Health, Human behavior Tagged with: , , , ,

Exposure to a widely used chemical in utero leads to less masculine play in male children

Boys exposed in the womb to chemicals called phthalates are less likely to engage in masculine play during childhood.  So says a study soon to be published in the International Journal of Andrology.  Masculine play was defined as playing with

Posted in Babies, Environmental pollution, Health, Human behavior Tagged with: , ,

What’s this blog about?

These days, I blog mostly about nature and wildlife. Even the tiniest creatures make me happy! You'll also find here lots of posts about plant-based foods, health, and ecotourism. Ecotourism can support local people who make a living through sustainable use of wildlife, habitat, and natural resources.

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Link to our other blog, Veggie Revolution

Our other blog, Veggie Revolution, focuses more on food than this one does, especially the environmental, health and humane aspects of our food choices. That blog was started in 2005 and continues today, while the blog you're reading now began in 2009. Some of the newer posts are on both blogs, but Veggie Rev has at least 260 more posts than this blog, including Sadie's travels to Morocco. In the sidebar of Veggie Rev, you'll see links to each year that can take you back to all the posts for a particular year.

Veggie Revolution blog