If there is a man who appears to be the archetype of testosterone-fueled strength, it is California’s former governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. What do real men, men like Conan the Barbarian, the Last Action Hero and the Kindergarden Cop eat? Steak, of course. Giant heaping piles of it. Indeed steak is so synonymous with strength that “strength” is the title of this slightly weird marketing booklet from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.   Endurance athletes too are often urged to draw strength from meat. I have been paid to exercise at various points in my life and cannot count the times I have been served a giant bleeding hunk of cow the night before I set off into the depths of aerobic exhaustion. This practice, it seems, has historical precedent. According to one peer-reviewed article by respected sports science guru Asker Jeukendrup, and of course the film A Sunday in Hell, steak and chicken wings were the fuel of Eddy Merckx, perhaps the greatest cyclist ever to have turned a pedal.   But the times, and the breakfasts of champions, are changing. If you had access to the internet or the supermarket in the past few months, you are probably aware of The Game Changers, which features, among other luminaries, the seven-time Mr. Olympia himself. The film follows UFC fighter James Wilks as he attempts to recover from injury using a plant-based diet — and portrays ditching animal products as not only healthy, but also a significant boost to the performance of elite athletes.   Since the film’s release, it has come under pretty severe criticism from both sports nutritionists (including Jeukendrup himself) and other vegan advocates for its clear bias, use of logical fallacies and cherry-picking of evidence. Additionally, the film’s executive producer, James Cameron (who also, incidentally, directed Arnie’s Terminator), owns a plant-based protein company: Verident Foods.   But just because the film stretched the truth doesn’t mean there wasn’t truth in it. It has started a conversation on plant-based diets that, in the face of an epidemic of obesity, increasingly severe climate change and a growing global population, we really need to be having.    

Kernels of Truth

  We asked Registered Dietitian and athlete Matt Ruscigno, MPH, author of Plant Based Sports Nutrition, for his take on the film and on how a vegan diet can help athletes. Ruscigno is quick to point out that, although scientific rigor is important, especially to someone in his field, “it’s seeing experiences that help people change.” He adds that people are generally unaware that it is possible to be a top-level athlete and be vegan, so in this regard the film is doing a valuable job in raising awareness.   Ruscigno doesn’t necessarily say going vegan will transform your performance, but he does point to evidence that including more whole plant foods in your diet, as opposed to supplementing with vitamins, just might. One claim made in Game Changers (and all over the internet) is that plant-based diets reduce inflammation. The problem here is one of precision. Some inflammation is good; it is what lets the body know that it needs to build new muscle because the old stuff has been damaged. So loading up on Advil and Vitamin C supplements (which contain inflammation-fighting antioxidants) won’t make you faster, but eating a healthy plant-based diet might help moderate that inflammation and boost recovery.   “Inflammation is a real thing, and there is cellular damage from physical activity, and nutrition does play a role,” says Ruscigno. “There is some evidence that the antioxidants [from plants] do play a role in speeding recovery and reducing inflammation. How much of a difference? That’s not an answer I’ve seen.” Anecdotally, athletes from top US Olympic weightlifter Kendrick Farris to tennis legend Venus Williams credit their vegan diets with bouncing back faster.   A study published  in the Journal of the American Heart Association did show that a vegan diet reduced inflammation in people with heart disease more than the AHA’s recommended diet, but this doesn’t have a direct analog in terms of performance as an athlete. However, given that athletes are at a higher risk of cardiovascular issues, it might be a good idea to get out ahead of them with a diet that is likely to reduce that risk. It is certainly clear that eating a plant-based diet won’t harm your recovery, and it seems like eating lots of plants might help. It will certainly reduce your risk of dropping dead, even when compared to a healthy omnivorous diet.   The knee jerk objection to vegan diets is, of course, that you won’t get enough protein to replace all that steak that you could be eating. This idea is based in the myth that plant foods don’t contain enough of the amino acids that combine to form proteins; plant proteins are often called “incomplete proteins” for this reason.   Ruscigno says this belief is largely unfounded: “All whole plant foods have all of the essential amino acids! Every one of them. It’s a misnomer they are missing. This is because not every serving contains the exact minimum need for every amino acid. But that’s okay because we eat, or should be eating, a variety of foods and it adds up in the end.” So essentially, as long as you eat a varied diet you will get enough of all the essential amino acids to build muscle. The answer to the age old “where do you get your protein?” question is… from food.      

Changing for the Better

  There’s also a stigma around soy that is largely unfounded. There were some small studies 30 years ago that suggested it would somehow make you less manly, but those results haven’t been repeated. If you’re worried about phytoestrogens in soy making you grow man boobs, consider that there are actual estrogens in dairy milk and those, as well as the phytoestrogens in soy, are not going to be a problem unless you hook yourself up to some kind of dairy IV.   For elite athletes, it seems pretty clear that it is possible to be vegan and not see any compromises in performance. Venus Williams, Lionel Messi, Colin Kaepernick, legendary strongman Patrick Baboumian, and 11 members of the Tennessee Titans are vegan and doing just fine. Of course, these athletes do take great care over their diets, but everyday athletes could also benefit from a plant-based diet.   I started eating vegan about a year ago, and simply removing gas station candy bars and giant coffee shop muffins on long bike rides and grabbing something like a banana, or a pack of Swedish fish, has helped me get a little leaner. I also don’t tend to get that post-stop slump when I eat easier-digesting carbs and don’t load up on fat. Yeah, there are vegan muffins, and non-vegans could eat bananas, but taking the bad choices away and making it easier to eat plants reduces some of the decision fatigue that comes with healthy eating.   The case for going plant-based extends beyond the performance aspect, too. A pretty solid scientific consensus indicates that plant-based eating reduces your carbon footprint, and if you like to play outside, that should be important to you. It’s also true, as Ruscigno points out, that many of us turn to plant-based foods before and during exercise anyway because they digest easily. Bananas, peanut butter, oatmeal and bagels are staples of just about any pre-marathon breakfast buffet, and they’re all vegan. The other stuff we eat after competing because we know it might not sit so well… which might lead one to question if we need to eat it at all.   Of course, switching from an omnivorous diet to a vegan one is not easy, and you could get many of the benefits of a vegan diet from simply eating more plants and less meat. For me, the only really winning argument for a vegan diet was driving past cattle farms in the desert. I grew up farming sheep and spent a lot of time helping other people farm cattle. I don’t like seeing animals suffer and I don’t want to have any part in that. For me, the most compelling argument will always be the moral one.   Switching to a plant-based diet, in my n=1 experience, has helped me as an athlete. Most plant-based foods do contain carbohydrates, and carbohydrates play a crucial role in fueling exercise. It’s easy for athletes in endurance sports to under-consume carbs in the post-Atkins era. Now that I have switched chicken for chickpeas, I am getting more slow-digesting healthy carbs at every meal. As for protein, it really isn’t that hard to get. I eat quite a lot of food thanks to my endurance sport habit, and most of that food has protein. I haven’t noticed myself sucking, or shrinking.   If you’re looking to replace candy bars and protein shakes, there are healthy vegan options. But as Ruscigno points out, the best vegan snacks and protein products are the ones you already know about. Nuts and seeds last forever, taste great, don’t come with weird ingredients and boast a balanced nutrition profile. Like it or not, you might actually be pretty close to a plant-based diet already.    

4 Vegan Snacks We Love

                   

Empty it out

  As a rule of thumb, containers need to be rinsed and free of product before being recycled.   Fragrances and products like nail varnish, polish remover and aftershave are considered hazardous waste and unsafe for recycling.   “Anything that has product left in it should go back to a household hazardous waste depot, where they make sure the materials go in the right place,” says Nadine Kerr, manager of resource recovery for Solid Waste Management Services at the City of Toronto.   “It can cause equipment breakdown and hazards for the people who are working at these facilities.”   In particular, aerosol cans must be completely emptied and depressurized – failure to remove excess product can cause an explosion while the can is being processed. Waste processing varies between municipalities.   In Toronto, the main guide for recycling protocol is the TOwaste app. Elsewhere, check with your local municipality.  

Don’t just hope for the best

  Chucking your empties, even if they’re thoroughly rinsed, into the blue bin simply doesn’t cut it.   “Aspirational recycling” refers to when “consumers aren’t sure if something’s recyclable or if it will get recycled because maybe it has some product in it, but they put it in anyway because they want to give it a chance,” says Michael Waas, global vice president of brand partnerships at TerraCycle.   When not separated, mixed-component packaging – even if made up of entirely recyclable matter – can’t be processed by most municipal recycling streams.   “The line will kick out [contaminated] products, and usually the products surrounding them, because they’re operating very quickly and with a huge volume,” says Waas.   Facilities are ill-equipped to sort through the tiny components (think multi-part pumps and caps) found in cosmetic vessels and their packages.   Coils and spiral bindings, such as the ones found in pump bottles, cannot be recycled by municipal recycling streams and belong in the trash.  

Understand the signs

  The Mobius loop – an international recycling symbol – does not guarantee a product will be recycled through your city’s stream. However, the numbers within the loop indicate the type of plastic used in the product.   “The good news is if you have a container that has a number five or one, that product is all made of a single resin,” says Kerr, and that means those products are easier to recycle.   Look out for number seven plastics – they’re often made up of multiple resins, making them more difficult to recycle.  

Not the answer

  On the surface, biodegradable plastics may seem like a miraculous solution to the waste crisis, but packaging made of polylactic acid (a common biodegradable plastic derived from corn) won’t decompose unless it’s processed at a high-efficiency composting facility.   “Biodegradable packaging doesn’t add a lot of value to the compost, and, as a result, composters don’t really want it,” says Waas.   “The only sustainable solution is designing single use [plastics] out of the equation.”  

Buy Greener

  Use your purchasing power to put the onus on brands to streamline the recycling process.   “Recycling is an economics challenge in that there is a technical recycling solution for absolutely every product and package,” says Waas. “The question is whether it makes economic sense for it to be recycled.”   Most non-recyclable waste is considered as such because the cost to collect it exceeds the price for which the recovered material is sold.   TerraCycle, the global recycling program behind Loop, has collection programs with brands like Caudalie, Weleda, Burt’s Bees and EOS, which are willing to absorb those costs.   Return your brand-specific empties either by mail (free of charge) or in-store, and they will be remoulded into new products. If you aren’t brand-loyal, companies like L’Occitane, The Detox Market andDeciem have also partnered with TerraCycle and accept any product packaging at select locations.  

REFS

Published on ellecanada.com

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at Russo Music Asbury Park on April 19, 2020 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Sponsored by D’Addario® and international recycling company TerraCycle®, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.

No dia 17/03, foi realizado a doação dos lacres de alumínio arrecadados em todo o Câmpus nos “Papa-lacres” e no Ecoponto Solidário. Os lacres foram doados para a Instituição de Serviço Social do Hospital Universitário de Londrina. No total, foram doados 20,7 Kg de lacres que poderão ser convertidos na compra de materiais hospitalares para os mais necessitados.

Anyone who walks into my house would probably notice the canvas totes by the front door, the multiple recycling bins and maybe even the drawer packed with plastic bags.   Motivated by climate change and the increased need for sustainable habits, my family continues to make efforts toward creating an environmentally friendly home.   We are by no means perfect, but we have learned a great deal in the process, determining which changes are easier and more feasible than others - and which best suit our household.   Many of the changes were gradual; I didn’t notice that they had become habits until I thought deliberately about our family’s actions and impact. But we choose to make it this way: much of the work my family does to move toward sustainability revolves around making sustainable habits easy. When the environmentally beneficial option is faster, more convenient or accessible, it’s easier to make a better decision and form sustainable habits.   Our trek toward sustainability is still a work in progress, but I’d like to share the changes my family has made so far in the hopes it will inspire others to begin their journey as well.  

HOUSEHOLD CHANGES AND HABITS

  • Reusable-paper box, plastic-bag drawer. Whenever I need scratch paper, I head to our designated box in the living room. Any leftover one-sided paper is placed in the box so that it can be reused by other family members. This system makes reusing paper an easy and beneficial habit. The box itself isn’t fancy; it’s made of a flat gift box, previously used to package clothing. Similar to our reusable-paper box, we have a drawer in the kitchen to store reusable plastic bags, usually leftover from shopping. Tying the bags into knots keeps them from tangling.   • Keep recycling at hand. At the base of each desk is a little recycling bin. We keep our main recycling tub in the kitchen so that people can empty their bins while grabbing snacks or drinks. This also conveniently places the recycling next to the sink for easy disposal of rinsed, empty juice bottles or containers. An actual bin isn’t a requirement, though. I repurpose a mug.   • A sustainable closet. To reduce my closet’s impact on the environment, I focus on rebuilding with each new piece I purchase, rather than splurging on sustainable items. I particularly like brands such as Cotopaxi, Patagonia’s Worn Wear collection, or Rothy’s - they use remnant textiles from other companies or other recycled materials. I buy from companies like these because it’s important to provide a market for items made from recycled materials. Often, sustainable brands have expensive items due to the process of repurposing old material. Buying second-hand is an effective way to reduce one’s footprint and find clothing without breaking the bank.  

INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES AND CITY PROGRAMS

  In our house, replacing old light bulbs with LEDs and choosing low-flow showerheads have been easy ways to reduce our electricity and water consumption because they don’t require behavioral change.   However, replacing all hardware at once with sustainable options is often intimidating due to its expense and logistic difficulties. Our family works toward sustainable architecture and hardware by prioritizing the environment when updating or repairing our house - this usually applies to larger investments.   For example, when our older gas-powered car broke down recently, we invested in an electric vehicle as its replacement. When our toilet began leaking, we replaced it with a low-flow toilet to reduce our water consumption. We find the slow transition toward sustainability manageable.   Below, I list a few hardware changes that my family either has incorporated or is looking into.   • Reducing water consumption. Low-flow toilets, showerheads and faucets all can contribute to reducing water use. Also, periodically checking for leaks can both save water and minimize your water bill. Many energy and water providers in the area have rebate programs to encourage sustainable consumption. Silicon Valley Clean Energy incentivizes the switch from a natural gas water heater to an electric Heat Pump Water Heater by offering rebates through its FutureFit Program. Cal Water offers rebates for high-efficiency toilets, clothes washers, irrigation controllers and sprinkler nozzles. The Santa Clara Valley Water District offers rebates for low-water landscaping, greywater system installation, submeter installation and private well installation. For more information on any of these programs, visit the organizations’ respective websites.   • Exploring energy conservation and generation. Switching to LEDs is a quick way to reduce energy consumption, but make sure to dispose of old light bulbs correctly; they’re considered hazardous waste. Los Altos Hardware in downtown Los Altos accepts CFLs and fluorescent tubes.  

LOOKING AHEAD

  I’m proud of my family’s efforts toward integrating sustainability into our daily lives through small steps. But even with what we’ve accomplished so far, we are always looking to improve and would love to do more. That’s why I’ve made a list below of a few actions we’d like to pick up. Hopefully, it inspires you to make a list of your own.   • Plan meals or purchase food mindfully. An immense amount of food waste is produced each year. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that we waste approximately 31% of the food available for consumption, equivalent to 133 billion pounds and nearly $162 billion lost. My family would like to cook and purchase only what we can finish.   • Incorporate compost into our garden. We have a small garden in our backyard, from which we can harvest homegrown kale, basil, mint, strawberries and more. Mission Trail Waste system, our local waste management service, is happy to deliver a complimentary backyard compost bin or worm bin on request; we haven’t yet used this opportunity. They also conduct compost giveaways as directed by the city. My family would love to integrate our home compost system into our garden to make use of the organics we generate.   • Use sustainable toiletries. I’d love to transition to shampoo bars and solid toothpaste, especially because toothpaste containers are often not recyclable (due to their composition of plastic and aluminum) and generate a large amount of waste. Alternatively, I’d be willing to try TerraCycle, Colgate’s Oral Care Recycling Program, where people can ship their oral care product packaging waste. However, I’m not sure if the environmental benefit of a few toothpaste tubes would offset the carbon emissions from shipping the waste itself.  

REFLECTING

  There are always ways to improve, and often it’s hard to know where to start. I suggest having a conversation with your family about which areas of sustainability to focus on.   I recommend choosing and integrating a few behavioral changes into your daily routine, in addition to accomplishing doable tasks sooner rather than later, such as changing light bulbs and showerheads. After a few weeks, reassess your household and have another quick conversation. What did you do well and how can you do better? Don’t forget to celebrate successes.   I do worry about the future of our planet, and my generation’s future. Even though our environmental efforts may not seem like much individually, the cumulative impact of our actions has the potential to save our beautiful world.   If we’re able to control our footprint and the demand of the market by voting with our wallets and action, I believe that we can take on climate change one household at a time.   Audrey Chang is co-president of the Los Altos High School Green Team.

For several decades, packaging on plastic bottles and containers of various types and sizes has been labeled with a triangle surrounding a number. That number — one through seven — was supposed to help consumers determine what to do with that bottle or container when they were done with the contents. While it sounds easy, this method didn’t always work for consumers, who often felt confused about what was recyclable and what wasn’t.     Hi-Cone, a global supplier of ring carrier multi-packaging systems for the beer and non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverage markets, surveyed 5,500 adult consumers across four markets — Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and United States — and found that 91% of consumers believe that recycling plastic is beneficial yet 69% said they weren’t recycling enough. The majority of adults (80%) who do not currently recycle all of their plastic waste reported that they would recycle plastic more frequently if they had more facilities and/or guidance, with 60% of adults agreeing that they do not know how to recycle some types of plastic packaging.   Another problem that Hi-Cone uncovered was the uncertainty among consumers over which packaging material is better for the environment: 18% of adults reported being unsure if non-plastic packaging, such as cardboard, glass, and cans, is better for the environment than plastic packaging; 36% said they were unsure if it takes more energy and natural resources to recycle plastic than paper; and 30% reported being unsure if using a small amount of plastic packaging can be better for the environment than a large amount of a different packaging material, such as cardboard.   In other words, consumer education is critical to the success of recycling. Consumers want good information when it comes to what and how to recycle. It’s up to the plastics industry — trade organizations, producers, and processors — to provide that education. Instead, many consumers are being eco-shamed into rejecting plastic packaging, such as retail bags and take-out containers, without knowing what alternatives are any better.   Unfortunately, many consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies respond by making promises of greater recyclability, biodegradability, or compostability. They put labels on the bottles or containers that indicate one of those three end-of-life possibilities, when many of these claims turn out to be nothing more than virtue-signaling with the intent of making consumers have a “feel-good” experience.   Hi-Cone Vice President and General Manager Shawn Welch acknowledged the challenges the packaging industry faces as sustainability has become a major focus in recent years. “There is a great need to create a more transparent process and clear guidance for consumers when it comes to the development of a circular economy and better recycling practices. Only by understanding consumer beliefs, national programs and global goals, can the industry make real progress in sustainability.”   More and more industry trade associations in North America and Europe are calling for CPGs to get real when it comes to making claims about their packaging. Part of that must include truth in labeling. For example, don’t say that your plastic packaging is compostable if you know there are few or no commercial composting facilities that will accept that package. I’m not sure that even saying it’s “compostable wherever there is a commercial composting facility that will accept this package” is enough to justify using the word compostable on the package.   As for the term “biodegradable” (which is not permitted in California), most consumers have this visual of a plastic water bottle or container that can be tossed out of the car window onto the side of the road disappearing in a few weeks. Again, that is misleading to the consumer.   Hi-Cone has been making strides in its own sustainability journey, the company pointed out, including the formation of several cross-industry partnerships, such as TerraCycle in the UK, and the launch of their 50%+ post-consumer recycled content product, RingCycles, which reduces the company’s use of virgin plastic by half. The company’s goal is to educate consumers on how to reduce plastic consumption and how to recycle in a circular economy, an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources.   “Open communication between the industry and the public will help prevent further environmental risk down the road by stopping the current trend of solving one problem and replacing it with an even bigger one,” said Welch. A recent Green Alliance report warned of the potential environmental risks of banning plastic packaging in favor of other materials that have larger carbon footprints and, therefore, can be seen as detrimental to the environment. “Better communication will help us find a real solution,” added Welch.  

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at Art & Music LLC in Redmond on April 20, 2020 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Sponsored by D’Addario® and international recycling company TerraCycle®, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at GarageBand Music in Utica on April 18, 2020 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Sponsored by D’Addario® and international recycling company TerraCycle®, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at PC Sound Inc. in Washington on April 4, 2020 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Sponsored by D’Addario® and international recycling company TerraCycle®, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at Shiloh Music Center in Mount Juliet on April 2, 2020 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Sponsored by D’Addario® and international recycling company TerraCycle®, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.