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The plastics backlash Garbage, including plastic waste, is seen at the beach in Costa del Este, Panama City. Photograph: Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images

It was once the height of metropolitan chic: the dash into Starbucks for a skinny decaf caramel latte en route for work, the takeaway cup a mark of upward mobility. Those were the days of Sex and the City, when the culture of doing everything on the go eating, drinking, socialising was taking hold.

But in the past 10 years, in the developed world at least, the accoutrements of a disposable society the coffee cup, the plastic bag, the bottle of water have become items of shame as we see them pulled from dead marine mammals, clogging rivers in developing countries or lying on beaches littered with detritus.

Since 2010, more than 120 countries have banned or legislated against the use of plastic bags. European countries, including the UK, have considered levies on takeaway coffee cups and multimillion-pound brands such as Coca-Cola and Nestl have faced high-profile campaigns designed to get them to clean up their waste. Fast fashion has come under fire too.

These movements are in their infancy and the scale of the problem is still growing. Some companies are taking their own steps, but legislation in Europe will force their minds to focus on reducing their waste footprint. And while images continue to spread across the globe exposing how our lifestyles damage wildlife and the environment, the backlash against a disposable society is likely to continue. Sandra Laville

The 2010s were a decade of hard-won progress in gender equality and reproductive rights globally. The launch of a campaign to increase access to modern forms of contraceptive in 2012 has resulted in 53 million more women and girls now using family planning in some of the worlds poorest countries. Two-thirds of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. And, although the figure is still low, more women are now sitting in parliament than in 2010: 11,340, compared with 8,190.

The #MeToo and Times Up movements have propelled sexual violence and harassment into the spotlight and young women have become the face of high-profile global campaigns, including the Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai fighting for girls education, and Greta Thunberg for action to tackle the climate crisis. One notable campaign was the struggle against female genital mutilation (FGM), which gathered pace through the decade.

But any progress is tempered by statistics that show one in three women globally will experience sexual or physical violence in their lifetime. Efforts by conservative religious groups to roll back womens rights, particularly sexual and reproductive rights, have intensified and are having some impact. The Trump administration has emboldened these groups by introducing an extreme policy that bans funding to overseas groups doing any work related to abortion.

However, women are mobilising in their tens of thousands to fight the backlash, setting the stage for a turbulent start to a new decade. Liz Ford

Giving a DVD or CD as a gift in 2010 was commonplace. Not any more. In the past decade, not only has the music industry shifted from CD to MP3 (with a smattering of a cassette and vinyl resurgence thrown in) and TV platforms from live services to on-demand catch-up players, but paid-for streaming is now the unequivocal norm across most of the developed world.

Since Netflix switched its primary business model of DVD rental to streaming in 2010, its user base has soared. The recent release of the $159m Scorsese epic The Irishman amply demonstrates that Netflix has the financing to eclipse even the most established of Hollywood giants for its own content. Other producers are following suit, from Amazons Prime Video service, which accounts for over 26 million users, to the BBC and ITVs new BritBox platform. Streaming has become the default.

The situation is even more marked in the music industry. Since its launch in 2008, Spotify has grown to 248 million monthly active users and is valued at $23bn. Streaming now accounts for more than half of major record label income. As CD sales drop by almost 29% year on year, labels are increasingly relying on streaming as the main platform for their new and established artists, with services such as Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music all providing rival alternatives. Even MP3 downloads are dropping by almost 28% each year, a shift exemplified by Apple shutting down its flagship iTunes service to become a part of its streaming platform, Apple Music.

Potential unlimited access to thousands of hours of TV, film and music is clearly a tantalising prospect not to mention the environmental advantages of moving away from physical products. The access to this information has become more important than ownership. Few predict that the tide of streaming will turn back any time soon. Ammar Kalia

Ten years ago, being vegan came with a certain social stigma. It was the kind of diet that led to eye-rolls at dinner parties, a limited range of restaurant options and the continuous fielding of the question: So, what do you eat?

But over the course of a decade veganism has gone mainstream in the developed world. According to a poll commissioned by the Vegan Society, there are now 600,000 vegans in the UK, up from 150,000 in 2014, as well as millions adopting vegetarian or flexitarian diets. Its no surprise that companies have been scrambling to make the most of this flourishing new market.

One in six food products launched in the UK in 2018 had a vegan claim and all the major supermarket chains have increased their vegan offerings. Who could forget the nationwide buzz generated by the Greggs vegan sausage roll earlier this year, which flew off the shelves and boosted company profits? Now McDonalds has announced the launch of its first fully vegan Happy Meal.

Concern over animal welfare, along with a desire to be more environmentally friendly and eat healthily, has largely fuelled the demand, with record numbers signing up to Veganuary every year, from 3,300 in 2014 to 250,000 in 2019. And the trend is not just consigned to food: sales of cruelty-free cleaning products have soared, while Superdrug reported a rise of over 300% in sales of vegan-labelled beauty products from 2015 to 2018.

There are now countless vegan events and dozens of cookbooks, and restaurants from Wagamamas to Pizza Hut offer vegan options; in just a few years, consumer pressure has forced society to accommodate lifestyles free from animal products better than ever before. The shift shows no sign of letting up either, with some reports suggesting that a quarter of the population will be vegetarian by 2025. Jessica Murray

In early December, thousands of Britons were paid to charge their electric vehicles or run a laundry load to make use of the record-breaking renewable energy generated by the UKs wind farms. It is the latest example of how the renewable industry has turned the energy system on its head in the past 10 years.

At the turn of the decade, wind, solar and hydro power projects made up less than 8% of Britains electricity. Today, more than a third of the electricity mix comes from the fleet of renewable projects, which have grown fourfold in 10 years. Globally, investors have ploughed $2.5tn into renewables since 2010 to drive its share of the worlds power generation to 12%.

The burgeoning industrys greatest feat has been to cut the costs of renewable energy technology far faster than expected. A global survey by Bloomberg New Energy Finance found that solar power costs had fallen by over 80% since 2009, while onshore wind had plunged by 46%. In the UK, the cost of offshore windfarms has dropped by half in the past two years alone; they are now cheaper to build and run than fossil-fuel plants.

The ultra-low cost of renewables means wind and solar farms will spread even faster in the years to come. By 2030, the UK government expects offshore windfarms alone to provide almost a third of the UKs electricity, with total renewables making up about half of the electricity system. Renewable energys greatest decade will light the way for even greater decades ahead. Jillian Ambrose

It was the decade when we finally turned to face our mental health problems, didnt much like what we saw and started to do something about it.

In 2010, depression was still the illness that dared not speak its name: wherever you lived, few people mentioned it in public apart from the occasional brave celebrity outlier. Certainly there were no MPs, chief executives or presidents on the record about their psychological disorders.

By the end of 2019, its still not easy to tell the world that there is something not quite right with your brain. But its perhaps easier than it has ever been. You may well still face discrimination particularly if you suffer from one of the rarer conditions that are still taboo, like schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder. But people will understand.

Many family doctors will have a better grasp now than they did 10 years ago (though they may not be able to do much for you). Your workplace will probably have mental health first-aiders, employee assistance programmes and, if they are really smart, psychiatric conditions added to employee insurance policies. Your friends will all know someone who has been through something similar.

What changed? The internet undoubtedly helped (though Googling your symptoms remains a very bad idea): a torrent of blogs, videos and advice columns helped to shed light on the darkness. Campaigns by British royal family members and mental health charities cut through. MPs including Charles Walker and Kevan Jones came out. Portrayals in TV shows, films and novels multiplied.

The next step is to crack the treatment conundrum. By the end of the 2020s, mental ill-health will be so common that it may even become the rule rather than the exception. But it will still feel like the most dreadful thing that can ever happen to a human, and the demand for services will have gone up, not down. Mark Rice-Oxley

At the start of the 2010s, transgender people did not exist in the mainstream. They were portrayed by cisgender actors in Hollywood, excluded from US and UK gay rights groups and denied basic legal recognition. But now, trans and non-binary people are stars on screen and breaking barriers in media, politics, sports, courtrooms, science and other industries.

In 2013, the US whistleblower Chelsea Manning came out as trans and became a global LGBTQ+ icon. In 2014, the actor Laverne Cox graced the cover of Time magazine, which declared a transgender tipping point. Caitlyn Jenner came out the following year.

While cis male actors repeatedly won awards for playing trans women in the first half of the decade and beyond, this kind of casting eventually became untenable; in 2018, Scarlett Johansson dropped a role as a trans man amid massive backlash, while Tangerine, A Fantastic Woman, Pose and other projects raised the bar by giving trans actors leading roles.

Celebrities such as Indya Moore, Asia Kate Dillon and Sam Smith also came out as non-binary, pushing mainstream awareness of gender-nonconforming people, who have long existed in cultures around the world.

With expanded societal and scientific recognition that gender is fluid, states across the US passed laws allowing people who are neither female nor male to mark a third gender on IDs. Germany, Nepal, Austria and other countries also expanded gender options. Teens increasingly rejected gender labels and intersex rights activism blossomed.

There has been a dark side to the progress: unprecedented assaults on LGBTQ+ rights and increasing reports of violence, harassment and discrimination, particularly against trans women of colour. The decade of visibility and backlash has set the stage for continued civil rights battles with growing movements of trans and non-binary people organising to fight back. Sam Levin in Los Angeles

A decade of steady quantitive growth for womens football in England has been studded with qualitative leaps in the sports development.

In 2011, the FA launched the Womens Super League and moved the game out of the shadow of the mens into the summer. It was a bold step and reaped instant rewards. The average attendance of 550 in that first season was an increase of 604% on the previous season average. At the decades close, that average had reached 4,112.

The English national team, the Lionesses, have provided the biggest public window into the game, with consistent showings through the decade. That has generated a surge in the number of women and girls playing football: there are now more than 11,000 registered teams and more than 2.6 million women over 16 playing at one level or another.

This is all a result of multimillion-pound investment from the FA and commercial partners. In 2018, the FA announced an additional investment of 50m in the womens game over six years. A league sponsorship deal with Barclays is believed to include investment of as much as 20m.

There is a real momentum behind womens football. Professionalism means the product on the pitch has improved dramatically and a home Euros to help start the decade off in 2021 is likely to be another moment that propels the sport forward. Suzanne Wrack

The jury is still out on whether vaping will take over from more traditional methods of consuming tobacco but, in terms of pure numbers, it was indisputably one of the trends of the decade.

The first e-cigarette is credited to a Chinese pharmacist called Hon Lik, who said he invented it after his father died of lung cancer. Those that arrived in the UK in 2006 were described as cigalikes, devices heating nicotine to produce inhalable vapour but still masquerading as cigarettes.

Measurement of e-cigarette use began in 2012, at a time when less than half the adult population of the UK had heard of them. In that year, there were 700,000 users (1.7% of the population). In 2019, that had grown to 3.6 million (7.1%). According to ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), just under 2 million of todays vapers are ex-smokers, 1.4 million are current smokers and 200,000 have never smoked. The reason most often given for vaping is to quit smoking. Most public health experts in the UK, with some notable exceptions, think e-cigarettes could save lives. Nicotine is strongly addictive but not proven to do harm, whereas the smoke and tar from tobacco kill up to half of those who use cigarettes.

But e-cigarettes have developed a bad name in the US, at first because of Juul, a stylish device looking like a USB stick that took off among high-school pupils. It contains three times the level of nicotine permitted in Europe. A panic among parents and teachers became a national scare when reports began to pile up of adult vapers with lung diseases. As of mid-November, the authorities have reported 2,172 cases of lung injury and 42 deaths.

If e-cigarettes can weather the storm and irrefutable data is collected to show they are a big help in quitting smoking, they could still have a bright future. But after such reputational damage, the adolescents of 2030 may be asking: Vaping what was that? Sarah Boseley

The technical specification says it all. In 2010, the top-of-the-line iPhone 3GS had a 480-pixel-high screen, 32GB of storage and a 3-megapixel camera. Going into 2020, the equivalent iPhone 11 Pro has a 12-megapixel camera, 512GB of storage, and about 17 times the pixels in the screen. Weve dropped the smart, too, and the mobile. Its just a phone now and it lies at the heart of everything.

It also costs 1,400. That, more than anything else, shows the real change that smartphones have wrought over the past decade: from an optional extra, sold to boost the value of phone contracts, to the core of modern life. Apple can charge such a price because phones are firmly established as central to productivity, to entertainment, to communication and to education.

The proliferation of phones across the globe is one of the stories of the decade. There are an estimated 3.2 billion smartphone users worldwide, a penetration rate of 42%. That spread overwhelmingly on Googles Android operating system has let countries leapfrog previously essential stages of development: from sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile internet is crucial to economic development even though fixed lines are still scarce, to China, where cashless stores are more common than in the US despite a 10th of the take-up of credit cards.

In the developed world, phones have killed the concept of being online. Once, the internet was a place you sat down to connect to. Now, were all online all the time, and the reality-distorting effects are bleeding over into meatspace. Misinformation on Twitter makes the front pages; CGI-Instagram influencers are licensed for fashion ads.

That change will last. Phones may alter unrecognisably over the next decade, with smart glasses, voice assistants and wearables taking more of the interactions, shrinking the phone down to an always-on and always-on-you hub. But the blending of realities is here to stay. Alex Hern

In 2010, the traditional media ecosystem was fraying but largely intact: television still attracted big ratings, print newspaper sales were struggling but had yet to fall off a cliff and many people still used traditional phones that could do little more than call and text. Although we were spending increasing amounts of time online, people still generally accessed Facebook through the site on a desktop computer. Instagram was in its infancy. Twitter was still quite niche.

But as smartphone usage took off in the early part of the decade, everything changed. Suddenly, checking a social network turned from something that took place a maximum of a few times a day, perhaps on your lunch break when the boss wasnt looking, into an addictive habit. With people constantly checking Facebook, new ways of communication and new formats of conveying news took hold. As hundreds of millions spent more time on these networks, the advertising cash followed them. By the end of the decade the social network that started as outsiders had grown into lightly regulated behemoths. Their algorithms exerted enormous influence over commerce, the media, and politics. They were credited with anything from allowing small businesses to flourish to undermining journalism and helping extremists to gain power.

Whether the same social networks continue to exert the same amount of influence in 2030 depends on two things. First, whether governments have the political will to regulate or break up these companies. And, second, and potentially more damaging, whether they can convince the public to keep using them and not spend their time elsewhere. One scary lesson for Mark Zuckerberg is that no one is talking about the risk MySpace poses to democracy. Jim Waterson

The shale revolution has made the unthinkable inevitable. In the blink of a decade, fracking has transformed the US from an energy-hungry importer to one of the worlds most important energy producers. The US is poised to enter the 2020s as a net exporter of oil and gas for the first time since records began.

At the centre of the boom in shale oil and gas was a technology breakthrough. Across the US shale heartlands in Texas, North Dakota and New Mexico, hydraulic fracturing unlocked vast reserves of oil and gas trapped in unyielding layers of shale. It was an engineering feat that has upended global energy markets and rewritten the rules of geopolitics.

The impact has been profound. By declaring its energy independence, the US has claimed its right to step back from the instability in the Middle East in favour of a US-first diplomatic policy. It has ignited a surge in manufacturing, which has helped fuel trade tensions with China. It has hardened the stance against the climate agenda, oiling the US exit from the Paris climate agreement. Since 2010, the amount of shale oil and gas produced has increased sixfold.

Within the first half of the decade, the rise of North Americas upstart frackers triggered the start of the most severe oil market downturn on record. By the second half of the decade the Opec oil group determined its production policy around the prospects of US frackers. Today, the worlds biggest oil companies have staked multibillion-dollar investments on their claim to the next phase of the US shale era.

There is yet to be a convincing successor to the US shale boom elsewhere in the world and with good reason. Environmental concerns, densely populated areas and fierce public opposition have kept frackers at bay across Europe. Efforts to ignite a US-style shale boom in Argentina have been slow to gain traction but may soon take off. Jillian Ambrose

Austerity has defined the decade. Trillions of dollars may have been pumped into the banks to reboot global growth across the developed world but cuts to public spending and welfare benefits, rather than Keynesian stimulus, was the remedy adopted by western governments battered by the worst economic shock since the great depression.

In Britain, cuts imposed by the Conservatives determined the 2010s, fuelling political dissatisfaction that led to the Brexit vote. But the austerity drive spread around the world. Greece was at the centre during the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, as markets feared contagion for other euro-area nations, known together as the PIIGS: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain.

Austerity was the condition attached to international bailouts to stop the rot. Cutting the way to prosperity was all the rage. The belief was that governments could mend their finances while central banks rebooted economic growth by cutting interest rates to zero and firing up the quantitative-easing money press.

The trick worked to a degree, stopping the last recession from turning into another great depression. The US has enjoyed the longest uninterrupted stretch of growth in modern history.

But austerity dismantled the mechanisms that reduce inequality. The 2010s mark the weakest economic expansion on record, wage growth has stalled, the public realm lies in tatters, improvements in living standards are stagnating, politics has shattered into extremes and the world economy remains on life support. A third of young people are still out of work in Greece, where the economy remains a quarter smaller than in 2007. More than 14 million in Britain are struggling in poverty.

Austerity dogma is fading and increasingly regarded a mistake. But after defining the past decade, it will still influence the next. Government spending is starting to rise to repair the damage, but trust in establishment politicians to deliver is shot. The 2010s incubated more radical ideas that will colour the 2020s, while the consequences of austerity will continue to be felt. Richard Partington

In 2010, migration was much less visible on the global agenda, other than in central America and parts of south-east Asia. Today it is a pressing issue on most continents.

There are currently more than 272 million people around the world living outside their country of birth 3.5% of the global population. This is an increase of 51 million since 2010. It shows that the rise in the global number of migrants has outpaced the increase in the worlds population but perhaps not by as much as political rhetoric suggests. Forced migration meaning refugees and asylum seekers has risen much faster than voluntary movement of people seeking better opportunities. One in seven migrants is younger than 20.

Despite the global compacts on migration and refugees adopted last year and despite the broad benefits that migration often brings the issue is arguably more politically sensitive than at any point since the end of the second world war. Governments across Europe and in the US and Australia have put up fences and forced back people seeking refuge.

Migration patterns are tough to predict since they reflect evolving crises and instability but also longer-term societal changes in demographics, economic development, transport access and connectivity. There is every indication, though, that rising population, climate pressure, food insecurity and conflict mean migration will remain as potent an issue through the 2020s. But evidence does not support a dramatic rise in either the number or proportion of migrants.

The latest UN projections suggest zero net migration between now and 2050, which would mean migrants would remain at about 3.17% of a global population of 9.8 billion. Lucy Lamble

When G20 world leaders gathered in London in April 2009, only one politician Silvio Berlusconi could justifiably have been called a rightwing populist. Fast-forward a decade, and three of the four largest democracies on the planet now have far-right populists at the helm: Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Narendra Modi in India and Donald Trump in the US.

In Europe, radical-right populist parties are rarely winning elections but they are securing more votes, more seats in parliament and more power-sharing roles in coalition governments than at any time since the second world war. In the two western countries that arguably suffered most under the rule of 20th-century fascists Germany and Spain far-right parties using populist rhetoric are the third-largest parties in parliament. And they control the government in Poland and Hungary the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbn, has gone a long way toward his goal of transforming the EU country into what he hopes will be an illiberal democracy.

Political scientists do not agree how we got ourselves into this hole, and are even less sure about how we can scramble out. Many explanations for the causes of the rightwing populist wave point to the effects of financial crisis of 2008, the September 11 attacks (and the security clampdown that followed) and, in Europe, the so-called migrant crisis in 2015, which brought into focus long-simmering unease over mass migration.

Others point to the dominance of a neoliberal economic order implemented not just by conservatives but also those who identified as centre-left and paving the way to rampant globalisation and inequality. But no one should discount the impact of a technological era, which has rewired the entire information ecosystem, eroding trust in institutions and rewarding the kind of angry, tribal, divisive and sensational political debates in which rightwing populist thrive. Paul Lewis

What will be the great trends of the 2020s? Let us know your thoughts by emailing theupside@theguardian.com

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From renewables to Netflix: the 15 super-trends that defined the 2010s - The Guardian

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Helen Puttick, ScottishHealthCorrespondent

Supermarkets and online grocery stores should be reorganised to nudge shoppers towards meat alternatives such as buckwheat and chickpeas, researchers have said.

A study involving people from all walks of life in Scotland found that most were resistant to designing new dinners in which favourites such as steak and sausages are replaced with alternative sources of protein.

Experts from the Rowett Institute, the leading diet and nutrition centre in Aberdeen, have suggested that foods be reshuffled around inside big supermarkets so that the meat aisle also includes possible substitutes such as kidney beans and fava beans. Alexandra Johnstone, a senior researcher at the institute, said there should also be prompts for alternatives when people shopped online.

The World Health Organisation recommends reducing consumption of red

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Redesign stores to promote veggie options, say diet experts - The Times

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As Streetsblog readers know, we mark the end of the year with our annual Streetsie awards for the best and worst people, projects, ideas and efforts in the livable streets movement. Well be rolling out our year-end awards every day until New Years Eve, so sit back,look back, and enjoy

Two thousand nineteen was a year in which Not in My Back Yard groups fought vital transportation projects tooth and nail often taking to the courts to stop them.

Yet even so, the citys Department of Transportation inaugurated some sterling additions to the urban landscape that will make New York safer, cleaner and faster-moving. Heres a review of the most exciting transit projects of the year:

At some points this year, the busway appeared mired in court as NIMBY lawyer Arthur Schwartz and his band of wealthy-neighborhood associations plotted to foil the rollout of a transit project that benefits thousands of daily riders by brandishing specious claims about the need for environmental review. The project debuted in October and has not caused the massive traffic spillover onto side streets that its opponents predicted.

Its the exact kind of stand-out project that urbanists hope will revive the fortunes of cities by cutting carbon emissions, eliminating parking, and reclaiming streets from single-occupancy vehicles.

The results have been even more exciting than we thought, and its lifted our spirits to see the positive response, not just that the buses are moving faster, but the street feels calmer, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said. Amen!

Finally waking up to the streetscape changes wrought by e-commerce and for-hire vehicles, DOT gingerly began a program designating some curb space in residential areas for trucks to load or unload all the parcels that people have been ordering. The need for such zones everywhere is obvious the glut of double-parked delivery truck, private vehicles and taxis, often blocking bus and bike lanes, has contributed to noise, pollution, crashes and even a number of traffic deaths.

Even so, some car-loving residents of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, complained loudly enough about losing a few places where they stored their private cars for free that the DOT backed off on some streets. But Trottenberg defended and strengthened the program. It should be expanded citywide.

Along Morris Park Avenue in the Bronx, a small group of business owners led by anti-street safety Council Member Mark Gjonaj won a court order that for a time halted the DOTs safety redesign of a roadway where 426 pedestrians and cyclists have been injured, with one fatality, since 2010. The road diet plan to tame speedway-like conditions would make it more difficult for residents and delivery trucks to unsafely double-park.

But, again, residents and some business owners objected to a loss of parking on the specious grounds that the city had not conducted enough of an environmental review. But the city prevailed, and an overjoyed Trottenberg heralded the safety benefits.

As we have seen dozens of times under Vision Zero, simple road diets like this save lives, she said.

Fat, fatal Eighth Avenue in Manhattan went on a road diet that will give its pedestrians and cyclists more protection by taking room away from drivers on the Theater District thoroughfare.

The DOT is transforming the area between 38th and 45th streets by reducing car lanes by 20 feet, extending a northbound protected bike lane that ended at 39th Street, and widening, by 10 feet, the overcrowded sidewalk from 39th to 41st streets.

The changes cant come fast enough for the deadly roadway. Between 2013 and 2017, drivers killed one pedestrian on the70-foot-wide avenue between just 38th and 45th streets, and severely injured 15 pedestrians and five cyclists. There were 220 total injuries in those five years on just seven blocks! Cyclist Chaim Joseph was killedat 45th Street earlier this year.

In yet another instance of the few NIMBYs car owners blocking progress for the many transit riders, some Queens residents (again represented by Arthur Schwartz) took to the courts to try to stave off a part-time, dedicated bus lane on Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood because it would take some metered parking.

But a sensible judge didnt take their word for it. He went to the street and looked for himself, andruled for the city. Now thousands of riders are enjoying bus speeds that have risen from the snails pace of 2.6 m.p.h. to 6 m.p.h, a 125-percent improvement.

The Central Park West protected bike lane which now extends north from Columbus Circle to 77th Street, despite the hindrance of a NIMBY lawsuit was a blood issue for safe-streets advocates. The death in 2018 of cyclist Madison Lyden, who was forced out of the streets then-unprotected bike lane by an illegally parked cab, then run over by a truck galvanized the bike community, which came out in force to protest the NIMBYs action.

Not only was the NIMBY crowds well-funded suit thrown out of court, cars were kicked from the curb through the repurposing of public space that many drivers think belongs to them. Now activists are asking DOT to make the lane even safer, by installingsplit-phase turning, a design that gives pedestrians and cyclists a separate signal phase from drivers so they can get through intersections, and bus boarding islands, to ensure that northbound buses can safely pick up passengers without having to fight through traffic.

The busway! Nothing gets Streetsblog more excited transportation-wise than this ultimate win-win: a road design that banishes cars in order to help bus riders. May it be the template for further such efforts.

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Streetsies 2019: The Best Transportation Project of the Year - Streetsblog St. Louis

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The following article is not necessarily beef related. However, we feel it deserves an honourable mention, as its not everyday you get to see what happens behind closed doors of an Irish machinery manufacturing facility.

In June of this year,Keenan based in Borris, Co. Carlow opened the gates of its plant to Irish dairy and beef farmers, along with machinery enthusiasts.

The diet feeder manufacturer also provided a factory tour, in which visitors could see exactly how a Keenan feeder wagon is built.

In addition, as part of the open day, the company showcased some of its Keenan approved range, alongside other machines both new and old.

Speaking to AgriLand on the day of the visit Keenan machine inventory manager Michael Doyle (pictured below) outlined what happens to a second-hand feeder once its traded into the Carlow-based site. He also told us what it takes for a machine to make the approved grade.

Diet feeders come in varying conditions and types ranging from fresh machines to older models. Well get machines that have been working every day of their lives for 25-30 years, so the condition will vary.

Firstly, when a machine comes to the factory, well take a look at the physical condition and see how it looks.

Naturally, we cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear; that cant be done. So, if it looks good, well investigate further, Michael explained at the time.

Like any machine, wear and tear comes hand-in-hand and Michael outlined the main parts that have to be examined on every paddle mixer the body, chains, blades and the paddle rubbers.

Michael explained that the approved range comprises machines that are top-of-the-range, second-hand units. The timeline from in-take to finished article for an approved feeder is approximately two-to-three weeks.

We strip these down completely; we strip out the gearbox and the auger, so we will go through everything to make sure its fully functional and put it back together.

Then its shot-blasted and re-painted; new stickers are then applied. The approved machines are all less than 10 years old. We dont approve those that are over 10 years old, but every model in theory is available as approved, he said.

On a new machine, we give 12 months warranty; three months warranty on the approved range. Theres no warranty on other second-hand feeders, but we ensure theyre in good working order.

All approved machines have new hydraulic pipes, tyres, hoses, rubbers and so on.Other second-hand machines range from 2007 to 2012.

Commenting on why farmers upgrade their machines, he said: The most common reason guys change their machine is that the paddle rubbers and the body blades are worn. So, the machine is actually working as an easy feeder.

Other reasons include: chains; tensioners on the chains; and springs around the drive systems. We also look at the bearings.

When we open up the front covers, we look to see are the chains slack and thats a tell-tale sign; if its tensioned up, the machine has been looked after. Obviously, you look to see has the machine been greased, he added.

Keenan which claims to have sold over 30,000 machines globally provides diet feeders to both dairy and beef farmers in Ireland and the company is expanding its range.

Our main customer base is the dairy farmer, but we do have a lot of beef farmers and there are more beef guys coming to us now, as they realise the difference in feed efficiency.

The typical-sized machine for a beef farmer tends to be the smaller range the 14-16m MechFibre machines are popular. We are finding a lot of dairy men are going from the 14m [machine] to a 20-24m model.

Touching on prices, he said: We start off with machines available for 5,000-7,000; we go the whole way to a self-propelled machine at approximately 150,000-180,000.

Typically, an approved machine will work out at around 70% of the cost of a new one. Of course, the prices of new machines depend on the individual models and extras such as bale handlers, hardened body liners and so on.

Keenan, part of the Alltech empire, unveiled its brand-new tub feeders in 2017; the tub feeders result from a tie-up between Keenan and Italian firm Storti.

Commenting on this arrangement, Michael said: The self-propelled was key for us, and Storti provided the engine part of that unit.

The vertical-auger feeder was an add-on to that. It brought us into the market very quickly and we didnt have to go down the route of development; the decision was made and within six months we had a product on the market.

To date, two self-propelled diet feeders have been sold in Ireland to dairy farmers in Co. Donegal and Co. Limerick.

As part of the open day, a live demonstration took place showcasing a Keenan MechFibre380 equipped with a bale handler, steering axle, fold-down tray, magnets, an InTouch box and a capacity of 24m.

Keenan area sales managerMelvyn Dowling explained that the diet feeder has the capacity for five-to-six bales, depending on dry matter (DM).

A Keenan VA2-24S tub feeder was also put through its paces. This twin-vertical-auger machine also with a capacity of 24m has a 20mm floor, a bale handler and an InTouch box.

Cathal Bohane who heads up the nutrition division at Keenan outlined that the MechFibre380 works at a rate of eight revolutions/min, while the vertical-auger feeder operates at 25 revolutions/min.

Commenting on the importance of a consistent diet, he said: When we looked at mix quality initially, we mixed the exact same ingredients and the exact same proportions in two different ways, and we got 1L of a difference in milk production from the cows, in addition to an increase in protein.

The rumen was healthier in those animals. The InTouch controller can store all the diets and this unit will guide the operator through the correct loading order and amount of each ingredient leading to a consistent diet.

At the end of the day, the diet you have on paper is completely different to the diet that is fed to the animals, he added.

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Revisited: What takes place behind the scenes at the Keenan factory in Co. Carlow? - Agriland

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Joe Rogan was at one point in unbelievable shape. However, when he weighed in after Sober October, that shape became a bit more grotesque.

Rogan is a man of many hats; from commentator, to comedian, and podcast host. Notably he is also something of a fitness advocate, regularly featuring trainers and coaches on his show. This comes as a result of his athletic background, doing Taekwondo and other martial arts. Subsequently, he has been know for being in killer shape.

Unfortunately, it seems at age 52, things are finally starting to catch up to Rogan. He did his annual Sober October activities with a group of his friends. This is a ceremony they do, giving up any drug or alcohol use for the entirety of the month.

Following the conclusion of Sober October, Joe Rogan and company weighed in to see their results. However it was here, that things took a turn for the wild. When Joe took his shirt off for the weigh in, he had a ridiculously protruded midsection. As a result, he looked like he had all of grandmas leftover Christmas banana pudding for a stomach.

Rogan steps on the scale and immediately the talk is about his bloated core. He said he weighed in at 205 pounds, which is ten pounds overweight. Furthermore he attributed this to an uptake in carb consumption. Although looking at his stomach, it seems like a bit worse of a situation than that.

Joe Rogan honestly looks like something you would see in a bodybuilder using too much Human Growth Hormone. This tends to result in a protruding gut, similar to this. All of this is speculation, but if it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck In any case, it is not uncommon for athletes in that age range to partake in HGH usage.

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Joe Rogan Has an Out Of Control Bubble Gut After Sober October - FitnessVolt.com

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Start the Roaring Twenties off right! Take charge of 2020 with an internal cleanse and begin the new year with a clean body, fresh mind, and spirited outlook. Whether youre trying to lose weight, clean your digestive tract or botheven if you want to kickstart the Keto Diethere are the seven best detoxes on Amazon.

After the long holiday season is over, we all feel like we need a reset. We ate too much, we drank too much, and worst of all, its an awful lot of effort just to relax! We could all use to drop a few post-holiday pounds. But even the stress of the holidaysfamily, travel, gifts, all of it!feels like it needs to be flushed away.

A cleanse is a great way to start any new year. The timing is right, and theyre easier and more affordable than ever. Amazon has dozens of cleanses for the body. Whether its pills, powders, or gummies, theres a cleanse for most every need.

Looking to flush your digestive tract and drop some water weight? Dozens of digestive and colon cleanses can help you approach 2020 with a clean, er, conscience. Party a bit too much this holiday season? We get it. Amazon has cleanses for the liver, kidney, gut, and even THC. We chose to focus on internal body cleanses for this list. But rest assured, theres a cleanse or best detox at Amazon for pretty much everything.

Did you know the human intestinal tract is 25 to 30 feet in length and covers a surface area the size of a tennis court? Its massive, and it needs the occasional detox. Furthermore, by the age of 40, the average person can have 10-20 pounds of hard, compacted fecal matter lodged in their intestinal tract. Flush it away and give your body a reset in 2020 with one of these awesome cleansers and detoxes available at Amazon.

Below are seven of the best detoxes on Amazon that we know are great and can recommend.

Check out all the best detoxes on Amazon here.

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Time for A Cleanse? Need to Lose Weight? Here Are the 7 Best Detoxes on Amazon - Men's Journal

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From dealing with the cravings of comfort food to battling the ice-cold wind as you head out for work, winter can be a difficult time for a lot of people. The sun no longer greets you in the morning and the darkness looms in as early as 4 in the afternoon.

Hence, for most of us, the winter season is all about getting the bare essentials done and heading back to the comfort of cosy bed and blanket as soon as possible. As the temperature drops, it becomes harder and harder to go outdoors, let alone working out and making healthy food choices.

If you too find it increasingly difficult to be active and stay on the path of fitness during the winter season, be rest assured that you are not alone. Winter weight is a REAL thing and we tell you the four most common reasons for the same.

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Weight loss: Why is it harder to lose weight in winter? We tell you the truth - Times of India

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What does your gut microbiome, the collection of trillions of bacteria living in your intestines, have to do with weight maintenance? More than you might think. Research has shown that the bacterial makeup in individuals who are obese is less diverse than in individuals who are lean.

But it presents a chicken-or-the-egg questiondoes the imbalance cause weight gain or does the extra weight somehow change the balance of bacteria? Renowned integrative physician Robert Rountree, M.D., thinks the evidence is clear, "There is no question that the bacteria in our gut can affect our weight."* He cites animal studies, in which obese mice are given a fecal transplant from lean mice and, consequently, lose weight and body fat.*

This might be due to how gut bacteria interact with our cells and digestive process. One study found that simply overeating can tip the balance in favor of bad bacteria. The problem? As Rountree explains it, "Certain bacteria are better at extracting energy from food than others." This means these bacteria can harvest even more calories from the increased intake of food, to be turned into energy and body fat.* A double weight-gain whammy, if you will.

In addition, gut bacteria play a role in appetite regulation and satiety.* When the "good" bacteria outnumber the "bad," the levels of short-chain fatty acids increase in the gut, triggering the production of hormones that regulate appetite.* So, if these hormones are out of balance, then you might not get the signal that you are full.

The result is a vicious weight-gain cycleyou overeat and the bad bacteria increases in your gut, possibly increasing body fat and lowering levels of short-chain fatty acids that would otherwise help control your appetite, causing you to eat more, which increases the bad bacteria, which...well, you get the idea.*

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Can Probiotics Help You Lose Weight? Here Are The Strains To Look For - mindbodygreen.com

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The "Rolling in the Deep" singer posted to her Instagram a few festive photos from a Christmas party, but the Grinch friend she posed with was hardly the focus of attention. Fans were quick to point out Adele's considerable weight loss, which she flaunted in a silky Reformation gown. She looked stunning, but the massive reaction raised an issue with how modern society generally responds to weight loss.

There's a lot of concerning implications that can arise with complimenting someone for losing weight, whether directed at a celebrity or a member of your family. First, this reinforces the stereotype that thinner people are inherently more desirable and attractive. There's the false implication that losing weight is synonymous with good health, as well as infinite ways to become thinner dangerously: eating disorders, substance abuse, and dangerous fad diets among them. Praising someone for losing weight, however well-intended, propagates fat shame and implies that individuals are worth most at their thinnest.

Adele has spent her entire career championing plus-size (but actually average-size) women. Before eventually singing to XL, she reportedly had a strict policy for her potential record labels: Under no circumstances would she be encouraged to lose weight. But of course, that hadn't made her immune to negative comments on her body. In 2012, Karl Lagerfeld called the singer "a little too fat." "I've never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines," Adele responded. "I represent the majority of women and I'm very proud of that."

No matter her size, Adele remains one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Let's leave weight out of the conversation.

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Adele and the Dangers of Praising Weight Loss - Popdust

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Because its basically a supercomputer that can fit in the size of your pocket, theres no denying that a smartphone can be very useful in our daily lives. Its also made life incredibly easier and has brought so many conveniences in our life. However, too much of a good thing can be bad. And in the case of people who want to lose weight, using our phones too much can sometimes backfire and do more harm than good.

Heres how your phone may be stopping you from losing weight:

You walk slower

For most of us, our phone is our usual jog buddy. As it turns out, walking while using your phone can slow down your pace, which can impact the amount of calories you burn. So the next time you do, just put on some music and focus on the running/jogging.

It disrupts your sleep cycle

One of the most important pillars of losing weight is to get proper sleep and rest after a taxing workout. Unfortunately, smartphones have made this harder for most people since the majority of us take it to bed and use it for at least a couple hours before sleeping. In addition, too much blue light can also force our bodies to produce more stress hormones.

Distracts your from your workout

You might not realize it but the constant checking on the phone and keeping a tab on everything can also limit the time of work you can do at a gym. This can be considered as phone addiction and can be very detrimental, especially if you are following a strict routine. Not to mention, it can also give you a hunched back. Who would want that?

You eat more

Did you know that constantly being on your phone while eating can make you eat more without you noticing? As such, you should be practicing mindful eating, especially if youre trying to lose weight.

Phones make you more stressed

This is because phones can give you numbers that measure everything, stressing you more than things should.

Researchers found that mobile phones have been sending more people to emergency rooms in the U.S. over the past two decades due to injuries, like facial cuts, bruises and fractures. Pixabay

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Your Smartphone Could Be Ruining Your Chances Of Losing Weight - Medical Daily

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