Study: Tanning beds as deadly as arsenic

(at least read the bolded sections if you aren't interested in the entire article)

worried about a mole? click here

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng, Ap Medical Writer

International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas. For years, scientists have described tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation as "probable carcinogens."
A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30. Experts also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused worrying mutations in mice, proof the radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal.

The new classification means tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation are definite causes of cancer, alongside tobacco, the hepatitis B virus and chimney sweeping, among others. The research was published online in the medical journal Lancet Oncology on Wednesday, by experts at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization. "People need to be reminded of the risks of sunbeds," said Vincent Cogliano, one of the cancer researchers. "We hope the prevailing culture will change so teens don't think they need to use sunbeds to get a tan."

Most lights used in tanning beds give off mainly ultraviolet radiation, which cause skin and eye cancer, according to the International Agency for Cancer Research. The classification of tanning beds as carcinogenic was disputed by Kathy Banks, chief executive of The Sunbed Association, a European trade association of tanning bed makers and operators. "The fact that is continuously ignored is that there is no proven link between the responsible use of sunbeds and skin cancer," Banks said in a statement. She said most users of tanning beds use them less than 20 times a year.

But as use of tanning beds has increased among people under 30, doctors have seen a parallel rise in the numbers of young people with skin cancer. In Britain, melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, is now the leading cancer diagnosed in women in their 20s. Normally, skin cancer rates are highest in people over 75.

Previous studies found younger people who regularly use tanning beds are eight times more likely to get melanoma than people who have never used them. In the past, WHO warned people younger than 18 to stay away from tanning beds.

Cogliano cautioned that ultravoilet radiation is not healthy, whether it comes from a tanning bed or from the sun. The American Cancer Society advises people to try bronzing or self-tanning creams instead of tanning beds.

a proud mother

How is it that I haven't marveled at my mom's garden all these years? I am in love with my little veggie plants and am already looking forward to a bigger and better crop next year (poor Jason doesn't know what he's in for. That's what he gets for having vast acreage!)

I screamed yesterday when I spotted my first tomato, and then again today when I noticed several teeny cucumbers. I think I'll actually be sad when it comes time to pluck them!

I think I'm most proud of the cucumbers because I grew them from seed. (i know that doesn't mean I put forth any extra effort, but it's still exciting! I remember when the leaves just sprouted and were the size of tic tacs.)

I think the peppers will be ready very soon!

My lonesome heirloom tomato. I'm sure more on the way though I have been told that heirloom plants aren't big producers, so I shouldn't expect too many.

don't step on that ant hill

Came across this in my Foundations of Management text book. Thought it was an interesting point.

"Consider this: All the ants on ths planet, taken together, have a biomass greater than that of humans. Ants have been incredibly industrious for millions of years, yet their productiveness nourishes plants, animals and soil. Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet. Nature doesn't have a design problem. People do."
William McDonough and Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

time for a phone upgrade?

"Americans currently dispose of 128 million cell phones a year, only 1% of which are diverted from landfills. This appalling number isn't even counted in the 2 million tons of used electronics we also discard annually. The waste from such devices contains, according to the EPA, substances that are toxic when burned. Worse, in landfills, they seep into the groundwater and never break down."
Source: Andrew Zoll, "Business 3.0," Fast Company, No. 113 (March 2007): 68.

Recycling your phone is easy because there are so many options which require little effort. You can simply leave your phone with your provider when you purchase your new one, you can donate it to a cause, or you can even sell it. (In any case, remember to erase all your data first!)

Consider one of the options below when it's time for your next phone upgrade. (46 days and counting for me...I hate my current phone!)

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/plugin/cellphone/cell-recycling-locations.htm
http://recyclemycellphone.org/recycle.cfm
http://www.americancellphonedrive.org/
http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/
http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/ipodrecycling/
http://www.cellforcash.com/

mary mary quite contrary

I decided to try my hand at gardening this year (thanks for the tips, Mama!) and due to the lack of an abundantly sunny area in my backyard, I opted to plant my garden in large pots. I arranged them near my front door, which I admit might look a bit odd to passers by, but it's the sunniest portion of my property. I've already noted a few things I'll do differently next time, but I am having a great time tending to my garden and seeing the new growth almost daily. I have already been enjoying my leaf lettuce and basil for a few weeks now, and am excited to make my first Troy Street Salad complete with Heirloom tomato, cucumber, and green pepper.

My Garden

Green Pepper

First Baby Pepper!

Heirloom Tomato

Cute little cucumber tendrils.

(i love how they "hold on")

Delicious Leaf Lettuce

recycle those bottle caps! spread the word!

There's finally a way to recycle bottle tops! If you've been following the proper recycling protocol, you've been removing the plastic bottle caps (from pop bottles, milk cartons, ketchup bottles, shampoo bottles, mayo jars, etc., etc., etc.) and throwing them away.

Aveda Salons have announced a new program in which materials from bottle caps are recycled into new caps and containers.

The program accepts caps that are rigid polypropylene plastic, sometimes noted with a 5 in the chasing arrows recycling symbol. This includes caps that twist on with a threaded neck such as caps on shampoo, water, soda, milk and other beverage bottles, flip top caps on tubes and food product bottles (such as ketchup and mayonnaise), laundry detergents and some jar lids such as peanut butter.

Excluded from collection are pharmaceutical lids and non rigid lids such as yogurt lids, tub lids (margarine, cottage cheese), and screw on lids that are not rigid. If you can bend or break the lid with your bare hands, then it does not meet the rigid plastic definition.

I think this is an exciting program and hope to spread the word about this initiative!

I called around in my area and found that the closest participating salon is in Somerset Collection. IF YOU BRING ME YOUR CAPS AND LIDS...I WILL TAKE THEM TO SOMERSET FOR YOU! Instead of throwing those caps away, just toss them in a box off to the side and when you've collected enough, get in touch with me and I'll take them off your hands.

Also, watch this short video for a concise "how to" on recycling. Some of the points have already been mentioned in my blog, but it's nice to have it all repeated in one place.

Buy Michigan Now!

If every Michigan household spent just $10 more of their weekly food budget on Michigan products, we would put $37 million per week into our local economy. Many of these products on your regular grocery store's shelves! Also, buying local reduces your carbon footprint!

The following list of brand names will help you to identify local buying opportunities when you see them on the shelf. If you can't find the brands you're looking for, don't forget to ask your local store to start carrying it in the future.

Baked Goods & Breads

Awrey Bakeries
Bizzy Lizzy Bakery
Cole's Quality Foods
Achatz Handmade Pie Company
Burghardts
Creme Curls Bakery
Crooked Tree Breadworks
Grand Traverse Pies
Superior Bread Company
Zingerman's

Baking Ingredients
Drake's Batter Mix
Big Chief Sugar
Cherry Growers
Jiffy
Michigan Sugar Company
Pioneer Sugar

Barbeque & Hot Sauce
Detroit Spice Co.
Litehouse
B.A.D. Sauce
Billy Bones BBQ
Bobbie Que's BBQ
Clancy's Fancy
Freshwater Foods
Sansonetti
Tassier's Maple Brew

Beer
Arbor Brewing Company
Atwater Block Brewery
Founders Brewing Company
Keweenaw Brewing Company
Michigan Brewing Company
Arcadia Ales
Bells Brewery
Dark Horse Brewing Company
New Holland Brewing Company

Candy & Fudge
Morley Candy Makers
Kilwin's
Mackinaw Fudge Shops
Ryba's Fudge Shops
Sanders

Cereal & Granola
Michaelene's
Crooked Tree Breadworks
Kelloggs

Cheese & Other Dairy
Baremans
Black Kase
Country Fresh
Dairy Fresh Foods
Guernsey
Hamilton Eggs
Pinconning Cheese Co
Williams Cheese Co
Win Schuelers
Zingerman's Creamery

Coffee & Tea
Coffee Beanery
Audine's Southern Sweet Tea
Bearclaw's Coffee Co
Chartreuse Organic Tea
Fireside Coffee Co
Jackson Coffee Co
Premier Coffee Roasters
Leelanau Coffee Roasting Co
Light of Day Organics
Zingerman's

Condiments & Spices
Country Home Creations
Detroit Spice Company
DeYoung's Fore Seasons
Lesley Elizabeth Inc
Wildspice
Mucky Duck
Sleeping Bear Farms

Crackers
Keebler
Win Schulers

Dips & Salsa
Garden Fresh Gourmet
Global Warming Salsa Company
Litehouse
Cherry Republic
Chuck & Dave's
Freshwater Foods
Little Diablo Salsa
Steve's Backroom

Dried Fruits
American Spoon
Cherry Republic
Shoreline Fruit
Smeltzer Orchard Co
Traverse Bay Fruit Company

Honey & Syrups
Harwood Heritage Maple Syrup
Good-Rich Honey
Groeb Farms
Cherry Republic
Jaspers Sugar Bush
Sleeping Bear Farms
Stakich
Tassier's Maple Syrup

Ice Cream & Sorbet
Hudsonville
Guernsey
Savino Italian Sorbet
Stucchi's

Jellies, Jams & Butters
Food for Thought
Marmar Gourmet
American Spoon
Brownwood Farms
Cherry Growers
Cherry Republic
Fresh Water Foods

Juice & Water
Brown Acres
Absopure
Cherry Growers
Eden Organic
Indian Summer
Old Orchard

Meats & Fish
Koegel Meats
Michigan Turkey Producers
Alexander & Hornung
Big O' Smoke House
Dearborn Sausage & Hams
Grobbel's
J&M Farm
Kowalski
Peacock's Poultry Farm
Reinhold & Timko

Pasta & Pasta Sauces
Al Dente Pasta
Romano's Pasta Sauces
Andiamo
Eden Organic
Fresh Water Foods
Sansonetti

Pickled & Canned Vegetables
Carson City Pickle Company
Eden Organic
Freestone Pickle Company
Safie's
Swanson Pickle Company
Topor's

Salad Dressins & Oils
Hot Rod Bob's
Litehouse
Uncle Bob's
Aunt Mid's
American Spoon
Cherry Republic
Kenzoil
Leelanau Country Inn
Niki's Food Company
Sansonetti

Snacks & Nuts
Detroit Popcorn Company
Kalamazoo Kettlecorn
Kar's
B'Drizzled Gourmet Foods
Better Made
Cheeze Kurlz Inc
Festida Foods
Germack Pistachios
Great American Pretzel Company
Keebler
Koeze Company
Michaelene's Gourmet Granola
Pic-A-Nut
Rocky Peanut Company
Ultimate Pretzel Company
Uncle Ray's

Sodas & Lemonade
Faygo
Town Club

Specialty Foods
Dudek Foods
La Jalisciense
Sahtein - Jerusalem Foods

Wine
Black Star Farms
Bowers Harbor Vineyards
Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery
Burgdorf's Winery
Chateau Chantal
Ciccone Vineyard & Winery
Domaine Berrien Cellars
Fenn Valley Vineyards
L Mawby Vineyards
Peninsula Cellars
Pentamere Winery
Pleasantview Vineyards
Robinette's
Sandhill Crane Vineyards
St Julian Wine Company
Tabor Hill Winery
Bel Lago Winery
Boskydel Vineyards
Chateau de Leelanau
Chateau Grand Traverse
Free Run Cellars
Gill's Pier Vineyard and Winery
Good Harbor Vineyards
Karma Vista Vineyards
Left foot Charley
Lemon Creek Winery
Lone Oak Vineyard Estate
Raftshol Vineyards
Round Barn Winery
Shady Lane Cellars
Stoney Acres Winery

Agriculture

Agriculture us the 3rd largest industry in Michigan (trailing only manufacturing [oy vey] and tourism, respectively). Buying from local farmers and markets fuels our economy, while reducing out collective carbon footprint. Here is a list of the state's major commodities, which are commercially available:

apples, asparagus, beans, beef, bison, blueberries, carrots, celery, cherries, corn, cranberries, dairy, eggs, grapes, ginseng, green onions, honey, lamb, maple syrup, mint, onions, peaches, plums, pork, potatoes, poultry, rhubarb, soybeans, sugar, wine.

Many communities also hold farmer's markets seasonally, which are a great way to support local growers. Such markets often include a wider variety of fruits & vegetables than those listed above. For information regarding Farmer's Markets in your area, click here.