A recent piece of research produced by Eunice Yu and Jianguo Liu from the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, shows that divorce is detrimental to the environment.This research appears on the backdrop of rising divorce rates, (close to 50% of marriages and 75% of second marriages, end up in divorce in the US) and a majority single population in the US for the first time in history (51%).The failing of marriages and the fear of marriage happens to be impacting the environment. Isn’t that interesting? The increasing numbers of singles fearing the commitment of marriage and divorcees creates more households with lower number of people. Not hard to understand that more singles and fragmented families take up more living space, including parking, use of highways, along with higher usage of energy and water. The number of rooms per person in divorced households is 33% to 95% greater than in married households. A refrigerator, for example, uses roughly the same amount of energy whether it belongs to a family of four or one parent and a child. Yu and Liu estimate that in the United States (U.S.) in 2005, divorced households spent 46% and 56% more on electricity and water per person than married households. I knew it! I always said it was a good idea for couples to take showers together! Divorced households in the U.S. could have saved more than 38 million rooms, 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, and 627 billion gallons of water in 2005 alone if their resource-use efficiency had been comparable to married households. Not only that American spend an extra $3.6 billion annually on water as a result of the extra households created when people divorce. Wow!We are now coming to find out that this is not just a problem in the United States. It is happening around the world. The number of houses is increasing in England by something like 15 million over 10 years at current trends, while population is going nowhere. In other words we are seeing a housing boom, but not a population boom. Why? Divorce. You hear of a new one every week. Also, perpetual singleness, i.e. unwillingness to marry. And then even worse are married couples who live apart. For what reason? I am so sick of hearing people saying that their former husband or wife is a wonderful person, great parent and the classic one… “We are still friends.” Well, why in the world didn’t you keep the friendship going as a marriage? Did you have to subject innocent kids to a “friendly divorce”? Just mind-boggling!Even in places like China with more strict rules on divorce, personal commitments are not being kept and those policies are being ignored. Divorce rates are rising, leading to a profound assault on the environment because a married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household.So, here is my thought on this matter. Marriage is not just about personal responsibility and commitment to our children, community and the families of origin; it is also about our environment. Marriage as a life-time commitment makes sense. Maybe, it’s high time we recognize that breaking a life commitment while trying to be “good” in another area is inconsistent. Perhaps, saving a marriage and making love to the person you made a promise to for life is a good idea if for no other reason than keeping the cost of heating down, the consumption of energy and the selfish use of resources that belong to the whole planet and our children!*The original research can be found at: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0707267104v1
How to Save Hundreds of Dollars on Your Health Care Costs
Is it possible? Absolutely. Never has the cost of health care and medical care meant so much to so many. Forget the uproar about revamping the healthcare system by the U.S. Congress for a minute and concentrate on your own health care in relation to what it costs you each year simply to maintain your health, let alone improve it.Just take a look at the billion dollar health food, herbal medicine, and vitamin industries and you quickly recognize what most people are relying on to stay healthy. With all the hype associated with what these products can do for your body and health, most are left unproven. People spend unbelievable amounts of money on things that may not help them at all.My point……eliminate “energy” drinks, “vitamin” water drinks, diet sodas, and every health food product that doesn’t have scientifically documented food value for the normal person. You’ll save a mint of money. These add-on products are promoted by marketers to suck your wallet dry, and make you believe you are doing a good thing for your body and health.The dollars people waste on energy drinks, megavitamins, nutrisystem, herbal products, weight loss products, and other marketing magnets could easily be put to better and
healthier use.Probably the most notorious industry which fools you into spending thousands of hard earned money on each year to improve your skin, make you look beautiful, and supposedly makes you healthier looking are cosmetics. All they have to do with their product is change the package, add a nonessential ingredient, or come up with a French name and you are made to believe they are different and even better than the original cosmetic product.It is incredible how little difference there is in the compound ingredients contained in cosmetics from all the major companies and famous names. Yet, you will swear that one cosmetic is far better than another one. You think it’s a health product, and waste your money over and over without even knowing the truth.
Wake up, folks.There exists a more practical and realistic way to save money on health care and doctor bills right inside the health care system.Consider the cost savings by:o Knowing how to plan doctor visits so that all your medical issues can be handled on one visit, rather than coming back again at another appointment to finish up. Are two co-payments, or cost of two office visits a financial burden to you?o Knowing how to avoid wasted time and costs of wasted trips to the doctor’s office. Are you losing money on gas, babysitters, time off work without pay for those false alarms?o Knowing how to get free medications from the doctor’s cabinet. Are you missing out on all the free medications that pharmaceutical companies hand doctors to give to patients?o Knowing how to manage your appointment scheduling to avoid wasted time having to be rescheduled at another time. Have you noticed that there are some appointment times and days when your doctor appointments never get messed up?In each of these cases the loss of your time and money happens. Baby-sitters, automobile wear and tear plus gas, extra co-pay payments for unnecessary doctor visits, and loss of work income all contribute to the cost of your medical care. So if you can avoid these and other factors that add up to hundreds of wasted dollars spent for health care, it would be fantastic.How to save hundreds of dollars annually on health care at your doctor’s office:1. The time problem solution: Physicians must see many more patients each day in order to keep the office running financially. They plan to handle only one medical problem of yours at a time and earn extra money by having you return for another visit to fix the second problem.To get your medical needs completed on one visit you should:*Have all your problems written out on paper in the order of importance.
*Don’t waste your time in polite conversation when with the doctor-stick to your medical problems.
*Have all your clothing changes and gowns positioning done before the doctor comes in.
*Be brief and to the point in your description of your symptoms and medical problems.
*Have a list of every medication you take, including over-the-counter non-prescription drugs-include the doses, times taken, and reasons you take them.
*Have in mind what happened at your last visit and how it was treated.
*Keep a list of any new symptoms or signs appearing since the last appointment.
*Learn details about your medical problems so you understand better, and the doctor doesn’t have to spend so much time explaining things to you.2. Solution to wasting time and saving money: The better you can communicate with the doctor’s office, the less chance there is of your missing an appointment or finding out your appointment was cancelled without ever notifying you.Smart things to do:*Call the office before leaving home to be sure the doctor is available.
*Arrive early for your appointment (15-20 min.) in case the previous appointment was cancelled and you can get in earlier.
*When you are late for your appointment, rather than reschedule, remain there to be fitted into the remaining schedule.3. Office freebies save you money: Most medical offices keep a closet full of medical samples to give out to patients. However, in almost all cases the doctor and staff
are too busy to remember to give them to you.Always ask:*Drug samples they have can save you 30 to 40 dollars.
*Information handouts and free office subscription magazines often contain discount coupons you can use.
*If you are pleasant to the office staff you often can persuade them to do you favors without charging you anything—like a blood pressure check.4. Appointment scheduling skills: All too often the doctor is delayed getting to the office, getting started on time, and hurrying to get out of the office to a meeting.Appointment scheduling tips:*Schedule your appointments mid-morning and mid-afternoon because those are the times a doctor is much more likely to be there and on time.
*Schedule in the evening if they have office hours then, less interruptions, less stress, and can spend more time with the doctor usually.
*Never schedule an appointment on the doctor’s surgery day, Monday AM, and Friday PM. Surgery cases are notorious for being delayed 2 to 3 hours and messes up any office schedule.Over a year’s time while paying attention to these tips you will no doubt save countless hours waiting in your doctor’s reception room, or running back and forth to the office uselessly. All this costs you money for one reason or another, and it’s preventable.I discovered in my own medical practice that when I kept my patients constantly informed about what was going on at the time, through my office staff of course, they were rarely irritated or bothered very much about rearrangements of their appointments. Physicians do have an obligation to start their appointment schedules on time, spend enough time with patients to fulfill their immediate health care needs, and create a medical business environment which appeals to patients and their health care.