How Much Would $10/Week Boost Your Local Economy? Posted on February 7th, 2010
I was reading Hartke is Online, as I often do, and saw a story about local food economies and a study done by Virginia Tech about the economics of local food purchases. It blew my mind. The study’s talking points are in PDF form at this link, if you want to read it.
The study shows that if everyone in Virginia spend only $10 a week purchasing locally-sourced foods, the VA economy would be boosted by a whopping $1.65 billion (with a B, folks) annually.
The study basically breaks down each region of the State of Virginia by population and assumes $10/week in localized food purchases per household. The Central District would see about $162.6 million on its own while the more populous Northern District would see over half a billion!
I decided to do a rough version of this study for my own state, Wyoming. Here’s what I got:
Wyoming’s total population is 532,668 according to the U.S. Census’ 2008 estimates. There are an estimated 193,608 households in the state. That number is what matters, since the idea is to calculate $10 per household per week. That’s $520 per year per household.
So, the local economy would see a $100,676,160 (one hundred million+) boost. Wow.
What about your state? How much of a boost would this kind of localized spending do for where you live? The calculations are easy, you just need to go to the U.S. Census website, search for the quick facts on your state, and do what I did.
Post your state’s local economic boost in the comments!
Even medical students want conventional medicine to include alternative therapies Posted on February 2nd, 2010
The title of this article comes directly from an article of the same title on NaturalNews. That article, by S.L. Baker, can be read by clicking here. What follows is my commentary based on our recent experiences.
During the process of my wife’s pregnancy and the birth of our baby Heidi, we encountered no less than eight medical doctors. Three of them were obstetricians, two were interns/residents (new doctors), two are regular MDs, and one a Naturopath. Because of where we live and my wife’s high risk category, our child birth took place in a hospital. While conventional, it was not the way many might envision how the birthing process takes place in a modern facility.
In the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, the Labor and Delivery section is just that: women in labor and delivering babies are there. What’s different is that the entire process takes place in a single room (per mother). When we checked into the hospital after Kathy’s water had broken, we were given a room in L&D. We never left that room until after our baby was born.
Then we moved down the hallway to another room (with more comfortable beds) for recovery before going home.
This is important because that is a big step forward for the modern birthing process. Not too long ago, it was all surgically-oriented with mothers giving labor in one room, being rushed to an operating-type room for birth, and then another room for recovery. The birthing process was treated like most other illnesses that could be cured with surgery. People wearing masks, gowns, gloves, safety glasses, and pushing around huge carts full of stainless steel equipment are no longer part of the process.
In fact, we had a resident and a regular OB in the room during Heidi’s birth. The experienced OB was more a cheerleader than a doctor, excitedly telling my wife when to push, how hard to push, how well she was doing, etc. The resident, who was doing the actual birth, was doing the same, though more concentrated on watching the progress and checking on vitals and other technical things to make sure all was well.
For my part, I was holding my wife’s hand and leg and nervous as hell. Then Heidi’s head appeared. Seconds later, the whole baby was there and being placed on my wife’s stomach. I watched her take her first breath of air and was offered the umbilical to cut.
A couple of minutes later, the new baby was moved to a heat table (a little table with a gentle heat lamp). I helped a nurse wipe the little one down, weigh her, tape on a vital sign monitor (a little red light on her foot), and measure length, head circumfrence, etc. We then watched her breathe for a few minutes and waited for the first scream. That’s, apparently, the best way to tell if a baby is going to do well: by how loudly they can cry. No amount of medical technology can replace the baby screaming about how crappy it is to be in the wide world instead of in the comfortable womb, it appears.
Four years ago, some friends of mine had a baby, though that was in a different hospital. Their experience was very different. When baby was born, he was rushed to another room for washing and weighing and whatnot and brought back later. The parents were secondary to the whole procedure and, other than mom’s medical needs, were largely ignored in the process.
In contrast, our experience was one where the doctors and nurses wanted us to be involved. I was there to help give Heidi her first bath. Kathy was there to help them administer the baby’s hearing test. In fact, during our 2-1/2 days in the hospital, our baby never left our sight. The nurses and doctors prefer it that way now.
During Kathy’s pregnancy, we dealt with another obstetrician (OB doctor). He and the one who was there to cheerlead during the birth are from the same clinic where we went for pre-natal care. That doctor asked what kinds of vitamins, supplements, medications, etc. my wife was using during the pregnancy. The usual prenatal vitamins and Omega-3s were expected, of course. Doctors are willing to accept those as “normal.”
What he didn’t expect was her intake of Flax seed oil for neurological help and development as well as beginning Evening Primrose supplements at week 34 of the pregnancy to help with cervix softening and so forth. The doctor, rather than looking at us as if we’d landed from another planet when we made these claims, instead asked where we’d learned about them and if we had any other information. He was especially interested in Primrose, as he’d never heard of it at all.
I told him what I knew and we showed him the bottle. Of course, thanks to the FDA, it can’t say anything about what it’s for on the bottle, so that did little but prove to him that it has prostyglantins in it. Those are the magic ingredient for cervical softening – which also appears in male sperm, by the way, hence its name.
The residents who talked with us before, were there during, and checked on us after the birth were both curious about things we were talking about. We refused vaccinations, for instance (at birth, they want to give a Hepatitis B vaccine) and I explained why and the simple explanation of “she just got born, why pump her full of stuff right off the bat and what is Hep B got to do with birth anyway?” was understood.
They were interested in the supplements, how we’d altered our diet, and so forth. One of them asked for my email and has since received several links from me to show him the various information I’ve gathered over time (much of it on NaturalNews) about alternative medicine for child birth and baby care.
It seems that more and more doctors are beginning to see that there is a lot of validity to many forms of alternative medicine and health care. The problem now is that because there’s no money in these things for Big Pharma and related industries, very little scientific study has been done; so convincing doctors of their merits on a universal basis is not likely until that changes.
All in all, though, our experiences with the doctors and nurses involved in pregnancy, birth, and well baby care have been very good. With few exceptions, they’ve been willing to talk to us about our wishes, are understanding of our reluctance and refusals for some of their conventional medicine, and seem generally accepting of our explanations. Some are even curious about learning more.
Hopefully, this trend continues.
The Sustainable Baby, Diapers II Posted on January 22nd, 2010
In the last segment of this series, I talked about diapers and specifically compared disposables to cloth and how they measure up for health, ecological, and pocket book comparisons. One thing that can’t be ignored, however, is the ergonomics and convenience factor. Many parents are time-strapped and would rather not spend a large chunk of their spare time washing diapers and cleaning up baby’s messes.
For those parents, economics and environmental reasons may seem like they’re going to have to take a back seat to efficiency of time. This, of course, is the very thing that the disposable diaper market thrives on. Diapering is the least-favorite thing for 99.9% of parents (my guess), so it’s the easiest to make money from if you can just, well, make it easier.
Well, how about this? Instead of giving up on being eco-friendly, why not compromise instead? It’s better than giving up.
The great thing about free markets is that they create an infinite variety of things catering to the needs of individual or small groups of consumers. So the “one size fits all” of socialist markets and the “take it or leave it” style of corporate conglomerates is pushed aside by small entrepreneurs willing to provide what is needed to fill a niche. One of those niches are what I’ve just described: parents who want to be eco-friendly, but can’t afford the time for cloth diapering.
Enter the “green disposable diaper.” Sounds like an oxymoron, and it kind of is, but these types of diapers are halfway between the disposable landfill-hog diaper and the more or less eco-friendly cloth diaper. Remember all the chemicals I told you about that reside in now-traditional disposables?
Well, you can avoid those plus the landfill-hogging attributes of the standard disposable by choosing a green, natural one instead. These are diapers made from natural products (usually paper-derived) that are disposable, but biodegrade relatively quickly (usually within 10 years).
There are several brands of these diapers, but don’t be fooled by the labeling. Major brands that say “eco-friendly” or “green” on them aren’t necessarily toxin-free. Read the fine print and you’ll find that one leading brand’s “natural” diaper takes 30 years to degrade in “open air refuse.” This means that if they bury it inside that thirty years (which is likely), it won’t degrade.
Some brands, though, are made from recycled wood and paper pulp. Look for the ones that are non-bleached (or at least aren’t bleached with chlorine, but vinegar or peroxide instead). Make sure there aren’t any chemicals in them either, as the gel absorbers are common (and very bad).
Another style of disposable is actually made from cotton cloth. They’re a lot more expensive than their counterparts, but are probably the most baby and eco-friendly. They are also usually the most absorbent without resorting to chemicals.
Sadly, some of the best available are in Sweden, not the U.S., and are not just organic, but are GMO-free. They state that because they are literally made of corn starch, which breaks down relatively quickly (within a couple of years) in most landfill types. Awesome.
So shop around, folks, if you must use disposables. You probably won’t find most of these alternative brands at the local big box store, but you will find them in many smaller outlets or you can special order from the Internet. I recommend the Tushies and Seventh Generation brands.
The Sustainable Baby, Diapers Posted on January 21st, 2010
The single most expensive and resource-using aspect of baby rearing is diapering. Newborns can go through 10-12 diapers per day and toddlers can see three to five of them easily. The average baby in America uses 6,000 diapers or more before becoming potty trained. That is a lot of diapers.
That is, of course, assuming that they go with 89% of American babies and have parents who choose to diaper them with disposable, plastic diapers. You know, the ones that adorn the store shelves of every major shopping center. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this article now, but before you get all huffy about how expensive and difficult cloth diapering is, let me give you a few facts that involve not just the dollar figures and eco-friendliness factors, but also your baby’s health.
Severe Diaper Rash
The Journal of Pediatrics did a study in which they surveyed one-month old babies. 54% of those babies who were diapered with disposables had diaper rash during that first month and 16% of those had to go to the doctor and their diaper rash was classified as “severe.” Without disposables? Diaper rash incidents were only 7.1% of the same group and less than 1% of those had one that was “severe.”
Think about that for a minute.
What’s In Disposables
Now let’s look at what’s in disposable diapers from two of the major manufacturers whose names I’m sure you’d recognize. One comes in a red bag and the other in blue. These aren’t the “ingredients” list, mind you, these are the chemicals that are in the diapers themselves.
Sodium polyacrylate – this is the super-absorbent gel that is used to make the glorified toilet paper that makes up the bottom of the diapers soak up so much liquid. It’s used so that the diaper can be kept small so it doesn’t have to be so bulky. This stuff is a known toxin that is most often the culprit behind diaper rash. Read the label: it’s deadly to pets. Pets are people too – it’s more than just a saying. What’s deadly to them is probably deadly to your kids too.
Dyes and Fragrances – the chemicals used to make fragrances are some of the most complex chemicals in the health and beauty industries. They are also almost always the culprit when someone has an allergic reaction to something. Just the smells can sometimes cause headaches and dizziness. A lot of diapers use fragrances to mask other (natural) smells.
That’s just the beginning. Some diapers contain dioxins and can even be a choking or other hazard for small children. Most are not biodegradable.
The Diaper and Your Pocketbook
Now consider how much those diapers cost. In six months, a newborn will have gone through 10 diapers per day for 
the first month, decreasing to about 6 per day on average for the rest. So we have one month at 10/day or 300 diapers. After that, we have five months at 6/day or 900 diapers. So in the first six months, the average baby will go through about 1,200 diapers.
Packs of major brand diapers in disposables cost about $40 per 180 diapers. So those 1,200 diapers will cost you about $266 in total for that six months of diapering. Even going with one of the most expensive cloth diapering systems (and what I’ve been told is the best), FuzziBunz (Amazon link), at $18/each (everything included), for a dozen diapers or $216 per dozen. Ad to that the laundry cost of washing these diapers daily and it’s about even with the purchase of disposables.
Now consider this: for $266, you got six months worth of diapers and that’s it. Or you got diapers that you will be able to use for the entire time your child is in diapers. Take that $266 and times it by six (most children are potty trained by age 3). So your choice is to spend $266 right now or spend it every six months for almost three years, paying out about $1,500 in diapers by the time your child is potty trained.
Put in that perspective, buying less than $300 in cloth diapers doesn’t seem like such an expense. Does it?
Cloth Diapering’s Other Benefits
The other benefit that you probably drew as an inference here is the bonus that you get in your baby’s health. Cloth diapers are natural fiber (usually, read the label), are biodegradable should you ever thrown them away, and are softer, more comfortable, and better for your baby. No chemicals, no nasties (other than what you child puts in them, haha), and no landfills full of tons of toxic waste that doesn’t degrade.
Need more reasons? I don’t.
Images Courtesy of FuzziBunz.
The Sustainable Baby, Introduction Posted on January 20th, 2010
Most of you are probably aware by now that our project, Homo Magnificus, is nearing the end of it’s first phase (birth). During this initial phase of the project, there has been a lot of research going on in our house. It’s pretty amazing how much stuff there is to know, how many gadgets there are to buy, and how many things there are surrounding the whole “new baby, comin’ atcha!” nowadays.
Like most industries, the child birth and rearing industry has a lot of accoutrement that really aren’t necessary. Since we don’t actually have a baby yet, we’re having to take other people’s word for that, of course. Plus using some common sense. Regardless, there are things that every baby requires and that just can’t be avoided. Well, not without a visit from Child Protective Services or the local posse, anyway.
Since that’s the case, and there are things that you’ll have to have no matter what, I decided to approach it from my usual frugal (cheap) and sustainable (cheap) mindset. No matter how you slice it, babies are an expensive proposition. Ours isn’t even born yet (any day now) and we already have a house full of baby gear. And I thought dogs were a hassle…
In this short series of article, I’m going to cover the required items and how we managed to get them without spending a truckload of money. We’ll also look at how this can be done in an environmentally-friendly, more sustainable way and, most importantly, how your choices with baby can not only impact the environment, but also your baby’s health.
We’ll start the series with the most expensive, time-consuming, and probably least environmentally friendly aspect of baby rearing: diapers. Then we’ll look at formulas, the tools of the trade, vaccines, and more. Realize, of course, that everything I’m giving you is based purely on research and talking to experienced parents. So far, my experience as a parent involves patting a round belly and getting kicked from the other side, so I can’t promise I’m 100% practical all the time. Most of this seems to be common sense, though, so play along.
If at any time, of course, your experience trumps something I’ve said, feel free to chime in via the comments and tell me so. Or ad to the discussion with other information you might have that I don’t. Whatever you do, don’t sit there like a lump living vicariously through the illusion of the Web. Jump in!
