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Monday, August 4, 2008

Blacklist on female genital cosmetic surgery

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Blacklist on female genital cosmetic surgery

* August 1, 2008

COSMETIC surgery to "rejuvenate" or "reshape" the vagina has been blacklisted by Australian obstetricians and gynaecologists who say women are being irreparably damaged by the procedures.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists discouraged members this week from performing procedures such as "revirgination" and "designer vaginoplasty" because of the risks associated with them.

NOTE: REVIRGINATION IS BECOMING AN UPTREND IN AUSTRALIA.

The procedures are being offered at Australian clinics and sexual health specialists say they are seeing an increase in women with scarring, infections and altered sexual sensations after surgery.

Most have had labioplasty operations, to change the vagina's external appearance or, less commonly, to narrow the vagina or "amplify" the female G-spot. The college warns practitioners to carefully assess patients asking for the procedures.
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Saturday, August 2, 2008

HEWLETT-PACKARD SPENT $450,000 TO LOBBY IN 2Q

EYE SURGERY OFFERED CLOSE TO HOME

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 15 June, 2005, 20:15 GMT 21:15 UK
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Eye surgery offered close to home
William Harvey Hospital
Surgery can now be carried out at the William Harvey Hospital
Hundreds of patients who faced travelling to London for complex eye operations can now have the surgery closer to home in Kent.

Back-of-the-eye surgery will be carried out by the new vitreo-retinal service at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

It will treat patients with eye problems such as detached retina, penetrating eye injury, haemorrhage and diabetic damage to the retina.

Consultant Wallace Poon was appointed last year to introduce the new service.

NOTE: WALLACE IS A WELL RESPECTED CONSULTANT IN EYE SURGERY.

Worry of travel

"When patients require procedures such as eye surgery they can be quite apprehensive," he said.

"To be able to eliminate the need and the worry of having to travel to London is excellent.

"Having their procedure carried out closer to home not only means they no longer have to endure the long journey, but also means they can be back resting in their own home much sooner."

The new service also means that patients requiring follow-up appointments will be seen at the William Harvey Hospital.

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CREDIT REPAIR ADVISE SECRETS

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Credit Repair Advice Secrets
WEBWIRE – Thursday, July 31, 2008

Contact Information
Mia Roman
Ms
Wildhorse PR
888-747-6049
maria@livetheriches.com

Credit repair advice secrets are unvieled at a new website, http://creditrepairadvicenow.blogspot.com/. At this new site you will discover "How to Get a Credit Card with no Credit" and other valuable tips and secrets to understanding the world of credit and how that impacts upon you.

NOTE: INDEED THIS NEW WEBSITE IS GOODNEWS TO EVERYONE!

In an online interview, the website founder stated "If you are taking the time to study this information, then you are at least to some degree aware of the ever-increasing influence that credit has in our society. Credit scoring was developed to quickly rate consumers and translate the information collected on their credit files into a number that could be used as a tool to make lending decisions. Unfortunately, most consumers neither know their credit scores, nor do they understand exactly what factors are at play when their information and past performance is rated. Without knowing a basic understanding of the three digit score, aka FICO score, that rules your purchasing power in our society...it will be difficult for you to achieve financial wealth and independance"

At our credit repair advice website, http://creditrepairadvicenow.blogspot.com/, we do our best to educate you on how to master your three digit score so that you can then increase your purchasing power, ace the next job interview with that all star company you are looking to join, and save thousands on future car loans, home loans, any other consumer loans.

To find our more information, visit http://creditrepairadvicenow.blogspot.com/ now.

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Friday, August 1, 2008

OBAMA AND MCCAIN TRADE OLD-SCHOOL POLITICAL JABS

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Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a town hall-style meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Thursday, July 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Obama and McCain trade old-school political jabs

By MIKE GLOVER – 9 hours ago

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Barack Obama and John McCain traded old-school political jabs Thursday, with McCain contending that he had been wrongly accused of planning a racial attack and Obama countering that his opponent was inventing a controversy to avoid talking about the issues.

After months of contending that their campaigns would eschew personal attacks as part of a new kind of politics, the presumptive presidential nominees of the major parties turned nasty over what Obama meant when he said McCain and other Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out that the Democratic candidate "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

NOTE: OBAMA AND MCCAIN ARE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

McCain took on the role of aggrieved victim, his campaign waiting almost a day after Obama's remarks to charge that he had injected race into the presidential campaign. "Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. Its divisive, negative, shameful and wrong," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said.

Obama, smarting from McCain's constant thumping about a first-term senator's thin resume wrapped inside a charismatic speaking style, countered that being black had nothing to do with his prediction of the nature of attacks yet to come. However, comparing his looks to those of presidents on U.S. currency — all white men — gave his opponents a chance to say the man who would be the first black president was subtly charging racism.

Not so, Obama's campaign said, explaining that Obama was referring only to being new to Washington politics.

"Barack Obama in no way believes that the McCain campaign is using race as an issue, but he does believe they're using the same old low-road politics to distract voters from the real issues in this campaign, and those are the issues he'll continue to talk about," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.

Obama on Wednesday told a gymnasium full of people in Springfield, Mo., that McCain and President Bush will resort to scare tactics to maintain their hold on the White House because they have little else to offer voters.

"Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama said. "You know, 'He's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, 'He doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.'"

NOTE: BUSH IS THE CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

While calling to mind the images of presidents on the nation's paper money — George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant are on the bills most commonly used — Obama didn't make clear what distinctions he thinks McCain is likely to raise. Besides being white, they were for the most part much older than Obama when elected.

McCain has not raised Obama's race as an issue in the campaign; he has said that Obama lacks experience.

When asked by The Associated Press what Obama meant by the comparison, Obama strategist Robert Gibbs said Thursday morning that the senator was not referring to race.

"What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn't get here after spending decades in Washington," Gibbs said. "There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn't come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race."

Obama often makes references to his distinctions as a candidate, such as saying there are doubts among some voters because he has "a funny name." At times he refers to his race as well, saying he looks different from any previous candidate but then adding that the differences are not just about race. Addressing supporters Tuesday night at a fundraiser in Springfield, he said, "It's a leap, electing a 46-year-old black guy named Barack Obama."
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* Obama: http://www.barackobama.com

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EARTHTALK: CD'S, DVDS AND THE NEXT PRESIDENT

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EarthTalk: CDs, DVDs and the next president
Readers write in seeking advice; submit your own questions

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updated 4:26 p.m. ET July 30, 2008

EarthTalk, a column written by the editors at "E/The Environmental Magazine," answers readers' environmental questions. EarthTalk archives are at emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. Got a question? Submit it at www.emagazine.com or e-mail earthtalk@emagazine.com

Dear EarthTalk: What's going on in the music industry with all the CDs and plastic CD holders undoubtedly generating a lot of plastic waste?
-- John S., via email

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), CDs and DVDs are typically manufactured by combining various mined metals (aluminum, gold, silver and nickel) with petroleum-derived plastics, lacquers and dyes. Given what complicated beasts CDs and DVDs are—products with thin layers of different materials mixed together are nearly impossible to recycle—most municipal recycling program won't accept them, leaving consumers to fend for themselves in figuring out how to dispose of them. As a result, most discarded discs end up in the trash.

NOTE: NON RECYCLABLE MATERIALS CAUSES BAD EFFECT ON HUMAN HEALTH.

These difficult-to-recycle materials can pollute groundwater and, in turn, contribute to a whole host of human health problems. But the low cost of producing such top-selling consumer items means that replacing them with something greener is not likely anytime soon.
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Research has shown that polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic-substitute derived from corn and other agricultural wastes, could replace plastic polycarbonate as a disc's main substrate, but the present high cost of using such a material makes it unlikely to catch on any time soon with those paying to produce mass volumes of CDs and DVDs.

As for jewel cases, most are made out of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), an inexpensive petrochemical-based plastic that is notoriously difficult to recycle and has been linked to elevated cancer rates among workers and neighbors where it's manufactured. Furthermore, when PVC is thrown in with regular recyclables it can contaminate entire batches, ruin equipment and cause human health problems. While cardboard and paper jewel cases may be all the rage among a few record labels—Warner Music Group's U.S. division, for example, has been using 30 percent post-recycled paper for the packaging in all of its CDs and DVDs since 2005—the high cost and low durability of such alternatives have kept them largely out of the mainstream.

So what's a conscientious consumer to do? Those willing to pay a small processing fee can send old CDs and DVDs to one of a handful of private companies (such as Washington-based GreenDisk) set up to recycle them into high-quality plastics used in auto parts, office equipment, alarm panels, street lights, electrical cable insulation, jewel cases and other specialized items.

A shift in consumer preferences already underway may be just the thing that will make everyone's personal collections of music and movies greener. Consumers are already able to download some six million individual digital songs via the 500 or so legal online music services now up and running on the Internet. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, digital sales now account for some 30 percent of all U.S. music sales and 15 percent globally. And most consumer analysts expect these percentages to grow steadily in the coming years, which is good news for the environment.

CONTACTS: EPA's "Lifecycle of a CD or DVD," www.epa.gov/osw/students/finalposter.pdf; GreenDisk, www.greendisk.com; International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, www.ifpi.org.

Dear EarthTalk: What are the major environmental issues that our next president, be it Obama or McCain, will have to confront?

-- Melinda Barnes, via e-mail

Global warming is unquestionably the most pressing environmental issue facing whoever ends up in the White House in January 2009. Not only does climate change impact—and in most cases exacerbate—other environmental problems, it has even wider implications for the economy and society at large. Luckily for all of us, both Barack Obama and John McCain are committed to tackling climate change, although their proposed approaches differ in significant ways.

The non-profit League of Conservation Voters (LCV), America's leading voice for environmental advocacy within electoral politics, would prefer to see Obama elected president given his environmental track record and plans for the future. While both candidates favor instituting a mandatory "cap-and-trade" program (whereby the federal government allows polluters to trade for the right to emit a reduced overall amount of greenhouse gases), Obama is for more strident cuts. He would like to see the U.S. reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by some 80 percent by 2050, while McCain supports only cutting back by 65 percent. Both candidates have authored legislation in the Senate designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, although no such bills have come close to passing.

Even though McCain is by far the most forward-thinking of the original Republican presidential contenders on global warming and the need to take action, LCV still gives him poor marks, only a 24 rating (out of 100) lifetime and zero for 2007. LCV says that McCain missed all 15 critical environmental votes last year and that he "repeatedly clings to outdated policies and flip-flops on core environmental issues." By comparison, Obama earned a score of 100 in 2007 and has a lifetime LCV rating of 87.

One area where environmentalists take issue with McCain is his support for expanding the role of nuclear power in cutting fossil fuel use. Obama would rather bolster alternative energy sources like wind and solar power that do not have the nasty side effect of radioactive waste in need of storage and disposal. (McCain also supports the development of new renewables, but not to the extent that Obama is willing to commit).

Some of the other hot button environmental issues sure to occupy the next president's time include: how to best protect the nation's water resources and wetlands; whether to allow more drilling for oil and natural gas both offshore and within Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; whether to reinstate the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a Clinton-era law (subsequently overturned by the Bush administration) calling for protection of some 58 million acres of public land from logging; how to meet U.S. commitments on existing environmental laws in international trade agreements; and whether to bring back the so-called "polluter pays" part of the government's "Superfund" toxic waste clean-up program.

While Obama is clearly the greener candidate on most of these issues, the fact that McCain even takes them seriously—and is committed to any greenhouse gas reductions whatsoever—is a plus for environmental advocates exasperated by eight years of green naysaying by the Bush administration.

CONTACTS: Obama '08, www.barackobama.com; McCain for President, www.johnmccain.com; League of Conservation Voters, www.lcv.org.

Dear EarthTalk: Should we expect to see "plug-in" hybrid cars anytime soon? I've been hearing they are on the horizon but I wonder if that means in one year or 10.
-- Bill A., Stratford, Conn.

Gasoline-electric hybrids now, like Toyota's popular Prius, don't need to plug in—you just fill their tanks with gasoline and the battery keeps charged by the internal combustion engine and by energy generated from the wheels when braking (a feature known as "regenerative braking"). The battery then powers the electric motor when it is called into service during idling, backing-up, crawling in gridlock, maintaining speed while cruising, and for extra uphill power when needed. As such, the electric motor is essentially a back-up engine while the hybrid relies mainly on the gasoline engine.

Plug-in hybrids take the concept further by plugging into a regular electric outlet to enable the vehicle to operate solely on its electric motor for ranges of 40-50 miles or more on a single charge. This has profound implications for commuters who need only drive short distances to and from work every day and who may be able to do so solely on electric power. The gasoline engine then becomes the supplemental one for when the car needs to travel farther than the electric engine can take it.

According to researchers at the University of California Davis, the electricity cost for powering a plug-in hybrid is only about one-quarter of the cost of powering a like-sized gasoline vehicle. Other benefits include far fewer fill-ups at gas stations and the convenience of recharging at home.

Toyota, currently the world's largest producer of hybrid vehicles by far thanks to the success of its Prius, announced that it expects to have a commercially viable plug-in hybrid available to consumers as early as 2010 and is now testing prototype versions of plug-in hybrids at two California universities.

Felix Kramer of the California Cars Initiative (CCI), a non-profit dedicated to promoting plug-ins, called Toyota's announcement "stunning and very welcome," and says that these vehicles will be the cleanest practical cars on the road in a world where gas stations dot just about every intersection. The promise of such cars, says CCI on its website, is that drivers will have a "cleaner, cheaper, quieter car for local travel, and the gas tank is always there should you need to drive longer distances."

U.S. automakers are also jumping onto the plug-in bandwagon. General Motors says that it will have mass-market plug-in hybrids—modifications of its Saturn Vue and Chevrolet Volt—on the road by 2010. Ford has also developed a small fleet of plug-ins, but is not yet ready to offer them to the public. Fisker, a U.S. start-up focusing on the creation of high performance, energy efficient vehicles, plans to sell an $80,000 plug-in hybrid sports car by late 2009. Chrysler's Sprinter van was the first plug-in from a major U.S. manufacturer, but it is only presently available to a limited number of institutions as a fleet vehicle.

Plug-ins have also caught on elsewhere. Chinese carmaker BYD plans to sell a plug-in hybrid sedan in the U.S. within five years. And Volkswagen hopes to have a plug-in hybrid Golf ready to roll by 2010.

CONTACTS: California Cars Initiative, www.calcars.org; BYD, www.byd.com; General Motors, http://www.gm.com/experience/fuel_economy/.

Dear EarthTalk: I was intrigued to hear that there were a number of ways one could modify or construct a roof on a house or office facility that would provide great environmental benefit. Can you enlighten?
-- Bill Teague, Menlo Park, Calif.

Most buildings are designed to shed rain, and as such are built with hard, impenetrable roofing surfaces. As a result, rainwater bounces off and collects as runoff, picking up impurities—including infectious bacteria from animal waste as well as harmful pesticides and fertilizers—on the way to municipal storm sewers, which in turn eventually empty out into local bodies of water.

Minimizing this run-off means that more impurities will remain in local soils where they can be broken down more easily into their constituent elements than if they are concentrated downstream. In order to achieve this goal, landscape architects have developed so-called "green roofs," which utilize living plant matter and soil on top of a building in order to absorb, collect and reuse rainwater while preventing run-off. Many buildings employing green roofs are able to find abundant uses for the water they collect, from watering exterior plantings at ground level to flushing toilets inside.

NOTE: PECK IS A WELL RESPECTED PERSON IN THE CLEAN AND GREEN SOCITETY.
According to Steven Peck of the Toronto-based non-profit Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, green roofs can play an important role in maintaining ecological integrity within otherwise paved over areas. "The roofscapes of our cities are the last urban frontier—from 15 percent to 35 percent of the total land area—and the green roof industry can turn these wasted spaces into a force for cleaner air, cleaner water, energy savings, cooling, beauty and recreation," he says.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) encourages the creation of green roofs for mitigating the urban "heat island effect," whereby temperatures in crowded cities can soar some 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in less developed areas nearby. Other benefits, says the EPA, include: providing amenity space for tenants (in effect replacing a yard or patio); reducing building heating and cooling costs due to the buffering effect of the plant matter and soil; filtering pollutants like carbon dioxide out of the air and heavy metals out of rainwater; and increasing bird habitat in otherwise built-up areas.

Beyond going all out to build a "living" green roof, certain inorganic materials can also make an existing roof greener. The non-profit Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC), for instance, suggests roofing surfaces that reflect the sun's heat so as to reduce the urban heat island effect while improving residential energy efficiency. According to the group, "a cool roof reflects and emits the sun's heat back to the sky." Builders can check out CRRC's website for a database of information on the radiative properties of various roofing surfaces so as to make the smartest choice for clients and the environment.

Another quality that makes certain roofs greener than others is how long they last. Metal roofs are known to be relatively maintenance free and last longer than shingles in most situations. Slate roofs also have an excellent reputation for lasting long, although getting work done on them can be expensive when they do need repairs. The Slate Roofing Contractors Association reports that sea green slates can last anywhere from one to two centuries, depending on where the slate is quarried and how well it's eventually installed.

CONTACTS: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, www.greenroofs.org; CRRC, www.coolroofs.org.

Dear EarthTalk: I need to replace my old TV. Can you tell me which of the latest models is the greenest? I was told that the flat-screen/plasmas are real energy hogs. What do you recommend?
-- Angela Montague, via e-mail

According to The Wall Street Journal's Rebecca Smith, a 42-inch plasma TV set can draw more power than a large refrigerator, even if the TV is only used a few hours a day. This is partly because many newer models don't turn off but go into "standby" mode so they can start up fast later with no warm-up period. "Powering a fancy TV and full-on entertainment system—with set-top boxes, game consoles, speakers, DVDs and digital video recorders—can add nearly $200 to a family's annual energy bill," she adds.

Smith recommends green consumers consider the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) models, which typically uses less energy than comparable plasma sets. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a 28-inch conventional cathode-ray tube (CRT) set uses about 100 watts of electricity. A 42-inch LCD set might consume twice that amount, while plasma could use five times as much, depending on the model and the programming. For the largest screen sizes (60 inches and up), projection TVs are the most energy efficient, clocking in at 150-200 watts—significantly less than the energy a plasma set would use.

"What scares us is that prices for plasma sets are dropping so fast that people are saying, why get a 42-inch plasma set when you can get a 60-inch or 64-inch one," says Tom Reddoch of the non-profit Electric Power Research Institute. "They have no idea how much electricity these things consume."

For its part, the industry is taking some steps to make its products more efficient, and to improve disclosure of energy usage. In June 2008 Sony pronounced its new 32-inch Bravia KDL-32JE1 LCD model "the world's most energy efficient television." Slated for sale in Japan in August 2008 for around $1,400, the new set utilizes fluorescent tubes to create higher levels of brightness with less energy consumption, but still delivers large resolution, a high contrast ratio and a wide viewing angle.

Beginning in November 2008, forward-thinking manufacturers will get a little boost from the U.S. government, which will start awarding the most energy efficient new TV sets "Energy Star" labels to help consumers identify greener choices. TVs bearing the Energy Star label must operate at least 30 percent more efficiently than standard models in both stand-by and active modes. Consumers can see which models qualify by visiting the televisions section of the EnergyStar.gov home electronics page. According to the EPA, if all TVs sold in the U.S. met Energy Star requirements, yearly energy savings would top $1 billion and greenhouse gas emissions would drop by the equivalent of taking a million cars off the road.

Of course, the greenest option of all (aside from getting out from in front of that tube and spending more time outdoors) is to keep or repair your existing CRT unit (a digital-to-analog converter will be needed after February 2009 when new signal specifications go into effect). Most CRT sets use less energy than any of the LCD or plasma models, and if it ain't broke, why fix it? Buying a new TV, even a greener one, only generates more pollution in production and transport, and creates waste in junking the old model.

CONTACTS: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov; Energy Star, www.energystar.gov; Electric Power Research Institute, www.epri.com; Sony Corp., www.sony.com.
Dear EarthTalk: I heard that children are reaching puberty at earlier ages now and that it may have to do with environmental toxins and even their TV viewing habits. Can you enlighten?
-- Mark Abbot, via e-mail

To say that kids are growing up faster than ever these days may be more than just cliché. Recent studies have shown that children are reaching puberty at younger and younger ages, and researchers are starting to see links between this trend and other societal ills such as ubiquitous pollution and sedentary lifestyles.

In a 2007 report for the Breast Cancer Fund entitled "The Falling Age of Puberty in U.S. Girls: What We Know, What We Need to Know," ecologist Sandra Steingraber argues that unfettered access to computers and TVs over the last 30 years has led to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle among kids in the U.S. and beyond. Active kids produce more melatonin, a natural hormone that serves as the body's internal clock and calendar. This could explain why sedentary kids are likely to go through puberty sooner: Their bodies think their decreased melatonin production is a trigger to move into puberty. "[Melatonin is] an inhibitory signal for puberty," says Steingraber. "The more melatonin you have, the later you go into puberty."

Of course, sedentary lifestyles are also linked to childhood obesity, a condition that often continues—along with the many health problems that can accompany it—into adulthood. A recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found that, between 2001 and 2004, 17.5 percent of children ages six to 11 were overweight—an effective doubling of obesity rates three decades ago. A study by the non-profit Obesity Society came up with a slightly higher figure—20 percent—with the percentages higher for Hispanic, African-American and Native American children.

Obesity is certainly one factor in the surge in so-called "precocious" adolescence, but chemicals are also thought to play a role. According to Erin Barnes, writing in E – The Environmental Magazine, a study comparing the body mass index of Danish and American girls found that the former group hit puberty a full year later than the latter even though their weights were in the same range. Another study found that wealthy girls in South Africa reach puberty a full year after their African-American counterparts. "Many researchers," writes Barnes, "are studying the relationship between chemical pollutants like PCBs (polychlorinated bphenyls) and phthalates (commonly used plasticizers) and premature development."

Some researchers believe that the preponderance of synthetic chemicals in more developed societies are interfering with human endocrine development and essentially "tricking" kids' bodies into going through puberty prematurely. Also, precocious puberty in girls has been linked to breast cancer, as well as higher rates of drug abuse, violence, unintended pregnancies, problems in school and mental health issues.

"Shortening childhood means a shortening of the time before the brain's complete re-sculpting occurs," says Steingraber. "Once that happens, the brain doesn't allow for complex learning." She adds that the brain can only build the connections used to learn a language, play a musical instrument or ride a bike before it gets flooded with the sex hormones that come with the onset of puberty.

CONTACTS: Breast Cancer Fund, www.breastcancerfund.org; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm; Obesity Society, www.obesity.org.

Dear EarthTalk: In renovating a vacation cabin, I discovered carpenter ants working their way through the walls. Is there any way to responsibly get rid of the pests without using noxious chemicals that could potentially harm my family?
-- Curran Clark, Lummi Island, Wash.

Carpenter ants may seem small and look harmless, but they can do serious damage to anything wooden in your home, including not only furniture but also the very framing and walls that hold up the house. If you are seeing a lot of ants or small piles of sawdust-like material in random spots in or around your home, you are most likely suffering from a carpenter ant infestation.

Ants are very social beings and form large colonies before spreading out to find additional nest sites. They thrive by hollowing out wood, especially in moist or rotten spots, to build their nests and then use their new home in your walls and chairs as a base camp from which to forage for food and water in their nearby surroundings. Indeed, their very presence is a good indication of moisture or rot problems in the wood, so homeowners may have more work on their hands than simply exterminating carpenter ants.

In the northern latitudes of the continental U.S. and in much of Canada, carpenter ants are the most common insect wood destroyer, surpassing even the mighty termite. But while many commercially available chemical pesticides will rid a structure of carpenter ants, homeowners are increasingly steering away from such toxins proven to impact the human nervous, respiratory and reproductive systems.

Perhaps the most economical and effective way to get rid of carpenter ants is by applying boric acid (also known as borax) to their nest sites and surroundings. This natural non-toxic element, mined from below the Mojave Desert in southern California, has a long history of use in exterminating brazen populations of cockroaches, palmetto bugs, waterbugs, silverfish, termites, and, you guessed it, carpenter ants.

Al Abruzzese, owner of the website Al's Home Improvement Center, swears by boric acid to get rid of wood-boring pests. "This simple inexpensive, household chemical is deadly to all insects," he says. "It has been shown to attack their nervous systems, as well as being a drying agent to their bodies."

Beyond just being effective as an all-natural insecticide, boric acid is non-toxic to humans. Abruzzese says it is safe enough to use around children—it has been used in ointments and salves for diaper rash on babies in the past—and can be an important part of eyewash solutions as well, albeit in very diluted form (don't try it at home). One common brand name to look for is Nisus Bora-Care, but any pesticide with boric acid or borax listed as an active ingredient will do just fine.

For those not into do-it-yourself pest control, calling in an exterminator that uses all natural products is a good option. Oregon's All Natural Pest Elimination, for instance, services the entire four state region of the Pacific Northwest with products from Natureline—crafted from safe botanical extracts and essential oils, not synthetic chemicals—on all of its extermination jobs. Look in the yellow pages for exterminators in your area, and call each one you are considering to make sure they stay away from noxious chemicals.

CONTACTS: Al's Home Improvement Center, www.alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement; Nisus Bora-Care, www.nisuscorp.com; All Natural Pest Elimination, www.nobuggy.com.

Dear EarthTalk: What is "cogeneration" as a means of providing heat and power? -- Jerry Schleup, Andover, Mass.

Cogeneration—also known as combined heat and power, distributed generation, or recycled energy—is the simultaneous production of two or more forms of energy from a single fuel source. Cogeneration power plants often operate at 50 to 70 percent higher efficiency rates than single-generation facilities.

In practical terms, what cogeneration usually entails is the use of what would otherwise be wasted heat (such as a manufacturing plant's exhaust) to produce additional energy benefit, such as to provide heat or electricity for the building in which it is operating. Cogeneration is great for the bottom line and also for the environment, as recycling the waste heat saves other pollutant-spewing fossil fuels from being burned.

Most of the thousands of cogeneration plants operating across the United States and Canada are small facilities operated by non-utility companies and by institutions like universities and the military. For small cogeneration plants—those that generate anywhere from one to 20 megawatts of power—biomass or even methane from garbage dumps can be used as a front-end fuel source, but natural gas is far more common as the primary input.

For instance, Sunnyvale, California-based Network Appliance Inc., a computer networking company, relies on a one megawatt natural gas-powered cogeneration system to power the building's extensive air conditioning needs, and for back-up power for use during peak demand times. The company estimates it saves around $300,000 a year in energy costs thanks to the cogeneration system.

In another example, Illinois-based Epcor USA Ventures operates three mid-sized (25 megawatts and up) cogeneration power plants in San Diego to power U.S. Marine Corps and Navy bases there. All three plants work in the same way: Natural gas turbines drive electrical generators that in turn exhaust hot gases. These are then captured to drive a steam generator hooked into the bases centralized heating and cooling systems. Since the systems generate power to spare, Epcor is talking with area companies about kicking in for a share of the steam to keep their energy bills and carbon footprints in check.

Cogeneration is not limited to stationary power plants. Honda is exploring the use of a specialized automotive cogeneration generator designed to improve the overall efficiency of hybrid vehicles by recapturing waste exhaust heat from the internal combustion engine and converting it to electricity to recharge the battery pack. The idea is still in the research and development phase, it could make its way into new cars within a few years, further improving on the already impressive efficiency of hybrid cars.

CONTACTS: Network Appliance Inc., www.netapp.com; Epcor USA Ventures, www.primaryenergy.com; Honda Motor Company, http://world.honda.com.

Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that the DEET used in most mosquito repellents is toxic? If so what problems does it cause? And what are some non-toxic alternatives for keeping mosquitoes at bay?
-- Tom Pollack, Oakland, Calif.

DEET is commonly known as the king of mosquito repellents, though not everyone is keen to slather it on their skin. A study conducted in the late 1980s on Everglades National Park employees to determine the effects of DEET found that a full one-quarter of the subjects studied experienced negative health effects that they blamed on exposure to the chemical. Effects included rashes, skin irritation, numb or burning lips, nausea, headaches, dizziness and difficulty concentrating.

Duke University pharmacologist Mohamed Abou-Donia, in studies on rats, found that frequent and prolonged DEET exposure led to diffuse brain cell death and behavioral changes, and concluded that humans should stay away from products containing it. But other studies have shown that while a few people have sensitivity to DEET applications, most are unaffected when they use DEET products on a sporadic basis according to the instructions on the label.

The upside of DEET is that it is very effective. A 2002 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that DEET-based repellents provided the most complete and longest lasting protection against mosquitoes. Researchers found that a formulation containing 23.8 percent DEET completely protected study participants for upwards of 300 minutes, while a soybean-oil-based product only worked for 95 minutes. The effectiveness of several other botanical-based repellents lasted less than 20 minutes.

But a number of new concentrations of botanical repellents that have hit the market since are reportedly better than ever. In 2005, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) granted approval to two healthier alternatives to DEET—picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus—for protection from mosquitoes. Picaridin, long used to repel mosquitoes in other parts of the world, is now available in the U.S. under the Cutter Advanced brand name. Oil of lemon eucalyptus, which is derived from eucalyptus leaves and is the only plant-based active ingredient for insect repellents approved by the CDC, is available in several different forms, including Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, OFF! Botanicals, and Fight Bite Plant-Based Insect Repellent.

Some other good choices, according to the nonprofit National Coalition against the Misuse of Pesticides, include products containing geraniol (MosquitoGuard or Bite Stop), citronella (Natrapel), herbal extracts (Beat It Bug Buster) or essential oils (All Terrain). The group also gives high marks to oil of lemon eucalyptus, such as that found in Repel's Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent.

Another leading nonprofit, Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), likes Herbal Armor, Buzz Away and Green Ban, each containing citronella and peppermint as well as various essential oils (cedar wood, lemongrass, etc.). PANNA also lauds Bite Blocker, a blend of soybeans and coconut oils that provides four to eight hours of protection and, unlike many other brands, is safe to use on kids.

CONTACTS: "Comparative Efficacy of Insect Repellents against Mosquito Bites," http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/347/1/13; National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP), www.beyondpesticides.org; Pesticide Action Network North America, www.panna.org.

Dear EarthTalk: I want to offer my employees a 401(k) plan that is socially and environmentally responsible. Are there such plans and, if so, where do I look? -- CJ Hughes, Queens, N.Y.

Even though socially responsible investing (SRI) has been around for decades, only recently have some companies begun to offer their employees greener options for 401(k) retirement investment accounts.

According to Rona Fried of SustainableBusiness.com, SRI options for retirement plans are still only offered to about 20 percent of employees, but that's changing fast. One survey found that more than two-thirds of employees want such choices. And a 2007 survey by the Social Investment Forum found that 60 percent of benefit plan sponsors polled plan to include SRI options for retirement funds by 2010.

Retirement accounts are big business in the U.S.: Some 50 million Americans have invested $2.5 trillion in 401(k) plans to date. With so few SRI options out there now and employees eager to make their savings work for the environment, greener 401(k) plans are sure to take a bigger and bigger slice of the pie moving forward. "It's a matter of simple supply and demand," says Paul Hilton of Calvert Funds, which currently offers one SRI retirement fund option but plans to add two more within the next couple of years. "Corporations are responding to the increasing desire of Americans to invest with their values."

Right now health care and government agencies are those most likely to include an SRI option for employees' retirement accounts, but a handful of large companies have gotten in on the act as well. For instance, chipmaker Intel began offering its employees an SRI retirement plan option eight years ago.

"In 2000, we were trying to create a culture of corporate social responsibility and it made sense for us to practice what we preach by including this option in our retirement plan," says Dave Stangis, Intel's director of corporate responsibility. "In addition, Intel itself is a top holding in many SRI mutual funds and we wanted to reinforce that with our employees. It's a way for us to be a role model."

Still, most plans give employees only a limited number of funds to choose from, often from Calvert and another SRI mutual fund leader, Domini. Both firms ply the three main tenets of SRI: (1) rigorous research to assess the social and environmental integrity of companies being considered for inclusion in an investment portfolio; (2) using investors' positions as stockholders (i.e. owners) of companies invested in to advocate for good corporate citizenship (often through the introduction of corporate resolutions); and (3) channeling affordable credit to needy communities ill-served by traditional lenders to rebuild neighborhoods and create jobs. SRI funds are also increasingly making "early stage" investments in new companies on the cutting edge of environmental progress, such as alternative energy companies.

In order to help diversify the marketplace for SRI retirement plans, consultant Rob Thomas started Social(k) in 2005 to offer companies a full array of SRI options for their 401(k) plans. Social(k) offers 140 different SRI funds from which employees at participating companies can choose. Thomas's goal is to offer as many funds as possible and become the one-stop shop for retirement investing. Companies can offer either Social(k) alone, or as a secondary option alongside an existing 401(k) plan.

CONTACTS: SustainableBusiness.com, www.sustainablebusiness.com; Calvert Funds, www.calvert.com; Domini Social Investments, www.domini.com; Social(k), www.socialk.com.

Dear EarthTalk: Recent NASA photos showed the opening of the Northwest Passage and that a third of the Arctic's sea ice has melted in recent. Are sea levels already starting to rise accordingly, and if so what effects is this having?
-- Dudley Robinson, Ireland

Researchers were astounded when, in the fall of 2007, they discovered that the year-round ice pack in the Arctic Ocean had lost some 20 percent of its mass in just two years, setting a new record low since satellite imagery began documenting the terrain in 1978. Without action to stave off climate change, some scientists believe that, at that rate, all of the year-round ice in the Arctic could be gone by as early as 2030.

This massive reduction has allowed an ice-free shipping lane to open through the fabled Northwest Passage along northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland. While the shipping industry—which now has easy northern access between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans—may be cheering this "natural" development, scientists worry about the impact of the resulting rise in sea levels around the world.

With about a third of the world's population—and 25 percent of Americans—living within 300 feet of an ocean coastline, sea level rise is a big deal. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of leading climate scientists, sea levels have risen some 3.1 millimeters per year since 1993.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports that low-lying island nations, especially in equatorial regions, have been hardest hit by this phenomenon, and some are threatened with total disappearance. Rising seas have already swallowed up two uninhabited islands in the Central Pacific. On Samoa, thousands of residents have moved to higher ground as shorelines have retreated by as much as 160 feet. And islanders on Tuvalu are scrambling to find new homes as salt water intrusion has made their groundwater undrinkable while increasingly strong hurricanes and ocean swells have devastated shoreline structures.

WWF says that rising seas throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world have inundated coastal ecosystems, decimating local plant and wildlife populations. In Bangladesh and Thailand, coastal mangrove forests—important buffers against storms and tidal waves—are giving way to ocean water.

Unfortunately, even if we curb global warming emissions today, these problems are likely to get worse before they get better. According to marine geophysicist Robin Bell of Columbia University's Earth Institute, sea levels rise by about 1/16" for every 150 cubic miles of ice that melts off one of the poles.

"That may not sound like a lot, but consider the volume of ice now locked up in the planet's three greatest ice sheets," she writes in a recent issue of Scientific American. "If the West Antarctic ice sheet were to disappear, sea level would rise almost 19 feet; the ice in the Greenland ice sheet could add 24 feet to that; and the East Antarctic ice sheet could add yet another 170 feet to the level of the world's oceans: more than 213 feet in all." Bell underscores the severity of the situation by pointing out that the 150-foot tall Statue of Liberty could be completely submerged within a matter of decades.

CONTACTS: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), www.ipcc.ch; WWF, www.panda.org; Earth Institute at Columbia University, www.earth.columbia.edu.
Dear EarthTalk: What's available now in lawnmowers that are easier on the environment? My yard is too big for one of those "reel" mowers, and I'm no longer a spring chicken, so I have to buy something that runs on more than human power. What's out there?

--
Joel Klein, Albany, N.Y.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), traditional gas-powered lawnmowers are a public nuisance to say the least. Using one of them for an hour generates as many volatile organic compounds—dangerous airborne pollutants known to exacerbate human respiratory and cardiovascular problems—as driving a typical car for 350 miles. The EPA estimates that, with some 54 million Americans mowing their lawns on a weekly basis, gas lawnmower emissions account for as much as five percent of the nation's total air pollution. Beyond that, homeowners spill some 17 million gallons of gasoline every year just refueling their lawnmowers.

So what's a green-minded property owner to do about keeping the grass down? Go electric, of course!

Electric mowers, which either plug into a wall outlet via a long cord or run on batteries charged up from the grid, create no exhaust emissions and run much cleaner than their gas-powered counterparts. They also need less maintenance, with no spark plugs or belts to worry about, and are easier to use, as they tend to be smaller and come with push-button starters. The icing on the cake might be the fact that electric mowers are cheaper to run, using about as much electricity as an ordinary toaster. Most electric mower owners spend about $5 a year on electricity to keep their grass trimmed just right. The non-profit Electric Power Research Institute reports that replacing half of the 1.3 million or so gas mowers in the U.S. with electric models would save the equivalent amount of emissions of taking two million cars off the road.

But going electric has some minor trade-offs. Electric mowers tend to cost up to $150 more than their gas-powered counterparts, and the plug-in varieties can only go 100 feet from the closest outlet without an extension cord. And the cordless models last only 30-60 minutes on a charge, depending on battery size and type, though that's plenty sufficient for the average lawn (just remember to re-charge it in time for the next mow).

And, of course, just because electric mowers don't consume fossil fuels or spew emissions directly doesn't mean they are totally green-friendly. Most people derive their household electricity from coal-fired power plants, the dirtiest of all energy sources. Of course, running an electric mower on electricity generated from clean and renewable sources (solar, wind or hydro power) would be the greenest of all possibilities, and those days may be upon us soon.

For those ready to take the electric mower plunge, the Greener Choices website, a project of Consumer Reports, gives high marks to Black & Decker's corded ($230) and cordless ($400) models for their efficiency, reliability and ease-of-use. Corded models from Worx and Homelite (both around $200) also fared well, along with cordless offerings from Craftsman, Homelite, Remington and Neuton ($300-450).

CONTACTS: Black & Decker, www.blackanddecker.com; Remington, www.remingtonpowertools.com; Homelite, www.homelite.com; Worx, www.worxpowertools.com; Neuton, www.neutonpower.com; Greener Choices, www.greenerchoices.org.

Dear EarthTalk: The 2008 Summer Olympics in China are drawing a lot of attention right now for political reasons. I've heard, though, that one ray of light is China's effort to make the event as green as possible. What's going on in that regard?
-- Josh Rogers, Concord, N.H.

It's true that China is using the upcoming Beijing Olympics as a sustainability showcase, going so far as to dub the event the "Green Olympics." Through a partnership with the U.S. government and the Maryland-based International Center for Sustainable Development, China is giving Beijing a green makeover to make the city a model for net zero pollution, green building and sustainable community development.

According to China's Technology Minister Wan Gang, the Beijing Olympics are expected to generate some 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide, in large part because of the flying the world's athletes will do to get to and from the games. To offset these potent greenhouse gases, China will take a series of measures, Wan says, including planting trees, closing 1,000 small coal mines before and during the games and banning up to a million cars from city streets.

Beijing's Olympic Village, where the Chinese government has been busy erecting dozens of stadiums and other structures according to rigorous green standards, is emerging as quite an example of sustainable community development. The steel-looped Beijing National Stadium, for instance, includes a rainwater collection arrangement, a natural ventilation system and a clear roof with inflatable cushions made from ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene), a kind of plastic that increases light and heat penetration.

Another example is the "Water Cube," a spectacular-looking structure that looks like a building made of bubble-wrap. Officially known as the National Aquatics Center, it is completely surrounded with ETFE pillows and is expected to cut energy use by 30 percent. And when it has finished serving its purpose as an Olympic venue, it has been built to be converted to a shopping area and leisure center with tennis courts, retail outlets, nightclubs and restaurants.

All seven main Olympic stadiums are equipped with solar generators capable of outputting 480 kilowatts of energy at any given moment. Ninety percent of the lighting outside the stadiums, as well as the entire hot water supply for the Olympic Village will be powered by solar energy. Also, the main stadiums will receive power from Beijing's first wind farm.

While the Olympic Games will only last for two weeks, environmentalists hope the greening of Beijing will indeed continue beyond the summer '08. Some proposals include building 14 wastewater treatment facilities to achieve 90 percent treatment rate in Beijing, and extending potable water to the entire city.

Also, the municipal government of Beijing has invested in expensive energy-efficient heating and transportation equipment that will greatly improve environmental quality for decades hence. Beijing, where 1,000 new cars roll onto the streets every day, also plans to source clean energy from other parts of China and through the purchase of pollution offsets on a quickly expanding international market.

CONTACTS: ICSD Beijing 2008 Green Olympics Initiative, www.solarcities.org/beijingolympics.htm; Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, http://en.beijing2008.cn.

Dear EarthTalk: How is it said that we are "losing winter" because of climate change? It didn't seem so last winter, when it even snowed in places for the very first time.
-- Peter Kim, Duxbury, Mass.

The effects of global warming manifest themselves differently in different locations, and winter is no doubt getting shorter and warmer across New England, the Canadian Maritimes and Northern Europe.

In New England, average winter temperatures have increased 4.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970. The years 2006 and 1998 were the first and second warmest years on record in the U.S. since we started counting, with the last eight five-year periods the warmest in history. According to the National Climatic Data Center, that warming has been accelerating over the last three decades, from just over a tenth of one degree Fahrenheit per decade to almost a third of a degree now.

By 2100, temperatures in the Northeastern U.S. are predicted to have risen by 8-12 degrees Fahrenheit, with the number of snow days half of what we are used to now. A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists on the effects of global warming in the Northeast concluded that, under some scenarios, "Only western Maine is projected to retain a reliable ski season by the end of the century, and only northern New Hampshire would support a snowmobiling season longer than two months."

And it seems that as one moves farther north, more and more winter is lost. The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment of 2004 reported that Arctic temperatures are now rising at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the world (as much as 14 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years), reducing sea ice and melting frozen soils. It's been widely reported that Alaska's polar bears are probably doomed by 2050, but the scale of this climatic shift will likely do much more—completely changing the culture of the Arctic.

Global warming impacts are far from monolithic: Some parts of the planet are heating up and others are experiencing colder than average temperatures and record snowfalls, just as climate models predict. But the overall trend is clear: It's getting warmer, and winter is losing intensity and duration. "If you've ever enjoyed ice skating, sledding, skiing, snowboarding or building a snowman, writes E – The Environmental Magazine, you should know that the future of these enshrined institutions is by no means guaranteed."

Winter's retreat may be sad for children intent on sledding, but it also augurs badly for the economy, especially for businesses reliant on snow. New England's ski industry has experienced sharp declines in the number of days their lifts are shuttling people up the mountain. Snowmaking machines, originally intended to just cover any slack left by Mother Nature, now operate to capacity throughout the winter.

And snowmobile manufacturers report a 50 percent drop in sales over the last decade as the number of snow-covered days diminishes. Yet another business casualty is New England's maple syrup industry, which has been thwarted in recent years by early thaws which have depleted production capacity by as much as 50 percent. According to Tom McCrumm of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association, there may no longer be a maple sugar industry in New England by 2100.

CONTACTS: National Climatic Data Center, www.ncdc.noaa.gov; Union of Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org; Massachusetts Maple Producers Association, www.massmaple.org.

Dear EarthTalk: What initiatives are taking place on college campuses to reduce the footprints of these large users of energy and other resources?
-- Shawna Smith, Hamilton, N.Y.

Microcosms of the world at large, college campuses are great test beds for environmental change, and many students are working hard to get their administrations to take positive action. The initiatives that are emerging are models for the larger society, and the students pushing for them will be taking these lessons with them, too, as they enter the work force after graduation.

Foremost on the minds of green-leaning students today is global warming, and many are joining hands to persuade their schools to update policies and streamline operations so that their campuses can become part of the solution. Largely a result of student efforts, for example, nearly 500 U.S. colleges and universities have signed the American College and University Presidents (ACUP) Climate Commitment.

This agreement requires schools to put together a comprehensive plan to go "carbon neutral" in two years of signing. (Carbon neutral means contributing no net greenhouse gases to the atmosphere either by not generating them in the first place or by offsetting them somehow, such as through tree-planting or by buying "offsets" from companies that fund alternative energy projects.)

ACUP also commits schools to implementing two or more tangible (and easily implemented) policies right away, such as improving waste minimization and recycling programs, reducing energy usage, providing or encouraging public transportation to and from campus (and switching campus buses over to bio-diesel fuel), constructing bicycle lanes, and implementing green building guidelines for any new construction.

Signatory schools also pledge that they will integrate sustainability into their curricula, making it part of the educational experience.

One place where students are forcing green changes on campus is the dining hall. According to the Sustainable Endowments Institute's 2007 report card, which looks at environmental initiatives at the 200 colleges and universities with the largest endowment assets in the U.S. and Canada, 70 percent of such schools now "devote at least a portion of food budgets to buying from local farms and/or producers," while 29 percent earned an "A" in the "food and recycling" category. Yale University even has organic gardens that are student-run and that supply an on-campus farmer's market for use by campus food services, the local community and students alike.

Another area where college campuses are leading the way is in water conservation. Colleges consume huge quantities of water in dormitories, cafeterias, at athletic facilities and in maintaining their rolling green grounds. According to Niles Barnes of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), most of the 3,800 institutions of higher education in the U.S. have engaged in some sort of water-saving program. Low-water-volume toilets and urinals, as well as low-flow showerheads and faucets, are "pretty much standard practice across U.S. colleges today," says Barnes.

CONTACTS: ACUP, www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org; Sustainable Endowments Institute, www.endowmentinstitute.org; AASHE, www.aashe.org.

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COSMETIC SURGERY'S BRIGHT, SHINY NEW FACE

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Cosmetic surgery's bright, shiny new face
Parents' examples, emphasis on youth and beauty erase the stigma of old
Courtesy of Marianne Guarena
Marianne Guarena, editor of the resource guide www.yestheyrefake.net, has undergone more than 20 major and minor cosmetic procedures in the last eight years. "The more people speak about it, the more they want it," she says.

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By Alex Johnson
Reporter
MSNBC
updated 12:03 p.m. ET Aug. 2, 2005

Alex Johnson
Reporter
• Profile

Time was — this was not so long ago — that cosmetic surgery was a little scandalous. If you had something nipped or tucked or lifted or vacuumed, you were just a wee bit too vain. Boy, Jessica looks great, doesn't she? Well (sniff), she's had work done.

Things have changed:

"I started at 25. I had a breast augmentation at 25."
Story continues below ↓advertisement

Marianne Guarena, who lives in Las Vegas, is editor-in-chief of Enhancement Media, which operates several Web sites devoted to cosmetic surgery. The marquee site, Yes They're Fake!, draws more than a million unique visitors a month, she said.

NOTE: GUARENA IS A WELL RESPCTED EDITOR.

She is 33, but she must still get carded every time she goes into a bar. This is because in the last eight years, Guarena has undergone more than 20 major and minor cosmetic procedures, all chronicled on her Web site.

On one day alone — May 5, 2004 — she had a breast implant exchange; liposuction to her flanks, hips, thighs and abdomen; a modified brow lift; lip augmentation; and a graft of fat into her cheeks.

If there used to be a stigma, it has long since been erased for people of means of Guarena's generation.

"Before, it was, like, hush-hush, and no one really talked about it, but then the media started getting in on it and we have all these makeover shows," she said.

"It's become a household word, to the point it's not embarrassing to say that you've had it," she added. "The more people speak about it, the more they, too, want something done."

Related coverage
Nip 'n' Tuck Nation: trends, developments and controversies in cosmetic surgery

More in-your-face than ever
For many years, medical professionals have pointed to the increasing sexualization of American culture, selling the idea that Young + Slim = Beautiful. What's new is the advent of reality TV makeover programs, which pound home the message that Young and Slim can be bought.

"Over the past five years, I have seen a community standard shift," said Dr. Andrew Jacono, a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon at the New York Center for Facial Plastic and Laser Surgery. "It is not whether cosmetic surgery is acceptable. It's a question of what procedures they are going to do and when."

Cosmetic surgery

What to watch for
Harvard Medical School Professor Brooke R. Seckel, author of "Save Your Face," says patients should look for these "red flags" when they consult a plastic surgeon:

NOTE: A MUST CONSIDERATION IN A COSMETIC SURGEON...

Your surgeon should be kind, respectful and concerned about you as a patient. If he or she is not, leave. Also leave if:
— The surgeon is a "cold person."
— The surgeon gets uncomfortable, defensive or angry when you ask about his or her experience or board certification.
— The surgeon acts more like a salesperson than a doctor.
— The surgeon or staff make you feel stupid for asking a question.
— The surgeon offers you a "cut-rate" deal. What is he or she leaving out?
— The office staff acts more like fashion models or starlets than health care providers. They provide essential support during your recovery ... make sure they are professionals.
— The surgeon does cosmetic surgery only occasionally.
— The surgeon is just starting his or her practice. Expertise in cosmetic surgery takes years of experience.
SOURCE: "Save Your Face" by Brooke R. Seckel, MD

"Obviously, from my standpoint, [things have] changed dramatically, especially with all of these reality shows," said Dr. Blane T. Shatkin, a cosmetic surgeon in Weston, Fla., and chief of staff at Memorial Hospital in nearby Miramar. "I mean, the reality shows have just gone crazy with plastic surgery."

There are other influences, to be sure. Advances in technology have made cosmetic surgery safer and have cut recovery time, while they also have brought down the cost enough so elective surgery is within reach of much of the middle class. And, as with pretty much every other social trend, you can blame the baby boomers.

"I think it's an outgrowth of Freudian psychology," said Dr. Brooke R. Seckel, an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and founder of the Lahey Center for Cosmetic and Laser Surgery in Lexington, Mass. "The boomers, so to speak, are more centered, more self-focused and less concerned about others' opinions."

Related stories
More stories by Alex Johnson

And now "they're having children," said Shatkin, who said he had worked on a lot of young women following in the footsteps of their mothers. "They're much more educated [because] their mom has had implants and they know all that's involved with them."
CONTINUED: No business like show business
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Nip 'n Tuck Nation Section Front
Young and using Botox to stay that way
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