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05 Jun 00 - shopaholics; Denmark; internship; dry cleaning; scrubs ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- Excerpted from a May 23, 2000, article by Chris Berdik on the MoJo Wire, the website for Mother Jones magazine (forwarded by David Assmann): SELLING THE CURE FOR SHOPAHOLISM Doctors at Stanford University are studying a medication they hope will alleviate the suffering of millions of American women. But their target isn't breast cancer, osteoporosis, or a similarly well-known affliction. Despite its alarming impact on its victims, the malady in question has received comparatively little medical scrutiny. It's a "hidden epidemic," according to the Stanford researchers: compulsive shopping disorder. That's right. What was once merely a punchline in television sitcoms is now being taken seriously by many clinicians. According to the Stanford study's leader, Dr. Lorrin Koran, compulsive shopping is "motivated by 'irresistible' impulses, characterized by spending that is excessive and inappropriate, has harmful consequences for the individual, and tends to be chronic and stereotyped." Compulsive shoppers "binge buy" - most often clothes, shoes, makeup, and jewelry - and then suffer intense guilt. That, in turn, helps trigger another frenzied trip to the mall, and the cycle continues. As many as 8 percent of all Americans may be "shopaholics," and according to Dr. Koran, approximately 90 percent of them are women. (All of the 24 participants in the Stanford study are female.) Michael Elliott, another of the Stanford researchers, ascribes the heavy gender bias to the fact that "women are assigned the shopping role for the family in our culture." Could compulsive shopping be a health hazard associated with America's unparalleled economic prosperity? "It seems to be a disease of affluence," says Dr. Jerrold Pollak, a clinical psychologist who's treated several shopaholics. "Advertisers... would like us to think that shopping is a reason to live," agrees Dr. Cheryl Carmin, another clinical psychologist. "If you do not have the time or inclination to go to the mall or grocery store, there are catalogs, delivery services, home shopping networks on TV, and endless items to buy via the Internet." Indeed, this year, U.S. advertisers will spend $233 billion - an amount equal to six federal education budgets - to persuade Americans to buy, buy, buy. Yet the possibility that U.S. advertisers may be driving certain women in our society to psychosis is only part of the story. It seems that the pharmaceutical companies' quest to cure the effects of excessive marketing may itself be little more than a cleverly-disguised marketing scheme. The Stanford study, like many of its kind, is being funded by a pharmaceutical company. The undisclosed drug is an FDA-approved antidepressant, specifically an SSRI -- a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor. The entire article is at: http://www.mojones.com/news_wire/shopaholic.html -------------------- >From Paul Dunn, City of Omaha (NE) Public Works Department: This is a response to a really old posting (I'm doing a bit of housekeeping). A 10/18/99 posting quoted an article from the New York Times that mentioned environmental activities in Denmark, which included: "In downtown Copenhagen, there are distinctly-colored public bicycles, activated by putting coins in the handlebars." That's interesting to hear, since when I was in Denmark in 1981 the locals told me about the annual dredging of the canals that brought up thousands and thousands of bicycles that had been stolen, then disposed of in the canal after use. The culture was such that: - No one in Denmark locked their bike up. - No one rode a nice/expensive bike. - No police reports were filed for stolen bikes. - Even most law-abiding citizens would, when they discovered their bike stolen, just select the bike that was next to where their bike was and ride off. Though I suppose that law-abiding citizens would have parked the bike somewhere instead of throwing it into the river. In any case, I thought this perspective showed Denmark's less saintly side. It was, by the way, my favorite country of those I visited, and Tivoli Gardens were worthy of their reputation. E-mail: pdunn (AT) ci (DOT) omaha (DOT) ne (DOT) us -------------------- Excerpted from message from Belle Cantor, Environmental Careers Organization, San Francisco, CA: The Environmental Careers Organization has a paid internship position available with a company in Seattle. The intern will help create, implement and audit waste programs for the company's sites in the U.S. and Canada. The position involves researching best practices in waste management, and developing recycling and waste prevention programs. However, about 50 percent of the position consists of setting up utility accounts, including waste, electricity, natural gas, water and sewer. This full-time position is for five months, and pays $10 an hour. The starting date is July 1, 2000. The deadline to apply is June 13, 2000. To see the full description of this position, go to the Environmental Careers Organization website at: www.eco.org Click on "Paid Environmental Internships." Scroll down and click on "Available Internships." Click on "NW" (for Northwest region). Then scroll down and click on "Utility Specialist I." To apply, send cover letter, resume and references to: Environmental Careers Organization Attn.: Belle Cantor 381 Bush St, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94104 Telephone: 415-362-5552, extension 174 Fax: 415-362-5559 Email: bellet ( AT ) eco ( DOT ) org ------------------- Link to a May 25, 2000, article by Claude Morgan on the Environmental News Network website, about a new less-toxic alternative to dry cleaning that uses carbon dioxide (forwarded by Kinley Deller and Paul Dunn): http://www.enn.com/features/2000/05/05252000/cleaners_12553.asp ------------------- Excerpted from a 4/24/00 article by Cheryl McMullen in Waste News: Holyoke Hospital, a 200-bed, not-for-profit hospital in Holyoke, Massachusetts, has set up a website to sell surgical scrubs used in its operating room. The website is at: http://www.realscrubs.com/ The used scrubs, which sell for $24.95 each, have been laundered at the hospital "in very high temperature water, using chlorine bleach and bacteriostatic softeners," according to the website. A "Realscrubs" logo is silk-screened on the back of the scrubs before they are sold. Surgical scrubs, which are often stolen from hospitals, are popular with young people for leisure wear. In just a few months, the hospital has received several thousand dollars worth of orders. Proceeds from the sales of the scrubs benefit the charitable mission of Holyoke Hospital. - end -