Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 REPPED: While large-scale marketing efforts tout cost savings of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), few are explaining the real cost -- to the environment and to individuals -- of broken or discarded CFLs.
One consumer has learned that accidentally breaking a CFL could cost her more than $2,000. According to the newspaper Ellsworth American, Brandy Bridges of Prospect, Maine, has been given a conservative quote of $2,000 for toxic cleanup of one CFL broken in her home.
Bridges broke the CFL as she was installing it in her daughter's bedroom. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Many Americans understand this, too, but due to our crumbling education system, even the ability to do the basic math calculations required to even understand the Total cost of Ownership seems to be a rare skill. The vast majority of high school graduates in the United States cannot calculate a 15 percent restaurant tip in their heads. How on earth will they ever understand the Total cost of Ownership concept for energy-efficient lighting?
I don't have an answer for that. Not everybody will get this. The big picture will only be grasped by some. |
| Thus, the Total cost of Ownership of the inkjet printer must take into the account the cost of the ink.
Uses for LED lights
Many consumers are wondering where they can use LED lights around their homes or businesses. Can they replace lights in room lamps? Ceiling fans? Desk lamps? Recessed lights?
To answer this question, remember that LED lights are really spotlights. They shine light in a specific direction with a certain beam angle. A wide beam angle shines light wider from side to side, while a narrow beam angle shines light in a narrow cone with extreme brightness. |
| I share that concern, and I wish these lights were a lot less expensive to manufacture, but the fact is that quality LED components cost more. The copper, aluminum alloys and lenses that go into our LED lights are quality components, not cheap disposable parts like you normally find in an incandescent light. Building a quality LED light costs a lot more money than building a cheap light that you toss into landfill after a thousand hours of wasting electricity before burning out. |
| In contrast, what is the Total cost of Ownership for our 10-watt EcoLEDs light bulb? The LED light itself costs about $100 up front. It uses 10.8 watts of electricity, which adds up to 540 kilowatt-hours over 50,000 hours. That's about $54 in electricity, vs. the $500 needed to power the 100-watt bulb mentioned above. Plus, our 10-watt LED light reduces CO2 emissions by 9,000 pounds, producing only about 1,080 pounds of CO2 instead of the 10,150 pounds produced from a 100-watt incandescent bulb. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 I think we should start with mandated labeling that shows the lifetime cost of each bulb sold at retail so that consumers can start to see the different in the total cost of ownership right there at the point of purchase.
That would, for the first time, make consumers acutely aware of what it costs them to operate a light bulb, not to even mention the cost to the planet.
But can people do math anymore?
Of course, all this requires that consumers can actually follow basic math... or even read labels, for that matter. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Forget about all the so-called "cost saving" schemes dreamed up by politicians, drug companies and HMOs. All they do is create new levels of bureaucracy that don't address the real problems of why health care costs are so high in the first place. In this article, we'll look at how to fundamentally cut health care costs by 90% nationwide -- while simultaneously enhancing the quality of life for all Americans -- through a program of education and disease prevention that starts with changing the way doctors are educated. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| I think we should start with mandated labeling that shows the lifetime cost of each bulb sold at retail so that consumers can start to see the different in the total cost of ownership right there at the point of purchase.
That would, for the first time, make consumers acutely aware of what it costs them to operate a light bulb, not to even mention the cost to the planet.
But can people do math anymore?
Of course, all this requires that consumers can actually follow basic math... or even read labels, for that matter. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| One consumer has learned that accidentally breaking a CFL could cost her more than $2,000. According to the newspaper Ellsworth American, Brandy Bridges of Prospect, Maine, has been given a conservative quote of $2,000 for toxic cleanup of one CFL broken in her home.
Bridges broke the CFL as she was installing it in her daughter's bedroom. Because Bridges knew that CFLs contain hazardous materials, she called Home Depot for advice on how to clean up the broken bulb. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 These surgical procedures are performed with the same technology and expertise, yet cost a fraction of the price.
For example, a knee replacement surgery in a high-tech hospital in the Philippines performed by Western trained surgeons might only cost you $6,000. Here in the United States you're probably looking at $50,000. Heart bypass surgery in Asia costs around $10,000. In the US, it's $60,000 to $80,000. Gastric bypass surgery in the U.S. can cost $10,000 to $20,000. Overseas it can be done for well under $5,000.
So where do the cost savings come from? |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| How on earth will they ever understand the Total cost of Ownership concept for energy-efficient lighting?
I don't have an answer for that. Not everybody will get this. The big picture will only be grasped by some. The others will have to be dragged into the future, kicking and screaming about the government banning their incandescent light bulbs. But the smarter, better-informed consumers out there (like NewsTarget readers) get this right now, and they understand that LED lights make instant sense in terms of personal economics and planetary impact.
(Full disclosure: I am the founder of www. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 It's just like you said, the hidden cost is the long-term health cost associated with the consumption of these foods. If you consume soft drinks, canned soups, sugary breakfast cereals and peanut butter with hydrogenated oils in it, and you consume these for a period of several decades, you will be diseased. That's common sense now. We know this to be true; it's cause-and-effect. There will be a cost associated with that disease, and typically that cost will be in the tens of thousands of dollars, if not much more. I mean, six figures is not at all unusual.
Let's say you're diabetic. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| And the long-term result is that everyone's insurance rates would go down, because healthy people cost a lot less in terms of medical expenses. They don't need as much surgery, they don’t need medical care, and they don't need vast quantities of expensive prescription drugs that are largely responsible for driving up health insurance costs today.
There are many other fantastic ideas circulating out there. What I've presented here are just a few of the really good ideas that, if implemented, could save us billions of dollars as a nation. We would have far greater productivity. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Longer term, you may even consider switching to a hybrid vehicle, although hybrids are today not well justified in terms of cost savings alone. (There are other reasons to own a hybrid, however...)
The second thing to consider is the value of your life and safety, since new cars have much better safety features. They have better airbags and restraint systems, better crumple zones and better road handling for dangerous conditions such as icy or wet roads. You'll be much safer in a newer car, no question about it. |
Too Profitable to CureBrent Hoadley, Ph.D.
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| At an average cost of 70 cents/strip (some cost as much as $1.25 per strip), the result is roughly $10 billion in sales.
This number represents a significant profit when one considers that the technology is pure 1970s and that strips probably cost as little as 10 cents apiece to manufacture and deliver to the patient. Most meters which read blood glucose in milligrams per deciliter (mg/ dL) are inherently inaccurate. The FDA allows a meter manufacturer to have a 20% error margin, as previously mentioned. Most statistical analyses based on a 20% margin for error are considered worthless. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Of course, doing so will cost taxpayer dollars, but it will also serve as an investment and ultimately will save billions of dollars in long-term healthcare costs. Remember, investing in prevention is a good investment. It's money well spent at both the personal level and national level.
Moving on down the line here, another fantastic idea for improving the nutrition and health of our nation is to end the subsidies on corn and sugar. There's no sane reason why corn and sugar need to be subsidized in this country. By subsidizing them, we are only making these food ingredients cheaper. |
Mark Lynas
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 Constructing such a series of barriers would cost billions of dollars, but not constructing them might cost even more in terms of losses to life and property. Three of the most vulnerable parts of New York - Lower Manhattan, Coney Island and Rockaway Beach - are also densely populated, and evacuation routes will lie below storm-surge flood levels, cutting people off from lines of safety. As the decision makers who did nothing about the levees around New Orleans found out to many people's cost, by the time the big storm approaches it is already too late. |
Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, FRCP (C) and Dr. Harold D. Foster, PhD
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 The significance of this cost can only be understood by patients and their families who have been freed from the ravages of this disease. The rest of us can only imagine their costs by reading the accounts of patients who have recovered.
Social Consequences
Clearly, inadequate conventional treatment of schizophrenics costs society many gifted people, not simply their potential talent but also their very lives. With the exception of those undergoing orthomolecular treatment, schizophrenic patients kill themselves at an unusually high rate. |
| The total cost to society of each schizophrenic patient, whether untreated or given drugs, is roughly $2 million dollars over the lifespan of their illness. This figure includes expenditures on medication, hospitalization, welfare, police, and court costs, as well as loss of productivity. Medication expenses may be as high as $5,000 per year. Each day a schizophrenic spends
65 in hospital costs more than $1,200. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| For example, a knee replacement surgery in a high-tech hospital in the Philippines performed by Western trained surgeons might only cost you $6,000. Here in the United States you're probably looking at $50,000. Heart bypass surgery in Asia costs around $10,000. In the US, it's $60,000 to $80,000. Gastric bypass surgery in the U.S. can cost $10,000 to $20,000. Overseas it can be done for well under $5,000.
So where do the cost savings come from? How come these hospitals offshore can offer these services at much lower prices? |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 We'll pass the cost savings through to NewsTarget readers, and we'll all get the best pricing possible on this environmentally-friendly natural cleaning product. (We estimate the final cost to consumers will be $30 per kilo, which is less than half the current retail pricing on such products.) The actual final cost may vary from this, however. We won't know until we do the deal.
It may take us approximately 4 - 8 weeks to acquire the product and be ready to fulfill orders. (That's mostly for international shipping time.) It may be faster if we can find a source in North America, however. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 This strategy would cost money, but it would save the nation many times its cost in reduced health care costs. The idea is to offer basic educational ads that teach consumers how to choose healthy products at the grocery store.
Why is this such a big deal? Because most consumers genuinely have no idea what's healthy and what isn't. When 7UP claims to be "all natural," most consumers believe it! When Frito-Lay prints little checkmark symbols on their products, calling their chips "Consumer smart" (or whatever phrase they use), most consumers believe that, too! |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 General Motors spends more on health insurance than it does on steel. The cost of doing business in the United States is now unbearable for many companies, and they're fleeing to other countries where health care costs are a fraction of U.S. costs.
Fifteen Democratic and thirty-three Republican senators believe U.S. citizens and businesses should be forced to pay the highest prices in the world for medications. Monopoly market conditions must be upheld. Keeping Americans diseased, uninformed and financially exploited is simply too profitable to walk away from. And corporate control over the U. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 I mean, what's the cost of being sick? What's the cost of one day in a hospital bed?
Cousens: What's the emotional cost of having your child die of cancer, particularly brain cancer?
Mike: When people say organic foods look expensive, they need to do all the math – the 10-year equations, not this week's equation.
Cousens: That's kind of really the point. There's a picture in my book, Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, and it contrasts two sets of children who are in Mexico – some are living in the mountaintop and some are living in the valley, everything else is the same. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 You're supporting the infrastructure, the cost of inventory, the cost of real estate to rent that location, the cost of personnel to ring it up for you and serve you as a customer, and so on. This is all built in to that markup.
Along the distribution chain, not everybody's making a whole lot of money. Many health food stores are discounting off of that retail price, so they're not necessarily making the full $5 off that, and they have distributors to pay as well. There might be a distributor in the middle, meaning that the retailers can actually get squeezed pretty thin on this. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 So even though you may have someone who lives to be 65, they might live the last 30 years of their life in a state of perpetual confusion because they've been consuming all of these foods that deplete the nutrients that protect the nervous system. The cost is tremendous. It's probably the biggest cost facing society right now. It far exceeds the cost of energy in our society. It adds up to more than what we spend on oil.
Government bureaucrats teach nothing
So how do you teach this population how to make healthy food choices? This is what the USDA has been pretending to do for many decades. |
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