12 Green Tips for the Holidays

It’s that time of year again… the holidays, when everyone is thinking about presents and decorations and more presents. Well, in keeping with the holiday spirit, we want to share with you some green tips to keep the Earth a priority during this time of giving.

So here it goes… "Twelve Green Tips for the Holidays"

1. Have you ever heard of “treecycling” your tree? Once your decorations are off and you’re trying not to get too many pine needles in your carpet, think “what can this tree do next?” How about using it for mulching or composting? Click here for more information on where/how to recycle your tree. Be sure to check with members of your community solid waste department to find out if they collect and mulch trees.


2. Fiber optic trees and decorations are the ultimate in energy efficiency. In most cases, they use a single light bulb located in the base of the unit to light the entire decoration – now that's energy smart and budget smart.


3. Limit the time holiday lights are on. Wait until dark to turn on your Christmas lights and turn them off before you go to bed. Make your goal six hours or less of daily use. Afraid you’ll forget? Set a timer & forget about it!


4. When ordering merchandise online or for shipment, request the use of recycled packaging material (recycled paper, bamboo, or corn plastics) – these products biodegrade when composted. Specifically request no Styrofoam, which is made with petroleum, a non-sustainable and heavily polluting product. If you receive a gift stuffed with Styrofoam, find a company that will reuse it.


5. Having guests? Turn down the heat a little. Encourage layered dressing and let your guests know that you’re green conscious. Remember, by changing the temperature by 2 degrees all year, you can save about 2,000 pounds of CO2 a year.


6. Plan your shopping trips carefully. Make one trip to the mall instead of three, which will save gas. Walking to stores or carpooling with friends is even better. Another way to reduce fuel consumption is to buy locally; shopping in your hometown supports the local merchants and strengthens the community, and it cuts fuel use if you walk to town.


7. There’s no way you can reuse holiday cards, right? Wrong! Remove the back and create a postcard. Or, use the card as a gift tag for gift giving next year.


8. Take your own bags on shopping trips. Keep them in the car so they’re ready whenever you stop at a store.


9. Need party snacks and beverages? Buy in bulk to avoid extra packaging.


10. Turn it off! Common misconceptions sometimes account for the failure to turn off equipment. Many people believe that equipment lasts longer if it is never turned off. This incorrect perception carries over from the days of older mainframe computers.


11. Have a large family with a lot of gifts to wrap? Try creating a treasure map for the kids to find their gifts.


12. Green your holiday travel! If you are one of the many people planning to log a lot of travel miles this holiday season, don't forget to look into green options for getting around.

A Key Decision on SSA Disability Determination

On June 21, 2013, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division affirmed a trial judge’s decision to preclude reference to a Social Security Administration (SSA) disability determination during a personal injury trial.  The decision states, “An SSA disability determination is of dubious probative value in a personal injury action” because:

• With “due regard for the beneficent purpose of the legislation,” Administrative Law Judges in SSA disability claim hearings are advised to show leniency in establishing the claimant’s disability (whereas a personal injury matter requires the plaintiff to bear the burden of proving his/her disability);
• The jury could give inappropriate weight to the SSA disability determination, due to the SSA’s being a government agency, despite the questionable efficacy of that determination with respect to causation; and
• SSA disability determinations are periodically reviewed and subject to overturn, but a jury cannot be asked to reverse its decision years later based on these SSA reviews.

In short, the processes for determining disability for the SSA and in a trial are fundamentally different, and therefore, the conclusions from the former are unreliable in context of the latter.  A key difference is the attribution of disability to a specific accident.  The trial judge responded to the plaintiff’s appeal by aptly noting:

And what this case involves is plaintiff’s claim that she suffered a permanent injury as a result of this accident that resulted in her inability to work.  Those are the issues that this jury needs to determine based on the evidence presented here, not evidence of determination that was made by…[the SSA] that did not have the benefit of the evidence that might have suggested that this disability is not – or was not caused by this accident [emphasis added].

It is important to understand that “disability” can be defined differently depending on the venue in which one finds oneself.  Plaintiff’s counsel in the above matter stated that “the best evidence” that the plaintiff couldn’t go back to work was that the SSA had decided she was disabled; but is the SSA’s process the “best” way to determine disability?  Who can best determine whether an individual is disabled, or unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to impairment?  Does the SSA or others determining disability do enough to distinguish between impairment, a medical concept, and disability, a largely psychosocial concept?

For more on this critical distinction, visit our CEU articles on disability vs. impairment.

Prescription Painkiller Addiction – A Public Health Issue

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of overdoses on prescription painkillers (opioids) – drugs available to us through our doctors’ offices and pharmacies – is a “public health epidemic” in the United States.  The CDC reports some alarming statistics:

• In 2010, 12 million Americans (age 12 or older) reported nonmedical use of prescription painkillers in the past year
• Nearly 15,000 people die every year due to overdosing on prescription painkillers
• Between 1999 and 2010, painkiller prescriptions increased by 300%

Everyday Health, a provider of health information, notes that the problem is worsening.  In 2009, more than 475,000 people were admitted to emergency rooms due to painkiller abuse – reportedly five times the number of people admitted for the same reason five years earlier.  Moreover, opioids are now much stronger and dependence is more likely.

“The question is whether we’re in more pain over that period,” notes Nicholas Kardaras, Ph.D., an addiction specialist.  “But I really don’t think we are,” he adds. 

We’ve written about chronic pain before, as it’s a significant player in absenteeism and other workplace issues.  This prescribing trend could certainly compound pain-related worker issues.  But what’s being done to curb the trend?  Several measures have been suggested, including

• Devoting more time to training in opioid addiction issues in medical school
• Extra vigilance from prescribing doctors in evaluating patients for the possibility of addiction
• Prescription Monitoring Programs for physicians and pharmacists

Tell us what you think - how do you see this phenomenon as affecting workers?  Is it just those with chronic pain who are susceptible to opioid addiction?  Are the recommendations listed above realistic and/or sufficient for fixing the problem?