By Amy Lukac
Opinion Editor

Cancer

Yes, I’m going to start this off on a serious note.

Cancer comes in all forms and could occur in all parts of your body.

There are some cancers that could be prevented, and some that unfortunately cannot be.

Let me ask you this, if you could prevent yourself from skin cancer, would you?

Most of us love to go to the beach. Lying under the sun basking on the warm sand and listening to the waves crash is one of the most relaxing things to do in the summer.

However, those who want to score a nice tan while at the beach, put on sun block instead of tanning oil.

You’ll still gain some color and be protected at the same time.

My advice for the UVB tanning beds: don’t do it. I don’t care what spiel the too-dark-for-January-blonde says to you from behind the counter at the salon, the cumulative damage caused by UVB radiation can cause skin cancer.

People who use tanning beds before the age of 35 increase their risk for melanoma by 75 percent. Keep that in mind.

Side note: studies have found that more skin cancer cases form from tanning beds than lung cancer cases due to smoking. Ponder that.

Tan Mom

Remember the attention on “Tan Mom” not too long ago? You know, the woman that looks like she’s made out of leather and could slide for Pinocchio’s cousin?

Aside from the huge lawsuit about her taking her young daughter tanning, just her appearance is what you shouldn’t want to look like.

You may feel pretty and unnaturally brown now, but in a few years you won’t be able to get rid of that leather-look.

Wrinkles

Getting old is something all of us living things have to deal with.

The gray hair, the liver spots, the slow metabolism and of course the wrinkles.

The difference between natural, aged, wrinkles and too much tanning wrinkles is obvious.

When you get old, you should be happy that you’re alive and well and should want to rock those wrinkles.

When you’re only in your late forties and you look like you’re pushing 65, that’s a problem.

Live your life and let those age marks come naturally; unless you want to look like an old man’s pair of shoes at 40, that’s your prerogative.

Money

Full package: $99, protective goggles: $4, dealing with the problems after putting your skin under fake UVB rays: priceless.

If you’re someone that tans, ask yourself this: how much are you spending on tanning?
Let’s say the tanning salon closest to you is offering $30 a month for a package that sounds good to you.

That might be the cheapest around, but would you rather spend $30 on dangerous blue lights or I don’t know, food maybe? Or, how about a gym membership? Need I say more?

Energy Consumption

I’ll go full circle and end on another serious note. Through research I found out that each tanning bed contains 12 to 60 florescent lamps that consume anywhere from 100 to 200 watts per second.

Fluorescent bulbs have been proven to be a better fit for the environment, but the excessive use of them makes that statistic irrelevant.

Humans are already destroying the Earth one action at time, so why continue to volunteer?

Just do the math and take into consideration that most of you tan-seekers choose to bask on the plastic beds for an average of 15 minutes.

Email Amy at:
alukac@live.esu.edu