Our Environment and Public Health
Making the Connection Personal
by Kathy Pinkava, RN
April 18, 2008
Today is a day to consider two things that I think are very important- our environment and public health. As I celebrated Earth Day 2008 on Tuesday, April 22, I also looked back at National Public Health Week which was commemorated last week. The theme for the week was "Climate Change: Our Health in the Balance. A charge for public health and the public."
On climate change there has been a shift in the public health system from emergency response to awareness and prevention. Encouraging behavior change to embrace healthy choices through education and advice is a key strategy of public health. For this to work there needs to be links established between the choices we personally make and their impact. With climate change, the science implicating our rampant burning of fossil fuels leading to an overall trend toward the warming of the planet is clear.
The global public health system is truly a marvel of cooperative effort in a fractious world. From the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) to the Geauga County Health District (GCHD)- they are all basically on the same page! They cooperatively address global issues (pandemic flu) while retaining focus on issues that are more local too. They work on response to and prevention of acute, ongoing and uncertain future events. They set and adhere to standards of detection, prevention, intervention and communication. Add the help of non-governmental agencies such as the Red Cross/ Crescent and you have a system as effective as any that unites humanity.
As climate change affect habitats by causing changes in temperature, rainfall and wind patterns, public health is studying how these change affect the movement of disease vectors such as mosquitos (dengue, West Nile virus, malaria), rodents (plague) and birds (West Nile, novel influenza viruses). Climate change may also be contributing to weather related health crisis situations such as wildfires, heat related illnesses, floods and hurricanes.
Wind shifts can cause increases in air pollutants such as ground level ozone and particulate matter. This increases the incidence and severity of allergies and asthma. In a very local example- Geauga County has been found to sometimes have unacceptable levels of these pollutants. The problem is not so much that we in this county are horrific polluters, but that our geography and the nature of the industries and activities in the counties that surround us are affecting our environment. The solution is not to shoot the messenger (the EPA) and deny the problem but to find ways to solve the problem.
So here is where the connection between global, local and personal needs to be made. We all need to consider doing something to make the situation better.
Demand responsible environmental policy from our elected officials. Make it an important factor in the leaders that we choose. How we use and protect our natural resources globally, locally, and in our own backyards is important to mitigate and respond to climate change.
Vote with your money by buying products that are produced, packaged and marketed in environmentally responsible ways. Buy more locally grown foods, foods not produced with chemicals and antibiotics, recycled products, and products that lower fossil fuel use. Resist plastic water bottles- at least reuse them and recycle them!
Conserve electricity, natural gas, oil and gasoline.
Walk more, bike more, take public transportation more.
Reduce- Buy only what you need and with minimal packaging.
Reuse- Donate, re-sell or find another use for things. Try to keep things out of the landfills.
Recycle- There is money to be made with aluminum cans! There are recycle bins for newspapers and office paper outside our elementary schools (and hopefully the high school soon). Help us earn money- we want your paper! There are bins across the county for glass, cans, plastic and cardboard.
Spread the word to your children. Make being environmentally aware part of your lives.
Our elementary schools both have terrific Roots and Shoots programs that many kids enthusiastically participate in. Thanks for their good work and the work of their advisors this year- Mrs. Maxwell at Burton Campus and Mrs. Sherman at Troy Campus. Ms. Timmons at Berkshire HS has with her Interact Club worked on many eco-friendly projects. Thanks to you all!
