3/10/11
Food Matters: A Clinical Education and Advocacy Program
What Clinicians Need to Know About Our Food System to Help Ensure Healthy Pregnancies, Healthy Families and a Healthy Planet, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Half-Day Program May 14, 2011
Registration opening soon at www.
Developed by Health Care Without Harm, Boston Medical Center, University of California's San Francisco's Program on Reproductive Health and Environment, Jointly Sponsored by Health Care Without Harm, Boston University School of Medicine
Pesticides and Pollinators: A future without bees
PAN UK’s Annual Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture looks at the role of pesticides in the decline of bees
Nearly half a century has passed since the release of Rachel Carson’s notorious book, Silent Spring, but its relevance has in no way diminished. Regarded by many as launching the environmental movement, Silent Spring remains a key part of the reading-list for every burgeoning environmentalist.This year’s Pesticide Action Network UK’s Annual Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture focuses on ‘Pesticides and Pollinators: A future without bees’ (not dissimilar to Silent Spring’s original message). The recent decline in populations of Honeybees and numerous other pollinators has been linked to pesticides in several ways, from a loss of foraging habitat to an increased susceptibility to diseases.
This April, you are invited to join activist Sam Roddick and a host of PAN UK associated organisations to find out more about pollinators, the threat posed by pesticide-dependent agriculture and what we can do to help.
Cost: £20 (£12 student/unwaged)
Date: April 1st 2011
Time: 6.30 pm
The Human Rights Action Centre
17 – 25 New Inn Yard
London EC2A 3EA
To register your interest and join the debate, email admin@pan-uk.org or visit www.pan-uk.org
2/21/11
National Environmental Education Week: Ocean Connections April 10-16, 2011
Green Reading for Educators http://www.eeweek.org/
The ocean covers nearly three quarters of our planet's surface, provides 70 percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere and houses about 20 percent of the known species on Earth. It regulates climate and weather and provides food and energy resources for humans worldwide. No matter how far from the coast, water in every stream or river on the planet eventually ends up in the ocean, and all life on Earth is dependent upon its health. Recognizing the importance of protecting the health of our ocean and understanding our dependence upon it regardless of its proximity, EE Week's 2011 theme is Ocean Connections. Register today to participate in EE Week 2011.
The ocean covers nearly three quarters of our planet's surface, provides 70 percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere and houses about 20 percent of the known species on Earth. It regulates climate and weather and provides food and energy resources for humans worldwide. No matter how far from the coast, water in every stream or river on the planet eventually ends up in the ocean, and all life on Earth is dependent upon its health. Recognizing the importance of protecting the health of our ocean and understanding our dependence upon it regardless of its proximity, EE Week's 2011 theme is Ocean Connections. Register today to participate in EE Week 2011.
2/8/11
Greetings from School IPM 2015!
Every day, 49 million children attend school in the United States, served by nearly seven million teachers and staff. But they're not alone. Schools are also frequented by a number of pests including cockroaches, mice, dust mites and more. Asthma is epidemic among children, impacting nearly 6% of school children nationally with rates as high as 25% in urban centers. Cockroaches are potent asthma triggers.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a prevention-based, highly effective approach proven to reduce pest complaints and pesticide use by up to 90% in schools and other public buildings. IPM practices such as sanitation and exclusion also improve food safety, fire safety and energy conservation. Our newsletter highlights real-life examples of IPM in practice and can help you start an IPM program in your school district. For more information, visit www.schoolipm2015.com.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a prevention-based, highly effective approach proven to reduce pest complaints and pesticide use by up to 90% in schools and other public buildings. IPM practices such as sanitation and exclusion also improve food safety, fire safety and energy conservation. Our newsletter highlights real-life examples of IPM in practice and can help you start an IPM program in your school district. For more information, visit www.schoolipm2015.com.
2/3/11
1/26/11
Consider School Air Quality in Absentee Rates
To the Editor (Education Week, 1 11 2011):
Regarding your articles about absenteeism, including “Early Grades Are New Front in Absenteeism Wars,” (Oct. 20, 2010), the healthfulness and safety of the facilities themselves should also be considered when looking for reasons why students aren’t in school.
The Environmental Protection Agency states: “Studies show that one-half of our nation’s 115,000 schools have problems linked to indoor air quality. Students are at greater risk because of the hours spent in school facilities and because children are especially susceptible to pollutants.” A 2002 review of studies related to school facility condition, commissioned by the 21st Century School Fund, found links to student absenteeism, achievement, and behavior. School buildings can affect student health in many ways.
A Government Accountability Office report from 1995 lists irritated eye, nose, and throat; upper-respiratory infections; nausea; dizziness; headaches; and fatigue or sleepiness as some of the impacts of poor indoor environmental quality.
The health problems resulting from unhealthy school conditions impact students’ educations in a variety of ways: absenteeism due to building-related health problems; “presenteeism,” when children are present, but not able to do their best because they don’t feel well; and use of substitute teachers because classroom teachers are absent for the same reasons as their students.
As the EPA notes in “Tools for Schools”: “The price for neglect is high, but the investment in maintenance need not be.” Although some indoor-environmental-quality issues may stem from problems requiring costly repairs, others can be resolved with cost-neutral measures, such as switching to environmentally preferable cleaning products and practices.
Our investment in our children’s health and academic performance is essential. There is ample evidence that buildings affect people. We need to ensure that school facilities–our children’s compulsory workplaces–are safe, healthful places. Until all schools are safe and healthful, we should include the impact school facilities are having on students in our discussions about absenteeism.
Regarding your articles about absenteeism, including “Early Grades Are New Front in Absenteeism Wars,” (Oct. 20, 2010), the healthfulness and safety of the facilities themselves should also be considered when looking for reasons why students aren’t in school.
The Environmental Protection Agency states: “Studies show that one-half of our nation’s 115,000 schools have problems linked to indoor air quality. Students are at greater risk because of the hours spent in school facilities and because children are especially susceptible to pollutants.” A 2002 review of studies related to school facility condition, commissioned by the 21st Century School Fund, found links to student absenteeism, achievement, and behavior. School buildings can affect student health in many ways.
A Government Accountability Office report from 1995 lists irritated eye, nose, and throat; upper-respiratory infections; nausea; dizziness; headaches; and fatigue or sleepiness as some of the impacts of poor indoor environmental quality.
The health problems resulting from unhealthy school conditions impact students’ educations in a variety of ways: absenteeism due to building-related health problems; “presenteeism,” when children are present, but not able to do their best because they don’t feel well; and use of substitute teachers because classroom teachers are absent for the same reasons as their students.
As the EPA notes in “Tools for Schools”: “The price for neglect is high, but the investment in maintenance need not be.” Although some indoor-environmental-quality issues may stem from problems requiring costly repairs, others can be resolved with cost-neutral measures, such as switching to environmentally preferable cleaning products and practices.
Our investment in our children’s health and academic performance is essential. There is ample evidence that buildings affect people. We need to ensure that school facilities–our children’s compulsory workplaces–are safe, healthful places. Until all schools are safe and healthful, we should include the impact school facilities are having on students in our discussions about absenteeism.
1/6/11
Rachel warned us....
Massive Fish and Bird Kills Throughout Eastern U.S. |
By Teresa Bertossi
With the massive bird kills, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, “A Fable for Tomorrow”, comes to mind: On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robbins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices ...
- http://headwatersnews.net/
By Teresa Bertossi
With the massive bird kills, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, “A Fable for Tomorrow”, comes to mind: On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robbins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices ...
- http://headwatersnews.net/
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