2008 Woodie Awards
Healthy for Mother Earth, Healthy for You
Stephanie Nemec
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: Health
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We have all heard about the critical effects that climate change and pollution have on the Earth. However, many of us have no idea that what pollutes the planet may also be harmful to our health. Think about all of the vehicles on the roads. Most of us are aware that the emissions from those vehicles' exhausts are harmful to Earth's atmosphere, but did you know that those emissions could be harmful to you?
The exhaust "clouds" that puff out of the back of trucks (and some cars) with diesel engines are made up of gases and soot. The gas portion of diesel exhaust is composed of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur oxides and hydrocarbons. The soot portion of the exhaust is mainly made up of elemental carbon, organic material and traces of metallic compounds. All of that junk not only goes into the air, but into your mouth, nose, and lungs when you breathe it in! These dirty diesel emissions in particular have been linked to cause some dangerous health risks such as cancer as well as lung and heart disease according to the American Cancer Society. Even if you aren't driving a diesel truck, the exhaust emissions from a typical car engine are not human/Earth-friendly either.
Globally, environmental hazards are responsible for about 25% of the total burden of disease and as many as 13 million deaths can be prevented every year by making our environment healthier. Many of these deaths occur in developing nations where access to safe water and clean air is scarce. In developed countries such as the United States, dirty and polluted environments have been linked to higher incidence of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, lower respiratory infections, musculoskeletal diseases, road traffic injuries, poisonings and drownings (World Health Organization, 2007).
The statistics sound scary, but there are things you can do to help reduce pollution, global warming and their effects on your health. Try installing compact flourescent light bulbs in your light fixtures. These light bulbs use about 75% less energy than a standard bulb and last up to 10 times longer. According to information posted at www.energystar.gov, if every American home replaced just one light bulb with a compact flourescent one, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars! This will imrove your health in several ways.
Members of UW-La Crosse's Community and School Health Education programs have been hard at work spreading the word about environmental health this semester through Eta Sigma Gamma (ESG). ESG is a national health honorary whose mission is to raise awareness and offer solutions to issues that threaten the health and well being of the public. The group has currently been working on a handful of projects and events aimed to inspire UW-L students and staff to make choices that are better for the environment. Each week, The Racquet is featuring Go Green with Eta Sigma Gamma, which tips on how to save energy, use less, and recycle more. So go green! You'll make the environment cleaner and more beautiful … and your body will thank you for it!
The exhaust "clouds" that puff out of the back of trucks (and some cars) with diesel engines are made up of gases and soot. The gas portion of diesel exhaust is composed of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur oxides and hydrocarbons. The soot portion of the exhaust is mainly made up of elemental carbon, organic material and traces of metallic compounds. All of that junk not only goes into the air, but into your mouth, nose, and lungs when you breathe it in! These dirty diesel emissions in particular have been linked to cause some dangerous health risks such as cancer as well as lung and heart disease according to the American Cancer Society. Even if you aren't driving a diesel truck, the exhaust emissions from a typical car engine are not human/Earth-friendly either.
Globally, environmental hazards are responsible for about 25% of the total burden of disease and as many as 13 million deaths can be prevented every year by making our environment healthier. Many of these deaths occur in developing nations where access to safe water and clean air is scarce. In developed countries such as the United States, dirty and polluted environments have been linked to higher incidence of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, lower respiratory infections, musculoskeletal diseases, road traffic injuries, poisonings and drownings (World Health Organization, 2007).
The statistics sound scary, but there are things you can do to help reduce pollution, global warming and their effects on your health. Try installing compact flourescent light bulbs in your light fixtures. These light bulbs use about 75% less energy than a standard bulb and last up to 10 times longer. According to information posted at www.energystar.gov, if every American home replaced just one light bulb with a compact flourescent one, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars! This will imrove your health in several ways.
Members of UW-La Crosse's Community and School Health Education programs have been hard at work spreading the word about environmental health this semester through Eta Sigma Gamma (ESG). ESG is a national health honorary whose mission is to raise awareness and offer solutions to issues that threaten the health and well being of the public. The group has currently been working on a handful of projects and events aimed to inspire UW-L students and staff to make choices that are better for the environment. Each week, The Racquet is featuring Go Green with Eta Sigma Gamma, which tips on how to save energy, use less, and recycle more. So go green! You'll make the environment cleaner and more beautiful … and your body will thank you for it!
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