Environmental Health News: Clorox to Reduce Environmental Impact

The following article from this week is about the Clorox company, an Oakland-based company, vowing to reduce its environmental impact over the next five years. The company has already begun marketing new compostable cleaning wipes and plans to make bigger changes in the next few years. They plan to make all of their packaging compostable, reusable, or recyclable by the year 2025. They have already had a huge positive reaction toward their compostable wipes and hope that these changes toward better sustainability will also help business. Clorox products are used in a number of health care settings and these new innovative products can have a huge impact on waste produced by these entities. Other companies will soon follow suit if Clorox continues to show success with these changes.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/22/clorox-ceo-what-is-good-for-the-environment-is-good-for-business.html

Blog #24: Renewable Energy

I have a small background in nuclear power that I studied before I got into nursing. Although this section is about renewable sources, I do believe that nuclear is a wonderful alternative while we are transitioning to renewable resources. One of the issues with wind, hydro, and other renewable sources of energy is low efficiency. Nuclear removes that obstacle while offering clean energy with zero carbon emissions. I would love to see coal and natural gas be completely removed from our energy production, and nuclear may be able to help with that transition. Do not get me wrong, however; I do believe that we need to become fully independent from non-renewable energy (including nuclear), but we are still far from that goal. The U.S. needs to put more money into research on renewable energy and ways to improve its efficiency so that we may provide efficient and adequate energy that Americans can afford.

According to the EPA, the Renewable Energy Production Incentive (REPI) provides incentive payments for electricity generated by renewable resources. Additionally, on the EPA website is listed state incentive programs for use of renewable energy. California has the Emerging Renewables Rebate Program in which the California Energy Commission offers cash rebates on fuel cell renewable energy electric-generating systems. Fuel cells convert certain organic materials into energy using a chemical process. California also offers supplemental energy payments to energy suppliers in California to cover above market costs for using renewable resources, such as solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric, etc. The link below outlines incentive programs by state.

https://archive.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/wastemin/web/html/rpsinc.html

Blog #23: Climate Change

The list of potential health effects of climate change is so vast that I do not know if I am truly equipped to deal with them all. I think as health care professionals, we need to look at particular areas and patient populations individually and consider the effects of climate change in that group. For example, those affected by flooding and severe weather may have different health needs than those in areas that are ravaged by high temperatures and fires. Here in California, perhaps we can narrow it down and focus on the aspects of climate change that affect our citizens. Having more health care providers that are experts in conditions like asthma could be one way to focus on the pollution and regular fires throughout California. Public health professionals can put more emphasis on the importance of shelters with air conditioning for those in areas with severe heat waves during the summer months.

Nurses in public health, or nurses in any setting, can help raise awareness of the effects of climate change on health and advocate for policy changes that combat climate change. We can follow local, state, and federal government bills and policy changes and even become directly involved by attending governmental meetings and offering our expertise. We can contact government representatives and express our concerns based on our level of knowledge. We need to also focus on vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, the homeless, and refugees, who are more significantly affected by climate change. Public awareness campaigns are a great way to influence voters, from posters in public health clinics to television and internet ads.

Environmental Health News: New Species of Mosquito Found in California

According to this article that I found, there is a species of mosquito that has been found in San Diego County that has never been found in this location before. The mosquitos are able to breed in very small amounts of water in around homes, so they are difficult to target and eradicate. This is possible evidence that climate change is allowing organisms to live and breed in places in which they were incapable before. The mosquitos are aggressive biters and have the potential to spread diseases like dengue fever, yellow fever, and Zika. This is an important example of the health effects of climate change.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Department-of-Environmental-Health-Warning-about-New-Invasive-Mosquito-Aedes-563409731.html.