Green Options

Someone recently asked me if there was a public health angle to greening small businesses.  After thinking it over, it became clear there is.  First, when we talk about green we are also talking about issues of safety and health: Materials should foster healthy environments, current and future. This means avoiding toxic and dangerous chemicals. It means using an appropriate ventilation system. It means projects should be well-built to minimize safety risks to the occupants (fire, collapse, etc.). It also means making larger ties between the products we buy and energy security, homeland and foreign security, and other “issues of the day.”

Please keep in mind that there are 27 million small businesses in the US and consider these facts from the SBA: Small businesses…

• Employ just over half of U.S. workers. Of 119.9 million non-farm private sector workers in 2006, small firms with fewer than 500 workers employed 60.2 million and large firms employed 59.7 million.
• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.

I see three distinct public health implications:

Public Health Implication #1: I have a case study in my new book that talks about greening that is recognized by the EPA and OSHA as exemplary and that points out that quality, environmental, health, and safety standards are all intertwined; a company that set and meets the highest health and safety standards is the surest route to profitability and competitiveness. The Ideal Jacobs Corporation, a commercial printing company in NJ, has been recognized by both the EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for environmental and social responsibility. One of a few, small independent manufacturers in the EPA’s Performance Track program—a program for companies with the best environmental management systems in the country.

Says Andrew Jacobs, President: “You can’t get the best profits, you can’t even compete worldwide unless you are the ultimate in making as little garbage as possible, having the least amount of it around so your people won’t get sick, and being one of the safest you can be. So by being the best employer, you’re also being the most profitable.”

Jacobs chose to focus on two high-impact areas of his business: solid waste and hazardous waste.

“After working through the EPA application [twice], I realized the correlation between reducing solid waste and higher profit margins. It suddenly dawned on me: Of course, create less pollution and [you’ll] have more end-product…We invited in OSHA, which was unheard of at the time. Then, I realized that the healthier and safer our place was, the more money I was making. Every click we made in terms of quality, environmentalism, and safety, every time we notched up, we made more money.”

Since 2002, the company has reduced its solid waste per dollar of sales by more than 50%. By substituting less toxic materials in its sheet-fed printing operations, the company achieved an 18% reduction in pounds of solid waste per $1 in sales and a 23% reduction in pounds of hazardous materials used per $1 in sales. Ideal Jacobs is proof that good sustainability practices are good for business.

Highly toxic by ingestion or inhalation of the dust, it can also poison a person through exposure to soluble forms, inhalation of its vapour, or eating fish contaminated with it. It’s mercury. We all know mercury for its presence in thermometers. And we all know what it means for the mercury to be rising (as is currently a major global issue). But what does it mean when mercury is falling?

Peer-reviewed study finds Americans falling behind across all income levels.

In Luanda, the capital of Angola, at least 93 children have died from rabies. They contracted the disease from stray dogs in the community.

A World Health Organization official called for action, “The high number of deaths in Luanda within the short period of time is a cause for serious concern and calls for a thorough investigation.”

Six months ago, South Los Angeles enacted a moratorium on new Fast Food Restaurants in effort to bring healthier choices to the neighborhood’s low-income residents and curb the high rate of obesity there. Councilwoman for L.A.’s 9th District, Jan Perry, spearheaded the action and spoke recently on KCRW’s Good Food about the legislation’s impact at mid-year.

An outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium has spread to 42 states in the US, with almost 400 people infected by the bacteria and up to 20% of the victims requiring hospitalization.

The CDC, in conjunction with the USDA, the FDA and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), is investigating the multi-state outbreak. The illnesses were said to have begun between September 3 and December 29, 2008, with most illnesses beginning after October 1.

Those infected with salmonella experience fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping about 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts anywhere from four to seven days. The list of states and possible foods involved have not yet been released.

I teach preschool and elementary school. If you have ever worked with small children, you know these places are germ factories! The school year seems made up of one cold or flu virus after another, no matter how many times you wash your hands.

The state of New Jersey has decided to combat the problem by mandating flu vaccines for children in preschool and licensed child-care centers, but is this a good idea?

I recently visited a bathroom in Peru.

Check out the sign I saw.

Not to be rude, but do men from Peru know where to pee in a bathroom?

After snapping my photo and pondering if Peruvian men truly need that much guidance, I left the bathroom and mentioned what I had seen to my wife and mother-in-law.

I interviewed a friend of mine who works in public health about breastfeeding being baby’s first natural immunization, in the hopes of sorting out perceptions and realities when it comes to germs, diseases, and vaccines from a ‘green’ perspective…

AJ: We’ve all heard doctors explain how breast milk protects newborns via antibodies, proteins and immune cells, but rather than deep dive into the science of secretory IgA molecules, I’m going to ask a simple ‘Earth mom’ question…Is breastfeeding enough of a ‘human vaccine?’

R: ‘Breast is best’ to boost immunity from infections, reduce respiratory illnesses…But breastfeeding ONLY offers limited protection from serious diseases like measles, pneumonia, and whooping cough.

Breastfeeding works synergistically with immunizations, boosting the levels of protection against disease to actually increase the protection your baby gets. ALL ingredients in vaccines serve a purpose, whether it’s triggering a child’s immune response, or keeping them germ free. Even though we’ve eradicated some diseases in this country before, our mobile society makes it easy to have them come right back over on a plane…‘Herd protection’ only goes so far.

Contrary to popular opinion, bicycling can potentially damage the environment due to the increased longevity of people engaged in physical activity, says Karl Ulrich, a Wharton Business School professor.

Ulrich argues that the greatest environmental peril society may face is the looming prospect of slowing the aging process, and bicycling potentially contributes to slowing aging.

Put simply, Ulrich says there is an underlying conflict between human-powered transportation, longevity, and environmental impact, which needs to be highlighted as the world seeks to find [...]

Sorry, Popeye. Your tin can of spinach just can’t compete with the brawny nutritional wallop from a bunch of fresh greens from a local farmers’ market or home garden.

Too bad Popeye didn’t know Angie Tagtow, an environmental nutritionist based in Iowa and a leading advocate championing public access to fresh, affordable, sustainably raised food. “Local food is a dream team blend of nutrients and health benefits,” explains Tagtow. “Food’s nutrient value starts to decrease right after it is harvested. Local food is picked and then quickly eaten at the peak of ripeness. It’s thereby fresh, tastes great and packs a more nutritious punch than what might be shipped and processed 1,500 miles away.”

Local, fresh spinach would have also gifted Popeye with a decent long-term health insurance plan.