Greenversations

Do you have a passion for the environment? Have you put the passion into action? Well, you need to let us know and learn about the President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA). PEYA is an award program for students K – 12th grade. Whether you completed an environmental awareness project as an individual, a group, or class, you are eligible, and encouraged, to apply.

I have been managing the PEYA program in EPA’s Region 1office for over 5 years. It is one of my favorite programs in the agency and is truly a hidden gem. So many students create projects centered around the environment. How cool is it to be recognized for your passion with an award ceremony in Washington, DC, potentially meeting President Obama, and hanging out with kids from across the country with the same passion for the environment as you. I am always amazed and impressed with the scope and depth of some of the projects submitted. I have had winners who have created a rain garden behind their town hall to prevent runoff from contaminating the river behind it; an Eagle Scout who created a program to have fisherman use an alternative weight to lead sinkers; an afterschool group who created an energy audit and program for its school district and so many more.

The regional award program is conducted once a year, and each of the 10 EPA regions selects a regional winner. Each regional winner is invited to an EPA-sponsored award ceremony in Washington, DC and receives a presidential plague.

I never get bored with students’ passion and action towards the environment. We want to read about your great projects and EPA knows you have worked hard on a project so why not get some recognition? You can get the program details (including applications deadlines), check out previous winning projects for inspiration, and get the application at epa.gov/peya. Get the credit you deserve for putting your passion into action and making the environment a cleaner, healthier place, and remember, it’s never too early to start a project for next year!

About the author: Kristen Conroy is the Environmental Education Coordinator in the EPA Reg 1’s Boston region. Kristen has been with EPA since 1991.

As I was listening to the radio the other day, I heard a very interesting report on diaper recycling/fuel production. Yes, you read correctly. This company in the UK is recycling soiled diapers and producing green fuel. As part of the recycling process, the materials are sterilized, separated into individual components which include organic residue, plastic and super absorbent polymers. These components are then recycled into plastic wood, plastic roofing tiles, absorption materials, recycled paper products, among others. What really caught my attention was the production of green energy! If I heard correctly, six megawatts of green energy were produced in the recycling process. One was used by the company to operate the plant and the other five megawatts were sold to the local grid. Go green! That’s a great way to reduce even further the amount and toxicity of our garbage.

Personally, when my children were babies, I didn’t consider which was the most environmentally friendly option when choosing diapers.  I just selected the most convenient method for our family: disposable diapers. It’s interesting that several months ago, in one of our Questions of the Week on diaper selection, we had a very interesting green conversation going with well over 170 people weighing in on which is the best option for the environment, disposable or cloth diapers. There are many articulate arguments in favor of both options.  At least, companies like this one are finding creative ways to reduce waste while having the added bonus of producing green energy.

As I was reading up on the issue for this blog, I learned that it can take 450 years for a disposable diaper to disintegrate in the ocean, and over 500 years in landfills. While we all should make an effort to adopt more environmentally practices to reduce waste, it gives me hope that at least in the case of disposable diapers there is some hope to go green. So, will we be talking about baby power at a recycling center near you? That might be the way of the future.

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

Recientemente escuché un reportaje interesante de radio sobre el reciclaje de pañales y la producción de energía. En efecto, está leyendo correctamente. Esta compañía en el Reino Unido está reciclando pañales usados y produciendo combustible verde. Como parte del proceso de reciclaje, los materiales son esterilizados y separados en componentes individuales que incluyen residuos orgánicos, plásticos y polímeros muy absorbentes. Estos componentes luego son reciclados en madera plástica, tejas plásticas, materiales de absorbción, productos de papel reciclado, entre otros. Lo que recapturó mi atención fue la producción de energía verde! Si escuché el reportaje correctamente, seis megavatios de energía verde eran producidos como parte del proceso de reciclaje. Uno era utilizado por la compañía para operar la planta y los otros cinco megavatios eran vendidos a la empresa eléctrica local como combustible. ¡Anota una por el medio ambiente! Esto es una gran manera de reducir aún más la cantidad y toxicidad de nuestros desperdicios sólidos.

Personalmente, cuando mis hijas eran bebés, yo no sopesé cuál era la opción de pañales más beneficiosa para el medio ambiente. Seleccioné el método más conveniente para mi familia: los pañales desechables. Es curioso que hace unos meses atrás, en una de nuestras “Preguntas de la semana” sobre la selección de pañales, se suscitó una interesante conversación verde en la cual más de 170 personas opinaron sobre cuál era la mejor opción para el medio ambiente, pañales desechables o de tela. Presentaron argumentos bien articulados a favor de cada una de las opciones. Al menos con compañías como ésta están encontrando maneras creativas para reducir los desechos con el beneficio adicional de producir energía verde.

A medida que leí varios artículos en preparación para escribir este blog, aprendí que toma 450 años para un pañal desechable se desintegre en el océano y sobre 500 años en los vertederos municipales. Mientras todos debemos esforzarnos por adoptar medidas más beneficiosas para el medio ambiente [[http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/wycd/index.htm ] a fin de reducir los desechos, al menos en el caso de los pañales me da alguna esperanza de que vayamos a obrar más ecológicamente. ¿Próximamente podremos hablar de la energía producida por los bebés en una planta de reciclaje cerca de usted? Esa podría ser la opción del futuro.

Sobre la autor: Lina M. F. Younes ha trabajado en la EPA desde el 2002 y está a cargo del Grupo de Trabajo sobre Comunicaciones Multilingües. Como periodista, dirigió la oficina en Washington de dos periódicos puertorriqueños y ha laborado en varias agencias gubernamentales.

I went hiking while visiting a park this past weekend and was reminded of just how relaxing natural water formations can be. I took in the sounds of water gurgling over rocks and under leaves and fallen trees. It reminded me of how I used to spend a lot of my time in my backyard in our creek. I would spend literally the whole day back there working on our ‘fort’ and/or ‘clubhouse’. I always anticipated the beginning of warm weather when my dad would annually, and dutifully I might add, rake all of the dead leaves and clear the path for our trail. Sometimes, I would pretend that I was living in a different century that required me to ‘live off the land’. Although I think to that extent, my ‘living off the land’ just included eating some onions and raspberries from our garden nearby. And while there was the impression of clean, drinking water all around our little creek that ran through the woods, I knew and was informed that it was not to be consumed by me or any of my neighborhood friends. We didn’t mind, though. I was so busy with my friends making more rooms for our outdoor palace and games that I rarely went up to the house that often. When I did, I welcomed the big glass of ice cold water. The risk of drinking water in the creek was more outweighed by my taste buds rather than the information of drinking water only from the tap, but one that I obeyed nonetheless. It is vital for children’s health to consume water on a daily basis. Therefore, it is important that children know where they should get their water and that clean water is readily available. Water is a win-win for all. It has no calories, caffeine, or sugar, and helps almost every part of the human body function. Here are some important facts to know about your drinking water:

• EPA’s current drinking water standards are designed to protect both adults and children.
• Standards for lead, nitrates, and nitrites, are specifically based on risk to children because they are most vulnerable to these contaminants.
• If you have a private well, you are responsible for testing your water to make sure it is safe and you should test it annually. Resources are available here.
• You can learn about your local drinking water by reading your Consumer Confidence Report to learn whether your water system meets all drinking water standards here.
• Get to know the source of your drinking water and get involved in activities to protect it.
• These include: taking used motor oil to a recycling center and properly disposing of toxic house hold trash e.g. batteries by taking them to special collection sites.

Water is essential for children and adults alike. Water can be fun in its natural state for viewing and admiring. (Or a place of play for all of my creek-stomping days). Just remember to only drink from safe water sources at your home or wherever you may be. And help children to remember to do the same!

About the Author: Emily Bruckmann is an intern at the Office of Children’s Health Protection. She is a senior attending Indiana University who will graduate with a degree in public health this spring.

My late grandfather was always full of advice and giving out tips. Whenever he visited, he always came with newspaper clippings and all sorts of articles from magazines. He had all sorts of information for everyone and would talk with each of us grandchildren or children about the information he found. He also would constantly remind me to tell people to spell my last name correctly. Even if it was ordering a pizza and giving your last name. No place was left out of hearing the spelling of our, somewhat lengthy, surname. Make sure you tell them two n’s, not one, he would say. He has made me so very proud of my family’s history. I learned a lot from his words of wisdom, more than I could type out in this blog. I always think about him, especially this time of year, when my grandparents would come and visit us in the fall. I also remember him around November because he was a World War II veteran. As Veteran’s Day quickly approaches, I thought I might provide some reminders of my own, to grandparents, parents, or any veteran out there with little ones. Here are some tips to keep in mind when kids come over to visit and stay with you, some things that you may not even think about normally, but may be important when you have younger company coming over.

• Make sure to wash children’s hands before they eat and also wash fruits and vegetables.
• In older homes particularly, make sure to wash floors and window sills to protect kids from dust and peeling paint that could be contaminated with lead.
• Store pesticides and toxic chemicals far out of reach where children can’t get to them; try to put them in a locked cabinet or area first.
• Make sure you close any container marked ‘child resistant’ very tightly after the product has been used. Child resistant does not mean child proof so you should still be careful with products with child-resistant packaging.
• Store food and trash in closed containers to prevent pests from coming inside.
• Don’t let children handle or play with mercury. (Find out where mercury containing product recycling programs are in your area.)
• Hide medical prescriptions in a locked up location or a secure place so children can not reach them or mistake them for candy.

So as visitors start to pile in, especially children, take a moment to look over these tips and apply them around your home. Also, take some time to remember all of the veterans out there and all that they have given while serving our country.

About the author: Emily Bruckmann is an intern at the Office of Children’s Health Protection. She is a senior attending Indiana University who will graduate with a degree in public health this spring.

Even though Children’s Health Month is nearing its end, I have plenty of reasons to stay invested in the well-being of kids. Aside from working in the children’s environmental health field, I am a parent to a toddler and pregnant!

This viewpoint has its pros and cons. On the one hand, I have access to the latest science and advice about how to protect my children from environmental health threats. On the other hand, all this information can make me a bit paranoid!

For instance, pregnant women can no longer worry only about eating sushi or soft cheese.  Moms also have to watch for toxins in our water bottles, personal care products, household items, food and the baby’s toys and plastic bottles.  It is overwhelming and confusing—even to a person who works on these problems.

During my first pregnancy, I was the model pregnant woman—I ate organic, didn’t use plastics and bought the “right” products. However, when my first daughter was born extremely premature – she was born 3 ½ months early and weighed 1 ½ lbs.—I realized just how little control I really had over her health and exposures.  She had plastic tubes all over her and inside her keeping her alive and was pumped full of antibiotics and medications that saved her life. All of these early exposures have risks associated with them, however.

Millions of parents can tell a similar story. Try as we may, we can’t control many of the factors that affect the health of our children.  What we can do is be educated and proactive. It is part of my job to help elevate the discussion among researchers, environmental health professionals, and healthcare providers about children’s health. More importantly, I want to bring the discussion down to the street level where I and millions of other parents and parents-to-be are looking for guidance.

Moms and dads should not have to be toxicologists to protect their children. My hope is that we can advance science in these areas and make good use of the knowledge between doctors, scientists, policymakers and parents to better protect the health of our kids.

About the author: Margo Young is the Children’s Health Coordinator for EPA Region 10. She works in EPA’s Seattle office.

As parents, we all want what’s best for our children and like to see them grow healthy. I have taught my daughters to wash their hands, eat nutritious meals, wear protective equipment when practicing sports, and to wear sun block. Now that they are teenagers, I talk to them about the dangers of smoking, drinking and drugs, and of course…boys. However, working for the EPA has given me an increased awareness about another set of dangers—environmental exposures.

In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis on protecting children from environmental contaminants and learning how the differences in behavior and physiology affect their exposures. I remember as a child playing with mercury, pouring it on the floor and pushing the silver blobs around with my fingers to form a bigger blob. We didn’t know it was bad for us, and neither did our parents.

Since then, the potential health effects from exposure to mercury and other toxic chemicals such as lead, arsenic, and pesticides have become the focus of environmental policies. We have also learned that diet is an important route of exposure to pesticides and other substances in the environment.

But, why are children a concern and how are their exposures different from those of adults?

Children’s organ systems are still developing and they may be more susceptible to environmental exposures. Their behavior and habits can also put children at higher risks. We have learned that contaminants can be deposited in toys and objects that children put in their mouth. Contaminants can also find their way into the milk of lactating mothers. Another example: on average, children younger than one year old inhale approximately six times the amount of air by body weight than an adult.

I love that my job helps me learn about keeping my kids healthy. But, even if you don’t work here, EPA has developed lots of useful information to share. Our Children’s Health Protection web site is a great place to start if you are looking for generalized information. One source I’ve been involved with, the Highlights for the Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook, provides risk assessors, economists, and others a wealth of data and EPA recommendations on exposure factors needed to estimate childhood exposure to toxic contaminants.

About the author: Jacqueline Moya is a chemical engineer with EPA’s Office of Research and Development. She has been with EPA for 25 years. Her work focuses on increasing our understanding about exposure to susceptible populations.

While watching television the other night, I caught a glimpse of a movie about a certain kind of pest: rodents. I know that horror films clearly over exaggerate and are intended to scare people but it did bring back some memories for me. Last year I lived in a new apartment with two of my best friends back at school. One night as we were having a movie night, one of my roommates yelped that she saw a mouse run across our kitchen floor. My other roommate and I went to check it out and as we stood there anxiously awaiting the arrival of our four legged visitor, it suddenly ran across the edge of the floor disappearing into a wall. We all immediately jumped on our kitchen table and screamed. It was a scene straight out of a movie. Girly, I know. I’m sure the mouse was just as scared we were. Needless to say, we discovered later that we had more than just one mouse and a pest problem. Our ordeal with mice lasted a month or so until we had carefully and safely eliminated all rodents and sealed up any possible nook and cranny that they could get in. I will be forever grateful to the roommate that was brave enough to ‘take out the trash’. Moral of the story, though, is that we handled our situation safely. It should be noted that as young adults we were able to take care of the situations ourselves and young children should definitely not. This brings up a few good tips to keep in mind when handling pest infestations of your own, especially when children are around.

• Always keep pesticides and other household chemicals out of children’s reach, preferably in a locked cabinet.
• Never transfer pesticides to other containers that children may associate with food or drink.
• Never place rodent or insect baits where small children can easily get to them.
• If you are interrupted while using a pesticide or household chemical, make sure to properly reclose the container and put it out of children’s reach.

Remember that pesticides aren’t just limited to those used for rodents but apply to many other products that may be in your house. You can visit a virtual house where you can learn about various chemicals and pesticides, health and safety tips, and what to do if an accident occurs. Take a stand against those pests but do so in a safe way!

About the author: Emily Bruckmann is an intern at the Office of Children’s Health Protection. She is a senior attending Indiana University who will graduate with a degree in public health this spring.

She’s turning 13 and bright as can be, but I’m in need of advice on how to teach my daughter that there’s an easy-to-see connection between what she’s learning about the environment and simple, everyday choices she makes that affect the environment. And this being Children’s Health Month, it’s time for teenagers, including my brand new one, to consider as well how environmental health affects children and their health now and as adults.

She recently read the student version of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” which clearly explains and visualizes environmental trends, the influence of human-made carbon emissions, and ways government, industry and people can begin to reverse conditions which have likely alarming consequences. (Readers of Greenversations, I’d confidently guess, are well familiar with Gore’s evidence and argument.)

She gets it. So why, on the same day, can she cogently explain what the Keeling atmospheric CO2 curve tells us, and then leave lights on in empty rooms or ask for multiple car rides when one and a bike ride or two would do? Might some creative Children’s Health Month tips do the trick?

This very short Greenversations piece ends with one sincere request because I’m hoping you feel my pain and have the answer: Can you help me help her connect the global–personal–health dots?

There’s one other consideration to hone my request. My darling daughter can get a bit huffy if I say something critical.

About the author: Larry Teller joined EPA’s Philadelphia office in its early months and has worked in environmental assessment, state and congressional liaison, enforcement, and communications. His 28 years with the U.S. Air Force, most as a reservist, give him a different look at government service.

Recently, I took my youngest to the pediatrician for her yearly physical. I was very happy to be able to answer “no” to all the screening questions regarding possible exposures to lead. Why is lead a problem?

Well, even if your child does not show symptoms of lead poisoning, exposure to lead can definitely have long-term adverse effects on your child’s health. That’s why asking the right questions is important in lead poisoning prevention.

For example, I’m lucky to have a pediatrician that regularly asks parents to fill a questionnaire to identify possible exposures to lead. But, how many families are unaware of the risks of lead exposures? How many doctors have not received the proper environmental health training to look for warning signs among their young patients? Furthermore, the problems can be compounded if there are language barriers between these patients and their physicians.

On that note, several months ago, I asked one of my nieces who is in medical school about her studies. I was interested in what she was learning about environmental health issues such as asthma, lead poisoning, mercury, and others. Bottom line, it seems that our young med students just don’t receive enough training in environmental health. So, if that’s the case with doctors, what are we to expect from the general public that might be unaware of the link between our health and the environment?

As we’re celebrating National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, let’s increase awareness of the potential lead poisoning. While most of the focus is related to reducing the risk of lead based paints found in homes build before 1978, our children may also have some non-traditional routes of exposure due to their behavior or for cultural reasons which might put them at a greater risk. Have you resorted to folk remedies such as greta, azarcón, ghasard, bali goli, to treat ailments stomach ailments or colic? Has your child eaten candy or foods canned outside the United States? Do you cook foods in imported or glazed pottery?

If you have reasons to believe that your child might be at risk of lead poisoning, contact your health care provider to find out whether to perform a blood test for lead. This test is the only way you can tell if your child has an elevated lead level. Asking the right questions can help prevent lead poisoning in our children.

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.