The best gas-saving tip ever
Memorial Day Weekend is coming and -- in spite of gas prices -- more Americans than ever are planning to getaway by car. But that doesn't have to cost as much as you think.
There are lots of ways to save gas (checked your tires lately?) but the easiest and most effective way is to slow down (just a little bit). When you add up the savings, it's like getting paid to relax.
So before you get behind the wheel for the upcoming holiday, show us what you're made of. Pledge to Drive 55 (or whatever the speed limit is on the roads you're traveling) for Memorial Day Weekend. After all, even jets are slowing down to save money!
The Union of Concerned Scientists tells us that dropping from 70 to 60 mph improves fuel efficiency by an average of 17.2 percent. Dropping from 75 to 55 improves fuel efficiency by 30.6 percent!
Put another way, in a family sedan, every 10 mph you drive over 60 is like paying 54 cents per gallon more for gas you bought at $3.25 a gallon. That extra cost is even higher for big SUVs and other less-efficient vehicles.
And the time you save by going easy on the accelerator may not add up to as much as you thought. On a 300-mile trip, driving 65 instead of 70 mph would cost you only 20 minutes -- but save money and spew less carbon.
Take the Pledge!
Upcoming event: "Toxins in our Midst: Breast Cancer and the Environment" June 7; Philadelphia, PA
Based upon new information, the connection between environmental exposures and breast cancer is growing. We invite nurses and healthcare professionals to learn more about:
- State of the evidence: Linking the science of breast cancer and the environment
- Now what: Things you can do to reduce exposure
- To infinity and beyond: Outreach strategies for the public
Saturday, June 7, 2008
8:30AM- 12:00PM
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Bluemle Life Science Building
233 South 10th Street (10th and Locust St)
Philadelphia, PA 19107
This Program is Free. Registration is required.
To register call 1-800-JEFF-NOW (533-3669)
3 contact hours will be awarded.
Top of page
Upcoming event: "Changing Climate, Changing Health Patterns: What Will It Take to Predict and Protect?" June 18; Washington, D.C.
A forum presented by the World Federation of Public Health Associations
American Public Health Association
US Group on Earth Observations
From events such as hurricanes, heat waves and life-threatening floods, to new infectious disease pathways and processes, there is a global need to get ahead of the curve, to provide new analytical tools, access to real-time data, and forecasts about emerging disease and other acute threats that read like today's weather reports. Join leading national scientists in examining what it will take to predict and protect in an uncertain world, a world in which adaptation is essential and history's lessons no longer fit the circumstances.
Wednesday, June 18
National Press Club
529 14th Street NW (14th and F Streets)
Washington, DC
10:00 AM - Noon
Please Reserve Early! RSVP to vina.hulamm@apha.org
View the agenda here.
Top of page
Sustainable foods article in Komen Maryland Newsletter
Komen Maryland is pleased to announce a new collaboration with the Environmental Health Education Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. As part of this work together, we are launching a new column on the environment and our health, starting with our first article on sustainable foods by Louise Mitchell and Dr. Barbara Sattler of the Environmental Health Education Center.
Read the article here.
Top of page
The Estrogen Connection: video clips on breast cancer
There is concern that low levels of environmental estrogens that we are exposed to in everyday products can add up and work together with the body’s own estrogen to increase the risk of breast cancer.
The Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors Program at Cornell University worked with film producers to develop three short videos, geared for a college student audience, on how to decrease exposure to environmental estrogens and how to keep them out of our environment.
Click the links below to view the videos:
The Estrogen Connection: MAKE-UP and MORE
The Estrogen Connection: PLASTICS
The Estrogen Connection: IN THE DUMP and DOWN THE DRAIN
Top of page
Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit now available
(From PSR website) The Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit is a combination of easy-to-use reference guides for health providers and user friendly health education materials on preventing exposures to toxic chemicals and other substances that affect infant and child health. The materials are visually appealing, practical and easy to use. The Toolkit is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
The toolkit includes provider reference cards, patient education materials, magnet templates, posters, and more.
Click here to access the toolkit.
Top of page
New resources from EPA: Older Adults and Environmental Health
The American Nurses Association was recently notified of many new materials developed by the U.S. EPA Aging Initiative. This extensive array of materials deals with environmental issues and how they affect older adults' health. Per the EPA, by 2030 seventy million Americans will be 65 years of age or older, which is one in five Americans. Fact sheets are now available for older adults and those that care for them. These fact sheets focus on how to protect this population's health and reduce their exposure from environmental hazards. They are available in 15 different languages and larger print for the visually-impaired.
Topics include:
Diabetes and Environmental Hazards
Age Healthier, Breathe Easier
It's Too Darn Hot: Planning for Excessive Heat Events
Women and Environmental Health
and more...
Access the fact sheets at: http://epa.gov/aging/resources/factsheets/index.htm#fs
Top of page
Transition to ozone-friendly inhalers mandatory by next year
Your patients may be asking about a New York Times story that details the mandatory transition from inhalers with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to ones with ozone-friendly hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) by January 1, 2009.
Patients may notice that the newer inhalers:
- are about three times as expensive;
- must be pumped four times before use;
- have a weaker spray;
- require a slower inhale;
- need to be cleaned weekly.
The FDA says that it has logged over 400 complaints since January 2007 regarding the cost and functionality of HFA inhalers, the Times reports.
The four currently available HFA inhalers are Ventolin, ProAir, Proventil, and Xopenex.
View the New York Times article here.
Top of page
Women's Policy Institute now accepting fellowship applications
We are pleased to announce that the Women's Policy Institute (WPI) is now accepting applications for its sixth class of fellows. Areas of focus for the 2008-2009 program are: economic justice, environmental health & justice, criminal justice, reproductive health & justice, and elder women's issues.
The only program of its kind in the nation, the vision for theInstitute is to increase the number of community-based women leaders in California who are actively involved in shaping and implementing policies that affect the health and well-being of women and girls. The program provides intensive public policy advocacy and leadership training each year for a diverse group of up to 30 California women who are leading non-profit organizations and seek to act as a bridge between the needs of communities and policymakers. In its first five
years, the WPI has trained over 130 women, and fellows have helped to pass nine new laws that positively impact women's lives throughout California. The Women's Policy Institute is a program of the Women's
Foundation of California.
For more information on the Women's Policy Institute and to download an application, please click here.
The deadline for applications is June 11, 2008.
Top of page
"Reconnecting kids with nature for health benefits" webinar now available online
As part of the National Environmental Education Foundation's ongoing efforts to improve children's environmental health, NEEF partnered with the Society for Public Health Education to offer a webinar "Reconnecting Kids with Nature for Health Benefits" which is now available online at http://sophe.org/content/ce_self_study.asp. NEEF's ex-officio board member and advisor Dr. James Roberts, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina presented on the health benefits of natural environments. The webinar was extremely well received by the 150 participants in the live event. Free continuing education credit hours are available.
Top of page
To unsubscribe from the EnviRN listserv, please send an email to envirn@umaryland.edu and type "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. |
