Today I had the good fortune to speak with medical students about the Greening of Health Care. They are inspired to learn more about environmental health by a wonderful activist Dr. John Howard. Dr. Howard is the Chair of C.A.P.E - Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. He was instrumental in getting a Pesticide ban in London and then in Ontario. C.A.P.E is now pursuing a ban throughout Canada.
The enthusiastic medical students understand that there will be a lot of work to do if they are to change a system that currently relies so heavily on disposables. They also know that as doctors they are to "do no harm" and that includes doing no harm to the environment that sustains us. It provides hope to a troubled world to know that these young professionals are willing to dedicate time to a subject that has been neglected by the health care industry for so long.
According to the students Canadian hospitals consume 2.5x more energy than European hospitals. It is time to rethink the health care system and morph it into a disease prevention system. If 10% of the 1.9 million health care employees in Canada or 190,000 people were to take up the challenge, waste and toxics would be drastically reduced in very short order. This will be good for the people and good for the planet. These students aren't waiting until they graduate they are taking action now.
One simple thing you can do to show your support for their actions and the health of the planet, is to buy local, organic, seasonal product free from packaging thereby eliminating emissions and pesticides while supporting the local economy. And don't forget to serve it on reusable dishes.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
As Canadians we are the WaterKeepers
WaterKeepers is a monicker I heard recently when I attended a lecture by CBC Quirks and Quarks host Bob McDonald. He spoke about our "Goldilocks Planet" meaning of course that it is just right for human survival - at least it has been until now and will be again if we stop the destruction created by us humans.
As Bob says, the earth has been referred to as The Blue Planet ever since the famous NASA photo taken from space was released to the public. It is covered in 80% water but 90% of that water is salty and not available for humans. Of the 10% remaining 90% is trapped in the ice caps. This leaves precious little fresh water available to a rapidly expanding, thirsty population. And 1/4 of the available fresh water in the world is in Canada. Hence we are naturally the WaterKeepers. Other nations will eventually create a rush on this Blue Gold and many believe wars will be fought over rights to fresh water just as wars have been fought over oil.
As a nation of peacekeepers this will be a traumatic and difficult time for Canadians. Will you fight for water to be a basic human right? Will you fight against those who pollute this precious resource? Will you fight to conserve water in your home, your community, your country? These questions are not about the future these questions are for the here and now. We need to do these things to ensure that future generations have clean, safe, drinking water. As WaterKeepers we can all help to ensure that that will be possible.
As Bob says, the earth has been referred to as The Blue Planet ever since the famous NASA photo taken from space was released to the public. It is covered in 80% water but 90% of that water is salty and not available for humans. Of the 10% remaining 90% is trapped in the ice caps. This leaves precious little fresh water available to a rapidly expanding, thirsty population. And 1/4 of the available fresh water in the world is in Canada. Hence we are naturally the WaterKeepers. Other nations will eventually create a rush on this Blue Gold and many believe wars will be fought over rights to fresh water just as wars have been fought over oil.
As a nation of peacekeepers this will be a traumatic and difficult time for Canadians. Will you fight for water to be a basic human right? Will you fight against those who pollute this precious resource? Will you fight to conserve water in your home, your community, your country? These questions are not about the future these questions are for the here and now. We need to do these things to ensure that future generations have clean, safe, drinking water. As WaterKeepers we can all help to ensure that that will be possible.
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