Friday, April 11, 2008

Pledge to green your home

Friday’s NPHW behavior asks you to “Green Your Home.” This is the last of the behaviors in the Healthy Climate Pledge and your last chance to sign on. We hope that each of the behaviors you adopted this week stick with you long after NPHW ends!

Ready to get started? Here are some ideas:

• Reduce, reuse and recycle

If there is a recycling program in your community, try recycling your newspapers, beverage containers, paper products and other goods. Use products in containers that can be recycled and items that can be repaired or reused. In addition, support recycling markets by buying products made from recycled materials. Reducing, reusing and recycling in your home helps conserve energy and reduces pollution and greenhouse gases from resource extraction, manufacturing and disposal.

• Heat and cool smartly

Simple steps such as cleaning air filters regularly and having your heating and cooling equipment tuned annually by a licensed contractor can increase comfort at home, and at the same time reduce energy use and global warming pollution. When it’s time to replace your old equipment, choose a higher efficiency model, and make sure it is properly sized and installed.

• Seal and insulate your home

Not sure where to begin? A home energy auditor can help you find air leaks and areas with poor insulation and can evaluate the overall energy efficiency of your home. By taking these steps, you can eliminate drafts, keep your home more comfortable year round, save energy that would otherwise be wasted, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Use water efficiently

Municipal water systems require a lot of energy to purify and distribute water to households. Saving water, especially hot water, can lower greenhouse gas emissions. Look for products with EPA’s WaterSense label. These products save water and perform as well or better than their less efficient counterparts. Be smart when irrigating your lawn or landscape. Water when needed and during the coolest part of the day (early morning is best). Turn the water off while shaving or brushing teeth.

• Use green power

Green power is environmentally friendly electricity that is generated from renewable energy sources such as wind and the sun. There are two ways to use green power: you can buy green power or you can modify your house to generate your own green power. Buying green power is easy. It offers a number of environmental and economic benefits over conventional electricity and helps to increase clean energy supply. There are a number of steps you can take to create a greener home, including installing solar panels and researching incentives for renewable energy in your state.

In This Issue

• What’s Happening Today
• NPHW Blog Series
• Climate Change in the News
• Take Action Today!
• Resources

What’s Happening Today

• Public Health Week General Assembly, Chattanooga, Tenn.
• “Climate Change: What Should Public Health Do?” Lecture, College Park, Md.
• Green Transportation 2008: Choices for the Future Show, Redwood City, Calif.
• "A Climate of Change" Symposium, Portland, Ore.
• Want to know what is happening in your community? Visit the NPHW Event Calendar for a complete list of submitted events that are taking place around the nation. You can also get the word out about any NPHW events that you’re organizing.

NPHW Blog Series

Today’s blog entry on greening your home is written by Doug Anderson, a home efficiency expert with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

There are lots of folks telling you to do something to make your home more “green” these days. As a home efficiency expert at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is only one measurable, cost effective way to make your home greener and pay yourself back for the effort: make your home more energy efficient. Energy efficiency not only pays you back with lower energy bills, it also improves comfort, and helps you go green by lowering your carbon footprint…

Click here to read more!

Climate Change in the News

Here are some recent stories on NPHW from around the nation, as well as a selection of stories from the NPHW Twitter:

• Climate change brings health risks (AP, 4/9/08)
• WHO: Health effects of climate change already tangible (EurActiv, 4/9/08)
• The climate change diet (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 4/10/08)
• Climate change, nation's health the center of National Public Health Week (Telegraph Forum, 4/10/08)
• Public Health Week stresses impact of climate change on health (Daily Texan, 4/10/08)

Take Action Today!

• Urge your Representative to Sponsor the Solis/Markey National Public Health Week Resolution

Representative Hilda Solis and Representative Edward Markey have introduced a resolution highlighting NPHW and the relationship between climate change and health. Please contact your representative and ask him/her to cosponsor this important resolution.

• Tell Congress Climate Change IS a Public Health Issue

Climate change is one of the most serious public health threats facing our nation. Yet many Americans, including many of our elected officials are unaware of the very real consequences of climate change on the health of our communities, our families and our children.

Please take the time to send a message to your senators and representative urging them to include provisions to protect the public’s health from the impacts of climate change as they consider legislation to address climate change this year.

NPHW Resources

• Healthy Climate Pledge
• Climate Change Blueprint: Recommendations for the Public Health Community
• Climate change white paper
• Interactive U.S. map of the health impact of climate change
• NPHW Toolkit

Click here for more…