Environmental Health
The term environmental health is used to frame issues where pollution and toxins in the environment cause or contribute to health problems, both chronic and acute.
The problems are created by the ways we heat & cool our buildings, manufacture products, extract mineral & energy resources, generate electrical power, and transport products [and ourselves!]. The industrialized food system, with its intensive use of energy, artificial fertilizers, and pesticides is a major source of pollution in the communities where it is grown as well as in the food itself.
Environmental health concerns often have a very disproportionate impact on minorities and low-income people because of the ways facilities and roads are sited.
Wurth’s 2-12-12 anti-WTE Letter
February 12, 2012 Allentown City Council Allentown Environmental Advisory Council Re: Delta Thermo Agreement Dear Allentown Official: As a representative of the Sierra Club (SC), I expressed grave concerns about the proposed waste incinerator project planned for Allentown when it … more
New York’s Little Revolution
The following was published by Yes! Magazine, a non-profit magazine that focuses not only on all that’s wrong but on positive approaches, a transition to a better world. New York’s Little Revolution How the state’s fight for clean water is reshaping … more
Idling Gets You Nowhere!
This page is adapted from a poster created by intern Julia Ward. Save Money, Your Health, & the Environment — Be Idle Free! If you’re going to be stopped for more than 60 seconds, turn your engine off (except in traffic). … more
Using Television and other Business Models to Protect the Environment
Environmental degradation caused by human activity is rapidly rendering the planet uninhabitable. For thousands of generations the planet’s resources were sufficiently plentiful and resilient to withstand our destructive activities. No longer. When Jefferson was president there were less people in … more
Youth Food Bill of Rights
Declaration of Youth Food Bill of Rights July 30, 2011 We demand respect for mother earth, for the Food Justice and Food Sovereignty culture, and for the indigenous cultures that are working to establish their own autonomous food systems. All … more
Diesel Pollution in the Lehigh Valley
Many believe that school buses are the safest method of transportation for children to get to school, but is it the healthiest? Diesel pollution is becoming a more significant problem across the United States today and specifically, the Lehigh Valley … more
Sustainability in Food Businesses
There are many steps that can be taken to promote sustainability in food businesses. Today, there are numerous concerns that trouble businesses that are attempting to become more sustainable. This is because of the financial, environment, and psychological benefits that … more
Food on Campus
The Dining Services offered at both Lafayette College and Lehigh University have already taken some measures to becoming more environmentally sustainable organizations. Specifically, at Lafayette some of the vegetables served in the dining facilities around campus are grown in the … more
Do campus food services contribute to sustainability and health?
Campus dining services, like other institutional food-service operations, prepare large volumes of food every day, most of it the product of the industrialized agriculture system, not grown sustainably. It is often served in ways that produce large volumes of waste, … more
Wilkinsburg PA Adopts Community Rights Ordinance That Bans Gas Drilling
Tuesday, July 20, 2011 – By a unanimous vote, the Borough Council of Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, adopted ordinance number 28-70 that enacts an enforceable Local Bill of Rights, along with a prohibition on natural gas extraction to protect those … more