Day: September 18, 2015

Midwest Children’s Environmental Health Symposium to be held Sept. 21 on University of Illinois campus

September 21, 2015 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
1005 Beckman Institute, Urbana IL

Researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan will present the latest in research, translation, and community outreach on how environmental exposures affect children’s health and development.

Jointly funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the mission of the Children’s Centers is to reduce health risks, protect children from environmental threats, and promote their health and well-being in the communities where they live, learn, and play. The Illinois and Michigan Children’s Centers are the only two located in the Midwest.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested but not required.

Interdisciplinarity: How to catalyse collaboration

Read the full story in Nature.

Turn the fraught flirtation between the social and biophysical sciences into fruitful partnerships with these five principles, urge Rebekah R. Brown, Ana Deletic and Tony H. F. Wong.

EPA Recognizes Three Communities for Smart Growth Achievement

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today recognized projects in three communities as winners of the 2015 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. Winners include a new public park on a formerly contaminated site along the Passaic River in Newark, N.J. and new mixed-use developments that are spurring investment and revitalization in Jackson, Tenn. and Hamilton, OH.

This award is given annually for creative, sustainable initiatives that better protect the health and environment of our communities while strengthening local economies. The 2015 award is presented to projects in three categories: Plazas, Parks, and Public Places; Corridor or Neighborhood Revitalization; and Built Projects.

“As part of our commitment to help communities grow in ways that protect the environment and support local goals, EPA is pleased to recognize the winners of this year’s National Award for Smart Growth Achievement,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “The smart growth strategies behind this year’s award winners are making a visible difference in their communities, and they provide models that can guide and inspire many others.”

The winners are:

Category: Plazas, Parks, and Public Places
Riverfront Park
Newark, N.J. and Essex County, N.J.

Riverfront Park fulfills a decades-long movement to reclaim the Passaic riverfront for the people of Newark, N.J. Situated on the cleaned-up site of a former metal smelting plant, the park provides Newark’s only public access to the river and outdoor recreational space for a neighborhood where the amount of green space dedicated for use as parks is far below the national average. The 19-acre park is the result of a public engagement process that included more than 6,000 people. It is expected to attract new economic development, particularly to downtown Newark, and will eventually be part of a string of riverfront parks and trails that will stretch for five miles.

Category: Corridor or Neighborhood Revitalization
Jackson Walk
Jackson, Tenn.

For years, Jackson, Tenn. has struggled to revitalize a declining downtown. In 2003, powerful tornados ripped away much of the downtown, destroying property and displacing residents and businesses. Jackson used the disaster as an opportunity to bring residents together to create a new vision for the downtown. That vision guided the development of Jackson Walk, a 20-acre mixed-use redevelopment district around a cleaned-up brownfield site that now provides affordable homes, new businesses, and a wellness center with an urgent care clinic. Increased property values have generated new tax revenues, and from 2012 to 2014, more than 30 new businesses opened, bringing jobs.

Category: Built Projects
City of Hamilton and Historic Developers Public-Private Partnership
Hamilton, OH

The “Rust Belt” city of Hamilton, Ohio, has become an emerging hub of innovation and revitalization. With creative vision, strategic planning, and community engagement, three downtown projects have reinvigorated the city’s central business district and set the stage for new economic development. As of May 2015, the projects’ collective $17.2 million investment has spurred an additional $15 million in investment in surrounding buildings, and the downtown occupancy rate has increased by 14 percent. The redevelopment has created a walkable, vibrant community in the historic neighborhood, with public transit connecting the area to the rest of the county.

Award winners were chosen based on their effectiveness in creating sustainable communities; fostering equitable development among public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders; and serving as national models for environmentally and economically sustainable development.

EPA created the National Award for Smart Growth Achievement in 2002 to highlight exceptional approaches to development that protect the environment and public health, encourage economic vitality, and enhance quality of life. To date, more than 900 communities have applied for the award. Sixty-two communities from 26 states have been selected for smart growth approaches that other states, tribes, cities, suburbs, and rural communities can use to create economically strong, environmentally responsible development. EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities manages the awards program.

EPA hosted a ceremony on September 17 to recognize the winners.

More information on the winners, including pictures and videos: http://www2.epa.gov/smartgrowth

The Many Implications of Your Wasted Food

Read the full post from Pacific Standard.

America’s finally set to tackle its food-waste problem. That’s a good thing, because the issue runs very, very deep.

 

Volkswagen Is Told to Recall Nearly 500,000 Vehicles Over Emissions Software

Read the full story in the New York Times.

The Obama administration on Friday directed Volkswagen to recall nearly a half million cars from the road, saying the German automaker used software intentionally designed to circumvent environmental standards for reducing smog.

Purchasing green can be good, but buying less is better

Read the full story in Treehugger. Particularly relevant on the Friday before Pollution Prevention Week (#P2Week).

Many companies offer token green products with the hope that consumers won’t see how unsustainable the whole system is to begin with.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Project: Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Generation

A new Minnesota Department of Commerce, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and MnTAP project, funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, aims to increase energy efficiency (E2) in Minnesota municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and scope opportunities for onsite power generation. The project will run through 2017.

For more information, visit http://www.mntap.umn.edu/POTW/wwtp.html.

Driving sustainable purchasing decisions

Read the full story at Healthcare Purchasing News.

Collaboration is the key to accessing more green products and services in the supply chain.

 

EPA Proposes New Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals

Read the full story at JD Supra.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals Rule. If finalized, it will create an entirely new subpart in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste regulations to regulate hazardous waste pharmaceuticals (HWPs) that are generated by healthcare facilities as well as those HWPs managed by pharmaceutical reverse distributors. Healthcare facilities that are small quantity generators (SQGs) or large quantity generators (LQGs) and all pharmaceutical reverse distributors—regardless of the quantity of HWPs generated per month—will be required to manage HWPs under the new Subpart P of 40 CFR Part 266.

For an environmentally friendly supply chain, what we buy matters

Read the full story in Modern Healthcare.

The challenge for individual hospitals and health systems is that the environmental attributes of products are often not apparent within some purchasing processes. However, market-wide progress is being made through several initiatives that bring together hospital sustainability and purchasing managers, GPOs, and medical product and service providers.