“Climate change is not about a distant, unforeseeable future. It is about the world in which our children live today and the future in which they will raise their own children.” - AAP report on Global Climate Change and Children’s Health Each year, in honor of Earth Day, I think about …
Environment
Greening Healthcare: Next Steps
Recently, I led a webinar for Practice Greenhealth detailing our efforts at The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center® to reduce the use of endocrine-disrupting plastics in hospitals. Reducing DEHP use in particular is one of our main current initiatives, given its adverse impact on health, …
The Growing Pediatric Health Gap: Environmental Injustice Threatens Our Future
The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center® at HackensackUMC publishes landmark paper on The Growing Pediatric Health Gap: Environmental Injustice Threatens Our Future Deirdre Imus, president and founder of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center® at HackensackUMC, andLawrence Rosen, M.D., the Center’s …
Antibiotic Overuse: A Worldwide Emergency
For most of human history, infectious diseases have been the leading causes of illness and death. Most ancient peoples used botanicals as the earliest antibiotics to combat various plagues, even without specific knowledge regarding the microbes responsible. With the advent of modern pharmaceutical …
7 Science-Backed Reasons To Get Your Kids Outside
(Originally posted for MindBodyGreen) Most of us intuitively know that we feel better when we spend time outside. But sadly, as our lives become more dependent on technology, we are increasingly disconnected from the Earth — and this disconnect could be harming our children more than we …
HCWH: A Conversation with Pediatrician Lawrence Rosen
Health Care Without Harm’s Safer Chemicals Program seeks to eliminate dangerous chemicals in the health care setting that can adversely affect patient health and employee safety without sacrificing quality of care. To achieve this goal, we focus on promoting a “green” approach to health care that …
Bats, Birds, Bees and Butterflies In Crisis: What It Means For Us
One of my strongest memories of summers past, despite my lack of affection for insects in general, is the steady buzzing of bees and fluttering of butterflies in my mom’s garden. These sounds and visions, along with the heat and abundance of time to play outside, were simply what made up “summer” …
Plastic Babies: The DEHP Dilemma
(Originally posted for the Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center) DEHP (di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate) is a compound commonly found in plastic medical devices made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC). This chemical has come under increased scrutiny with respect to the care of our most vulnerable …
Is Happiness the Key to Eco-Action?
As a pediatrician, I am incredibly lucky to work with children, day in and day out. It’s impossible not to be captured by their amazement with the mundane and their joy in the smallest moments. I’m often reminded of Winslow Homer’s 1872 painting, “Snap the Whip,” depicting boys playing with abandon …
Earth Day 2014: Connecting With Nature
Is it possible that something as simple as happiness could be the motivating factor to stimulate sustained ecological behavioral change? The developing field of ecopsychology has spurred an interest in research looking at how our connection to nature is tied to our well being. Along these lines, …