Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
In the sustainability world, most of the conversation revolves around carbon dioxide, but this time of year it’s important to remember that indoor air quality can be dramatically impacted by the presence of Carbon Monoxide (CO), with serious health consequences.
Did you know calls to the Poison Center concerning CO have already exceeded last year’s exposures, even with the mild weather?
Did you know the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Nebraska as one of the states with the highest mortality rate from CO?
They also note that each year in the U.S. there are more than 400 deaths and approximately 15,000 ER visits due to CO poisoning. Understand the dangers, symptoms, and prevent your family from being effected.
Get the facts on CO:
Who: A silent killer
What: Carbon Monoxide
When: Highest risk of danger is in November, December, January, and February
Where: It could be in your home, right now
Why: CO is produced when fuels burn incompletely
What you should do if you see CO? You won’t. CO is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. That’s why it’s so deadly. Symptoms of CO poisoning include sleepiness, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, vomiting, shortness of breath and convulsions. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning resemble those associated with other health conditions that are common among the elderly, especially in the winter. The carbon monoxide death rate is highest among people greater than 65 years of age.
If you or a member of your family have any of these symptoms, get the victim outside to fresh air ASAP and then seek medical attention.
As always prevention is the key. The Poison Center offers the following suggestions to prevent CO poisoning:
- Install carbon monoxide alarms on every level of your home.
- Inspect all fuel-burning equipment yearly.
- Vent fuel-burning heaters to the outside.
- Do not use a gas range or an oven for heating a room.
- Never use a charcoal or gas grill inside.
- Never leave a car running in an attached garage, even with the garage door open.
- Run generators a safe distance from the home – never next to a window, door or vent.
- Have vehicle muffler and tailpipes checked regularly.
If you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning or have any questions, contact the Nebraska Regional Poison Center toll-free at 1-800-222-1222. Nurse Specialists are available 24/7 to assist you.
Effective January 1, 2017, a Nebraska State Law requires carbon monoxide alarms in all residences that are sold, rented or remodeled. CO monitors are relatively inexpensive, but if you need assistance, your local fire station may be able to provide one at no cost to you, including free installation. {They will also replace smoke detector batteries at no cost, especially nice if you have one in a hard to reach spot or shouldn’t be on a ladder!}
The Nebraska Regional Poison Center encourages all residences to have a carbon monoxide alarm.
A Sustainable Holiday Season
By Melanie Stewart
Americans continue to say they would prefer to reduce the focus on gifts during the holidays, with a recent survey showing 69% would agree to forgo gifts entirely so they could save money and spend more time with loved ones. Even if that’s the desire, the reality is that consumption is still a focus, and this causes waste to increase by 25% (1 million tons/week more to landfills) between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Not really surprising when you starting thinking about all the shopping, eating, and traveling.
Seemingly little actions add up and there are lots of things you can do to reduce your waste and have a happier, healthier holiday season:
- Reduce the focus on gifts and concentrate on the things that really matter, especially your sanity.
- If you exchange gifts, consider buying experiences, like museum/zoo membership, or donations instead of stuff. Consolidate your shopping trips to save gas, take reusable bags, consolidate online shopping to save on shipping, and look for products that contain recycled content and responsibly sourced materials.
- Wrap gifts in reused materials; if every American household wrapped 3 gifts in reused materials (brown paper packages tied up in strings…maps, Sunday comics, cloth bags) enough paper would be saved to cover 45,000 football fields! For everything else, use recycled content paper and reusable gift-bags, boxes, and bows.
- Recycling old lights helps local groups now or recycle them any time of year, and replace with new, efficient, LED lights…which use 70% less
- Hosting? Buy food in bulk to reduce packaging waste, but menu plan to reduce food waste, and serve with reusable plates/cups/utensils/napkins.
- Make it easy for guests to recycle, and recycle everything you can’t reuse.
- Consider sending E-cards; saving trees, your time, and money. Recycle or reuse (for decoration, future gift tags, or craft projects) any cards you receive.
- If batteries are needed, buy rechargeable—they’ll save you money and trips to the store in the long run. Recycle single use batteries.
- Check your thermostat: more people and more cooking means the temp can be lowered. Every 2 degrees lower saves $100 a year, saves the equivalent carbon emissions as driving a car 3,000 miles, and people get to be comfortable in their (reused) ugly Christmas sweaters.
- Reduce junk mail by contacting Catalog Choice to remove your name from marketers’ databases.
- As soon as it’s available, LiveGreen will provide information on recycling trees. Stay tuned!
Fall Finale
By Melanie Stewart
With above average temps throughout November, winter may be sneaking up on you.
Thinking about cleaning up your yard? Stop right there! Delaying your cleanup until spring helps birds and beneficial insects by providing seeds to eat and an area of shelter. If you need to clean up some of your yard, consider leaving other sections untouched. If you do clean up, collect seeds and leave those out for birds over the winter. If you have seeds that need to cold stratify (like milkweed) you can plant them now so they will come up in the spring.
Now is a great time to remove turf-grass and have a new place to plant in the spring, by sheet mulching.
That process uses leaves, which need to be to collected! Did you know leaves can clog storm inlets and sewer pipes causing water in basements? Leaves in local waterways decompose, remove oxygen from the water, and change nutrient levels which can be damaging to plants and wildlife that depend on that water. Farmers are impacted too…with big economic impacts.
So rake them up, use them as mulch in your yard/garden, compost them on site, leave a pile in a corner for birds and insects, or if nothing else dispose of them with yardwaste.
This is also a good time to make spring garden plans. While you may be planting spring bulbs, I’d like to recommend planting natives that will benefit early arriving bees. These native bees (not honeybees) need nutrients to get going and count on high-quality nectar and pollen from specific plants to survive. Consider planting native willows, ephemerals, and other early bloomers to help them.
Native plants are the most sustainable plants as they have survived here for thousands of years and are adapted to water conditions, hot/cold temperatures, pests, and soils. This means easier care for you, no toxic fertilizers or insecticides, and a better plant for wildlife and the environment.
Need help finding the right plant while surviving the cold winter nights? Check out OmahaPlants.org You can search by various criteria and when viewing a plant you will learn the color of the bloom and stems, when it blooms (vary this to provide for pollinators all season long), what pollinators it attracts (if any), if it’s native, and if it will work in a bioretention/rain garden. The National Wildlife Federation has a native plant finder too.
Compostable To-Go Containers
By Melanie Stewart
In 2016, the Student Senate from all four University of Nebraska campuses passed a Styrofoam Free resolution, representing student concerns about the use of Styrofoam on campus. The proposal was echoed by the many staff concerns about Styrofoam, especially in the dining areas.
Sodexo is officially replacing the Styrofoam to-go containers in the Nebraska, Clarkson, Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, and Bellevue Cafés with a compostable container.
While polystyrene (or Styrofoam) containers are financially inexpensive, their health and environmental costs far outweigh that of their paper or bio-based counterparts. Polystyrene is made from petroleum and contains chemicals that are known carcinogens. At the end of their one-time use, these containers go to the landfills, where they will take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to decompose. Historically, over 400,000 Styrofoam to-go containers have gone to the landfill every year from the Medical Center.
A month ago, a new, compostable, to-go container was piloted in both the Nebraska and Clarkson Cafés and feedback was collected via online and in-person survey. The feedback showed an overwhelmingly positive response, with the large majority of respondents satisfied or very satisfied with the new container. Due to the positive feedback, the pilot container was selected.
While the overwhelming majority of responses were positive, Sodexo recognizes that this is a change in the dining experience and will continue to be open to feedback on the new containers.
You will still see Styrofoam containers in the short term as purchased stock is used up. The vendors within the Cafés (Mein Bowl, Oh Oh Burrito, etc.) are also currently reviewing options to make the switch
Many have been asking about Styrofoam-free floor stock options, specifically cups for patient/visitors. This is currently being reviewed, as it impacts budgets that have already been set, and we will provide information as soon as it’s available.
The Medical Center will review options for reusable plates and silverware in early 2018.
Healthy, Sustainable, Holidays
By Melanie Stewart
For the last two weeks we have talked about the connection between health and sustainability, both from a community perspective, as well as a personal one.
We didn’t have time in the last article to talk about consumption and stress…and what better time to talk about that than the holiday season?!?
So much of the holidays are focused on ‘things’ and subsequently the time it takes to shop for, transport, and wrap, those things. They can create a lot of waste; manufacturing, packaging, shipping, driving to the store, wrapping, and using, all while the useful life of items seems to be decreasing. For a quick look at this process, check out the “Story of Stuff”.
Instead, consider giving experiences (zoo membership, sporting even tickets, etc.) instead of physical items that will be used and/or forgotten. If you are looking for additional ways to save money, time, and reduce waste, read this.
Regardless of how you celebrate, you likely have more to do during this time of year. Don’t forget to take time to reduce stress. Exercise, yoga, and meditation are all great ways to reduce stress, and it can actually help you be more sustainable and meet your personal wellbeing goals.
One of the topics being brought up more frequently is mindfulness. This is often associated with meditation, but doesn’t have to be. While there are many variations on the definition, the Foundation for a Mindful Society broadly defines it as something every human already possesses: “the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” That sounds good, right? (and almost anti-holiday!?!)
Mindfulness resources:
(Some of) the science and research of mindfulness
Side note, it takes practice, especially if you are accustomed to multitasking. Don’t get frustrated; practice makes perfect.
So what does stress reduction/mindfulness have to do with sustainability? Being mindful, that fully present awareness, means we make better choices because we are choosing things purposefully, not mindlessly or because of emotion. This can reduce consumption, everything from that impulse-buy to your 3rd piece of pie. Reduced consumption decreases waste/helps the environment, saves your money for the things you actually need, and most importantly can keep you healthier.
photo credit: freeimages.com/xxlawrence
Sustainability and Personal Wellbeing
By Melanie Stewart
Last week we talked about the connection between sustainability and healthcare—why Nebraska Medicine & UNMC spend time on sustainability. As some of you have noted, “That’s great, but what about me?”
Last week I had the privilege of being a panelist at WELLCOM’s symposium on sustainability and wellness. We spent most of the day talking about just that.
First, sustainability involves safety, health, and welfare for individuals, and is a one of the seven dimensions of wellness and part of EMPOWER your wellbeing.
Second, sustainability does not have to be something that is an add-on…it’s not necessarily something extra you have to do.
When we discuss sustainability it’s very easy to imagine a non-sustainable world and future, and it’s not too pretty. Instead, imagine a sustainable future. What does that look like for you and your family?
If I was going to guess, the picture that just popped into your head makes you smile. You are likely to be in a place that makes you happy, doing something you enjoy, with the people you love. The people you picture are likely happy too; not ill, suffering, or stressed, and the backdrop is probably clean…most of us don’t picture trash blowing down the street, or smog.
When you make decisions, keep that vision in mind. Don’t get that confused with perfection or start to compare to others–your picture of a sustainable future is yours. You can make intentional decisions that can help you reach that picture in your head, and in doing so, you are likely making healthy and sustainable choices.
For example, in order to be healthy you may be trying to eat more veggies and drink more water; healthy for you and the environment. You may be trying to reduce indoor toxins by cleaning with fewer chemicals, or saving gas by running errands all at once; again, better for you and the environment. Recycling prevents toxins from entering the water we drink; using active transportation increases activity and reduces pollution; using less plastic reduces crude oil drilling… the list goes on.
Making a healthy choice for yourself almost always leads to a more sustainable future. Feel good about the steps you have already taken and gradually add more. That picture in your head is a great place to start, why not strive to achieve it?
photo credit: freeimages.com/luntzer
Sustainability and Healthcare
With all of the changes taking place on campus, the emphasis on budgets, and the efforts to work together more, some have asked why we are spending time on sustainability. Why do we care about being “green”? Don’t we have other things to worry about or focus on (like patients?) rather than saving the rainforest?
Good question.
Answer: No. Well, yes. Let me clarify.
We aren’t spending direct time/money saving the rainforests or endangered species of your choice. We are spending time improving the environment we live in, because that’s directly related to our health. Our mission is “to lead the world in transforming lives to create a healthy future for all individuals and communities… “; being sustainable meets that mission. We are part of an ecosystem, and our health is directly related to that ecosystem.
We know that when air quality is poor, ER visits for asthma and lung ailments go up. We know that when it’s exceedingly hot out, vulnerable populations are at risk of dying. We know that temperature changes affect disease transmission, especially those carried by insects and parasites. Two years ago most of us hadn’t heard of the ‘tropical’ Zika virus, and now it’s affecting children in our state.
While the connection between climate, the environment, and health has been known for a while (see box on side, for local information) last week that connection was amplified with a landmark article in the internationally respected scientific journal, The Lancet.
The Lancet’s article was a collaboration between 24 academic institutions and government organizations in a wide range of focus areas. They call this the “greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century” and note that inaction, including a slow response will lead to “irreversible and unacceptable cost to human health.”
“Highlights” include but are not limited to:
- Decrease in crop yields, and nutrient levels in those crops
- Increase in acute kidney injury and cardiovascular events
- Increased occurrence and mortality in both communicable (virus) and non-communicable (cancer) diseases
- Decrease in outdoor labor capacity
- Overall decrease in wellbeing; combination of health, stress, stability
Scary stuff. But that is why Nebraska Medicine and UNMC work to be sustainable. That is why we are leading the way, working to be Net Zero Emissions, Net Zero Waste, and reduce our water use by 54% all by 2030, while increasing active transportation. Preventive or acute care, it’s all about health.
For more information, see these resources:
Dr. Khan’s presentation on Climate Change and Health
Dr. Donald Wilhite’s presentation on Climate Change Implications for Nebraska
UNL’s Report: Understanding and Assessing Climate Change, Implications for Nebraska
UNL’s Summary Report from Roundtable Discussions
Dr. Khan’s (and others) Roundtable video presentations
Mulch much?
By Anne Rivas
photo credit: freeimages.com/doratakasia
I live in a neighborhood where people have huge mounds of wood mulch delivered. I planned to mulch this spring, to keep the weeds down and preserve moisture in the soil, but mainly to make my gardens look like everyone else’s.
I didn’t get around to it, and now I’m glad.
Read this for a breakdown of commercial wood mulches, it’s eye opening.
I usually cover my gardens in the fall with a mixture of shredded leaves and grass clippings – every other mowing or so after the leaves start to fall, I bag the clippings and dump them on my gardens. It turns out that this is probably the best thing to do, and you can dig leaves directly into annual and vegetable beds in the fall. Half of the time I don’t bag the clippings, leaving them to enrich the soil.
If a little is good, is more better? Not when it comes to mulch. For one thing, deep layers of mulch – more than 4 inches – are not good for trees with surface roots. For another, mulch piled up against tree trunks provides shelter to rodents while they eat the tree bark…which is weaker and prone to infection because of the mulch. Similarly, mulch against your house foundation will draw rodents, and if you have a tiny crack in the foundation, the little darlings will come inside to enjoy your hospitality.
I start each spring and fall with big plans. This fall I will spread an inch or so of compost on all of my gardens, including around shrubs and trees. Then I’ll spread a mixture of grass clippings and leaves. I will leave some space between plants and mulch, because I have voles (still!) who might tunnel under the cover and feast on bark this winter. I’ll do the same in my perennial gardens, keeping a little distance between the mulch and the perennial crowns to avoid rot. I might do a modified lasagna – of compost, newspaper, and then shredded leaves and grass clippings to feed the soil, encourage earthworms, and discourage weeds.
So, if I’m spreading compost why do I need mulch? Mulch keeps the soil warm longer, encourages worm activity, and my compost contains some weed seeds that the layer of mulch will help to discourage from sprouting next spring.
This fall my dream may actually come true, because I will have both free time and help.
Sustainability Survey Winners
Thank you to the thousands of colleagues and students that recently completed the Sustainability Survey! We appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your honest answers.
The data we collected are currently being compiled and will provide us with a new sustainability engagement score as well as with transportation mode split information; both of which are sustainability master plan goals. We’ll report those numbers as soon as we can. The other information collected will help to inform us on upcoming projects, communication methods, and goals.
I also appreciate the numerous comments that so many of you left in the survey. There were many great ideas, and a lot of helpful feedback, that will help us as we move forward. We are as excited and invested in working on these projects as you are—we just can’t do it all at once. As we work through the data we’ll answer your questions through your Live Green Ambassadors, future stories on this website, and updates posted on the LiveGreen website.
For example, many of you wondered about replacing paper towels with air dryers in restrooms. Infection Control guidelines do not allow for recycled air so paper towels must be used. In places where patient care is not an issue, we still need to be mindful of who may be using the dryers. In many cases the necessary electrical infrastructure is not in place, making air dryers cost prohibitive. That said, it may still be something to consider for future spaces and remodeled areas.
If at any time you have a question, concern, or additional feedback to provide, please feel free to email LiveGreen@unmc.edu . I’m happy to respond to any type of request, including constructive criticism, and, while it’s not anonymous, it does give you an answer while allowing me to ask follow-up questions.
We wish we could give a gift certificate to everyone who participated, but since we can’t, please congratulate the three lucky people who won this time around:
Matthew Dorwart, Student, Medicine
Nicole Smith, Medical Technology Core Lab
Chris Jensen, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine
Winners were selected by a third party, using a random number generator.
Zip – Gone!
UNMC/Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha have ended their contracts with Zipcar, and there are no longer any Zipcars located on our campus or at UNO. We apologize for the short notice and any inconvenience this may cause you. Our original intent was to provide a way for colleagues, students, patient families, and visitors to travel to and from campus if they didn’t have a car here.
Creighton appears to still be using Zipcar, and individuals are welcome to make their own decisions regarding their Zipcar membership. While UNMC/Nebraska Medicine has no plans to bring Zipcars back, it is pursuing other options to fill that gap.
We have removed all Zipcar information from the TravelSmart website, and we ask that, to avoid confusion, you recycle any Zipcar promotional information you may have.
