Environmental Health

From where you live, work, and exercise, to what you breathe, eat, and drink, the environment is constantly shaping our health.

This interconnectedness is studied via a broad scientific area referred to as environmental health, which focuses on the relationship between human health and the environment.

The World Health Organization made the infographics shown here to show the impact of the environment on the global population.

This relationship affects all of us in Georgia

Georgia is in the top 10 states with the worst urban air quality.

Atlanta is one of the most heat-vulnerable cities in the country.

Unfortunately, the effects are not equal. Low-income individuals are more likely to live in polluted areas with less green space. And chronic health conditions are more prevalent in those residing in environmentally-poor living conditions.

In 2019, about 1 out of every 8 Georgians (over 1.3M) were living in poverty.

Thus poverty, the environment, and health are linked. And those living in poverty can become trapped in a vicious cycle: For example: bad air quality is correlated with increased chronic illnesses; being out sick leads to poor performance in work or school; poor performance leads to an inability to get ahead; this leads to living in unhealthy environments; and the cycle continues.

In 2020 Science for Georgia’s SciTober Fest focused on Breaking the Cycle of Environmental Health Disparities. Read the full article to learn more.

Source: https://www.breakthecycleprogram.org/
Source: https://www.breakthecycleprogram.org/

What Can We Do?

The good news is that cycles can be transformed from vicious to virtuous through external, disruptive, change. And every positive step we take can creative positive impacts.

Individual Actions All of Us Can Take

Cut down your single use plastics.  Recycling them is harder than you think.

Cut down on food waste and compost the inevitable by products.

Lean how to have a larger impact on composting in your neighborhood.

Advocate for change

Two Bills (HB 339 and HB 423) look at different aspects of Environmental Justice impacts.

Advocate for better disposal and storage of Coal Ash a harmful bi-product of coal energy production.

Learn More

Below find a summary of legislation, from the 2023-24 Georgia General Assembly Session, that addresses environmental justice issues. This is an in-progress list. Please reach out to us with questions,… [...]

Recultivating the concrete jungle.by Jennifer McFaline-Figueroa, PhD Low-income urban communities lack access to healthy food and greenspace, adding to a cycle of poor-health and limited economic opportunity. The implementation of… [...]

Be a force in the movement to shape Georgia’s future and expand environmental justice. This second annual conference will connect you to environmental justice and climate conscious communities. Last year’s… [...]

June 15, 2023Emory University, Atlanta Georgia and Zoom Our second annual Environmental Justice and Climate Protection Conference brings together community leaders, concerned citizens, elected officials, academics, and industry experts. Together… [...]

Everything we put into the environment eventually washes into our waterways. Fifty years ago the Clean Water Act was a bold step forward in cleaning up our water. In the… [...]

Farmers and Policymakers can meet the needs of the present without diminishing opportunities for the future. -John Ikerd, Prof of Agricultural Economics, Univ of Missouri With the global population expected… [...]

Water quality has a direct impact on our health and the health of the ecosystem. Check out these videos below to learn more about various issues that are directly effecting… [...]

August 22nd, 2022 7pm – 9pm In Person Monday Night Garage, 933 LEE ST SW ATLANTA, GA 30310 What public policies are most effective at addressing climate change? Planting trees?… [...]

November 19th, 2022 7pm – 9pm Virtual via Zoom This is a Reschedule of our June AST Climate change is causing increasingly frequent wildfires, heatwaves, and droughts, and the human… [...]

Efforts to make Georgia soil more productive may be curtailed by confusion over what a soil amendment is. A soil amendment, sometimes referred to as soil conditioner, is anything put… [...]