[Judy Pino] 
Many of us are heading outdoors 
after a long winter, 
but before you sun worshippers 
begin your annual ritual, 
you should know that 
overexposure to 
ultraviolet, or UV, radiation 
is the number one preventable 
risk factor for 
skin cancer.
Hello, and welcome 
to Green Scene, 
EPA's series of environmental 
podcasts that you can take 
with you. 
I'm Judy Pino.   
Did you know that substantially 
more than one million cases 
of skin cancer are 
diagnosed annually? 
That's more than lung, 
breast, prostate and 
colon cancer combined.  
More than 10,000 will die 
of the disease each year.
Now, May is National Melanoma 
and Skin Cancer Detection 
and Prevention Month, 
and to tell us how 
the EPA is educating the public 
through the SunWise Program 
is Bob Varney, regional 
administrator for EPA's  
New England office, 
and Shonda Schilling, 
founder and president of SHADE 
Foundation of America 
and a skin cancer 
melanoma survivor.
Thank you both for 
being with us.
[Shonda Schilling] 
Thank you for 
having us. 
[Bob Varney] 
Thank you.
[Judy Pino] 
Bob, let's start
with you. 
Growing up, everybody always 
told us, go outside, 
get your exercise, 
get your vitamin D.
As we grow older, they tell us, 
hey, if you're going to be in 
the sun, it's not a good 
idea unless you take 
preventive measures. 
[Bob Varney] 
That's right, Judy, and 
overexposure to the sun 
is a serious public health 
issue that we all need to 
be concerned about.
It can suppress your 
immune system.
It can cause eye damage 
such as cataracts.
It can cause premature 
aging of your skin.
And, of course, it can 
cause skin cancer, 
so it's a very serious 
public health issue, 
something that EPA and the SHADE 
Foundation have been working on 
for several years now and 
something that needs 
our attention.
[Judy Pino] 
Well, Shonda, you founded 
the SHADE Foundation 
August of 2002, after a 
successful battle against     
melanoma, and you were a 
self-declared sun worshipper.
[Shonda Schilling] 
I was.
I think it's a product 
of my age. 
I grew up on the
East Coast.
As soon as the winter -- we got 
to 70 degrees, 60 degrees, 
we would go outside and 
put the baby oil on, 
and we really didn't know what 
the dangers of the sun were 
and how it would affect 
us 20 years from now. 
I don't really remember ever 
being told about sunblock or 
anything back then. 
[Judy Pino] 
And you did find some 
spots on your back, 
some moles on your back, 
and people did tell you, 
hey, that doesn't look good, 
but you didn't really pay 
attention to it. 
[Shonda Schilling] 
I think what happened to me 
in 2001, when I went in to 
the doctor's office and they 
said "biopsy" and they took 
the spot off and they told me 
to call in 10 days and get my 
results, and it was 
actually 36 hours.
And when you get that phone 
call that changes your life 
forever and says you have 
malignant melanoma and we 
need to do chest X-rays, 
a blood test and see 
if the cancer's spread and 
given you a survival rate, 
it gives you
a big blow.
And I went in and I 
had the surgery, 
and I had five surgeries that 
year, and I can remember the     
moment that that changed my life 
but also changed my life as far 
as prevention forever.
[Judy Pino] 
And all this information and the 
pictures are on your Web site, 
shadefoundation.org.
Now, Shonda, Bob, 
she's fair-skinned, 
but the truth is, race is not 
really a factor when it comes 
to melanoma and
skin cancer.
[Bob Varney] 
No, it's not.
In fact, people are very 
surprised when they hear 
that African Americans actually 
have a lower survival rate than 
Caucasians do with respect 
to skin cancer. 
So, anyone, including 
those with dark skin, 
need to be concerned about 
overexposure to the sun.
Even Bob Marley, for example, 
died of skin cancer, 
so it can happen to anyone in 
our society and we all need 
to be aware
of it.
[Judy Pino] 
It could happen
to anyone. 
Well, you decided to found this 
foundation because you realized 
that there just wasn't enough 
awareness out there.
[Shonda Schilling] 
There wasn't any awareness. 
For me there was no way -- 
I didn't know how I was 
going to start 
living my life.
I had young kids.
I didn't know anything 
about sunblock.
[Judy Pino] 
And your focus is on the 
children, isn't it? 
[Shonda Schilling] 
It is on the children. 
I had a five-, a three- and 
a one-year old at the time.
By the time that I founded 
SHADE two of them were 
in school.
I went to the schools in 
Arizona and there were 
no shade coverings over 
the playgrounds. 
And I said to the principal, 
"I want a shade covering up," 
and they said the PTAs have 
to buy them and we couldn't 
afford them. 
[Judy Pino] 
No money, mm-hmm.
[Shonda Schilling] 
And so I put them up, 
and the shade covering 
is a constant reminder to those 
kids that, you know what, 
I need to seek shade. 
[Judy Pino] 
Well, Shonda, I'm sure since 
suffering from skin cancer 
and founding the foundation, 
you've become very 
knowledgeable on the 
dos and don'ts -- 
[Shonda Schilling] 
I have. 
[Judy Pino] 
-- of sun exposure.
Let's go over some helpful 
recommendations.
[Shonda Schilling] 
Well, one of the things 
we've partnered with the 
Environmental Protection Agency, 
they have this wonderful kit 
that's free to teachers, 
and it's a complete 
teaching kit from K-8.
You can teach it for an hour, 
you can teach it for a week, 
you can teach it 
for a semester. 
And one of the things that we go 
in and teach is how to prevent, 
how to prevent skin cancer 
and what things we can do.
We teach them about wearing a 
hat and that a wide-brimmed 
hat is better, long sleeves, 
long pants, sunblock, 
if you have short sleeves or 
shorts on to wear sunblock, 
that the sunblock needs to have 
UVA and UVB protection, 
to wear sunglasses 
and to seek shade.
[Judy Pino] 
Shonda, some other 
recommendations is 
to look at your shadow.
[Shonda Schillings] 
I always say 
this to kids: 
When is your shadow 
the longest?
When is it the 
shortest? 
When it's the shortest it's the 
hottest part of the day, 
which is when the sun 
is directly over you.
And that's why we say between 
10:00 and 4:00 is the most 
dangerous time to be 
out in the sun. 
[Judy Pino] 
Okay, so take a look at 
your shadow and also 
visit your dermatologist.    
Now, Bob, the EPA, aside 
from the SunWise kit, 
which we'll get into 
in just a little bit, 
and the National Weather Service 
have developed the UV Index 
forecast, which -- we hear about 
it all the time on the news.
Why should we be 
paying attention?
[Bob Varney] 
The UV Index is very important 
because it enables us to look 
at the strength of the sun 
in the upcoming day and 
to determine the relationship 
between that forecast and 
what we need to do in 
terms of prevention.
We are surprised to find that 
many people don't recognize 
that there's no relationship 
between temperature and the 
UV Index.
So they think that if it's 
a cool, sunny day 
that they don't need to 
worry about prevention, 
when, in fact, the UV Index 
could be even higher during 
a cold day in Boston that's 
sunny in April as compared 
to a day in August. 
[Judy Pino] 
That's an amazing fact. 
[Bob Varney] 
So the UV Index is a very 
important tool for 
everyone to be 
aware of. 
[Judy Pino] 
Okay, so now let's get 
a little bit more into 
the EPA SunWise Program, 
which has been amazing, 
18,000 schools already involved, 
and Shonda with her program, 
getting it into the schools 
and teaching it herself, 
tell me a little bit more 
about this got started.
[Bob Varney] 
The SunWise Program has been 
a tremendous program for EPA 
and we greatly appreciate 
Shonda's advocacy for 
this program across the 
country as well as in 
the New England region.   
We have many schools and 
communities that are 
participating, as you've 
indicated, and it helps 
teach people about the dangers 
of overexposure to the sun 
as well as looking at preventive 
measures that they can take.
It's available
to our schools.
As you've indicated, 
over 18,000 schools 
are now participating, 
but it's also available 
to summer camps, to museums, 
to science centers 
and other groups.  
As Shonda indicated, it only 
takes an hour or two to use 
this toolkit that 
we have available, 
and it's entirely free.
So people should take advantage, 
go on the EPA Web site, 
go on Shonda's Web site 
and get more information. 
[Judy Pino] 
And it's more than 50 
easy-to-use activities, 
right, Shonda, and it's for kids 
K through eighth grade?
[Shonda Schilling] 
Right. 
[Judy Pino] 
Well, Shonda can speak for the 
kit because she's used it with 
the kids, but there are 
statistics on just how 
successful the 
kit has been.
[Bob Varney] 
Yes, it's been very, very, 
very successful. 
In fact, in a recent journal 
called "Pediatrics" they've 
estimated that over 3,000 skin 
cancers have been avoided due 
to this program and over 
15 premature deaths have 
been avoided. 
So, as this program grows, 
as people increase their 
awareness, we'll help not only 
prevent skin cancer but we'll 
help save lives.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, Shonda, you have been 
very successful at passing 
very important legislation 
in your state of Arizona 
in regards to SunWise 
and information on sun 
protection in 
the schools. 
[Shonda Schilling] 
That was something that -- 
when I went out there, 
I was confident, 
I was comfortable, 
and when they were voting 
on it I started to cry 
because it was so 
important to me. 
And not only that, there 
were seven panelist.
Five of the seven were 
affected by skin cancer.
We know it affects 
so many people.
And it was -- the only program, 
mandatory program, taught in 
Arizona is the SunWise 
EPA program.
[Judy Pino] 
Well, Shonda, you were able to 
meet Administrator Johnson. 
Bob, he was up in your neck 
of the woods in Boston.
He visited for Earth Day to 
celebrate Boston becoming 
a SunWise community. 
[Bob Varney] 
Yes, we had a great event with 
Shonda, with Mayor Menino 
and with Administrator Johnson 
at one of the parks in the 
city of Boston. 
We're very fortunate that 
Shonda and her foundation 
donated $5,000 for the planting 
of, I believe, over 100 trees 
for the parks so kids can come 
down, enjoy the parks, 
participate in all the sports 
opportunities but have a 
place to get into the shade 
and get out of the sun.
Just as Shonda was saying, 
we need to provide that 
environment where people can 
be outside but be outside in 
a healthy way, not 
in a harmful way. 
[Judy Pino] 
And, of course, we should 
mention that Shonda's 
husband is star pitcher 
for the Boston Red Sox, 
Curtis Schillings, so you guys 
are an outdoors family. 
[Shonda Schilling] 
Yes, it wasn't so much 
in Arizona because it 
was a domed stadium, but at 
Fenway Park it's wide open. 
We are very lucky that 
the Boston Red Sox, 
when we came here, said, we'll 
do whatever we can to help you.
And again, showing you how 
much this touches people, 
I've been there four years, 
every year a player or 
a wife has had melanoma or some 
form of serious skin cancer, 
so it's all over. 
[Judy Pino] 
So, people don't really 
talk about it. 
[Shonda Schilling] 
They don't talk about it, but 
we are talking about it now 
and getting the 
word out.
And I really believe that this 
is going to become something 
that is a changed behavior 
in 10 years. 
[Judy Pino] 
It's a good thing.
It's a good thing.
We should also mention, 
Fenway Park is now a 
green stadium. 
We should
say that.
So, kudos
for that.
But even better still, 
Boston isn't the only 
SunWise community. 
You have Cobb County, Georgia, 
and the whole state of 
Washington is planning to 
kick off their commitment 
to SunWise.
[Bob Varney] 
That's right.
We have more and 
more communities, 
more and more states, 
more and more school 
districts that are participating 
with us, and I think the main 
reason is that they are 
reading the statistics.
They're finding that this is 
an entirely preventable form 
of cancer and that it's very 
inexpensive to prevent death,  
very inexpensive to prevent the 
things that Shonda went through.
And the cost-effectiveness 
is off the chart.
So that's why I think you're 
going to see more and more 
states, more and more 
communities as well 
as continued support in our 
federal government for this 
program, because it just 
makes so much sense.
[Judy Pino] 
Well, Shonda, I'll give 
you the last word. 
Thank you so much for sharing 
your story with us.
Where do we go 
from here?
[Shonda Schilling] 
I think that, as adults, 
we need to realize, 
with the kids, one in five 
children will grow up to 
have skin cancer, but it's 
our responsibility.
And the one thing that 
I tell parents is, 
what will you do in 20 years 
if your child comes home 
with skin cancer?   
So, for parents, take a look at 
yourself, get that skin exam, 
watch the spots on your body, 
and for the kids, 
help me spread the word, 
help us spread the word, 
that's for sure.
[Judy Pino] 
Well, thank you.
Thanks again, both of 
you, for coming.
[Shonda Schilling] 
Thank you.
[Bob Varney] 
Thank you.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, we should mention, 
EPA is co-sponsoring a 
sun safety poster contest 
for students with the 
SHADE Foundation and 
WeatherBug schools.
The winners will be announced 
on June 2, but we need you all 
to go vote for the lucky 
winner before May 31.
Just visit the SHADE 
Foundation Web site 
at www.shadefoundation.org, 
and to learn more about 
EPA's SunWise Program, please 
visit www.epa.gov/sunwise. 
See you next time 
on Green Scene.