ED 422 061

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INSTITUTION

SPONS AGENCY

ISBN

PUB DATE

NOTE

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AVAILABLE FROM

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IDENTIFIERS

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DOCUMENT RESUME

PS 026 634

Sustaining a Healthy Environment: Training Guides for the

Head Start Learning Community.

Bowman (James) Associates, San Francisco, CA.

Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (DHHS),

Washington, DC. Head Start Bureau.

ISBN-0-16-042725-8

1997-00-00

159p.

105-93-1578

U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent

Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 204. 128.

Guides - Non-Classroom (055)

MF01/PC07 Plus Postage.

Change Strategies; Class Activities; Community Development;

Conservation (Environment); Curriculum Development;

*Environmental Education; Learning Activities; *Learning

Modules; Pollution; Preschool Curriculum; Preschool

Education; *Preschool Teachers; *Professional Development;

Resources; School Community Relationship; Teaching Guides;

Workshops

*Project Head Start

Exploring and working with environmental issues can be

exciting and enriching for Head Start staff. The goal of the technical guide

is to broaden Head Start staff members' understanding of the natural

environment so they can better incorporate environmental enrichment and

environmental protection into their programs. The guide is organized into

five sections, beginning with three trathing modules. Module 1, "Caring for

Our Children, Caring for Our Earth," examines the Head Start program's

overall goals in its work with children and families. This module explores

ways that environmental concepts and environmental education can strengthen

these services. Module 2, "Environmental Risks and Hazards," addresses staff

members' ability to identify, understand, and alleviate environmental

hazards, especially those relevant to their programs. Module 3 "Building

Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation," deals with community

development and the big picture of environmental health now and in the

future This module encourages Head Start staff to consider practices and

policies in this light. Each of the modules provides learning opportunities

for workshop sessions and coaching and is organized into the following

sections: (1) outcomes; (2) key concepts; (3) background information; (4)

discussion/reflection questions; (5) learning activities; (6) points to

consider, issues for discussion prompts; (7) additional activities to

reinforce the expected outcomes and transfer skills to the work setting; and

(8) handouts. Following the training modules, the guide includes a section on

continuing professional development presents suggestions for further

increasing knowledge and skills. A section on environmental education

resources completes the guide. (KB)
Illeilln

PS

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

trice of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

CENTER (ERIC)

XThis document has been reproduced as

eceived from the person or organization

originating it.

0 Minor changes have been made to

improve reproduction quality. o Points of view or opinions stated in this

document do not necessarily represent

official OERI position cr policy.

Stootrit \_)

Sustaindn ealt

vir nmene

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

iAdministration on Children, Youth and Families

`rc Head Stan Bureau %,.4bvd.

2
3

For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office

Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328

ISBN 0-16-042725-8
HEAD START®

Sustaining a Healthy

Environment

Training Guides for the

Head Start Learning Community

stIlV

Z U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Head Start Bureau

4"40.1.3a
This national training guide was developed by James owman Associates, San Francisco,

California, under contract #105-93-1578 of the Head Start Bureau, Administration for

Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services.

Photograph courtesy of Kay L. Hendrich of Kirkland, Washington.

1997
Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

Overview 1

Purpose 1

Audience 1

Petformance Standards 2

Orientation to the Guide 3

Definition of Icons 5

At A Glance 6

Module 1 9

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Outcomes 9

Key Concepts 9

Background Information 10

Activity 1: Healthy Environmental Concepts 15

Activity 2: Environmental Perspectives & Values 18

Activity 3: Standing Up for Our Perspectives & Values 23

Activity 4: Getting into the Garden 27

Activity 5: Alejandro & His Earth 31

Activity 6: Good for Our Bodies, Good for Our Earth 34

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice 36

Handout A: Children's Activity Cards 37

Handout B: Values & Perspectives 39

Handout C: Thoughts on Gardens 40

Handout D: The Food Guide Pyramid

A Guide to Daily Food Choices 41

Handout E: Alejandro & His Earth 42

Handout F: Alejandro's Environmental Issues 44

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Contents

Module 2 45

Environmental Risks and Hazards

Outcomes 45

Key Concepts 45

Background Information 46

Activity 1: Children's Developmental Stages 59

Activity 2: Is There Something in the Air? 61

Activity 3: An Apple a Day...Or Not? 64

Activity 4: The Unseen Hazard: Testing the Water 73

Activity 5: Home Visit Checklist 79

Activity 6: A New Head Start Center: Green & Beautiful 82

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice 85

Handout G: Children's Developmental Stages

& Environmental Risks 86

Handout H-1: Sally's StoryGroup 1 87

Handout H-2: Juan's StoryGroup 2 88

Handout H-3: Tehan's StoryGroup 3 89

Handout H-4: Alicia's StoryGroup 4 90

Handout I-1: Home Visit Checklist 91

Handout 1-2: Did You Know ? 93

vi Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Contents

Module 3 95

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

Outcomes 95

Key Concepts 95

Background Information 96

Activity 1: Hot SpotsCommunity Map 101

Activity 2: Community Helpers 104

Activity 3: It Happens at Home: Pollution or Prevention 106

Activity 4: Environmental Advertisements 109

Activity 5: To Dispose or Reuse? 111

Activity 6: How Do We Get There? 114

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice 121

Handout J: Environmental Laws & Regulations 122

Handout K: Home Situations 123

Handout L-1: Be a Common-Sense Citizen 125

Handout L-2: Be a Common-Sense Parent 126

Handout M: The Environmental Balance Sheet 127

Handout N-1: Getting There in a Better WayWalkers 128

Handout N-2: Getting There in a Better WayBicyclists 129

Handout N-3: Getting There in a Better WayCar Poolers/

Public Transit Users 130

Sustaining a Healthy Environment vii
Contents

Continuing Professional

Development 131

Resources 133

Head Start Publications and Services 133

General Publications 134

Environmental Education Resources 136

Toxics, Risks, and Hazards 140

Communities Building Healthy Environments 143

Organizations 144

viii Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Preface

A sparrow and an owl were sitting in a forest on a quiet

winter day, when the snow began to fall. They sat for a

while, listening to the gentle breeze of the wind and

watching as sparkling snowflakes covered the trees.

Presently the sparrow flew over to the owl and said, "I

have a question, Wise One. What is the weight of a

snowflake?" The owl replied immediately, "Why it is

nothing, next to nothing." "That is strange," said the

sparrow. "For just now I was looking at a huge, dead

branch of a tree. It sat there for a long time, with snow

piled on it. But then one snowflake landed on the

branch, and the whole thing swooshed to the ground!"

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Head Start programs are made up of many different children, their

families and the staff who serve them. All of these people belong to

communities, and communities exist within a natural environment. Our

understanding of the relationship among all of these is very important.

Exploring and working with environmental issues can be exciting and

enriching. It can also be very challengingeven scary. Earth is the

ultimate in diversity, made up of many types of living things whose

interaction is beautiful, mysterious, uplifting, and sometimes frightening. It

is a system, growing and changing every day. Much is unknown. We do

know there are toxic substances and dangerous behaviorsboth can

cause great harm. We must avoid these dangers and work to prevent the

development of more toxins. The challenges are big. Often people fear

that they can do nothing on their own. The problems seem overpowering.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment was written to demonstrate that,

within the Head Start program, staff can do a great deal to ensure that

children and families experience the best of the natural environment

right now. Even if you feel there is too much pollution, or some

bureaucracy cannot he moved, there are small steps that you can take that

will make the situation better in some way. You are the snowflake that

brings down the dead wood!

Sustaining a Healthy Environment ix

10
Preface

Head Start staff are experts at making small changes, one at a time. An

example is the child who enters the program unprepared for any group

experience. Staff work with her, taking one step at a time. Day by day,

she becomes a little less shy. By the end of the program year, she is

chattering with friends and exploring the playground with gusto. Or take

the family whose challenges seem overwhelming at first. But as the

family, in collaboration with the Head Start program, looks at one issue at

a time, the family's goals get closer to reality.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment is a technical guide in the Health

series. The goal of this guide is to broaden staff members' understanding

of the natural environment so they can better incorporate environmental

enrichment and environmental protection into their programs. As we move

from the 20th century into the 21st, we are realizing that the health of

human beings depends on a healthy relationship with the natural

environment. Environmental education must begin very young, and young

childrenhappilyare enthusiastic about Earth and its many beings. They

love to explore and learn about their fellow creatures.

We hope that this guide will make you more excited about environmental

education, action, and protection. It will help you see the small steps you

can take to protect your own health and that of the families you serve.

You will see the strength of communities when they work

together. Every person is important in working to

sustain this amazing environment for our

children and for future generations.

Dig in!

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Introduction

Overview

Purpose The general purpose of this training guide, Sustaining a Healthy Environment, is to increase the skills of Head Start staff enabling them to

better address environmental issues in their work with children and families. The guide will help staff to:

enrich Head Start program activities through environmental

education;

offer parents and children opportunities to learn about

environmental health issues;

increase their ability to identify hazards and prevent environmental

illnesses and injuries;

analyze their own program and come up with practices that protect

the environment and prevent practices that damage the environment;

and

advocate for environmental health, environmental justice, and

environmental protection in their communities.

Audience This guide will be most helpful to:

Head Start directors, site coordinators, policy council/committee

members, and others who choose products and establish priorities

that can affect the environment;

health staff who are the lead trainers and the liaisons with other

agencies in working to get rid of hazards; and

education and family services staff who explain environmental

concepts to children and families.

Introduction 1

12
Introd ction

Performance Standards The Head Start Program Performance Standards touch upon environmental health in many ways:

in requiring Head Start Centers to provide and encourage safe

outdoor play for children

in requiring all Head Start agencies to ensure that staff and

volunteers follow safety practices and try to prevent injuries

in providing safe and wholesome meals and snacks for children,

emphasizing food quality, nutritional value and safe handling and

storage

in providing parents the opportunity to learn about occupational and

environmental hazards

in encouraging parents to advocate with other community members

for improvements in their neighborhood, which might include

protecting something in the local environment

in providing for a Community Assessment to document a

community' s strengths, needs, and resources

in requiring centers to be free of toxins and pollutants

in attending to the quality of the water the program uses and the safe

management of waste products

in recognizing the importance of inclusive, multicultural programs that

encourage children to explore and learn

2 13 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Introduction

Orientation to the Guide

Sustaining a Healthy Environment has five sections, including three

training modules:

Module 1: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Examines the Head Start program's overall goals in its work with

children and families. The module explores ways that environmental

concepts and environmental education can strengthen the services.

Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

Addresses staff members' ability to identify, understand, and

alleviate environmental hazards, especially those relevant to their

Head Start programs.

Module 3: Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh

Generation

Deals with community development and the big picture of

environmental health now and in the future. It encourages Head

Start staff to consider practices and policies in this light.

Continuing Professional Development

Resources

Introduction

1 4

3
Intr duction

Module Sections Each module provides learning opportunities for workshop sessions

(12-25 people) and coaching (two-three people). Each module has the

following sections:

Outcomes: The skills to be acquired by staff who participate in a

module's activities.

o Key Concepts: The main ideas the module covers. These sections

can be used as handouts or overheads.

Background Information: Elaborates on the Key Concepts. This

section can be used as a coaching resource or as an outline for a

presentation to a group. Background Information sections can also

be used for handouts or as overheads in workshop sessions.

Questions for Discussion/Reflection: Listed at the end of each

Background Information section. These questions can be used to

initiate discussion in workshops and coaching sessions, or serve as

prompts for staff journals.

Learning Activities: Build the skills needed to achieve the

module's outcomes. Managers can choose to use workshop

activities, coaching activities, or a combination. Activities should be

adapted to a group's size and composition: the management team,

staff from one component area, or staff and board members together.

Points to Consider: Issues listed at the end of each activity to keep

in mind or to use as discussion prompts while working through the

activity.

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice: Additional activities to

reinforce the expected outcomes and help to transfer skills from the

training sessions to the work setting.

Handouts: Included at the end of each module. Trainers should

reproduce the handouts as needed for participants.

4 15 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Introduction

Definition of Icons

Coaching A training strategy that fosters the development of skills

ik4a

through tailored instruction, demonstrations, practice, and

feedback. The activities are written for a coach to work

...j closely with one to three participants.

Workshops A facilitated group training strategy that fosters the

development of skills through activities which build on

learning through group interaction. These activities are

written for up to 25 participants working in small or large

groups with one or two trainers.

Next Steps:

Ideas to Extend Practice

Activities assigned by the trainer immediately following

the completion of the module to help participants review

key information, practice skills, and examine their progress

...j toward expected outcomes of the module.

Continuing

Professional Development

Followup activities for the program to support continued

staff development in the regular use of the skills addressed

in a particular training guide. They include:

1) opportunities tailored to the participant to continue

building on the skills learned in the training; and

2) ways to identify new skills and knowledge needed to

expand and/or complement these skills through

opportunities in such areas as in higher education,

credentialing, or community educational programs.

Introduction 5

1 6
Introduction

At A Glance

Modules Activity . Time Materials

Module 1:

Caring for Our Children,

Caring for Our Earth

Activity 1: Healthy

Environmental Concepts (W)

30-45

minutes

Handout A

Activity 2: Environmental

Perspectives & Values (W)

45-60

minutes

Handout B

Activity 3: Standing Up for

Our Perspectives & Values

(W) Note: This activity is a

continuation of Activity 2

45-60

minutes

Handout B

Activity 4: Getting Into the

Garden (C)

30

minutes

Handouts C and D

Activity 5: Alejandro &

His Earth (C)

20

minutes

Handouts E and F

Key to Activity 5For

Trainer Only

Activity 6: Good for Our

Bodies, Good for Our Earth

(C)

20-40

minutes

Art supplies: paints, markers,

glue, poq,er board; and

magazin0

Module 2:

Environmental Risks

and Hazards

Activity 1: Children's

Developmental Stages (C)

30

minutes

Handout G

Activity 2: Is Something , in the Air? (W)

45-60

minutes

Handouts H-1 H-4

Activity 3: An Apple a Day...

or Not? (W)

60-90

minutes

Key to Activity 3For

Trainer Only

Activity 4: The Unseen

Hazard: Testing the Water (C)

30

minutes

Key to Activity 4For

Trainer Only

Activity 5: Home Visit

Checklist (C)

30-45

minutes

Handouts I-1 and 1-2

Activity 6: A New Head Start

CenterGreen & Beautiful (W)

45

minutes

6 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Introduction

Modules Activit

Module 3:

Building Communities Which

Consider the Seventh

Generation

Activity 1: Hot Spots

Community Map (W)

45-60

minutes

Map of your area, tacks,

program mailing list, green

and blue stars

Activity 2: Community

Helpers (C)

60

minutes

Handout J

Activity 3: It Happens at

HomePollution or

Prevention (W)

45-90

minutes

Handout K

Activity 4: Environmental

Advertisements (C)

30

minutes

Handouts L-1 and L-2

Activity 5: To Dispose or

To Reuse? (C)

45-60

minutes

Handout M

Activity 6: How Do We

Get There? (W)

20-40

minutes

Handouts N-1 N-3

Key to Activity 6For

Trainer Only

(W) = Workshop Activity

(C) = Coaching Activity

Please Note: Coaching activities often require the participant(s) to go out

into the workplace or the community to talk with others, observe others'

behaviors, develop connections with resource people, or analyze an environmental problem. The times given in this chart include only the time the

participant(s) and coach spend together.

Introduction

13

7
By

replacingyour

regular

lightbulbsina

1,500-square-foot

spacewith

energy-efficient

lighting

you

can

save

approximately10,000

kilowatt

hours

(kWh)of

electricityperyear.

This

10,000kWh

savingsperyearis

equivalentto:

preventing154

poundsof

sulfur

dioxide

emissions,

(amajorair

pollutant

responsibleforacid

rain);

planting2.9

acresoftrees

(which cleantheair);and conserving18

barrelsofoil.

sitstcong
Module I

Caring for Our. Children, Caring for Our Earth

s

Outcomes After completing this module, participants will:

Key Concepts

understand important environmental concepts and discover how

environmental health relates to their lives and their work;

identify environmental issues that are important to the various aspects of the Head Start mission;

enrich their program with services to children and families that use

environmental knowledge and activities in various settings; and

communicate compassionately and effectively about environmental

issues with the variety of people involved in Head Start.

Head Start's broad missionto develop healthy children, strong

families, and supportive communitiesincorporates environmental

themes:

We care about our environment, the physical space around us.

We are part of an ecosystem made up of living beings in

relationship with each other and with the natural phenomena of

earth, water, energy, and air.

We are interested in sustainable systems, those that can go on

for many generations.

Young children have a natural interest in learning about their world.

When families and teachers expose children to the larger world, children continue their environmental discoveries. Staff can respond to

children's curiosity by providing experiences and planning activities

that allow children to explore and make their own discoveries about

the local ecosystem.

Families can develop useful skills through community environmental

projects.

Developing positive personal health habits runs parallel to developing

environmental practices for long-term health and safety. A wholistic

health perspective requires attention to both.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 9
Mosrule 1

Background Information A. Head Start and Environmental Health

Head Start's mission is broad in its aim to develop healthy children,

strong families, and supportive communities. Program staff have a commitment to:

help children to grow and learn;

help families to improve their well-being;

build strong and supportive communities;

attend to the health needs of children in partnership with families;

support the short- and long-term health of families and staff.

Environmental issues are important to this mission in two ways:

1. How can attention to the environment and environmental concepts

enrich Head Start activities?

2. What environmental hazards threaten the well-being of children,

families and staff?

Children are inquisitive and active. They need to see and feel things, and

the natural environment is full of interesting shapes, textures, and smells.

Children enjoy learning about life by getting their hands dirty and seeing

things grow. They also have a great need for activity, to be outdoors to

run, shout, play, and climb. Head Start programs canand dodraw

many resources from the natural environment to enrich the children's

experience in the program. Programs must also be careful to protect children from hazards that they might encounter in their explorations of the

world.

Most communities are faced with at least a few situations where the environment needs to be cleaned up. Activities that protect, enhance, or

beautify the physical space where families live offer opportunities for

developing skills in planning, organizing, and communicating. Families

can learn from and feel success from participating in community gardening, cleaning a trash-strewn site in their neighborhood, or recognizing and

removing toxic substances from their homes. They can develop very useful skills in communicating and negotiating with public officials

responsible for environmental protection.

Health education in Head Start programs focuses on issues that are important in the present and the future. Healthy practices usually have some

immediate wellness rewards. We talk with parents and staff about the

10 2

1 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1

importance of developing healthy patterns of eating and exercising early

in life, with the intention of preventing later chronic illnesses. Beyond

these, a healthy environment also gives pleasure and nourishment in the

moment: walking along a tree-shaded street, drinking cool, clean water,

watching animals at play. Lifestyles we choose also have an impact on our

environment over the long haul. For example:

Being less dependent on our cars leads to cleaner air and improved

physical fitness.

Overpackaging and disposable products can lead to solid waste/

garbage problems in the future.

B. Understanding Our Environment

When asked about their environment, people might think about natural

features, social features, or both. While we recognize that these realms are

tightly linked, this training guide focuses on the natural environment. We

define this as human beings, the land, water, air, energy, and wildlifeall

of which make up the planet.

While our environment is the space around us, the ecosystem describes

the relationship among organisms and their environmentsthe web of

life. Communities of organisms have evolved on this planet over billions

of years, continually using and recycling the same molecules of minerals,

water, and air.

Beginning in the 1970s, environmental activists, scientists and policymakers began to use the term sustainability to discuss the linked

problems concerning issues of the environment (the health of nature) and

development (the progress of humanity). A sustainable practice is one that

can be carried on for an indefinite period without harming any part of the

ecological system.

A thorough understanding of the environment requires understanding

ecosystems and how to sustain them.

Note: For information and training activities related to the

social environment and social aspects of health, see the guides

in the Social Services series, and see the following guides in

the Health series: Laying a Foundation in Health and Wellness and Promoting Mental Health.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 22 11
odule 1

C. Values, Culture, and the Environment

When a person understands environmental concepts, the next step is to

make choices to incorporate environmental values into daily life. In the

Head Start staff member's daily life, this means planning activities for

children that help them understand the environment, and give them a

sense of responsibility and appreciation for the environment. It also means

working with families and communities to build or sustain healthy local

environments. To carry out this work, staff must be aware of the process

that people go through in developing an environmental consciousness.

At the first level, people are interested in the comfort of their environments, what they can feel day-to-day. They want a secure social

environment: enough money, food, clothing. They also pay attention to

the attractiveness of the physical environment: their homes, city, town, or

reservation. When people think beyond the immediate environment of

their day-to-day lives, they often think about a beautiful "natural" place

where they find peace, quiet, and beauty. This might be a local park or a

distant wilderness area where they go on extended camping or hiking

trips.

A broader perspective on the environment often brings fear as people

realize that all is not necessarily as it appears. For example, they realize

that the grass which is so lovely and green was grown with chemicals that

have now polluted the drinking water. They worry that now they need to

buy bottled water. They might become aware of "bad air" days or the

hazards of lead paint in their homes or schools. This focus is on specific

health threats to people from toxics that might harm children or adults.

When people think beyond comfort or harm to humans, they begin to

think about the ecosytemnot only the human community, but also other

inhabitants and aspects of the planet, including animal and plant species,

oceans, grasslands, and the air around Earth.

Many things influence how a person thinks of and relates to the environment. One important influence is the person's culture. Ethnic background,

language, geographic region, and economics all play a part in defining a

person's culture and how she looks at the social world. Culture affects our

choices in food and in health services. It also affects our attitudes and

behavior around environmental issues.

12 Sustaining a Healthy Environment 23
Module 1

Questions for Discussion/

Reflection

How do you fit environmental health into Head Start's mission?

Have you ever seen children delight in the natural environment

around them? Do you recollect similar experiences in your own

childhood?

Consider how your own consciousness of our ecosystem developed.

Was there a special place that you loved to go that made you aware

of natural systems? Was there a pollution problem that made you

aware of the delicate balance of nature?

Are there any special celebrations or rituals with environmental

themes that you or your family, community, or church group carry

out? How did these celebrations or rituals become established?

What is the significance of the celebrations to you and to the group?

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

24

13
module

1

eferences for Background

Information

"Principles of Ecology" by the Center for Ecoliteracy, Berkeley,

California, 1996.

"Sustainability" by Hope Hart, Washtenaw County Department of

Environment and Infrastructure Services, in Environment

Section Newsletter, American Public Health Association, Spring

1996.

14

2

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1

Activity 1:

Healthy

Environmental

Concepts

Purpose: Participants will understand "ecosystem" and "sustainability"

and how these concepts are important in building a healthy environment.

For this activity you will need:

Handout A: Children's Activity Cards

Writing materials for each participant

Flip chart and markers

Step 1: Explain to participants that two major themes weave throughout

most environmental discussions and actions. Today they will

explore those themes and apply them to activities that they

might do in their Head Start programs.

Ask how many in the group already use environmental activities

in their work. Congratulate those who do, let them know how

helpful their experiences will be in this workshop.

Step 2: Give each group member a piece of paper, then tell them to divide it into two sections. Tell them you will give them two

words, and they should write down thoughts on what each word

means. Tell them not to think too deeplyjust jot down their

first impressions. Acknowledge that these terms might be unfamiliar to many.

Give them the first word: ecosystem. After a few moments,

ask them to stop writing.

Now the second word: sustainability. Give them a few moments to write down their thoughts on that word.

Step 3: Divide the group into two. Ask one section to discuss ecosystem

and the other group to discuss sustainability. Give both groups

approximately five minutes to share their definitions among

themselves. Then ask each group to appoint a recorder who will

report the group's general definition to the large group.

Step 4: Read the sections on ecosystem and sustainability in the Background Information. Then ask each group to share its definition.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 15

26
Module 1

Ask whether members of the group differed greatly in definition. Discuss any significant differences in the groups'

definitions from the background information.

Step 5: Emphasize that these concepts are important whether we are

thinking about the global environment or focusing on our local

community. The next step will be to apply these concepts to

activities that can be done with children in Head Start.

Step 6: Divide the participants into four groups. Ask them all to focus

on their local ecosystem.

What are the important features of the local ecosystem?

Why do we love it?

What makes our area different from other areas in our state?

Fan the cards (cut out from Handout A: Children's Activity

Cards) and ask each group to choose one. Each group will plan

an activity for a different group of children.

Group 1: infants through age 1

Group 2: toddlers (ages 2-3)

Group 3: a group of young preschoolers, including two

children with motor disabilities

Group 4: a group of older preschoolers who will soon be

entering kindergarten

Step 7: Ask each group to plan an activity, or series of activities, that

they would lead with their group of children. This activity will

help the children to:

appreciate their local ecosystem;

understand some things they must do to sustain the health of

this place they call home.

Assure the group that all staffteachers, cooks, family service

workers, parent involvement coordinatorshave the opportu- . nity to help children learn about the environment. Encourage

staff to think about what experiences each role can offer.

Note: Group I will only be able to do the first part.

16 Sustaining a Healthy Environment

2 7
Module I

Points to Consider:

Step 8: Ask each group to share its activity. Encourage all to implement

some of these ideas in their program.

Be sure that when you define ecosystem, you cover the concept of

the web of life and include the spectrum of community members:

humans, plants, animals.

Clarify the definition of sustainability. Encourage the group to think

long-term:

What do we have to do to keep this place healthy?

What should we stop doing?

Ideas for activities (see Step 7):

Bird Feeders: Using cardboard tubes from paper towel rolls,

have the children spread suet or peanut butter on the tubes and

roll them in seed or oats. Hang the tube outside and watch how

many different kinds of birds live in your neighborhood as they

come to feed.

Earth in Our Hands: Adapt the game of hot potato. Have children and parents sit in a circle and pass around a cloth ball

representing Earth. When the music stops, the child with the ball

"has Earth in her hands." She sits in the center of the circle,

recognized as an Earth caretaker. Ask her to tell the group one

thing she does to protect the environment. The music continues

until each child has moved to the center as an Earth caretaker.

Then the whole group moves outside to plant seeds, pick up

litter (with gloves on), feed the animals, or otherwise care for

Earth.

Cleaning the Water: Put an inch of water into a small plastic

swimming pool. Toss in the type of litter found in your area.

Have the children put on latex gloves and use a small fish net to

remove the litter. Talk about the source of the litter and sort it

into what is recyclable and what is not.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 23 17
M dule 1

Activity 2:

Environmental

Perspectives

Values

Purpose: Participants will explore a variety of values related to the environment, and apply their understanding of those values to Head Start

situations.

For this activity you will need:

IN Handout B: Values & Perspectives

Posters with statements from Step 4

NI Writing materials for participants

Trainer Preparation Note:

Before coming to this session, trainer and participants should

look through newspapers and magazines for stories about environmental issues. Be alert to other media coverage of controversies. Also think about controversies in your own

neighborhood, or in other areas that interest you . Examples of controversies that are related to basic values:

o Water UsageDo we believe that rivers should be dammed

and channeled so that towns and farms can have adequate

water, or do we value the water needs of wildlife?

o Private PropertyHow much control should people have over

their property? Should they be able to build whatever they

want? Cut down trees if they choose? Should they be required

to adapt their needs for their property to their neighbors'

needs? Are their neighbors only humans? Do they include

other species?

o Big DevelopmentsIs building a new shopping mall on several

acres of farmland outside of the city a good idea? What if this

farmland produces an important food item for even a small

segment of the city's population? What if the shopping mall

will offer a lot of jobs to city residents?

Step 1: Open the session with a discussion of how our values influence

how we feel about many things, including the environment and

how we should act toward other parts of the ecosystem. Controversiesdifferences of opinion that get very heatedsuggest

basic value differences between the opposing parties.

18 29 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module I

Make notes on a flip chart of the topics raised in magazine and

newspaper articles, and of issues that come out of the participants' personal experiences.

Emphasize that there are no right and wrong answers when it

comes to values, although societies make rules that eventually

define "right" and "wrong" behaviors. Note that the reason we

are interested in understanding others' values is so that we can

communicate better.

Sometimes it helps to understand where the values came from:

Parents? Grandparents? The media? Ethnic group or cultural

community?

Step 2: Again using the examples, recognize that there are many environmental controversies in North America todayand, in fact,

all over the world.

Because the environment really knows no boundaries, what one

group or person decides to do affects others. Someone who diverts a stream of water takes water from those downstream. A

society that uses a great deal of oil produces great quantities of

the gases associated with global warming, and affects the climate of people far away.

Share with the group this idea: In Head Start, we are responsible

for teaching children about living with others. Some of this living involves behaviors with environmental consequences. Our

work with families and communities may involve understanding

environmental perspectives, celebrations, and beliefs.

Step 3: Explain to the participants that in this activity we will explore

values related to the environment. Distribute Handout B: Values

& Perspectives. Tell the group that the statements in the handout

represent a variety of environmental values. They are not allinclusive. The group may discover other important values.

Step 4: Post this sample set of paired statements on two opposite walls

of the room:

#1: We must be sure that clean and abundant water is available for use in our homes, towns, and farms.

#7: The best and highest use of a river is that it runs wild and

free to the sea.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 19
Module 1

Trainer's Note:

Feel free to make up another pair of statements that might be

more relevant to the environmental issues facing your community.

Post 8 x 10 inch sheets of paper across the front of the room,

with the numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 written large on them.

Explain that we are demonstrating a spectrum of ideas, ranging

from #1 through #7. Although both statements are very strong

and concern use of water, the values underlying each statement

are very different. People might tend toward #1 or #7, but not

feel so strongly. If so, they might represent their opinions as

being one of the intermediate numbers.

Ask the group to think about with which statement they most

strongly agree. If they fully believe the first statement, their

choice would be #1. If they fully agree with the second statement, their choice would be #7.

If they tend toward one or the other statement, but are not 100%

in favor of it, then they should choose between #2 and #6.

For example, #4 might be: "All the water should be divided

evenly between wildlife and human needs."

Step 5: Ask for volunteers willing to share their choice and explain why

they feel as they do. Their choice of a statement will be

grounded in the relative value they place on the various parts of

the ecosystem (in this example of a watershed, the wild creatures or those humans and domesticated animals that use water).

How would this value affect the way a person acts? Some examples:

o A child whose family treasures and conserves water will be

careful about running the faucetmaybe the child will

resist the Head Start teacher's encouragement to wash his or

her hands thoroughly under running water.

c A family that does not feel water has any inherent value

except for human use may not be concerned about whether

the cleaning supplies that go down their drains might pollute

local streams or lakes.

20 Sustaining a Healthy Environment

31
Module 1

A community might choose to channel a local stream

underground and build an apartment house on top, or make

a park around the stream, depending on the values of the

community.

Step 6: Raise the question of predominant, or "mainstream" values and

"minority" or less common values. On the sample issue used in

Step 4, where do participants believe the majority of staff fall?

What about the local community? What about the U.S. population as a whole? What does it mean to hold "mainstream" or

"minority" values? How does that affect behavior?

Step 7: Now ask the group to continue through Handout B: Values &

Perspectives, marking their feelings about the various statements. Tell them that we will be discussing the handout, but that

they will not be asked to share more than they are comfortable

sharing.

Step 8: After they have marked their sheets, ask them to choose a partner. Ask the pairs to choose one statement that they both feel

strongly about, and consider the following question:

If two people had values at opposite ends of the spectrum on

this issue, what kind of different behaviors would you

expect from them?

Give the pairs five minutes to consider the different behaviors.

Now ask them to think about the next two questions:

What are some situations in Head Start where these values

might lead to conflict or misunderstanding?

To resolve a conflict, how would you communicate most

effectively with a person holding the #1 value? How would

you communicate most effectively with the person holding

the #7 value?

Step 9: After 10 minutes of discussion, ask a few of the pairs to share

their thoughts with the rest of the group. Close the discussion by

highlighting some of the best ideas for improving communication in the face of conflicting values.

Encourage staff members to reconsider the issues that they

brought to the session (articles or ideas) and to think about

which underlying values direct the positions of the people on

opposing sides of the issue.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 21

32
o ule 1

Points to Consider: o People come to their environmental values from various places.

Each value has weight behind it.

Two factors that might be important in developing environmental

values are cultural backgroundincluding level of comfort with the

predominant culture of the areaand level of financial security.

Were these important to the staff people?

Do they believe that they are important to the families in Head

Start?

Make note of the cultural backgrounds of the participants and how

close people feel to their culture of origin. You will likely have a

greater variety of beliefs if your group's origins are varied and they

have not incorporated many of the values and practices of the predominant culture into their lives.

O Is it difficult to discuss environmental values? This is an important

area of health, but not so well addressed as individual health has

been. Can you see the connection between environmental values and

health behaviors?

The children

at

Windber

Head Start

in Pennsylvania

participate

in the

Keep PennsYlvania

Beautiful Program,

picking

up litter along the roadsides

in an activity

each spring.

The program

director notes,

"flow rewarOg

w be part of the

educational

process

of the children

today

for the adults

of the future--they

are

learning

that not only is litter

unattractive,

but is also

" enviromentally

unsafe

n

.

22 33 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1

Activity 3:

Standing Up for

Our Perspectives

& Values

Purpose: Participants will plan a Head Start activity which promotes

environmental protection or celebration, taking group values about the

environment into consideration.

For this activity you will need:

Handout B: Values & Perspectives (filled out by participants in

Activity 2: Environmental Perspectives & Values)

Signs numbered 1 through 7 posted in a line across one long wall, or

around the room

Flip chart and markers

A group of at least 15 people

Trainer's Note:

This activity takes people further along the path explored in

Activity 2: Environmental Perspectives & Values. This activity should be done only with groups of staff who are comfortable sharing their values publicly.. Be sure that you are

comfortable sharing ideas and/or handling conflicts that

might arise around any of the concepts.

Step 1: Explain to participants that they will continue to look at the

values explored in Activity 2: Environmental Perspectives &

Values. This session will explore how groups develop around

certain values and then how the groups express those values.

Step 2: Point out to the participants the numbered signs arranged around

the room. Tell them they will be asked to look at their copies of

Handout B: Values & Perspectives (previously completed) and,

that as each statement is read, they will be asked to take a position underneath one of the signs.

Read the first set of paired statements and ask people to choose

where to stand. After the groups have formed, ask for volunteers

who will share the reasons behind their beliefs. Ask for a volunteer to explain some specific behavior of his that springs from

this belief.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 23

3 4
o ule 1

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 for all or some of the remaining paired statements.

Reinforce the concept that there are two important areas about

values to explore:

. the source and intensity of the valuewhether it has

something to do with the person's own experience or the

experience or history of the person's friends, family, social

or cultural group; how deeply it is held; how many others

share it (is it a group norm?)

. the behavior of the person holding this value

In general, the #1 statement indicates a greater value placed on

individualism, human superiority in relation to other members of

the ecosystem, and technological progress. The #7 statement

indicates a greater value placed on natural cycles, scientific or

technological caution, nonhuman or spiritual influences, and the

importance of the group.

Step 4: As you discuss these values, look for statements that seem to

indicate the greatest variation within the group. Are there groups

of people at far ends? Note where groupings occur, and talk

about how groups form based on values. Some people might call

these groupings "cultures," "religions," or "affinity groups."

Step 5: Tell the participants that they will now divide into groups for the

purpose of role-playing a meeting at a Head Start program.

Step 6: Help them divide into three or four smaller groups. These groupings should be based on the groupings that developed as you

read the paired statements.

Hint for Trainer:

See which staff members hovered around the #1 position for

most statements, those who were near the center, and who hovered near the #7 statements. The groupings will not be even

because your group will likely hold some majority values

(more people feel this way) and some minority values (fewer

that way).

24 Sustaining a Healthy Environment

3 5
Module I

Points to Consider:

Step 7: The task of each group is to suggest ways that their Head Start

program will recognize Earth Day. The activities can be celebrations, community actions or educational programs. Expect the

suggestions to be different, since the values of the groups are

different. Tell them that the statements they read and stood up

for are just the beginning of a whole system of environmental

values that their group might hold. Encourage them to discuss

their perspectives and develop their values system further. Encourage them to be ambitious and not to shy away from ideas

that might generate controversy.

Give the groups 10 minutes to prepare their suggestions. Then

call them back together and ask for a couple of volunteers to

facilitate the whole group Earth Day planning meeting.

Step 8: Allow the planning meeting to proceed for 10 to 15 minutes.

Make notes on the following:

Did the groups differ about how Earth Day should be

recognized? Did they express their ideas differently?

What happened during the meeting that supported and

encouraged perspectives from different cultures and groups?

Was anything done that excluded a group? Especially a

minority perspective?

How was the planned program enriched by a diversity of

ideas?

Step 9: Stop the meeting and discuss the planning experience with the

group. What issues were raised? What ideas for planning environmental activities involve a variety of cultural perspectives?

Groups develop for many reasons. One type of "glue" that holds a

group together is the values the members share. These values may

be related to a number of things, including their beliefs about the

ecosystem and how the members of their group fit into the web of

life.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 25

36
Module 1

e When one group (or individual) holds a minority perspective or

position, they (or she) may have a hard time behaving in the way

that feels true to them (or her). This doesn't mean that the value is

wrongin fact some minority positions have been proven very right

over the course of history!

. Developing programs with input from many people is a hallmark of

Head Start. During this meeting, what was important in assuring that

a wide range of opinions/values were heard?

Think about values as a line or a circle. As a line, #1 and # 7 are far

apart. But if you draw the group into a circle, they become close

neighbors. What common thread can be found among all of the values, even those which appear to be far apart?

26

3 7

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
le 1

Activity 4:

Getting Into the

Garden

Purpose: Participants will investigate gardens as beautiful places and

sites for practical activities of food production, community building, personal growing and healing. The participants will develop a plan for

incorporating garden activities/education into their Head Start program.

For this activity you will need:

Handout C: Thoughts on Gardens

Handout D: The Food Guide Pyramid

Writing materials for participants (journals)

Step 1: Tell the participant(s) that this activity is to explore how the

Head Start program might be enriched by gardening. Work with

staff members who have some interest in gardening.

Consider the location of the program: rural, small town, suburban, big city. Determine whether opportunities for gardening

include working farms, community gardens, large private gardens, or container gardens. If the parents' work in the program is

active farm work, the goal of this activity will be to design ways

to integrate that work into the whole of the program. If parents

and children are not familiar with gardening or farming, the goal

will be to introduce and engage them in gardening concepts.

Step 2: Provide copies of Handout C: Thoughts on Gardening for review and discussion. Encourage the participants to think about

how gardening can be enjoyable, educational, and productive.

Ask them to, over the next few days, write a report or journal

with the following topics:

Why is gardening enjoyable and valuable? How should a

gardening project be presented to others so they become

excited and enthusiastic about the work?

Currently, how do we present to children the concepts of

how food comes to the table?

What do we now do to promote gardening or to integrate

gardening topics into our program?

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 27

3 3
Mo ule 1

What needs of families and staff could be met through a

gardening project? Do they need better food? Do they need

to understand the value of fresh produce in a nutritionally

balanced diet?

What resources in the community are available for

gardening projects? Which Head Start staff members or

families already garden? Are there community garden

groups? Suppliers of seeds or other garden materials? A

university extension office?

Step 3: Meet with the participants to review their reports or journals.

Ask if they want to incorporate garden activities into the program.

Step 4: Now offer them the opportunity to take their gardening experience one step further. Here are three possibilities for simple

gardening projects: a. If they can spend a week on the project: Ask the staff members to locate a community garden within walking distance

of the Head Start Center or within walking distance of some

of your families' homes. Spend a few hours in that community garden.

Interview some of the gardeners. Ask how they got involved

in the garden: How has their involvement helped them? Has

it given them better things to eat? Has it helped them get to

know their neighbors? Has it helped them to reduce stress?

Would they be willing to share some of their expertise and

enthusiasm with Head Start children? Ask questions that

will help to plan how to use community gardening in the

program.

b. If they have a month: Grow a salad garden in a window box

in a classroom. Get some seedlings donated: lettuce, radishes, beets, or others. Plant the garden and tend it. Explain

to children, families, and Head Start staff who come to see it

what they are doing.

Incorporate Handout D: The Food Guide Pyramid into your

teaching. Discuss which foods are grown as plants and

which are not. Which of these foods grow locally? At the

end of the month, harvest the vegetables and make a salad to

share. Was this easy to do? Did others seem interested in the

production of a salad?

28 3 9 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1

c. If they have three months: Start a compost bin. They will

need something like a medium-sized plastic file box. It will

need a solid cover (wood or plastic), and holes drilled near

the top of the sides for ventilation. Layer the following

items into the box:

bottom: a layer of dirt and a handful of "red wriggler"

earthworms

on top: enough slightly damp newspaper strips to cover

the dirt and worms

For about 10 weeks, add to the box vegetable and fruit

scraps (peels, cores, leaves) that are cut into small pieces.

Put the food under the newspaper strips, and cover it up.

Add more newspaper strips as needed to cover. They will

need to add one to two pounds of food each week. Maybe

they can get help from the kitchen staff in the program. Set

the box in a well-ventilated place, as compost does develop

an earthy smell.

During the process, explain what is happening to children,

families and staff members who are interested.

During the eleventh and twelfth weeks, don't add any more

food, but observe the box to see when the worms have eaten

almost all that they have been given. When most of it is

gone, notice that the box now holds high-quality soil.

Carefully remove most of the soil, leaving the worms with a

small layer of the good dirt. Give the worms some more

food to start the process again.

You can plant seed in your soil or contribute it to a garden

nearby. If families are interested in growing things, think

about how to help them set up their own ongoing compost

bins. Community gardening groups are likely to have

written information or workshops on composting. One

source for materials is the San Francisco League of Urban

Gardeners (415) 285-SLUG. They have simple pamphlets

on home composting in English, Spanish and Chinese.

Step 5: At the end of the gardening experience, coach and participants

present the experience to fellow staff members. What can you

all do to incorporate gardening into your program?

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 29

4 0
ule

Points to Consider: o How close are you and your program participants to farming or gardening? If close, how does it relate to other activities? If not, how

can farming or gardening be brought into everyday activities?

Why have so many people lost touch with gardening and farming? Is

this is a great loss? Why or why not?

Be aware of possible negative experiences with farming, perhaps

from families whose farms were unsuccessful, or from farm worker

families whose experiences with growing food were backbreaking

and unrewarding. If these issues are raised, discuss what makes a

growing experience good and what makes it bad. Focus on farming's

essential place in our society's food system and on the possibilities

of maximizing good experiences through the ability to grow some of

one's own food.

30 41 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Activity 5:

Alejandro &

His Earth

Module 1

Purpose: Participants will consider the importance of various environmental issues and strategize how to incorporate environmental themes

into their work at Head Start.

For this activity you will need:

Handout E: Alejandro & His Earth

Handout F: Alejandro's Environmental Issues

Key for Activity 5: Prompts for Environmental IssuesFor Trainer

Only

Step 1: Tell the participants that we will be looking at a number of environmental issues, considering how important these issues are to

the overall ecosystem, how important they are to this Head Start

program, and what to do about any of them. Discuss some of the

goals of the Head Start program. Give each participant a copy of

Handout E: Alejandro and His Earth.

Step 2: Give the participants a few minutes to read over the story.

Step 3: Distribute to the participants Handout F: Alejandro's Environmental Issues. Ask the participants to, over the next few days,

think about the story. Ask them to note in the first column environmental issues that were raised. The Key for Activity 5:

Prompts for Environmental Issues lists topics raised in the story.

Review a few of these to prompt the participants' consideration.

Step 4: Ask the participants to consider the next four columns on the

chart in Handout F.

Issue Importance

to Me

Importance to Our

Head Start Program

Importance to the

Ecosystem

What I Would . , like to Do

- .--, -

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

4 2

31
o ule 1

Points to Consider:

Ask them to think about the various issues raised in the story.

Ask them to make a mark under the three middle columns: H if

the issue is of High importance, M if it is of Medium importance, and L if it is of Low importance.

Step 5: When they have filled out the first four columns, ask them to

consider the final column. Is there an issue where they have

marked "H" in all three areas? If there is one, ask the participants to think about what they would like to do in the next

month to incorporate that issue into their work.

Step 6: Meet with the participants again and decide how to put the plan

into action.

. Today we face numerous environmental issues. It can be overwhelming to try to address them all. Awareness is the important first

step.

After awareness, the questions become: What issues are we willing

to work on? How critical are they to me? Different people place

priorities on different issues. People will be most likely to incorporate environmental action into their livesat home or at workif

they perceive the issue is important personally and within the larger

community.

Be clear about the process people go through in developing their

understanding of environmental issues. Some people might rate

every issue low because their priorities lie elsewhere. Perhaps by

exploring further, some aspect of an issue you will uncover which is

important to such people. Perhaps the coach can help in another

priority area, thereby "making room" for caring more about the ecosystem.

32 4 3 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1

Key for Activity 5: Prompts for Environmental IssuesFor Trainer Only

garbage/solid waste

recycling

sunscreen/depletion of ozone layer/risk of sunburn

water quality/lead poisoning

indoor air pollution/passive smoking

outdoor air pollution

overpopulation

support of public transportation, walking, or bicycling instead of driving

tree planting for neighborhood beauty

avoid rodents and insect pests by storing food appropriately

prevent food contamination by bacteria/microorganisms

beautiful park/happy spirit

lead poisoning on solid objects/paint

not using disposable supplies

pesticides on produce

toxic waste

water conservation

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 33

4 4
Module 1

Activity 6:

Good for Our

Bodies, Good

for Our Earth

Purpose: Participants will develop a parent- or staff-education poster that

shows the parallel of environmental health activities to choices for personal health promotion. By tying the environmental health topic to

another more familiar health topic, the poster will encourage viewers to

realize the importance of environmental health in the overall goal of personal and community wellness.

For this activity you will need:

III Art supplies: paints, markers, glue, poster board

Magazines for clipping pictures

Step 1: Discuss two concepts with the participants:

the ecosystem as similar to the human body system;

the positive things that we do now for our healthor the

health of the ecosystemmean better health now and in the

future.

Step 2: Ask them to think about the parallels between the ecosystem and

a human body.

What can we do to keep our bodies healthy?

Could this be similar to something we do (or need to do) to

keep the ecosystem healthy?

Several examples are listed in the chart on the following page.

Step 3: The task is to develop a poster that illustrates the parallel between human health and environmental health. Give the

participant(s) art supplies, including magazines with photographs, colored leaves, stickers, and markers or crayons. Ask

them to think of one thing that shows how human health protection is similar to protection of the earth's health. Make a poster

to illustrate this idea. Encourage creativity!

Step 4: Display the poster(s) prominently and use them to generate discussion and additional ideas.

34 Sustaining a Healthy Environment

45
Module I

Parallels Between the Humans & Ecosystem

_ CJ c'z, a ol)

,

,

i \

-,

I

-._ 9411'-leti'g*' : t .1:°

ti;... ,,t- :/- ''L.

..:...-

... Keep ourselves warm Protect Earth's blanket, the

ozone layer

Protect ourselves from diseases

and use medicines as necessary

Keep our soil healthy for growing

food and don't use harmful

pesticides

Care for small children and other

vulnerable people

Care for Earth's vulnerable

animals

To find peace, quiet, and solitude,

we go to a quiet place to relax

and recharge

Earth needs wilderness

preserves

Screen our bodies for illnessess There are many tests we can do

to screen Earth for toxins or for

"diseases," unhealthy water, or a

hole in the ozone layer

Drink water daily for better

health and to purify our systems

Keep rivers and streams flowing

freely without pollution

Points to Consider: Building a healthy environment has many similarities to building a

healthy body. It requires sustained effort over a long time.

Earth is a living organism just as we are.

Daily we make many individual choices that lead to personal or

environmental health.

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth 35
Module 1

Next Steps:

Ideas to Extend

Practice

1. Evaluate environmental education materials for use in your program.

Several vendors are listed in Resources. Call them for information

about their products. A small group of staff members could evaluate

the products and suggest which materials might be useful in the

Head Start program.

2. Recognizing that people develop environmental consciousness at

different times and different paces, allow staff time and space to

experience their environment. Give staff some time off to

experience for themselves nature as supportive and renewing. This

will give them the grounding to convey messages of environmental

protection and value to the families.

3. Explore various cultural perspectives on nature, animals, and human

beings' relationships to the ecosystem. What do different ethnic or

cultural heritages say about the environment? If appropriate,

consider developing some activities for children that allow them to

experience different cultural perspectives on nature and science. The

publication, Cultural Awareness for Children, suggests educational

activities. See Resources for more information.

4. Check out food supply organizations such as food co-ops and

farmer's markets. Food is a daily need and food production has great

impacts on the ecosystem. These organizations can help staff and

families learn about food production and nutrition while providing

healthful food at lower prices.

5. Expand on the information about gardening and farming from

Activity 4: Getting Into the Garden. As an activity at a staff meeting,

for example, ask each staff member to bring in a favorite food. With

help from the participant(s) in Activity 4, trace the path of that food

from its beginning to the table. Discuss how to adapt this activity for

parents or children.

36 47 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Handout A: Children's Activity Cards

1: You are the teachers for a group of

infants six weeks to one-year-old.

2: You are the teachers for a group of

toddlers aged two and three, who are

developing normally.

3: You are the teachers for a group of young

preschoolers. They are extremely active,

Two of the children have motor

disabilities.

4: You are the teachers for a group of older

preschoolers who are preparing to go to

kindergarten.

5: 6:

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 37

4 3
Module 1: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Effairldout A: Chilldreffes Activity Cards (continued)

38

4 9

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Handout B: Values & Perspectives

Consider the following statements. Mark the point on the scale that best represents your feelings.

1 2 3 4-44 5 6 7

Scientific advancements have given us the best Natural systems are the most stable and

lifestyle in the world, trusted, and altering them is generally unwise.

1 2 3 I- 4 -} 5 6 7

Human beings are Earth's most advanced life Human beings and all other forms of life share

form and we may use Earth's resources as we the planet and have equal rights to life, space,

wish. and resources.

1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7

If we can see an immediate benefit to If there is the slightest chance of harm to the a certain technology, with some environ- environment from a new technology, we

mental risk involved, we should move forward should do without it.

with the technology.

1 2 3 4-44 5 6 7

Modern convenience and comfort are very I would prefer to live a much simpler life

important to me. closer to Earth's rhythms.

1 2 3 < 4 } 5 6 7

What is alive and present and concrete is My ancestors, their spirits, and the spirits of

what is important to me. others affect my life every day.

1 2 3 + 4 4 5 6 7

What is right for the individual is most The well-being of the community takes

important. precedence over individual choices.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 39

5 0
Module I: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Handout C: Thoughts on Gardens

The Problem

Many people are unemployed or underemployed

because they have lacked the opportunity to learn

needed job skills.

Many people feel alienated from their neighbors,

unsure of how to connect with them.

Many families' diets are low in fruits and vegetables

because the families consider them too expensive or

not tasty enough.

People often feel they have limited control over

their lives.

Some people are shy and uncomfortable interacting

with others.

Patience is in short supply in North America.

Sometimes we become detached from our bodies'

needs during growth and development.

Children are growing up without really knowing

how food comes to their table.

Many communities lack quiet spaces where a

person can be close to nature.

The Garden Connection

Gardening projects can provide training for jobs in

landscaping and horticulture.

Community gardens can be a great way to make

friends, share stories, and provide children with fun

and productive family activities.

By growing your own fruits and vegetables, you get

delicious food at a much lower price. Children may

be more likely to eat a variety of fruits and

vegetables if they have helped in growing them.

Growing food is an achievement that can nurture

and delight an adult or child.

People can become engaged with the living things in

the garden as a nonthreatening way to build other

relationships.

Tending a garden teaches patience in a wonderful

way.

A garden gives daily lessons in the process of

growth, demonstrating what sustains, and what

harms or halts.

By growing food of their own to eat, children learn

a critical part of our lives: agriculture.

Gardens give people a quiet space to see plants

and wildlife, and get a better feel for 'changing

seasons.

40 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Handout D: The Food Guide PyramidA Guide to Daily Food Choices

Fats, Oils, & Sweets

USE SPARINGLY

These symbols show, fat and'

;added sugars in foodS... '

Milk, Yogurt,

& Cheese

Group

2-3 SERVINGS

Vegetable

Group

3-5 SERVINGS

Meat, Poultry, Fish,

Dry Beans, Eggs,

& Nuts Group

2-3 SERVINGS

catio00,, bcrelek,,, Cp0OrR;07:)00

What is the Food

Guide Pyramid?

The Pyramid is an

outline of what to eat

each day. It's not a rigid

prescription, but a general

guide that lets you choose

a healthful diet that's

right for you.

The Pyramid calls for

eating a variety of foods to

get the nutrients you need

and at the same time the

right amount of calories to

maintain a healthy weight.

Fruit

Group

2-4 SERVINGS

Bread, Cereal,

Rice, & Pasta

Group

6-11

SERVINGS

The Pyramid also

focuses on fat because

most American diets are

too high in fat, especially

saturated fat.

Source for Handout D: The Food Guide Pyramid

USDA, Food and Nutrition Information Center, National Agricultural Library,

Agricultural Research Service, www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/gen.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

5 2

41
Module 1: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Handout E: lejandro His Earth

Three-year-old Alejandro wiggles in his bed. It's still a bit dark

outside. He awakens and hears a garbage truck. His big sister Tatiana

hops out of bed and says, "Come on, Alejandro, time to get up!"

Alejandro's mom comes in and helps him dress, making sure to put

sunscreen on him and on Tatiana before they get completely dressed.

Alejandro asks for a drink of water. His mom runs the tap and looks

concerned because the water is the color of rust. She mentions to

Alejandro's father that they might need to talk to the landlord about

getting the water tested.

At breakfast, Alejandro's dad has the TV

on to check the weather report. The weatherman is talking about an air

quality alert, warning people to avoid vigorous activity today. Alejandro's

mom looks worried. Alejandro has asthma. She says to his dad, "It's great

that Alejandro's breathing has been better since you quit smoking, but I still

worry about these bad-air days."

Tatiana is taking some pictures to school for a project on ancestors. She has a

picture of her grandpa and his 14 brothers and sisters. Tatiana asks her father why their family doesn't

have so many children. He laughs and, hugging Tatiana and Alejandro, says, "Two children is plenty for

your mom and me to love!"

After breakfast, Alejandro and his mom walk Tatiana to school before getting on the bus to his Head Start

center. They admire the new little trees that were planted all around the school in a neighborhood project.

They had lots of fun that day and although the trees are little, they make the block look nice. His mom

settles him in at his center, kisses him and hurries off to work.

Alejandro helps get the crackers out at snack time. The school had been having problems with mice and

ants in the building, but got a local company to buy big plastic containers with brightly colored lids and

matching little cups and plates for the children. These new containers will prevent

mice and insects from getting in the food. Alejandro's uncle works for the county

health department, and is meeting with the teachers and children to talk about bugs

and mice. He told them, "Some bugs are our friends ("Like ladybugs!" yelled

Alejandro), so we don't want to hurt them. But, we certainly don't want them in our

food." Uncle Paul also talked to the center cook about how she stored milk and

cheese, and how the dishes are washed and rinsed with sanitizing solution. Everyone is very careful to keep the milk refrigerated until snack time and to put it and

the macaroni and cheese right back in the refrigerator after the snack.

42 53

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 1: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Handout E: Mejandro His Earth (continued)

Later that morning, the children go on a field trip to the nearby park. It is only a small park, but it is full of

bushes and flowers and has a nice grassy space for running. The day is not yet unbearably hot and the big

trees at the edge of the park provide shade. Alejandro breathes in the smell of the flowers and rolls in the

grass. The teachers have planned this time to go to the park to take advantage of the lull in traffic when

there is less air pollution. The children are very disappointed because the big airplane on which they used

to climb has yellow streamers all around it. The teacher asks a gardener why the plane is roped off. The

gardener tells her that the health department found lead in the paint on the plane and it will have to be

removed.

Colored Paper Cans & Bottles After lunch, Alejandro helps to clean up, washing the new

dishes and cups. The center doesn't use disposable plates

and cups anymore so it doesn't need as many garbage cans

outside now. There are several recycling containers and the

children enjoy sorting the papers and helping the teachers

put out the cans and bottles.

Alejandro's grandpa picks him up from the center, and they go to the new little market that just opened

down the street. Grandpa likes this new market because it has fruits and vegetables just like he got when

he was growing up on the farm. "Just water and good earth," says Grandpa. "We don't need all of those

fertilizers and bug-killers." Grandpa has two string bags bunched up in his pocket and he and Alejandro

each fill one.

As Alejandro and his grandpa approach their block, they notice several people in

a vacant lot. Their neighbor Tomorrie is there with a City Council member.

Tomorrie has been working very hard to get the City Council to remove some

barrels full of poison that have been stored there by a company with headquarters

in the suburbs. Tomorrie and some other neighbors also tell the City Council

member that they oppose the plan to run a new freeway on-ramp off a street

nearby. "There are too many cars on our streets already," she says.

When they get home, they find that Alejandro's mom and uncle have just finished

installing the new toilet. The Water Department had a special program to give families

toilets that use less water with every flush. Alejandro is excited to go potty and watch the

big "whoosh" as the water circles down.

Tatiana picks their bedtime story that night. It is called Just A

Dream and is about a little boy who doesn't take care of Earth at all. He has a bad

dream about what the world will become if we don't take care of it. He learns to

recycle, plant trees and prevent water pollution. Alejandro drops off to sleep happy

that he helped take care of his Earth today.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

5 4

43
Module 1: Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth

Handout IF: ARejandro's IERwfronmentall lissues

Issue importance

to_Me

iniportance to

Our Head

Start Program

Importance to

the Ecosystem

What I Would

Like to Do

44

5 5

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Environmental Risks and Hazards

Module 2

Outcomes After completing this module participants will:

Key Concepts

have a better understanding of environmental hazards and how they

threaten the health of individual children and adults;

be able to search out, evaluate and use information to assess the

magnitude of risk from different hazards; and

take steps to prevent environmental illness and injury in Head Start

facilities.

Preventing exposure to environmental hazards is a critical piece of

the total picture of health protection, health services and health

education in Head Start.

Many hazards exist in homes, schools and communities. These

hazards affect the health of children and adults. Exposure to hazards

comes from four main routes, and protection strategies can be

planned for each route:

air (indoor and outdoor)

water

food

building materials and household products

Because of their behavior and their physical development, children

are uniquely exposed to and affected by environmental pollutants.

A number of environmental concerns must be addressed to provide

safe and healthy facilities for Head Start program staff and families.

Environmental Risks and Hazards 45
Mi#Iule

ackground Information A. Toxic Substances, Environmental Consequences and

Human Health

For most of the thousands of years of human history, the environment was

a powerful, all-enveloping force. People had to adapt their behavior to

climate, storms, pestilence, and other forces beyond their control. Many

people lost their lives through injury or illness related to natural forces.

But, in the past few hundred years, human beings have "tamed" nature in

various ways. We have altered natural systems to give ourselves a

comfortable, more predictable life. These alterations range from the

development of the automobile and related vehicles to vaccines and

antibiotics, pesticides and fertilizers for crops, and systems for air

conditioning and heating our homes.

Until the 1950s and 1960s, these improvements were seen by most people

as completely beneficial. People saw that science could improve their

lives by offering convenience and comfort, protection from illness, and a

wider variety of food at lower prices. But, during the second half of the

20th century, two things happened: First, the pace of development and

release of unnatural substances into the environment increased

dramatically; second, people began to notice and name toxicants that are

harmful to human health and the health of other members of the

ecosystem.

How have things changed? How fast? A few examples follow:

At least 70,000 man-made chemical compounds have been invented

and dispersed into the environment; 300 new substances are created

each year.

In 1993, an estimated 4.23 billion pounds of pesticides were used in

the United States.

The amount of lead "available" in our environmentmeaning

present in forms which can damage humansis hundreds of times

greater than that "available" in the 1950s.

In 1960, 6.3 billion pounds of plastics were produced. By 1991,

production had increased tenfold to 62.8 billion pounds. Of this

total, 276 million pounds were used to make disposable diaper liners

and 1.5 billion pounds were made into plastic trash bags.

Awareness of the toxins' harmful effects came slowly. Rachel Carson's

Silent Spring (1962) woke up many people with its details of the effects of

pesticides on wildlife. Health care providers began to tie various negative

health effects in children to lead poisoning. Increases in asthma and other

respiratory illnesses were correlated with air pollution. Acute poisonings

46 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

from polluted water and pesticides drew attention to the toxicity of a

variety of chemicals and raised questions about the chronic effects of

these chemicals. When they were used over long periods of time, we

began to see strains of antibiotic-resistant diseases, such as gonorrhea and

tuberculosis. Agricultural pests and lice also developed resistance to the

insecticides used to control them.

A Note About Terminology:

Three words are commonly used to describe harmful substances, which can be either naturally occurring or man-made:

toxic, toxin, and toxicant.

Toxic: Often used as a noun, toxic is more correctly used as an

adjectivee.g. toxic air pollutants, toxic wastedescribing

something poisonous.

Toxin: The term toxin is used by scientists in a limited way to

describe the toxic protein-like product of a living organism,

such as snake venom.

Toxicant: The most inclusive term, a toxicant is any substance

that produces toxic effects.

In this training guide, we use these terms interchangeably.

B. Assessing Risk

The sheer volume of potentially toxic products that surround us seems

almost overwhelming. It is easy to see why many people decide to either

(1) ignore the problem and hope it will go away or (2) become frantic in

trying to eliminate all risks from their lives.

However, what we all really need to do is to learn to assess environmental

risk, and take steps individually and collectively to minimize those risks.

This module discusses protection from individual risk, then Module 3:

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation explores

the collective action that can have larger impact.

What is a risk? A risk is a chance that something harmful or unwanted

will occurdepending on what a person does or is exposed to.

Some environmental risks are clear-cut. We know that breathing air

contaminated with cigarette smoke is hazardous; several illnesses result

from the exposure. We also know that certain levels of lead in the

Environmental Risks and Hazards 5 3 47
Module 2

bloodstream can have damaging effects. The risk assessment, however,

becomes much more complex when we consider the long-term effects of

low-dose exposure to toxins.

An extra challenge in assessing risk from an environmental toxin is that

no one is exposed to only one risk. Regulations and manufacturers'

guidelines set limits on the exposure a person can receive without harm

from a given substance, but they do not consider that people might be

exposed to several different substances. These substances generally do not

act independently, and can work together to multiply the toxic effect.

For someone to decide whether to avoid a certain environmental risk, he

first needs information. With the information, a person can make a

judgment about which risk is acceptable and whichfor a variety of

reasonsis unacceptable.

Scientists ask questions when faced with the possibility that a substance is

harmful. Then they evaluate the information in the answers.

o How many studies were done to show that this is harmful? It is

unwise to rely on one study or one incident of harm to determine

that there is a general risk. The determination should be based on

several studies done with good scientific methods.

o How strong is the association between the supposedly harmful

substance and the harmful effect that we see? If a group of people

exposed to a certain substance have a lot more cases of a disease

than a similar group who are not exposed, then there is a strong

association. If only a few more cases, the association is weak.

o Does increasing the "dose" increase the chance of harmful effects?

If a child with asthma has little trouble breathing when the air is

clear, but wheezes more as pollutant levels rise, that is a "dose

response." It suggests that air pollution makes her asthma worse.

o Does this harmful effect make sense given what we know about

human biology? For example, we wonder if a certain toxicant

affects the offspring of workers who are exposed. Let's say that the

workers, men and women, were all exposed at age twenty. They all

have children ten years later. Some children have birth defects.

Did the toxicant cause these? Well, maybe yes for the women;

probably not for the men. Why? Human biology. A toxicant that

affected a group of women who were twenty years old might very

well affect the children they conceive ten years later because

women's egg cells are present in their bodies from their infancy.

However, since men's sperm cells are not present from infancy, the

48

5 0

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

men's exposure to the same toxicant at age twenty would be less

likely to affect children they help to conceive later.

Once the information is in, it is time to make a choice. Do I change what

I do, where I live, what I eatso that I reduce my risk of a harmful

effect from some substance? As with other health topics, the facts are

only part of educating people about risks to their well-being. People might

be more or less concerned with environmental risks depending on several

factors.

Is the risk voluntary or involuntary? Many people accept the risk to

their families from the smoke of their own wood stove (voluntary),

but are unwilling to accept the county planner's decision to put a

highway nearby, which will increase auto exhaust (involuntary).

Can I do anything to control my personal risk from this hazard?

Someone might be aware that the public water supply is not safe, but

block out the information because he cannot do anything about it.

Or, he might respond to warnings of the risk and make some helpful

changes, if he has information about something concrete that he can

do to reduce risk to himself.

Is this risk clear and obvious or is it something that might happen

some time in the future? People usually pay more attention to risks

that have immediate, observable effects. They either ignore or have

vague worries about risks that accumulate over time.

Where is this information about risk coming from and is the source

trustworthy? People have learned that false information can come

from all sides of an environmental question, and they have been

confused by well-meaning scientists unable to explain risks in

understandable terms. People are more likely to make changes that

are recommended by a trusted person or organization.

In communicating about environmental risks, we must pay as much

attention to people's concerns and perceptions of risk as we do to "the

facts." Their concern, and our response to that concern, will be as

important to their ultimate decision about what to do about a certain risk

as will be the information we provide.

Head Start staff, because of their trusted position in their communities,

can be valuable sources of information for families. People can easily be

misled by sensational information and overreact to a sensationalized risk.

Staff can assure that scientific information is clear and that bureaucrats

and decision-makers respond to concerns. By considering the questions in

this section, staff can take a critical look at a supposed risk, interpret

information for families, and help them decide what to do.

Environmental Risks and Hazards

60 49
M dule

C. Risks and Routes of Toxic Exposure

Thousands of substances can cause harm to human beings. To help staff

to plan strategies to protect children, families, and themselves from these

hazards, we have organized the substances into routes of exposure.

It is important to recognize that the following overview of risks only lists

some broadly distributed toxins. Risk varies by region throughout the

United States. For example, people working with pesticides or living near

farms will be more exposed to those substances; those in the Northeast

have more exposure to radon; those who live near heavy traffic will be

more exposed to ozone and nitrogen dioxide.

With thousands of chemicals circulating in our environment, pinning

exact cause and effect is tough. It took many years, many studies, and

much argument to document that cigarette smoking does cause lung

cancer. The effects of the toxins in the following tables are not

unquestionably proven. The effects have been demonstrated in animal

studies, or studies of humans, or both.

One thing to note: Scientists can measure many things, but are much less

able to pinpoint the exact effect of a certain substance on health. For

example, they may know that a nursing mother's milk contains a certain

chemical, but they are unsure about that chemical's effect on her baby.

For the toxicants listed in the following tables, the intensity or severity of

the response to the exposure will vary. Just as some people smoke

cigarettes and do not get lung cancer, some people are exposed to

environmental toxics and do not seem to be affected. Most of the

following substances, however, are deadly if the exposure is great enough.

It should also be noted that illnesses or injuries caused by toxinsunless

they are high-dose, acute exposurescan creep up on a person over time.

Signs and symptoms might suggest another common illness but not

respond to treatment. It is important to consider environmental damage as

a possible cause for any illness.

50 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Some Toxicants in Air

Module 2

_ What It Is Source Effects

Tobacco smoke cigarette smokers, includes a

variety of pollutants

irritates lung passages; impairs

oxygen transport; leads to

respiratory illnesses, lung cancer

Carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion of fuel:

stoves and autos

blocks the red blood cells' ability

to carry oxygen

Ozone formed from a combination of

nitrogen and hydrocarbons (auto

exhaust & industry) and sunlight

damages the respiratory tract;

causes difficulty in breathing;

asthma

Particulates tiny particles of dust, soot, auto

exhaust

impaired lung function; asthma;

increased respiratory illness

Radon a breakdown product of naturally

occurring uranium; seeps into

homes and schools

lung cancer

Electric and magnetic fields

(EIVIF)

electric charges from any power

line or electric appliance

biological changes in cells; possible

association with cancer

Ionizing radiation nuclear power plants, atomic

weapons testing/use, nuclear waste

storage sites

various cancers

Ultraviolet radiation the sun damages and wrinldes skin; causes

skin cancer

Head Start has taken an important step in protecting children, staff, and families from air

pollutants by banning smoking on the premises. The chart above highlights other pollutants.

The various types of radiation are included in the "air" category because they are all around us.

Environmental Risks and Hazards 6 ? 5 1
Modi iie 2

Some Toxins in Water

What It Is Source Effects

Pesticides appear in water supply as runoff of

agricultural or landscaping use

0 acute: nervous system damage,

skin irritation, gastrointestinal

distress

0 chronic: damage to nervous,

immune, or reproductive

systems; cancer

Lead plumbing solder damage to nervous and circulatory

systems; learning disabilities and

anemia

Microorganisms

(parasites, bacteria)

sometimes found in well water,

occasionally in public water

systems with inadequate treatment

a variety of gastrointestinal illnesses

Dioxin industrial processes; breakdown

product of chlorinated compounds

various cancers

PCBs

(Polychlorinated biphenyls)

electronic components skin rash; liver cancer; central

nervous system damage

We know that water is essential to life, and good nutritional practice encourages drinking many

glasses of water each day. There is evidence that toxic chemicals can seep into water supplies (either

surface or ground water) from a number of sources.

Lead, of all the heavy metals that contaminate water, has drawn the greatest amount of attention in

recent years. Other metals that contaminate water include cadmium, aluminum, mercury, selenium

and/or nitrates, depending on the area.

52 63 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Some Toxicants in Food

odule

What It Is Source Effects

Pesticides residues on food products, mostly

fruits and vegetables

. acute: nervous system damage,

skin irritation, gastrointestinal

distress

4, chronic: damage to the immune,

reproductive, or nervous

systems, cancer

Microorganisms

(parasites, bacteria)

improper food handling and storage gastrointestinal illnessess

(e.g., diarrhea and vomiting)

PCBs

(Polychlorinated biphenyls)

electronic components:

concentrated in the fatty tissues of

fish

skin rash; behavioral disorders;

liver cancer

One of Head Start's important goals is to provide nourishing food for children. Another is to build

healthy eating habits among all program participants. We consider levels of sugar, salt, and fat in the

food. Nutritionists advise us to eat several servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

Food safety is important to any food program. There are two general ways that food could be

contaminated and unhealthy. Microorganisms can contaminate food at the farm or factory, or

through unsafe food preparation practices at the Head Start center or home. With fresh fruits and

vegetables, there might be residues of pesticides or other chemicals. In August 1996, the growing

concern about contamination of fresh produce resulted in the passage of a new law, the Food Quality

and Protection Act of 1996. This law changes some of the ways that pesticides have been regulated.

For the first time, specific information about the effects of pesticides on infants and children is

considered.

There is great regional variation in food growing practices and in eating practices. Some people eat

more apples, others more meat. The greatest risk of PCB ingestion is faced by those whose diets are

high in fish caught from lakes and bays that have been polluted by PCBs.

Environmental Risks and Hazards 6 4 53
Module 2

Some 'Toxins ha II Miding Material Isfitiome Products

What It Is Source Effects

Formalldehyde pressed wood (much is used in

mobile home construction), particle

board, and carpets

irritates skin and respiratory

system; headache; gastrointestinal

distress

Lead paint on walls, sills, etc.; pottery;

cosmetics

nervous system damage; learning

disabilities; anemia

Asbestos building insulation skin irritation; lung cancer

Home cleaning/pesticide

products

cleaners; bug sprays; chemicals for

landscaping

skin irritation; childhood cancer;

nervous system effects

Organic solvents products used to dissolve grease

and paint

cancer; skin irritation

Many products used in the home are very toxic.

In 1786, Benjamin Franklin wrote to a colleague and described the signs of lead poisoning he had

observed among workmen in different countries. Two hundred years later, the problem of lead

poisoning is still with us, mainly affecting children. Lead is a widespread substance, and exposure to

this toxin can occur through many routes. Since the 1970s, lead exposure through air has dropped

with the elimination of leaded gasoline and lead exposure through food has been reduced by

removing lead from the canning process. Children still encounter lead through paint in older

buildings or in the soil around those buildings. Because small children put everything in their

mouths, they can easily ingest lead from toys, dirt, paint chips, or window sills.

Asbestos was used widely for many years in insulation. Workers have suffered from lung cancer as a

result of their contact with this substance. Now, if asbestos is in place and intact, it does not pose a

risk for users of the rooms where it is found. If it is disturbedthrough flaking, peeling, or

construction/renovation activitiesit can be very harmful and must be removed by specially trained

and experienced workers.

54

6 5

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

D. Who Is at Risk?

Environmental contaminants present a risk for everyone. Effects on adults

range from acute episodes of poisoning to chronic exposures. Workers

with toxic substances are the usual victims of acute exposures, from spills

of pesticides or contact with cleaning supplies, for instance. An example

of a chronic exposure is the experience of asbestos workers who

developed lung cancer many years after their work with the substance.

Another example is damage to reproductive systems in men and women

who work over time with toxic chemicals. There is also some concern

about reproductive damage from general exposure to chemicals in the

day-to-day environment.

From conception through adolescence, children are physiologically

different from and behave differently than adults. In general, the younger

the child, the more potentially damaging is an effect from a toxic

exposure.

Children's immature organ systems are especially sensitive to

environmental hazards. Exposures might disrupt and cause permanent

damage to developing nervous, immune, and respiratory systems of young

children. Children's metabolic processes are quite different from adults':

they absorb toxic materials more easily than adults through their skin and

through their respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. They are also less

able to detoxify, metabolize, and excrete certain toxins and so are more

vulnerable to adverse health effects.

Children's behavior is also very different from adults'. Older children are

outside more and engage in more active play. Infants and toddlers spend a

great deal of time on the ground, lying or crawling, and putting all that

they can reach into their mouths. They eat more fruits and vegetables than

do adults and drink more water. Children are closer to ground level, and

are exposed to toxins in the soil and in the air that is closer to the ground.

Children with disabilities are due special attention. A visually impaired

child, for example, is more likely to work close to an art or craft project

and breathe toxic fumes. Children with mental or emotional disabilities

might not be able to follow safety precautions.

Tolerances for exposure to many toxic substances are established by

manufacturers and government regulators. There are several reasons to be

skeptical of tolerance limits and health protection. Health may not be

protected, even when tolerance levels are not exceeded, because the

limits:

may have been set many years ago, with little information on acute

effects;

Environmental Risks and Hazards

66 55
Module 2

may not consider multiple exposures to a number of substances,

which could interact with each other; and

are usually not set for children, but for healthy, adult males. A

"tolerated level" of a substance might expose an adult to a level that

does not cause harm, but the child's exposure per pound of body

weight is much higher. Children also have (hopefully) more years

ahead of them than adults, so that the exposure might continue for a

longer time.

Therefore, many child health experts are warning that children are not

adequately protected by tolerances set for toxins in air, water, food, or

building materials.

The experience with lead poisoning is an example of greater knowledge

leading to establishing much lower tolerances, or action levels. Early in

this century, people were not aware that low levels of lead in the

bloodstream could cause damage to children; only acute lead poisoning

with dramatic and damaging effects was known. As researchers

documented effects on children at lower levels, the tolerance was

changed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now

considers a blood lead level above 10 mcg/dI unacceptable.

E. Head Start Facilities

Head Start programs are required to choose facilities that are conducive to

learning, reflect the stages of development of each child, and are safe and

healthy places for staff and family members.

Some important issues to consider in selecting facilities are:

quality of the air (indoor and outdoor)

drinking water supply

o landscaping and whether its care requires a lot of fertilizers and/or

pesticides

presence of toxic substances (e.g. lead, asbestos, hazardous waste)

in soil, wall surfaces, or building materials

overall energy usage of the facilitytype and amount

o availability of wholesome food and clean, safe storage and

preparation facilities

56 6 7

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Questions for Discussion/

Reflection

Consideration should be taken of the facility itself, the surrounding area,

and the area through which children, families, and staff travel in the

normal course of their Head Start day's activities.

Construction or renovation of facilities entails another set of questions

that must be addressed, as construction could disturb or uncover toxins

that otherwise would not be a problem. Examples are the need for

specially trained workers to abate the problems raised by lead, asbestos,

or serious soil contamination.

Note to Trainer/Coach:

This training guide takes an ecological approach to toxins,

exploring those that cause damage to humans and others in the

ecosystem. There are many other substances that are not inherently toxic, but can be dangerous if misused. There is also the

issue of safe structuresdesign and shapein the Head Start

environment.

The latter two issues are explored in the Health guide Safety

First: Prevention and Management of Childhood Injuries.

You will also find information and activities related to the environment and communicable diseases in Preventing and Managing Communicable Diseases.

How do you feel about the changes in the ecosystem during your

lifetime? Which changes have been good? Where have you seen

harm?

Think about risk. What changes have you made to reduce your risk

of illness or injury? From any cause? From environmental hazards?

What information did you receive? How did you make your

judgment?

Environmental Risks and Hazards

6 3

57
odule 2

References for Background

Information

Bearer, Cynthia. "How Are Children Different from Adults?"

Environmental Health Perspectives (Vol. 103, Supplement 6).

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, September

1995.

Carlson, Joy E. and Katie Sokoloff. "Preventing Child Exposures to

Environmental Hazards: Research and Policy Issues,"

Environmental Health Perspectives (Vol. 103, Supplement 6).

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, September

1995.

Chadzynski, Lawrence. Manual for the Identification and Abatement

of Environmental Lead Hazards. U.S. Public Health Service/

University of Illinois, 1986.

O'Hara, Kathryn et al. A Citizen's Guide to Plastics in the Ocean,

Center for Marine Conservation, Inc., 1994.

Raven, Peter H., Linda R. Berg, and George B. Johnson.

Environment (1995 Version). Sounders College Publishing,

1993.

Sandman, Peter M. Communicating About Environmental Health

Risks. Children's Environmental Health Network, 1995.

Environmental Issues in Primary Care, Minnesota Department of

Health, 1991.

Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children, Centers for Disease

Control, 1991.

58

6 9

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Activity I:

Children's

Developmental

Stages

Purpose: Participants will consider the developmental tasks and

behavioral characteristics of children up to age five, and determine how to

minimize risks during their Head Start experience.

For this activity you will need:

III Handout G: Children's Developmental Stages & Environmental

Risks

Step 1: Meet with the participant(s) and discuss the children in your

program. Do you have infants, toddlers, and/or preschoolers?

Talk a while about the major characteristics of children in each

of the groups you serve:

newborns: tiny, completely dependent, immobile

infants: begin to be mobile, frequent eating and sleeping

toddlers: begin to explore, get into everything, put

everything in their mouths, don't like "no"

preschoolers: very engaged in their world, social, will do

what others do (even if dangerous)

Coach's Note:

You may wish to use the Education guide, Enhancing

Children's Growth and Development, to expand your

discussion of children's developmental stages. For another

activity that expands on this concept, see Module 1:

Understanding Injuries in Safety First: Preventing &

Managing Childhood Injuries from the Health series.

Step 2: Give each participant a copy of Handout G: Children's

Developmental Stages & Environmental Risks. Select one age

group of children for the participant to focus on.

Environmental Risks and Hazards

70

59
Module 2

Points to Consider:

Based on your discussion in Step 1, fill in the top section of

Handout G. Note behavioral characteristics of children in this

age group. Review the information on routes of exposure from

toxins and children's special risks from the Background

Information.

Step 3: Make notes in each of the sections on "air," "water," "food,"

and "building/home."

What special risks can you think of for a child in your

chosen age group?

Step 4: Give the participants some time to observe children of this age

in the program. Take a few days with your chart, and consider

what these children do and how they might be exposed to

toxicants. Continue to make notes.

Step 5: After noting your observations, think about what you can do in

your program to make things safer for children of this age.

Step 6: Meet with the participant(s) to discuss how you can make the

changes necessary to protect children at their specific

developmental stages.

Children's behavior differs according to age. Try to look at the behaviors carefully through the lens of environmental risks.

Consider how you will protect a child of a certain age.

Will you change the area or will you restrict the child?

Which is preferred?

With preschoolers, how do you develop the concept of safe risktaking? For example:

Jumping off a low climbing structure with adequate padding and

supervision is an acceptable risk.

Jumping into a concrete ditch near a farm field would be too

much risk.

60 71 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Activity 2:

Module 2

Is Something in

the Air?

Purpose: Participants consider a variety of situations to improve their

alertness to the possibility of environmental illness or injury. They

identify the steps to take when faced with such situations, and who in the

community can help.

For this activity you will need:

Handouts H-1 through F174: Stories

Writing materials for participants

Step 1: Briefly review for your participants the Background Information section on routes of exposure for toxins. Emphasize that

many illnesses can be caused by environmental exposures,

though they seem just like illnesses caused by other factors.

Many health care providers are not trained to look for environmental causes, and are not alert to the possibility of exposure.

Head Start staff do not diagnose illnesses, but they do have two

important roles:

being alert and aware of possible environmental exposures

so they can help families see these exposures as part of their

health histories;

linking families to appropriate experts or health care

providers when needed.

Step 2: Divide the participants into four groups. Ask each group to

assign a recorder/reporter. Give the participants in each group a

copy of Part I of the stories from Handouts H-1, H-2, H-3, or

H-4. Each group should have a different story.

Step 3: Allow the groups 10 minutes to review Part I of their story and

to discuss it. Post on the flip chart the following questions for

them to discuss and report on:

What signs and symptoms did the ill or injured person

exhibit?

Environmental Risks and Hazards

7 2

61
Module 2

G What is your first thought on what might be wrong?

O What more do you want to know?

Step 4: After 10 minutes, ask the participants if they have some ideas of

what could be causing the problem. Ask whether they need more

information. They will likely say yes. Tell them that a good way

to get more information is from a family member or friend who

can give background on the affected person's activities, and

home.

Step 5: Ask for one person in each group to volunteer to be the family

member or friend. Give this individual Part II of the story for

that group. Ask the person to share that information with his

group.

Step 6: Give the groups another five minutes to discuss the story in light

of additional information. Add a fourth question to the flip

chart:

How do you plan to offer help?

Step 7: When the groups are ready to report back, ask the first one to

summarize its story and respond to the questions on the flip

chart. When the report is finished, encourage the other groups to

offer additions and suggestions.

Step 8: In their responses to the questions, each group should have

noted that they want to consult someone from the community

who has expertise in environmental illness.

Step 9: Now ask for another volunteer from each group. This person

will be the community expert. Give this person Part III from

Handouts H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4 for that group and ask him to

describe the toxin responsible for the illness. Affirm that

collecting information and making contacts are important roles

for Head Start staff.

Discuss how staff members can develop relationships with

experts in environmental health in their local community.

Trainer's Note:

Be sure to note that a community practitioner would respect the

individual's confidentiality and not give out information on

diagnosis. This is a training situation only!

62

7 3

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Points to Consider: When a person is sick, an environmental cause is usually not considered at first. We want to train ourselves to ask questions about and

be open to the possibility of an environmental cause every time.

Notice the similarities among illnesses caused by environmental

factors and other causes.

Be clear in your discussions about the Head Start staff role in any of

these situations. Avoid diagnosis, but be knowledgeable about who

in the community has the expertise to deal with an environmental

illness or injury.

Be alert to family situations. Head Start staff will often be closer to

family situations than outside medical providers or health experts.

Head Start staff may add valuable information in a consultation.

If you notice a group of similar signs or symptoms in children or

families in your community and you suspect that there may be an

environmental cause, call your local or state health department or

the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at

(404) 639-0615.

Sources for Activity 2: Is Something in the Air?

ATSDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine. Chlordane Toxicity.

September 1993.

Etzel, R., Indoor Air Pollution. Pediatric Annals. December 1995, Vol. 24 (12),

653-56.

Landrigan, Phillip and Herbert Needleman, Raising Children Toxic Free: How

to keep your child safe from lead, asbestos, pesticides, and other

environmenta! hazards, 1994.

Sherman, Janette D. Organophosphate PesticidesNeurological and

Respiratory Toxicity, Toxicology and Industrial Health, Vol. 11 (I), 1995.

Environmental Risks and Hazards

7 4

63
Module 2

Activity 3:

An Apple a

Day...or Not?

Purpose: Staff members will develop skills in risk assessment and

communication. They will create a framework for this type of evaluation

by working through questions related to three fresh foods.

For this activity you will need:

M A large blackboard or paper to draw a chart

M Markers

M Key. to Activity 3: Fruits & Pesticides Fact SheetsFor Trainer Only

Step 1: Begin the discussion with a review of the importance of nutrition to Head Start's services. We are all committed to providing

the safest, healthiest food for children and promoting healthy

eating habits. We want to give families information so that they

can maintain good nutritional habits or improve their diet. But

what about pesticides? Is there a risk to children? Are some

fruits or vegetables better to serve than others?

Step 2: Review the concepts in the Background Information on "Assessing Risk." During this activity apply the framework outlined

there to the question of pesticide risk from fresh fruits. Assure

the group they won't be asked to engage in the highly technical

and scientific process of risk assessment, but only to do a lay

person's assessment.

Step 3: For this activity, ask the group members to imagine that they are

a committee that is choosing foods for use in their center's meals

and snacks. Tell them that three suppliers have offered to deliver

fresh fruit every week: one offers apples, the other strawberries,

and the third bananas. Imagine that, up until now, your program

has had to rely on mostly canned or frozen fruits and vegetables

because of your location and the foods' costs. You can only

make arrangements with one fruit supplier. The parents want

this because enough fruit will be delivered for the families to

purchase some for home at a very low price. However, several

staff members and parents are concerned about the pesticide

residues on produce and want the committee to find out if any or

all of these fruits are safe for the children to eat.

64

75

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

First, talk with the group about the benefits of eating apples,

bananas, and strawberries. Make notes on the flip chart as to

what nutritional value these foods have.

Do children like them?

Are there other benefits?

Ask the group what questions they think they need to have

answered if they are going to make a decision about the safety

of a certain food. Draw the large chart (a sample chart with

information for the trainer follows) on the blackboard or flip

chart without filling in the spaces. As the group comes up with

questions, fill in the chart with them. Develop your entire list of

questions before you begin to work on the answers. You will

want to be sure to elicit the questions noted in the Key to

Activity 3: Fruits & Pesticides Fact SheetsFor Trainer Only.

Your group will probably come up with additional valid

questions.

Sample Trainer's Chart:

Questions Source of

Infortnation

Answers

Apples Strawberries Bananas

Step 4: When you have enough questions, ask the group to brainstorm

where to go for the answers. Who in your community could

answer these questions? This information will fill the next

colunm.

Step 5: Now fill in the answers to the questions with information from

the Key to Activity 3: Fruits & Pesticides Fact Sheets.

Step 6: Discuss your conclusions about the safety of serving any of the

three fruits to the children in the program.

Environmental Risks and Hazards

7 rs' 0

65
Module 2

What is your decision?

Which fruit do you want to incorporate into your program?

What is your conclusion about the healthfulness or safety of

the others?

Review for the group how you came to this conclusion.

Emphasize that this same process can be carried out to assess

risk from another product.

Step 7: Now ask the group members to consider how they would

explain their decision about fruits to other interested staff and

parents in the program. Imagine that each of the three fruits has

its boosters, and that someone will be unhappy with the choice

of one and the exclusion of the others.

What would be most difficult about sharing this

information?

Which facts does the committee need?

Which emotional issues will be the most important to

consider?

Step 8: Divide the participants into two groups. One group (of three to

four people) will be the committee. The other group will be

other staff and parents or family members of children in the

program.

Step 9: Give each group about 15 minutes to prepare for a meeting

during which the committee will present its conclusions about

the fruits and plans for protecting children's health. The large

group should be prepared to ask questions or voice concerns.

Think about the diversity of family members in your program.

How are family members likely to respond to your

presentation about concerns over children's exposure to

pesticides from the fruits?

Will some group members be concerned about possible

exposure?

Will others think that this whole idea is irrational and that

we should eat fruit without being concerned about

pesticides?

66

7

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Step 10: Call the group back together and ask the members to hold a

mock meeting. Ask the committee to begin their presentation.

You can play the role of the center director, welcoming parents

and introducing staff. Allow the meeting to proceed for 10-20

minutes.

Step 11: After the meeting, debrief:

What do you feel the committee did well?

Were they clear?

Was the committee responsive to parents' concerns?

Did the committee offer concrete suggestions?

What do you suggest to improve the discussion?

Consider the main points in risk assessment and communication,

applying them to this issue as outlined in the Background Information.

Assessment:

What information do we have on this issue? Which stories?

What anecdotal evidence?

How strong is the evidence of harm? What do we know

about people who have been extensively exposed to

pesticides? Have they been sicker than those with less

exposure?

How much of this fruit do children eat? What does this

mean in terms of their "dose" of pesticide exposure?

What do we know about children and their bodies?

Communication/Judgments on Action:

Is this risk voluntary or involuntary? What does it mean that

children don't have choices in the food that is provided to

them?

Can we do anything personally to control our individual

risk? Can we do something that controls the risk for our own

Head Start community, even if we can't tackle the larger

problem?

Environmental Risks and Hazards 67
Module 2

Points to Consider:

Do we have a risk right now, or is it something that might be

a problem in the future?

Have we presented ourselves as a trustworthy source of

information?

Step 12: Using the blackboard or flip chart, outline the most important

facts and communication issues to consider in talking about

risks and making decisions about risks with families in your

program.

People who have researched pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables do not suggest giving up these foods. Fruits and vegetables,

grown with or without pesticides, are important to everyone's diet.

The researchers recommend being aware that there may be risk, and

trying to reduce exposure in any way practical:

buying produce in season, recognizing that out-of-season crops

are more heavily treated

choosing fruits and vegetables grown in this country rather than

those grown outside the United States under less stringent

regulations

purchasing organically grown produce

Researchers also recommend that while acting to protect ourselves,

we should work to see that changes are made in regulations to protect all from combined exposures. Children especially are not well

protected.

Where fear is associated with such a highly charged topic as pesticides in food, it is important to search for reliable information and

avoid making a hasty judgment.

68 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Key to Activity 3: Fruits & Pesticides Fact SheetsFor Trainer Only

Part I: General Information

Pesticides are chemicals. Most are synthesized from petroleum but some are of natural origin.

Pesticides are used to control pests such as insects, fungi, rodents, and weeds.

In 1991, in the United States, 817 million pounds of active pesticide ingredients were used in

agriculturemore than two pounds per American.

Pesticides are also used widely in home gardens, lawn care, landscaping, and golf courses.

Major Types:

organochlorines or chlorinated hydrocarbons

examples: DDT, chlordane, heptachlor, dieldrin

organophosphates and carbamates

examples: parathion, malathion, Diazinon, alidicarb

Some Costs and Benefits:

Effective against pests (at least in the short term)

Easier and cheaper than hand weeding*or crushing or washing off insects

Allow crops to be cultivated where they otherwise would not grow, so that different crops are

available at different times of the year. Fungicides prevent mold and prolong storage time.

Some pests now are resistant to pesticides, and some environmental contamination has occurred in

farming areas because of pesticide use.

Regulation and Tolerances:

Pesticides are governed by two laws: the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act

(FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (1l-DCA). Tolerances are maximum

residues permitted in food; these amounts are a fraction of the amount that causes harm in test

animals. Sometimes the tolerance considers whether a person would be exposed to a particular

pesticide from more than one source; however, it does not consider whether the person might be

affected by a few different pesticides that have a synergistic effect. These tolerances may have been

established many years ago, before all effects were known. They are usually defined for adult,

healthy males, and for an "average" adult diet. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 requires

consideration of effects on children.

Environmental Risks and Hazards 69

0
dule 2

Key to Activity 3: Fruits & Pesticides Fact SheetsFor Trainer Only (continued)

Part III: Questions & Concerns

What tests have been done to determine harmful effects? What other information do we have?

All pesticides are dangerous; they are poisons designed to kill some sort of living thing. Some are

dangerous when touched or eatenthe effect is immediate and dramatic. Some do not affect people

or other creatures immediately if exposed, but remain in bodies and in the environment.

Tests on animals have shown health effects at various levels of exposure. In nature, effects on

wildlife have been documented.

There have been many incidents of farmworkers becoming ill from exposure to pesticides. There

have been occasional examples of i)eople in the community becoming sick from eating food

contaminated by pesticides (for example: alidicarb on watermelons in 1985). Pesticide exposures

(not necessarily from eating) have been proven to cause:

Skin disorders and rashes Cancer

Nervous system effects Reproductive system effects

How strong is the association between exposure and harm?

There are no documented studies of children becoming sick or being adversely affected from eating

foods with pesticide residues on them, if the residues are lower than the tolerance.

There has been very little research on long-term effects of regular exposure to pesticides in the diet.

Where did the fruits come from? What is used on them?

If these crops are grown in your area, use local information. If not, assume that the bananas came

from Central America, the strawberries from California, and the apples from New York.

If a product comes from outside the country, it may have been treated with a pesticide that is banned

in the United States. Usually we don't know which pesticide has been used.

70

81

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

I° Key to Activity 3: Fruits & Pesticides Fact SheetsFor Trainer Only (continued)

Part II: Questions & Concerns, continued

Questions/

Concerns Apples Bananas Strawberries

What do we know Infants under one year Infants under The average

about children,

apples,

strawberries, and

bananas?

old consume six times

the national average of

apples.

one-year-old consume

five times the national

average of bananas.

two-year-old eats 1.9

pounds of strawberries

per year.

On a body-weight

basis, one-year-olds

consume five times as

many apples as adults.

One-year-olds eat

seven times the

national average of

bananas.

Per capita

consumption of

strawberries in the

U.S. increased 70%

from 1978-91.

The average

two-year-old

consumes 16.4 pounds

of apples per year.

Two-year-olds eat

13.4 pounds of

bananas per year.

Preschoolers eat five

to 20 times the national

average of apples.

Which pesticides 34 different pesticides 14 different pesticides 38 different pesticides

are used? might be used on

apples.

might be used on

bananas.

might be used on

strawberries.

In studies done by the

FDA in 1990-92,

64% of the sample

apples tested had one

or more pesticide

residues on them.

38% of the bananas

tested had one or

more pesticide

residues on them.

75% of the

strawberries tested

had one or more

pesticide residues on

them.

Nutritional Good soume of Good source of Good source of

benefit? dietary fiber. potassium, some fiber. dietary fiber and

vitamin C.

Environmental Risks and Hazards 8 2 71
odule

Key to Activity 3: Fnitits 4.11% Pesticides Fact SlhieetsFor Trainer Only (continued)

Part III: Suggestions for Finding Information & Reducing Risk

O Check into organically grown fruit. Is it available? Is the price comparable? Can the Head Start

program get a good price or influence the farmer's pesticide practice because Head Start buys a large

quantity?

o Consider what nutritional benefit derives from the fruits you have considered. In which other foods

can you find similar vitamins, minerals, protein or carbohydrate benefits?

People and organizations that might have information for you:

o County extension agents, local farmers, local stores (especially those concerned with the issue who

are checking into residues), the Environmental Protection Agency office in your area, agriculture

groups, environmental groups.

Sources for Key to Activity 3: Fruits and Pesticides Fact Sheets:

National Research Council. Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children.

National Academy Press. Washington, D.C., 1993.

Wiles, Richard and Christopher Campbell. Pesticides in Children's Food.

Environmental Working Group. Washington, D.C., 1994.

Elderkin, Susan L. "Pesticides in Produce. What We Can Do To Protect Our

Children." PTA Today. November/December 1994.

Children, Pesticides and Schools. National Campaign Against the Misuse of

Pesticides. Washington, D.C., January 1996.

72 83

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
odule 2

Activity 4:

The Unseen

Hazard: Testing

the Water

Purpose: Participants will look for environmental hazards, understanding

that many are unseen, and become familiar with methods used to test for

toxic substances. They will become better able to communicate with

families and children about unseen hazards.

For this activity you will need:

Water samples from a variety of places

Information from your water department or health department about

local water quality

Key to Activity 4: Water QualitiesFor Trainer Only

Step 1: Prepare for this activity by acquiring jars of water from several

local areas; for example, from a tap at home, from the Head

Start Center, or from a river or stream near the center. Be sure

that you have one sample that is a muddy or sandy spadeful

from a pond, lake, stream, or ocean. You might ask the

participant(s) to bring a container with a water sample, too.

Step 2: Begin by asking the participant(s) to look at the variety of water

samples. To understand environmental hazards, the first step is

using our own knowledge and powers of observation. Tell them

that in this activity we will be considering how the ecosystem

includes many things that are unseen; some are helpful, others

harmful.

Environmental health specialists have developed tests to

determine when an unseen harmful substance is present. In

working with families, it is helpful to know enough about these

tests that you can respond to environmental concerns with facts.

If we don't understand how facts about toxins are uncovered,

we are more vulnerable to believing and being swayed by

sensational reports about toxins or more likely to accept bland

assurances that everything is fine.

After the participant(s) examine the water samples, ask for their

thoughts about water:

0 How important is water to health?

Environmental Risks and Hazards 73
Module 2

Do you have concerns about the water you use?

What do you know about water quality, the source of water

in your community and water processing?

Step 3: Reinforce the idea that drinking several glasses of water each

day is healthy. Because water is such an important part of

everyone's diet, it is important to be sure that it is clean.

Trainer's Note:

Review the Background Information on toxins in water and

Key to Activity 4: Water QualitiesFor Trainer Only.

Step 4: Now take note of your spadeful of muddy water. We see

substances in it that we know we don't want to drink.

Unfortunately, we do not know whether the other samples,

which are clearer, are healthy either. Note that many pollutants

are not visible to the unaided eye.

Ask the participant(s) if they can think of other unseen hazards.

Examples might be:

in air: carbon monoxide, radon gas

radiation from X-rays or the sun

forces from electric or magnetic fields

pesticide residue on food

lead in paint

Since we can't see these toxicants, how do we know they are

there? How do we know they are harmful?

Step 5: To determine whether toxins are present, we would ask several

questions. We will use water as the example, but these questions

could be adapted for other situations. Some questions to start

with are:

Do we know whether any harm has come to anyone from

drinking local water?

74 85 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Where does our water come from?

What do we see when we look at the water? (We will use

our senses first, though we know some toxicants cannot be

detected in this way.)

What invisible toxicants might be in our water?

Trainer's Note:

Use Key to Activity 4: Water QualitiesFor Trainer Only to

coach these questions.

Step 6: Ask the participant(s) to look over the information you have

collected on the local water supply.

What are the main issues about water in your area?

What tests does the water department use to assure purity?

Step 7: (If your water supply is safe and healthful) Discuss strategies

you will use to encourage water consumption among children,

staff, and families.

What should you be doing to ensure that your water supply

stays clean and safe?

Step 8: (If your water supply is not safe and healthful) Discuss

strategies to either improve the water quality in your area

through linkages with other organizations and interested people,

or to protect individual families from contaminated water.

Points to Consider: Water is important to all of us. We need to be aware of our local

water system and what risks there might be.

Because water is so essential to life, it is frightening to think of it

being polluted.

How do we go about dealing with potential contamination without

unduly alarming people?

Environmental Risks and Hazards 75
Module 2

How do we communicate about contamination when the contaminants can't be seen?

One problem in alerting people to environmental hazards is that

many hazards cannot be seen. Unless people get sick, it is difficult

to become concerned about water quality if the water looks clean

and fresh. It is difficult to convince people about the risk from radon

gas, since it cannot be seen and has no smell. Having concrete test

results can help.

76 8 7 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Key to Activity 4: Water QualitiesFor Trainer Only

Module 2

Where Does Our Water Come From?

Most of Earth's water is unavailable for drinking. Drinkable water comes from ground water sources

(aquifers and wells) or surface water (rivers, lakes, and streams). The risks for various types of water

pollution vary with the source of water. Agricultural runoff might contaminate ground water beneath

the fields first, but ultimately could get into other water locations. Surface water is susceptible to

contamination through debris or microorganisms carried by the wind. Water drawn from wells, and

not monitored as part of a public water supply, needs frequent testing to assure purity.

How Much Water Do We Have?

Imagine that all of Earth's water can fill a one-liter glass. The water comes in the following forms: (

How Does Our Water Get to Us?

28 ml fresh water made up of:

23 ml ice caps, glaciers

4 ml ground water

2 drops surface water

1 drop atmosphere & soil

972 ml salt water

Water supplies vary from region to region. It all comes from fresh water (surface or ground), then

goes through a piping system to get to our homes, offices or pumps. Contamination in the transport

system is possible. Water that travels through old, corroded pipes might pick up lead from the solder

used on the pipes. Well water is more likely to be contaminated with microorganisms than is a

publicly treated municipal water supply (from ground or surface water).

Environmental Risks and Hazards

63 77
ule

Key to Activity 4: Water imalitiesFor Trainer Only (continued)

What Are the Characteristics of Our Local Water?

o Milky color when drawn from tap: The water has lots of air in it, clears once it settles.

Is it harmful? No.

o Rusty color when it comes from faucet: The pipes have some corrosion that colors the water.

Is it harmful? No, but you might want to run the water for a bit to clear the standing water, which is

discolored.

o It is difficult to get soap bubbles to form: Water can be hard (full of minerals, such as ground water)

or soft (without minerals, such as snow melt). Soft water is "hungry" so it will absorb and use

whatever is put into it. Hard water is "full of stuff" so that the first part of the soap that is put in it

gets used to neutralize the minerals. You need more soap to get suds.

Is it harmful? No.

o Water looks clear and fine, but people get sick from drinking it: Water could be contaminated by

microorganisms, chemicals or metals.

Is it harmful? Yes.

What Is the Fluoride Content of Our Water?

o Fluoride is a natural trace element found in small and varying amounts in almost all water supplies,

plants, and even our diets. At the proper concentration in drinking water, fluoride reduces dental

cavities. Where the local water supply does not have the necessary level of fluoride occurring

naturally, some communities add fluoride to the water. Other do not add fluoride, and children in

those communities need regular topical fluoride treatments to protect their teeth.

What Do We Do If the Water Is Contaminated?

o With lead: Run the water for a few minutes each morning before you drink from the tap. This will

flush out the standing water, which will have higher concentrations of lead. Fill a jar with the

cleaner water and keep it in the refrigerator for drinking or filling baby's bottles.

With microorganisms: Boil the water for three minutes or use purifying tablets.

Source for Key to Activity 4: Water Qualities:

Water: The resource that gets used and used and used for everything! American

Water Resources Association, Bethesda, Md., 1991.

78

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Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Activity 5:

Home Visit

Checklist

Purpose: Staff members will improve their awareness of toxic substances

and hazardous conditions in the home, and be able to discuss these with

families during home visits.

For this activity you will need:

Handout I-1: Home Visit Checklist

Handout 1-2: Did You Know...?

Writing materials for participants

Step 1: Meet with your participant(s) and review the background

information for this module. Note the types of toxins that might

be found in a home. This activity will give the staff member the

experience of combining environmental awareness with

communication about concerns during the home visit.

Step 2: Review the general framework of a home visit.

What can this staff member do to ensure that the family

feels comfortable during the visit?

How does she talk with the family to find out whether they

worry about the health of their children or adult members of

the household?

Have family members told her they are concerned about an

environmental hazard?

Discuss how she addresses the family's environmental concerns.

Is the staff person comfortable with this topic?

Does she have contacts with outside agencies and/or written

materials she can give the family to help them reduce the

hazards? If not, help the staff member make those contacts.

How alert is the staff person as she observes the home?

Does she notice possible hazards such as peeling paint, the

use of pesticides, and type of heater?

Environmental Risks and Hazards 79
Module 2

Points to Consider:

Step 3: Give the participant(s) a copy of Handout I-1: Home Visit

Checklist.

Go over the questions together. On the left side of the page are

observations and suggestions for areas where there might be an

environmental concern.

The right side of the page lists which hazards to attend to if

certain conditions exist in the house. Be sure the participant(s)

feels comfortable with what to do and how to talk with a family

if an environmental hazard is uncovered.

Handout 1-2: Did You Know...? is an alternative form of the

same information. Choose which format to use.

Step 4: Ask the participant(s) to use the handout in at least two home

visits during the next couple of weeks. She could share the

handout with the family if that seems appropriate, or review it

prior to the visit to remind herself to keep an eye out for

possible hazards.

Step 5: Meet again with the participant(s) to review the home visits.

o What hazards did the family bring up as concerns? What

hazards did you notice that the family had not mentioned?

o How difficult was it to communicate with the families about

environmental hazards? Were you able to address the

concerns raised by the family and incorporate suggestions

about other hazards into your discussion?

o When did you need help? What other members of your

community did you have to draw in?

o Although we hope that we will be safe in our homes, a number of

possible toxins could be lurking there. It is important to be aware of

the potential toxicity of common hazards such as secondhand

smoke, household pesticides, and lead in the water.

80 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Families are concerned about many things, and their highest priority

may not be possible environmental hazards. The staff person must

respond to the family's concerns first. When bringing up the possibility of danger to household members from environmental hazards,

it is best to tie this particular danger into an already expressed concern of the family member. For example:

If a mother is concerned about her baby's frequent colds, the

staff person could mention the connection between parents'

cigarette smoking and child's respiratory infections.

If a father mentions how difficult it is to keep the house warm, it

might be a good opening to discuss the various heating and

insulating options available to this family and the environmental

impacts of each option.

Some exposures can be reduced through personal choices; a person

can quit smoking or choose not to use toxic substances for pest control. Some exposures will not be under a family's power to change.

If they live in a rented house or apartment with lead contaminants in

the water pipes, they can't fix the pipes. But, they can reduce their

personal risk by running the water to flush out contaminants before

drinking.

SMOHE0PREC zonc.

Environmental Risks and Hazards

92

81
odule 2

Activity 6:

A New Head

Start Center

Green &

19 eautiful

Purpose: Staff members will develop a checklist for the environmental

features they know to be essential in purchasing or building a new Head

Start center.

For this activity you will need:

II Writing materials for participants

Flip chart and markers

Trainer Preparation Note:

This activity will be most effective if your program is planning

to purchase, build or renovate a new facility in the near future.

If you are not, you may adapt these ideas to an evaluation and

plan for improvement in your current center.

You may wish to review the Key for Activity 4: Prompts for

Environmental IssuesFor Trainer Only from Module 1-

Activity 4: Alejandro and His Earth, and the Head Start Facilities Manual for points to be sure to include. Also useful would

be the Education guide Enhancing Children's Growth &

Development.

Step 1: Explain to participants that this is a brainstorming activity to

develop ideas for an ecologically oriented, toxic-free Head Start

center. This activity is what an architect would want you to do

before she would begin designs for the new center.

On the flip chart, make two columns: "What We Don't Want"

and "What We Want."

Step 2: Encourage participants to think about the current center.

Which features are environmentally positive?

Which features do we want to avoid?

List ideas on the flip chart. Add positive ideas which are not in

the present center, but which you want in the new center.

82

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Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Step 3: When you have a good sampling of brainstorming ideas, review

them to be sure that you have covered ideas about air quality,

water quality, and building materials.

What do you need to see in the center to assure safety and

health?

Now consider another environmental dimension: energy. For

humans, energy comes from food.

What can you do to ensure a safe and healthful food supply

for this center?

What do you need for preparation, serving, and storage?

Then think of the energy supply for the building.

What will you use for lighting?

What other electrical or gas needs do you have?

Can you choose products that demand less from Earth's

nonrenewable energy supply (e.g., oil) and rely on

renewable energy (e.g., sun, wind power)?

Step 4: Think about trash. Discuss ways of reducing trash production in

your program, through the three R's: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Consider which supplies end up as trash.

What supplies do you need for the program? Can you

choose reusable supplies? Can you choose items that are not

packaged in throw-away materials?

How can you reduce, reuse, and recycle? What facilities will

you need to make this easy to do? Can you compost food

waste?

Think about the safe disposal of trash, when trash really is

unavoidable.

What types of containers do you need? Paper, contaminated

waste, etc.?

Step 5: Consider the outdoor area of the center and what type of

landscaping you will have.

Environmental Risks and Hazards 9 4 83
Module 2

Points to Consider:

Is there a place for a garden?

O Will it need fertilizers and pesticides?

How can you be sure that the landscaping will be wildlifefriendly and safe for children?

Step 6: Move your participants into smaller groups and give each group

a large piece of paper and a variety of colored markers. Assign

the groups an age group of children:

Group 1: Infants

Group 2: Toddlers

o Group 3: Young preschoolers

Group 4: Pre-kindergartners

Ask each group to discuss the developmental features of their

particular group of children. Then, using the ideas that have

been generated from the whole group about environmentally

friendly design, ask each small group to draw up a plan for a

space for these children. Consider indoor and outdoor space.

Step 7: Post these drawings in your current center and share them with

the administrators who will be selecting or designing your new

site.

Designing a center requires consideration of the developmental

needs of children, their activities, and the natural environment. We

want to think both of hazards from the environment and our chance

to build a center that is environmentally friendly.

Think both long term and short term. Some building materials are

more expensive initially but pay off in lower costs later. This is especially true when considering energy efficiency.

Consider what outside people will need to be involved in the renovation or construction of your center. Specifically, you might need

specialists in lead abatement or the removal of asbestos. You might

want to talk with someone who is knowledgeable about integrated

pest management so that you can develop a pest control approach

which is effective and non-toxic.

84 95 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2

Next Steps:

Ideas to Extend

Practice

1. Using the information in Activity 1: Children's Developmental

Stages, plan an educational activity for parents of children of

different ages. Talk with the parents about their children's

development and which hazards they want to look for in their

homes. Help the parents to reduce possible hazards.

2. Contact your local water department or health department and

arrange for a speaker to come and discuss water-quality issues with

staff and parents. Or arrange a visit to the local water treatment

plant. A water-quality specialist could explain the more detailed

tests that are carried out to determine water quality and how water is

treated in your area.

3. Invite a local building or landscape architect to your center to

discuss plans for an environmentally safe and friendly building.

Look for an architect who has a commitment to environmentally

sound building practices.

4. Fairly simple test kits are available for checking water quality,

presence of radon gas, and soil contamination. Contact a school

science supply company, local health department or local office of

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Find out what simple

test kits they use or recommend for home use. Develop a training

activity for staff using test kits.

Environmental Risks and Hazards

9 G

85
Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

Handout G: Children's Developmental Stages & Environmental Risks

Age of Child:

0-3 mos.

Main behavioral characteristics of these children:

4-12 mos.

1-2 yrs.

3-5 yrs.

What are the main risks from toxins

in...

How do we protect children from toxins

in...

Air:

Water:

Food:

Household products/building materials:

-

86

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Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

Handout H-1: Sally's Story-Group 1

Part I:

In January, three-year-old Sally joins your Head Start program. You notice that Sally has a chronic

cough even when she does not have a cold. You also notice that Sally needs to rest frequently during

vigorous playground activities. Each year, your Head Start program has had more children with

asthma. The asthma seems to be especially severe in the winter, which is very cold in your

mountainous, snowy town. In Sally's case, however, her breathing problems seem to be more severe

than those of other children's. You inquire about Sally's health. Her parents are surprised that Sally

has developed such severe asthma. Two years ago when the family moved into their first home after

living in an apartment complex, Sally was a healthy child who loved to play with her friends and

older siblings. Now, her condition keeps her from being active.

Part II:

What Sally's mother tells you

Sally's asthma medications are monitored carefully by her parents. They have given away their cat,

which seemed to make Sally worse, and are trying to watch what Sally eats to avoid any asthmatriggering foods. Their home is heated entirely by two wood-burning stoves, one in the kitchen and

one in the living room. You ask Sally's parents what kind of wood they burn in the stove. They say

that most of the wood comes from old train ties left from the tracks that used to run next to their

community.

Part III:

What the environmental health specialist at the local health department tells you

Wood stoves and fireplaces emit particulates, carbon monoxide, benzene, and formaldehyde.

Children who are exposed to wood smoke have chronic coughing, wheezing, and severe asthma

attacks more than other children. Only wood-burning stoves and fireplaces that have excellent

ventilation are safe. Wood burned in stoves or fireplaces should contain no solvents or chemicals

such as those found in train ties, because the chemicals are released inside the home when the coated

wood is burned.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

9 3

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Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

H ndout H-2: Juan's Story-Group 2

Part I:

o Juanito, a five-year-old, is enrolled in Head Start. Sometimes he misses school while he helps his

parents work in the fields. You are concerned about his absences, but understand that the entire

family contributes to the household income. One day, Juanito's mother Gloria arrives at school early

to pick him up. She seems quite concerned. Upon questioning, you find out that Juan, Juanito's

father, has been sent home from the fields, complaining of dizziness, weakness, stomach pains,

difficulty breathing and muscle cramps. You know the family is reluctant to go to the medical clinic

in town. You tell Gloria that you will stop by to see if you can help as soon as all of the children at

the center have been picked up.

art II:

o What Jorge tells you

When you arrive at Juanito's home, you find lots of activity. Juanito's home is located near the

fields where the family works. It is evening and the breeze is moving from the East, the direction of

the fields. There is a strange odor. On the front porch, you notice a pile of work clothes that reek of

some chemical. Gloria welcomes you in and hurries back to the room where Juan is lying. Juanito

climbs up on your lap. All of the commotion and his father being ill have him worried. Jorge,

Juanito's 18-year-old brother, tells you it has been very busy in the fields and the workers have been

doing more than their usual jobs.

Part III:

o What the emergency room physician tells you

Juan usually sorts and moves the crops from the field into the packing sheds. Today, because of the

short staff, he was asked to apply the pesticide malathion, which is sprayed on a variety of crops.

Juan is not properly trained in handling malathion nor was he properly protected. When someone

comes in contact with this pesticide, the effect is dramatic and immediate. It has a potent effect on

the nervous system, as do other organophosphates. Atropine is an antidote for organophosphate

poisoning, and if administered quickly can save a life. All family members should probably be

watched for low-level effects from exposure to this pesticide.

88 9 9 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

Handout H-3: Tehan's StoryGroup 3

Part I:

Tehan is a healthy four-year-old boy in the Head Start program. He has a reputation as an agreeable

child who participates willingly in all activities. One day you notice a sudden change in his

disposition. He is irritable and withdrawn. Another day he begins to tremble. You contact his parents

to alert them. They pick him up right away. The next day he's absent. His parents call to tell you that

Tehan became progressively weaker during the night, complaining of pain in his legs. After school

you stop by Tehan's home to check on how he is.

Part II:

What Tehan's aunt tells you

Tehan's aunt is at the home. She says Tehan and the family have gone to stay with their cousins who

live a few blocks away. The aunt is tidying up and she tells you how upsetting the past few days

have been: The family has been really disturbed by the landlord's painting. When you entered the

home you noticed a strong smell of new paint. Tehan's aunt tells you how difficult it has been.

Because their apartment is old, they were concerned about lead poisoning from the peeling paint.

Tehan's blood lead level had been a bit elevated when he was screened through the Head Start

program. With the help of an active community group and a supportive health department, the

landlord had been pressured to repaint the apartment, covering the old paint. He had resisted, but

finally complied disagreeably, refusing to buy new paint but using some cans of paint that he had

stored in the basement from a job several years ago.

Part III:

What the pediatrician tells you

Acrodynia, caused by mercury exposure, is known as "pink disease" because a child's hands and

feet become bluish pink. The syndrome is also characterized by extreme irritability, insomnia, and

constant itching with excruciating pain in the hands, feet, and joints. Because it is highly toxic to

bacteria and fungi, mercury was added to latex paints as a preservative. After the paint has been

applied, the mercury vaporizes into the indoor air. In 1990, the United States banned use of mercury

compounds as paint preservatives in interior latex paint. However, existing stocks of latex paint

containing mercury can be distributed and sold; the ban applies only to paint produced since 1990.

To prevent exposure to mercury, when purchasing paint, check that it contains no mercury. Proper

ventilation both during and after painting is crucial. If you have no control over the painters (as in

Tehan's family's landlord situation), stay out of the area for several weeks.

Children also can be exposed to mercury from a broken thermometer. Mercury is very bright and

enticing to children who might pick up a broken thermometer that is lying around.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

n ri

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Module 2: Environmental Risks and azards

Handout H-4: Alicia's Story-Group 4

Part I:

A young couple in their mid-30s have just enrolled their 18-month-old daughter in your home-based

Head Start program. Kevin and Alicia Williams moved to your mral southern community two years

ago and bought an old farm house. They are working very hard to renovate the old homestead and

make a success of their farm.

One day when you visit, Alicia enthusiastically gives you a tour of the old house. As she shows off the

rooms, she confides a bit of trouble: She and Kevin have not felt really well since their first winter in

the home. They both have had stuffy noses, sinus pain, and severe headaches that lasted two to three

hours, sometimes accompanied by light-headedness. They wonder about pollen or dust in the air, but

their symptoms are especially noticeable after they work in their basement workshop.

"I guess we're crazy, with all we have to do," Alicia said, "but we've tried to have a second child and

it's not working." She calls herself a "health nut," saying she and Kevin have never smoked, don't

drink alcohol and used to get a lot of exercise when they lived in the city. Now, she says, she is always

tired.

Part II:

What Kelly tells you

A few houses away lives Kelly Stuart, a lifelong resident of the area, and her husband Leo. The

Stuarts' children have participated in Head Start for many years. When you visit Kelly, she is happily

pregnant. She says she feels sorry for Alicia, her friend. You learn that the previous occupants of the

Williams' house, also a young couple, had left the farm convinced that the wife's two miscarriages

were due to something wrong with the house.

Part III:

What the local building inspector tells you

He checked the housing records and verified that chlordane was used to fumigate the Williams' house

for termites six years ago. Chlordane had been used widely for more than 35 years as a spray to protect

structures against termites, but was banned a few years ago. Chlordane is an organochlorine insecticide, in the same family as DDT and heptachlor. These chemicals have low acute toxicity, so that

people who work with them do not show any effects. However, the chemicals persist in the environment indefinitely. Their effect on reproduction in the animal world was detailed in Silent Spring.

The major source of chlordane exposure today is indoor air, a result of continuing volatilization from

prior use in and around homes. Homes improperly treated have higher levels of chlordane. Improper

treatment includes pouring the chemical at the foundation line, carelessly injecting liquid chlordane

directly into living spaces or air ducts, or excessive spraying in crawl spaces. If oversprayed, emission

of chlordane from joists and flooring can persist for 15 years after treatment.

90

1.01

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

Handout I-1: Home Visit Checklist

Family Name: Date:

Address:

Observations Hazard to Consider Notes on

What To Do

Type of Housing?

age, condition

peeling paint

lead-based paint

asbestos

Attached Garage? gas fumes

carbon monoxide

ventilation

Live in the Basement Apartment? radon

Peeling Insulation? asbestos

Source of Drinking Water?

from a private well

from older pipes

from a well close to possible

pollution source (e.g., farm or

feedlot)

microorganisms

lead

pesticides

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

102

9 1
Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

Handout 114: Home Visit Cheddist (continued)

Observations Hazard to Consider Notes on

What To Do

Heating Source?

wood burning

kerosene heaters

possible air pollutants

be sure of adequate

ventilation

Smokers in the House? secondhand tobacco

smoke

Use of Pesticides or Toxic Cleaning

Supplies?

for indoor pests

for scouring, polishing, etc.

poisoning possibilities

Yard and/or Garden?

growing own fruits and vegetables pesticide used

pesticide residue

contaminated soil

Pet(s)? flea control

pesticides

Work of Household Members?

toxins in the workplace exposures could be

occurring at work, and

then brought home

92 0 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

111/ Handout 1-2: Did You Know...?

a house or apartment building

was built before 1979...

a building has asbestos as an

insulation material in pipes,

walls, or ceilings...

a garage is attached to a house,

and vehicles are parked in the

garage...

a family lives in a basement

apartment...

a home receives drinking water

from a private well...

a home has water pipes

installed before 1950 and if

these pipes contain lead solder

at their joints...

Did You Know...?

paint with lead was probably

used in it. This paint is

hazardous to children if it is

peeling or flaking.

asbestos fibers, if disturbed and

allowed to circulate in the air,

can cause lung cancer.

gas fumes and carbon

monoxide can seep into the

living spaces.

radon gas tends to settle near

the ground and the levels of

radon will be higher in

basement areas.

the water is not treated by any

municipal agency; it should,

therefore, be tested regularly to

be sure that there are no

harmful microorganisms

present.

the water might be

contaminated with lead from

the pipes.

To Reduce Hazards, You

Can...

wet-mop paint dust off of

window sills and vacuum

frequently to pick up any dust

on the floor. Cover any spots

of peeling paint with new

lead-free paint.

call the health department to

find someone in your area who

is certified to do asbestos

removal.

be sure that the garage is well

ventilated to the outside, so that

fumes do not seep into the

living spaces.

check with the health

department to see if radon gas

is a problem in your area. Get a

testing kit to measure the level

of radon in the basement.

have the water tested by the

local health department or

testing agency.

for a minute each morning run

the water from the faucet that

provides your drinking water.

Use the first-run water for

plants. Keep a pitcher of water

for drinking or cooking, drawn

after the first-run water, in the

refrigerator for use throughout

the day.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 93
Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards

Ha clout 1-2: Did You Know...? (continued)

a home is located near a farm

or feedlot and receives its

water from a well...

a home's source of heat is a

wood-burning stove or

kerosene heater...

there are smokers living in the

house...

members of the household

work with toxic substances at

their workplaces...

pesticides are used to control

bugs and other pests in the

house, in the yard or on pets...

Did You Know...?

the water might be

contaminated by runoff from

pesticides and fertilizers used

on the farm or feedlot.

dangerous gases are given off

from these heating sources and

the home should be

well-ventilated.

other residents are exposed to

secondhand tobacco smoke.

other family members could be

exposed to the same toxic

substances through contact with

the worker's clothes.

members of the household

might be exposed to these

poisonous substances.

To i educe Hazards, You

Can...

have the water tested by the

local health department or

testing agency. If there is

contamination, it may not be

safe to use that well.

be sure that the heater or stove

is equipped with the necessary

safety features. Be sure that

there is adequate ventilation

when using these heaters.

encourage smokers to quit

smoking. If they cannot, ask

them to smoke outdoors only.

be sure to change clothes and

wash well before leaving the

workplace.

try to find ways to control pests

without the use of chemical

pesticides.

94 ru

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 3

uilding Communities Which Consider the Seventh Ge eration

Outcomes After completing this module, participants will:

recognize and respond to long-term and community-wide

environmental challenges;

expand their current role in collaboration with community agencies

to address environmental health issues;

improve their skills in working with families to:

support family efforts to enhance and protect their community's

environment

identify environmentally related situations and behaviors that

could cause harm; and

be able to review and assess local Head Start program practices in

light of the goal of environmental sustainability, and make changes

where necessary.

Key Concepts A healthy environment is a key to a strong community. Building better communities is a part of Head Start's mission.

Parents juggle many issues as they work to provide healthy, loving

homes for their children. Understanding how environmental pollution can affect low-income families is important in finding ways to

protect the families and lessen pollution's effects.

Head Start programs can contribute to a healthier environment. Environmentally sustainable practices assure a healthy future for our

children and generations to come.

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation 9 5

1, 0 G
oiule 3

Background Information A. The Environment: Working Toward the Big Picture

The Iroquois have a saying, "In every deliberation, we must consider the

effect on the next seven generations." The idea of seven generations of

impact is another way of looking at the concept of sustainability.

Head Start staff are already committed to a multi-generational program.

They understand how behaviors and situations of parents and grandparents contribute to the behaviors and situations of childreneven after the

children are grown. In promoting and encouraging supportive discipline,

for example, we lay the groundwork for young adults who can make intelligent choices and manage their emotions. Healthy families sustain and

transmit an ongoing thread of love and growth, much like the roots that a

healthy plant sends out through the earth to sprout new generations of

plants.

We can use this concept of sustainability to evaluate different actions that

we or others take. To know whether any environmental practice can pass

the test of sustainability, simply ask this question: Is this practice something that can be done by many people throughout the world, over and

over and on through time, without toxic effects? Many researchers and

activists in the environmental community have concluded that the overall

practices of modem industrial societyusing lots of machines and natural

resources, and generating lots of pollutants and wastecannot be continued if we wish to sustain the quality of human life and the ecological

health and biodiversity of the planet for future generations.

One example of the long-reaching and far-ranging effect of a population's

behaviors is the use of oil and coal which lead to global warming. Most

scientists believe that the by-products of our energy use (carbon dioxide

and the other greenhouse gases) will heat the atmosphere, and cause

oceans to rise, storms, droughts, and famine.

Because U.S. society is more urban and industrial than much of the world,

each American is responsible for putting more carbon dioxide into the

atmosphere than others who live on this planet. The average American is

responsible for 2.3 tons of carbon each year, while the average Western

European is responsible for 0.9 of a ton and the average person in India

only 0.1 ton. This gives Americans the chance to do good through lifestyle changes!

Society-wideor worldwidechallenges require actions by individuals

and groups. Global warming, for example, can be reduced by using less

carbon-producing energy. Each person can be part of the solution by conserving electricity, conserving energy for home heating and cooling, and

using cars much more efficiently. Because trees use carbon dioxide in

their life cycle, the solution includes protecting existing trees and planting

more of them.

96 Sustaining a Healthy Environment 107
Module 3

Everyone is affected by environmental degradation, and everyone is able

to do something to enhance and protect the planet.

B. Special Challenges

Achievement of Head Start's goals for families and children requires supportive, healthy communities. In looking at our communities' environmentwhether defined by beautiful natural features, availability of

wholesome food, or freedom from toxic pollutionit is important to be

alert to the special risks that some communities face. It is well-documented that children in low-income families face greater health risks and

suffer from more illnesses than children in more affluent families. It

seems also to be the case that children in low-income families are more

disadvantaged from an environmental perspective.

The history of lead poisoning is a good example. Lead's dangers have

been known for hundreds of years, but only during this century has attention been paid to lead effects, which are more subtle than acute illness

from lead poisoning, which usually leads to hospitalization. In the 1970s

and '80s, mass screening of millions of children evaluated the levels of

lead in their blood. The problem of lead absorption was nationwide. However, African American children, from low-income families who lived in

the central city were affected disproportionately.

After several years of work, average blood lead levels are down. The

1990-94 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

showed an average lead level of 2.7 mg/di among children aged one to

five in the United States. But there has been no decrease in blood lead

levels in ethnic minority populations. Of the children with lead poisoning,

55% are from low-income African American families, while 26% are

from low-income white families. Children in low-income, ethnic minority

families are more likely to be exposed to higher levels of lead because

low-income housing tends to be poorly maintained and is more likely to

have old, peeling paint. To make matters worse, children from low-income families can absorb lead more readily because their diets can be

deficient in protein, calcium, iron, and zinc.

Disproportionate harm is also found in exposure to polluted air. The

American Lung Association estimates that a person's chance of living in

an area where ozone levels exceed the Environmental Protection Agency

standard for clean air differs based on the person's ethnicity: 69% of Hispanics, 67% of Asian American, 61% of African Americans, and 51% of

European Americans live in "dirty air" areas.

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation 97

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Module 3

In Los Angeles, air quality is notorious, but it is not equally bad throughout the region. Over 14 million people reside inand share the air inan

"air basin" created by inversion layers and mountains, wind currents and

variable temperatures. Ozone and particulates from motor vehicles are

concentrated inland, not in the hillsides swept by ocean breezes in the

western part of the city. A family's ability to choose where to live, and to

take trips out of Los Angeles, can reduce their exposure to bad air.

The link between environmental protection and the more traditional family support/community development work that Head Start does is clear.

Understanding the impact that the environment has on our health, we can

see the mutual benefit that comes from collaborating with groups whose

work is to protect and enhance the natural environment.

C. Collaborating with the Community

Head Start staff can help communities improve their environment by helping community members gain access to policy makers and those who enforce environmental regulations. Staff can also help build sustainable

communities by forging linkages among health workers, environmentalists, and those interested in family support.

There have been some wonderful environmental success stories from the

alliance of neighbors and environmental groups. One example is the

Blueridge Civic Club in Houston, Texas. When neighbors learned of the

plans to build a garbage processing plant near their homeswhich would

cause increases in truck traffic, odor, and household hazardous waste

productsthey collaborated with other groups. They were able to halt the

permit process for this plant, although other garbage facilities had been

located near their neighborhood in the past.

There are endless ways to work collaboratively to protect and enhance the

environment. Head Start programs must develop linkages with community-based environmental organizations that know about local conditions

and efforts.

The federal agency with primary responsibility for environmental health

is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), created in December

1970, several months after the first Earth Day.

EPA is responsible for enforcing national pollution prevention and

cleanup laws. Familiarity with these and other local laws that protect the

environment can help staff to know how to address issues of environmental health or illness.

98 1 0 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 3

Questions for Discussion/

Reflection

D. Head Start as Model of Sustainability

While a Head Start program, through its staff, can have some effect

throughout the community in encouraging healthy environmental developments, it can have even more impact right at home. The staff of each program make choices daily that are sustainable or nonsustainable: from

choosing the type of silverware to use during lunch to selecting light bulbs

for the center.

Working toward environmental health means individual choices and community commitmentwith a healthier future for all.

How do you fit the overall needs of the ecosystemand the seventh

generationinto your day-to-day needs and activities? Is it hard to

do? Easy?

How aware of environmental issues is the staff of your Head Start

program? Your program's families? Your local community?

Can you give examples of special risks to certain groups from

unhealthy environmental situations?

Which environmental groups in your community would you most

like to work with? Do you see a strong common purpose though

your day-to-day work is different?

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Genertlitir0 99
odule 3

References for Background

Information

Meadows, Robin, "Growing Pains." Environmental Health

Perspectives. Vol. 104, No 2., February 1996.

Sustainability and Justice, Urban Habitat Program, Earth Island

Institute, San Francisco, 1995.

Sand ling, Dolores. "Houston: Just Say No to Garbage," People of

Color Environmental Groups, Charles Steward Mott

Foundation, Flint, Mich., 1994.

"How Many Trees Does It Take to Store the Carbon You Produce?

A Guide to Help You Contribute to the Prevention of Global

Climate Change." USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Forest

Experiment Station, 1990.

Centers for Disease Control, "Update: Blood Lead LevelsUnited

States, 1991-1994." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, pp.

141-145. February 21, 1997, Vol. 46, No. 7. Massachusetts

Medical Society, Waltham, Mass.

100 l i 1 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Activity 1:

Module 3

Hot Spots

Community

Map

Purpose: Participants will create a visual record of toxic hot spots in their

community, relate those hot spots to the residences of families and to the

location of the Head Start center, and plan ways to address the problems.

For this activity you will need:

A map of your area, big enough to be seen when posted on a wall

Many small, sticky dots in a variety of colors

Green and blue stars

Address lists for families in your program

Flip chart and markers

Step 1: Welcome participants and tell them that they will be developing

a picture of the community and identifying locations where

health-damaging activities take place.

Step 2: On the flip chart, write the following:

yellow = air

red = toxic dumps or buildings

purple = water

orange = other

Step 3: Give each participant two or three dots of each color. Ask them

to think about where in their community the environment is

being damaged. Ask them to go to the map and put dots at those

locations. Refer them to the coding for the dots on the flip chart.

Encourage them to put their dots on top of each other if two or

more people identify the same hot spot; this will indicate the

depth of concern of the group about that particular toxic spot.

Step 4: When everyone has distributed their dots, ask the group to

consider the map.

Do you see a preponderance of one kind of toxic spot in this

community?

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generafioh 2

101
e 3

Is the biggest issue air, water, toxic sites, or something else?

What about the distribution of spots on the map? Are they

concentrated in one area?

Step 5: Now consider the effects of those hot spots on the health of the

Head Start families.

Where do the families live? Mostly in one area? If so, are

they grouped near any of the major problem spots?

Have you noticed any ill health effects in families who live

near any of these spots? Do you notice any connections?

What about the location of the Head Start center? Are any

toxic areas nearby?

Step 6: Choose the two or three areas of major concern and divide

participants into smaller groups, assigning one concern to each

group. Give each group a large piece of flip chart paper and a

marker to record their strategies for addressing the problem.

Step 7: Ask each group to discuss its environmental problem. Questions

that can guide the discussion are:

What more information do we need about this issue?

Who should we talk with to get more information?

What do we want to do about this problem?

Who else should be involved in our action? Which

community agencies can collaborate with us on this?

Step 8: Ask each group to report back on its strategies. Ask other groups

to suggest additional ideas.

What barriers do they expect to encounter?

How much do they think they can do?

Ask the groups to make a commitment to follow through on

their plans.

Step 9: Now check with the participants. Do they feel overwhelmed? Is

this depressing?

102 Sustaining a Healthy Environment

113
Module 3

Points to Consider:

All communities have both positive and negative features.

Commend the participants for their willingness to tackle the

challenges.

Give everyone five blue or green stars. As they leave the room,

ask them to return to the maps and put their stars wherever in

their community they find an environment that is clean,

beautiful, uplifting, or even just improved from the past. Suggest

that they think of or visit these spots whenever they feel

overwhelmed by the challenge of changing a bad situation.

Trainer's Note:

See Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice for an idea on celebrating the community's "cool spots."

There are patterns of pollution that we can see when we look at a

community. Knowledge of the pattern can help to target the efforts

to correct the problem. It can also help to mobilize residents in a

certain area, and draw the attention of elected officials in that area.

In looking at major toxic problems, we have to realize that we can

only do so much, and that often the situation is beyond our total

control, regardless of our level of effort. It is useful to think of two

general options:

Is this a problem that we have a chance of solving if we work

with other groups in the community?

or

Is this a problem that cannot be solved but can be alleviated if

we develop a strategy to minimize harm to our families?

Either route is the "right" route, depending on the situation.

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation,

1

103 i 4
Mo ule 3

Activity 2:

Community

Helpers

Purpose: Staff members will identify where to find assistance in the cOmmunity when an environmental problem presents itself.

For this activity you will need:

121 Handout J: Environmental Laws & Regulations

111 Writing materials for each participant

Trainer Preparation Note:

Conduct this activity with staff interested in working on an

environmental problem in the community. If possible, involve a

staff member, a parent/family member, and a member of the

Health Services Advisory Committee or Policy Council as a

team.

Step 1: Meet with the participant(s) to decide which environmental

problem they will investigate. Clarify the problem with the

participant(s).

In your first meeting, you may wish to incorporate information

on the local ecosystem and why we care about it from Module 1:

Caring for Our Children, Caring for Our Earth.

Step 2: Ask staff members to research the problem they chose. They

should gather information about the dimensions of the problem

and how long it has existed. There is good background

information in Module 2: Environmental Risks and Hazards.

Confer with them on where to obtain information about legal

implications of the problem. Check into relevant local, state and

federal laws. Handout J: Environmental Laws & Regulations

lists some important federal laws. States or counties are likely to

have regulations covering aspects of the same problems.

Step 3: Give the participant(s) enough time to research the issue and to

make contact with possible helpers. These helpers could be:

parents' groups

104 Sustaining a Healthy Environment 115
Module 3

Points to Consider:

environmental action groups

local health departmentEnvironmental Health section

state health departmentEnvironmental Health section

regional office of the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency

Encourage the participant(s) to make good use of the already

established linkages that their Head Start program has in the

community. Have any of them expressed an interest in this

problem?

Step 4: Give the participant(s) a date to report back on the steps that

might be taken to address the environmental problem. Identify

the next steps and recruit other members of the staff or

community to become involved.

How did you decide to investigate this issue? Was there a complaint

from parents, an obvious increase in illness in an area, or a growing

concern about a long-term problem that might not yet be obvious?

Environmental problems can seem overwhelming. Usually, however, there is a small piece that can be addressed. Something can be

done that makes the situation better, though it might not completely

solve the problem.

Who was the most responsive: elected officials, staff of government

agencies, or people in community groups? Can you identify groups

you had not known of before who can now be community partners?

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

n

it 1 0

105
dule 3

Activity 3:

It Happens at Home

Pollution or

Prevention

Purpose: Staff will improve their ability to work with families around

environmental health issues.

For this workshop activity you will need:

Handout K: Home Situations

Writing materials for participants

Step 1: Begin the activity by acknowledging the important work that all

staff do in support of families. Certainly each staff member can

recall some families that faced many challenges. It is always

difficult to choose where to focus attention when many things

need attention.

This activity explores some situations of environmental need,

sometimes articulated by the family, sometimes not. Group

members will look at several situations, decide how they might

address them as pairs of staff people, then as a large group

consider what place environmental concerns hold in their own

Head Start program's "hierarchy of needs."

Step 2: Talk with participants about their experiences in working with

families around environmental health issues.

Have you ever noticed a family doing something that

contributes to pollution in the community? Has a family

ever brought up a concern about a neighbor's practices?

What kinds of things?

Have you ever been approached by a family member and

asked for help working on a community-wide environmental

problem? What kinds of things?

Assess with your group the level of importance that this

particular Head Start program attaches to local environmental

concerns: High, Medium, or Low?

106 Sustaining a Healthy Environment

117
Module 3

Step 3: Ask each participant to choose a partner. There are several

scenarios in Handout K: Home Situations. Tell them that they

will work as a staff team involved with a Head Start family.

They will consider the situation presented, and discuss how they

would approach it.

Once they have their plan, the large group will reconvene to

discuss the situations. Out of the large group discussion a

program-wide philosophy on environmental concerns could

emerge.

Step 4: Allow the pairs approximately 10 minutes. During their

discussion, ask them to consider the following:

What is the parents' perspective on this situation? Is there

great concern? Are they unconcerned?

What is your perspective as a staff person? Is there great

concern? Are you unconcerned?

What aspects of this situationif anydo you find

particularly challenging or problematic?

Who else would you involve in this situation? Others in

your own Head Start program? Other community members

or agencies?

What steps do you plan to take?

Step 5: Bring the group together. Ask the members to share their

situation with the other participants, and ask them to explain

what they plan to do. Ask all the members to consider how the

planned actions fit into the priorities of their own Head Start

center.

Are there some situations that would normally call for

intervention?

Are there some situations the staff would rather leave alone?

What support might staff need in taking on a situation or

problem that is unusual or controversial?

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation 107

118
Module 3

Points to Consider: Does it feel like a stretch to talk with parents about environmentally

damaging practices?

Most people find it easiest to address a pollution problem when

there is a direct effect on the health or well-being of the people involved. Attention to ecological health is important but may not be a

primary concern.

How high a priority does this Head Start program place on involvement in community environmental issues?

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed, the pollution is too

pervasive, or there are too many issues to consider? How do you

find a manageable piece of the problem to address? Who can help?

How good are the linkages between this program and other community organizations that focus on environmental concerns? How could

the links be strengthened?

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119

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Activity 4:

Module 3

Environmental

Advertisements

Purpose: Participant(s) will work with the policy council or parent committee, helping them to develop some ideas for educating parents on

environmental themes.

For this coaching activity you will need:

Handout L-1: Be a Common Sense Citizen

Handout L-2: Be a Common Sense Parent

Step 1: Work with the participant(s) whose role is to develop parent

education materials. Ask about the themes that the parent

education committee is working with this year.

Do any relate to the environment?

Recognizing that parents are very busy and Head Start families

have many things to think about, consider:

What is a simple way to present an environmental message?

How could we give family members some information about

protecting and enhancing the environment, focusing on

issues that they have identified as important?

We can provide printed materials with quick, simple

information and motivational messages to encourage

environmental protection.

Step 2: Review Handouts L-1: Be a Common Sense Citizen and L-2: Be

a Common Sense Parent. These were produced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the 25th anniversary of

Earth Day. If you are close to a regional EPA office, check there

for other educational materials. Check also with your local

health department's environmental health section, the Cooperative Extension Service, the Forest Service, or an environmental

studies department at a local college or university. See what

printed materials they have that they will share.

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation 109

1 0
Module 3

Points to Consider:

Step 3: Meet with your parent council and discuss an environmental

issue that is important and immediately relevant to them. What

do they think might interest other families? Discuss how you

could develop a simple handout or flyer with a message about

the important topic on it. Review with the group some of the

materials you have collected.

Step 4: Revise any existing materials in a way that is most appealing

and understandable to your group of families. Write your own if

you wish.

Step 5: Duplicate your materials and make them available as handouts,

or include them in the program newsletter. Talk with parents

and family members over the next few weeks to see if the

materials were interesting, motivational and educational.

Were you able to make any changes after reading them?

Consider an ongoing project that would offer a new tip sheet

periodically, perhaps monthly.

Companies advertise to sell their products. They are in the business

of motivating people to take action and to buy. We can think in the

same way in designing advertisements for environmental action.

Simple written materials can provide information that people can

consider at their convenience. In designing these materials, take

reading level, language, and cultural preferences into account.

Think about the commercials that you saw recently on television.

Why were they effective? What techniques did they use?

How can you apply advertising know-how to educational

materials for parents?

110 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Activity 5:

Module 3

To Dispose

or Reuse?

Purpose: The participant(s) will analyze the costs and benefits of using

some products common in Head Start programs. They will develop a balance sheet that reflects a variety of issues.

For this activity you will need:

Handout M: The Environmental Balance Sheet

Writing materials for participants

Step 1: Discuss with participant(s) the issue of solid waste production

garbage. Industry produces many disposable products, which

we use once and throw away. Disposing of the garbage is left to

future generations.

Do we consider all of the costs and benefits when we choose

which products to buy?

What is the ultimate result of this type of consumerism?

To move toward more sustainable practices in our Head Start

programs, what should we be considering?

Step 2: Review the guidelines on reducing solid waste:

First choice, reduce: Try not to acquire the item in the first

place.

Second choice, reuse: Use something once, then use it

again, and again, and again (a good example is the efficient

use most schools make of paper printed on one side, then

reused on the other).

Third choice, recycle: Have the item broken down into its

basic parts and made again into a new item.

Recycling is the third choice in reducing waste because energy

is used and pollution is generated in the process of remaking the

new product. Some things are easily recycledsuch as glass

and aluminumand can be made into new items again and

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation 111

22
Module 3

again. Other thingslike most plasticdo not truly recycle,

because they can only be "recycled" once or twice. Then they

become garbage.

Step 3: Ask the participant(s) to think of a variety of disposable items

used in the Head Start program. Some examples:

paper plates and paper or plastic (styrofoam) cups

disposable diapers

disposable baby bottle liners or baby bottles

plastic silverware

products packaged in styrofoam pellets or plastic wrap

juice boxes or other disposable food containers

disposable paper towels

tissues

Step 4: Select one product for each participant to analyze. Give them a

copy of Handout M: The Environmental Balance Sheet. Ask

them to take some time to research the costs and benefits of this

type of product. Community recycling groups may be a good

source of information. How products are manufactured and

transported could be learned by calling manufacturers or

suppliers.

Step 5: When the participant(s) have gathered enough information on

the product(s), meet again. If it seems appropriate, discuss the

issue in a staff meeting. Decide if you would like to switch to

reusable products and plan how you would make this change.

Points to Consider: Can we put a value on production or reduction of garbage? How do

values affect our decision on this?

Consider the important sub-issue of packaging. Products, even those

that are reusable, often come in packages that are immediately

thrown away.

How much garbage does that make?

112 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 3

How can each of us reduce the amount of packaging we throw

away?

What about a community solution? Can we set up local

regulations that limit how much packaging is permitted?

Could we establish a buying club with other users of certain

products and collectively demand that manufacturers and sellers

reduce, reuse, or eliminate packaging?

Many people are very good at finding new uses for things that otherwise would be thrown away. Congratulate staff if they reuse something rather than throw it away, especially if it can be reused yet

again.

Food and yard waste make up 25% of many communities' waste

streams. Composting is nature's way of reusing organic materials,

rather than throwing them away.

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation -1 l A 3 /' 113
Module 3

Activity 6:

How Do We

Get There?

Purpose: Participants will analyze the effects on air quality of national

and local transportation practices. They will develop a program-wide activity that motivates staff members to choose clean-air alternatives for

transportation whenever possible.

For this workshop activity you will need:

Handouts N-1 through N-3: Getting There in a Better Way

III Large charts

111 Key to Activity 6: Facts on TransportationFor Trainer Only

Trainer Preparation Note:

This workshop could work very well as an extension of regular

staff meetings, since it takes place over time. You may want to

consider the background information on behavioral change in

the Health series guide: Enhancing Health in the Head Start

Workplace.

Step 1: Tell the participants that this workshop will take place in a few

parts. One section is for assessing what we are doing now; in

another section we work on making positive changes in our

behavior. The behavior to change is over-reliance on auto travel.

We hope to reduce auto travel and contribute to cleaner air. By

choosing other means of transportation, we also help our own

physical fitness. Lead a discussion on choices in transportation

and practices and concerns people have, using the information in

the Key to Activity 6: Facts on TransportationFor Trainer

Only.

Step 2: Decide with the group the time frame for the workshop. Two

weeks is a reasonable time period to do your observations of trip

behavior, meet to set goals, and arrange for any assistance

needed to bring about change. Then work on your changes for

another two weeks. The whole activity might continue over four

to six weeks. At the end, celebrate your accomplishments.

114 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
o

e

Module 3

Step 3: Discuss how you will record trips during the observation period.

Establish your definition of a "trip"going somewhere, even a

short distance for work, errands, family business, etc. Count

personal trips and trips taken in the course of the Head Start day.

Consider how your group's travel patterns are alike or different

from the national average. Emphasize that this is a group effort

to make a changea reductionnot a requirement for people to

completely give up their cars.

The Department of Transportation has set some goals for

increasing the number of trips that Americans take by bicycling

and walking from current 8% of trips (1.6 per week) to double

that to 15% (3 per week).

Do any staff members already walk or bicycle for more than

15% of their trips? Do any staff members regularly carpool or

take the bus? Congratulate them. They will be very helpful as

the team works toward changing travel patterns.

Step 4: Draw your chart to record observation time. Ask each

participant to put her name in one section. If you wish, invite

parents or other community partners to join. An example of the

poster follows:

Car Travel Chart

Name Mon Tue Wed Thr ni Sat Sun Mon The Wed Thr Fri Sat Sun Maly 11

11

G

R

A

N

D

T0

T

A

L

Group

Total: I

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation126 115
Module 3

Step 5: Over the next two weeks, ask each participant to put a check in

the box each times she takes a trip by car.

Example: Mary drives to work at Head Start, takes a city bus

with the children to and from a field trip, drives home, drives to

the grocery store and back, then drives her child to a friend's

house and back. She has taken eight trips, six of them in her car.

So she makes six checks.

At the end of the two weeks, total the number of car trips taken

by your entire group. The goal is to reduce this number by

replacing them with trips that use walking, bicycling, public

transit, or carpooling.

Step 6: Decide what the participants need to help them change their trip

styles.

Do we need bus schedules from the local bus company? Call

for copies.

O Will assistance from a bicycling advocacy group or bicycle

shop help? Schedule a meeting.

How about a buddy system for people who want to walk or

carpool together? Establish a sign-up sheet.

Get these supports in place first.

Step 7: Now begin your "time of change." It's fun to set up a kickoff

meeting. Encourage all participants to do something, even a

small change.

You might invite a guest from a local agency to give support

such as: Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Transportation, or a

local bicycle/pedestrian advocacy group, to provide support.

You may be able to get prizes for the effort from local

merchants.

Step 8: Give each participant an envelope with the symbols for bike,

walk, carpool/transit trips. Make another large chart with big

spaces for each day, so that participants can put their stickers in

each space. No names go on this chart. It's a group effort. (It's a

"snowstorm.")

1 16 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 3

Traveling a Better Way Chart

G

R

0

U

P

E

F

F

0

R

T

Mon Tue Wed Ur Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed 'Mr Fri Sat Sun G

R

A

N

D

T

0

T

A

L

Car Total:

I Bike Total: I

I Walk Total: I I

Carpool/

Transit

Total

We reduced our car trips by r Give these instructions: Over the next two weeks, put a sticker

or a check on each time you make a trip on that day. For

example, if Mary walked to the Head Start Center, took the city

bus with the children to go on a field trip and back, caught a ride

home with a friend, drove to the grocery store, drove home, then

walked her child to a friend's house and walked her home, that

would be a total of eight trips. Her stickers would be:

walk: 3 stickers

bus/carpool: 3 stickers

car: 2 checks

Hooray! She has reduced her six car trips to two!

Step 9: At the end of two weeks, count up all of the markers. Celebrate

the total number of environmentally friendly trips taken in place

of car trips by your whole organization.

How much were you able to reduce?

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation 117

123
o ule 3

Points to Consider:

Did you come close to (or did you exceed) the national

goal?

What helped the most in your efforts? What were the biggest barriers? How can you continue to reduce car trips?

Consider awarding prizes to each person who took the most trips

by 1) walking, 2) bicycling, or 3) carpooling/public transit, or

was most creative in their reduction of auto use.

o American society has become dependent on the car. There are good

reasons to reduce unnecessary car trips. This is an area where small

changes by large numbers of people can have a big effect.

Talk with people about their car use.

How much use do you believe is essential and how much use is

for convenience?

What are you willing to do to improve air quality?

Auto usage is a good example of the disproportionate energy use

and environmental harm caused by certain groups. Americans make

up 4.6% of the world's population, yet own over 30% of the world's

cars.

If everyone in the world were to embrace the American lifestyle

with its extensive use of cars, what would this mean in terms of

ecological sustainability?

How can we reconcile conflicting urges? We would like others

in the world to enjoy the standard of living of the American

middle-class. However, if they did, great ecological harm would

result.

Land use patterns predict auto usage. Compact communities do not

require autos, but sprawling suburbs do. What can we do to encourage necessary services/stores/recreation facilities to be located close

to each other? In farming or ranching communities, can we group

activities or services in time, so that one car trip accomplishes many

tasks?

118 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 3

Key to Activity 6: Fact Sheet TransportationFor Trainer Only

The American Way of Travel

Overall trips: Trips to work:

7.2% of all trips are currently made by walking 73% drive alone

0.7% of trips are made by bicycling 13% carpool

over 90% are made in a motor vehicle 5% transit (bus/metro)

9% other

The average person makes 20 trips per week:

25% of all trips are one mile or less

40% are two miles or less

50% are three miles or less

66% are five miles or less

21% of trips are to and from work

41) What About Autos?

In 1950, there were about 53 million cars on the world's roads. In 1990, there were more than 430

million cars. Americans own about half of that total.

Exhaust fumes from cars, trucks, and buses is now the major source of worldwide air pollution.

Auto exhaust contains thousands of chemical compounds, including: nitrogen oxides, carbon

monoxide, sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid, particulates, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and benzene.

Efforts to clean the air through regulations such as improved miles-per-gallon for cars or controls on

pollutants emitted are rendered futile in the face of increasing vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT).

The average household in the United States spends 18.5% of its total expenditures on

transportationsecond only to housing. Personal auto expenditures in 1993 totaled $408 trillion.

What About Other Ways to Get Around? Bike, Walk, Carpool, Take Public Transit

Exercise

Even a little bicycling and walking can reduce risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, maintain

flexibility and mobility.

Using a bus or streetcar means walking a bit to get from home to the stop, and from the stop to

the final destination.

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

130

119
Msdule 3

Key to Activity 6: Fact Sheet Transportatio For Trainer Only (continued)

o Energy Usage

In 1991, it was estimated, bicycling and walking in the United States were equal to at least 7.6

billion motor vehicle miles, saving at least 370 million gallons of gasoline and up to 16.3 million

metric tons of exhaust emission air pollution. CFC emissions were also lowered, reducing

damage to the ozone layer.

Each bus passenger uses only 1/3 of the energy required by a person driving alone.

A car that gets 20 miles per gallon of gas uses all of that gas to get to a destination whether there

is only a driver or passengers too. If four people share the ride, they have cut the gas usage for

their trip(s) by 75%.

Health and Safety

The American Lung Association says air pollution causes at least 50,000 respiratory illness cases

a year nationwide.

Bicycling and walking contribute no pollution to the environment. People can usually walk or

bicycle short distances. Short distance trips in the car are the least fuel-efficient and generate the

most pollution per mile traveled.

Street and highway improvements that make it safer and easier to walk or ride a bicycle also

reduce the frequency of certain types of motor vehicle crashes. Reducing speeds on roads has a

positive impact on motor vehicle safety.

Four people in a carpool are responsible for only 1/4 of the carbon dioxide emissions they would

cause if each drove alone.

Sources for Key to Activity 6: Fact Sheets on Transportation:

U.S. Department of Transportation. The National Bicycling and Walking Study:

Transportation Choices for a Changing America, 1994.

Landrigan, Phillip and Herbert Needleman. Raising Children Toxic Free: How to

keep your child safe from lead, asbestos, pesticides, and other environmental

hazards, 1994.

Urban Habitat Program, Sustainability and Justice, San Francisco: Earth Island

Institute, 1995.

Holtzclaw, John. Using Residential Patterns and Transit to Reduce Auto

Dependence and Costs. Natural Resources Defense Council, 1994.

U.S. Department of Transportation. National Transportation Statistics, Bureau of

Transportation Statistics, Washington, D.C., 1996.

Davis, Stacy and David N. Mcl4arlin. Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition

16. Oak Ridge National Laboratory for U.S. Department of Energy, Oak

Ridge, Tenn., July 1996.

120 Sustaining a Healthy Environment

-1
Module 3

Next Steps:

Ideas to

Extend Practice

1. Count back seven generationsor at least as far back as you canto

communicate with the seventh generation. When was that? It was

more than 100 years ago. Find an elder and tallc about how people did

without modern conveniences (especially those now proven to be

harmful: car, pesticides, packaging). Ask whether they thought about

what they were doing in terms of generations to come. Consider seven

generations into the future. What things do you want to do now to

ensure a healthy future? Write a letter to your great-great-great-greatgreat-grandchild. Tell her what you are committed to doing today to

help preserve the ecosystem for her. Choose whether to keep this letter private or to share it with friends and colleagues. Date it so that

you will look at it one year from now. You will be able to celebrate

your successes, revise your resolutions, and resolve to work on other

areas.

2. D ,velop the activity that helped change transportation practices.

Address another issue that people agree to research and to work on

together toward change. Some suggested areas: garbage reduction,

water or energy conservation.

3. Take a trip to explore an environmental issue in greater detail. Visiting a dump can be enlightening. Going to one of the "Hot Spots"

from Activity 1 will give you a better sense of what it is really like.

4. Adapt the Activity I: Hot Spots into "Cool Spots." Ask participants

to label the wonderful places in the community: a beautiful natural

site, a great place for environmental education, or a place that has

been reclaimed and restored from a previous toxic or undesirable

condition. Is there a company or an organization doing really wonderful and beneficial things for the environment? Instead of planning

how to change the problem, plan how to celebrate the "Cool Spot."

Plan a picnic or a program wide event there. Take the children there

often so that they can enjoy a highlight of their corrimunity. Consider what must be done to protect and preserve this area.

5. Recruit an environmental health professional to serve on your Health

Services Advisory Board. Ask this person to help staff become more

aware of environmental health issues through presentations at staff

meetings and sharing resources on environmental health.

6. Investigate what elected officials in your area are doing about issues

of concern to you or to your program. Communicate your concern to

the officials.

7. Decide to investigate one of the laws listed in Handout J: Environmental Laws & Regulations. How is it applied or enforced in your

community? Is it unknown? What benefits might come to your community if more people knew about this law?

Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation 121

132
Module 3: uilding Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

Handout j: Enviironmentall Laws egullatkpns

1938 Federal Food Drug, and Cosmetic Act

(last amended 1996)

1947 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide

Act (last amended 1996)

1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Actalso

known as the Clean Water Act

(last amended 1988)

1955 Clean Air Act

(last amended 1990)

1965 Shoreline Erosion Protection Act

1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act

(last amended 1988)

1970 National Environmental Policy Act

(last amended 1975)

1970 Pollution Prevention Packaging Act

(last amended 1983)

1971 Coastal Zone Management Act

(last amended 1985)

1972 Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries

Act (last amended 1988)

1972 Ocean Dumping Act

1973 Endangered Species Act

1974 Safe Drinking Water Act

(last amended 1994)

1975 Hazardous Materials Transportation Act

1976 Resource Conservation Recovery Act

1976 Toxic Substances Control Act

(last amended 1988)

1977 Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Act

1978 Uranium Mill-Tailings Radiation Control Act

(last amended 1988)

1980 Asbestos School Hazard Detection and Control

Act

1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act

1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act

1984 Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act

1986 Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act

1986 Toxic Release Inventory

1986 Emergency Planning and Community

Right To Know Act

1988 Indoor Radon Abatement Act

1988 Lead Contamination Control Act

1988 Medical Waste Tracking Act

1988 Ocean Dumping Ban Act

1988 Shore Protection Act

1990 National Environmental Education Act

122 3 3 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Module 3: Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

Handout K: Home Situations

The Jones Family

The Jones family lives in a rural area, and their two small children have just enrolled in your Head

Start program. You travel out to visit their home and complete your orientation with them. While

you are sitting in their living room, you notice a strong odor that smells like sewage. You ask Mrs.

Jones if she notices a funny smell and she says no. You continue your visit. When walking down the

front steps from the porch, you hear a flushing sound from the back of the house, then you notice

some water dribbling out from under the steps. You glance underneath the house and see a small

pool that apparently contains all the wastewater and sewage from the house. You ask Mrs. Jones

about this and she says it was too expensive to put in a septic system so her husband just set up this

drainage place underneath the house.

The Alvarado Family

The Alvarado family recently enrolled their four-year-old daughter in your Head Start program. You

have noticed that Hanna has many little bug bites on her body, which cause itching and discomfort.

You ask her about those bites and she tells you there are lots of bugs at home.

You decide to visit the home to determine how you can help. As you walk up to the house, you hear

happy noises; it sounds like children and animals. You have not met Mr. Alvarado, but you know

from Hanna's comments that he is a well-loved father. He greets you warmly at the door and ushers

you in. He wants you to see the house and yard. Inside the house, you are amazed by the numerous

children and animals, including several cats, a dog with six puppies, and a couple of white mice in a

cage. In the back yard is a coop containing several chickens; suddenly another animalmaybe a

raccoonscoots away as you walk through.

Mr. Alvarado tells you that some of the children and animals belong to his family, but others come

from the neighborhood. Other parents, he tells you, are too busy working to play with their children

and take care of animals. He takes them all in. He owned a farm in his native country and knows a

lot about animals, so, he says, people bring their sick ones to him. He sometimes receives some

money for his healing, but not much.

The Lee Family

Your Head Start program is in a large, densely populated city. You feel very lucky because you

don't have to worry much about transportation; there are bus and streetcar lines close to the homes

of most of your Head Start families. However, you have noticed that there is one family, the Lees,

that arrives at all of the Head Start functions in a large car that always emits clouds of black smoke.

Sometimes when you pick up Christina Lee, the baby in your program, you are sure you can smell

gasoline fumes on her clothes. One day, you are visiting at the Lees' ground floor apartment when

their older son drives past in the car, emitting, as usual, lots of black smoke.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 1 3 4

123
Module 3: Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

Handout K: Home Siltuations (continued)

o The Jacobs Family

The Jacobs family has an infant in your program. They live in a migrant worker settlement with

many other families with very young children. Mr. Jacobs mentions to you that he is worried about

all of the trash in their area. The small children play mostly outside, and there just isn't much clean

space. He invites you to come to their neighborhood because he wants to do something to clean it

up.

You visit their house and see that he is right. Trash cans are piled outside each residential unit; most

are uncovered. Inside and around the trash cans you see lots of beverage containers, wrappers from

fast-food restaurants, and disposable diapers that are leaking feces. There are indeed many small

children playing nearby.

Mr. Jacobs tells you the trash is collected every week, but it piles up. He wonders what he can do. o The Hansen Family

Your Head Start program is located in a coastal city. You have always taught the children about the

ocean and gone on field trips there. Appreciation of the water's beauty and a commitment to protect

the ocean are strong community values. Several of the Hansens' children have been in the Head

Start program. You know the family well and you have enjoyed socializing with them whenever the

opportunity permits.

You pass by their house one afternoon on your way home. You stop to say hello to Rico, a high

school student who once was in your Head Start program. Rico is working on a car, and, as you chat,

he steps aside and pours a large container of oil into a storm drain in the street.

The onea Family

Mrs. Honea is a single mother who is struggling to raise her two small daughters. She is an avid

gardener, committed to good nutrition, and works hard to grow her own vegetables for herself and

her children. The children spend a lot of time in the garden with their mom. She comes to you with a

concern. Her next door neighbor is also a gardener. Unlike Mrs. Honea, the neighbor uses lots of

pesticides on her plants. The neighbor grows mostly flowers. Mrs. Honea tells you that the neighbor

puts out snail and slug pellets almost every day, puts mothballs in her lawn, and waters so much the

water often runs down into Mrs. Honea's garden. The neighbor also sprays her rose bushes with

some kind of pesticide every week.

Mrs. Honea is concerned about what these chemicals might be doing to her garden. She wonders

about the safety of feeding her children the vegetables that she grows. She has mentioned this

concern to the neighbor but the neighbor says there is no problem.

124 Sustaining a Healthy Environment J
Module 3: Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

Handout L-1: Be a Common-Sense Citizen

Be a

Common-Sense

Citizen

On this 25th anniversary of Earth Day, EPA reminds

parents and children, communities and companies to

take a hands-on approach to environmental protection. Let's all take these common sense steps to

promote a cleaner and healthier environment:

Learn about your community's environment. Use your role as a citizen to learn what toxic

chemicals are being released in your community, and what your community is doing to protect

public health and the environment. Take advantage of information at your public library, at

government offices, and at public meetings on environmental issues.

Keep your part of the community cleanyour street, backyard, car, and home. Reduce waste

by recycling. Compost your yard and kitchen waste. Use alternatives to pesticides, and learn

to store and handle them safely.

Be a leader. Establish a recycling program in your neighborhood if none exists. Work with

your neighbors to make protecting the environment a habit throughout your area. Encourage

everyone to think how their actions affect the environment and health of others.

Get involved. Ask your local officials what else can be done to protect public health and your

community. Volunteer your time and talent to an environmental program.

Participate in the public process that protects our communities. Ask your public officials for

information on how you can take part in environmental protection.

In the 25 years since the first Earth Day, citizens have used common sense to help

us achieve a lot of progress. But much more needs to be done. Take a hands-on

approach to environmental protection . . . The Earth is

vey/vA hi Your ands

United States Environmental Protection Agency April 1995

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 125

1 3
Module 3: uilding Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

andont L-2: e a Common-Sense Parent

On this 25th anniversary of Earth Day, EPA reminds

parents and children, communities and companies to

take a hands-on approach to environmental protec.

tion. Let's all take these common sense steps to

promote a cleaner and healthier environment:

Remember that your common-sense choices today can create a better tomorrow for all our children. Preventing pollution before it starts will protect both our health and the environment

today and tomorrow.

Use everyday experiences -- at the dinner table, in the backyard, at the store -- to teach your

kids the importance of protecting our health and our environment.

Make environmental protection a household habit. Reduce waste by recycling aluminum,

paper, some kinds of plastic, and motor oil. Compost your yard and kitchen waste. Use

alternatives to pesticides, and learn to store and handle them safely.

Save energy and water. Buy energy efficient appliances and use.them wisely. Use energy

efficient light bulbs, and turn off the lights when you leave a room. Put on a sweater and turn

the thermostat down. Don't leave the tap running when you brush your teeth. Your everyday

actions do make a difference.

"Precycle" products by buying in bulk which means less packaging, and less waste. Buy

products made from recycled materials and bring your own bag when you go shopping.

Use your role as a parent to learn what toxic chemicals are being released in your community.

Let public officials, companies, and your community know that you want to work with them to

protect our children and our environment. And let your kids know that you care about the

environment -- they're counting on you.

In the 25 years since the first Earth Day, parents all over the country have helped us achieve a lot of

progress. But much more needs to be done. Take a hands-on approach to environmental protection ... EPA

United States Environmental Protection Agency April 1995

126 Sustaining a Healthy Environment

137
Module 3: Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

Handout M: The Environmental Balance Sheet

Product/iftem:

Prothn 'tern Disposable Reusable

$ Cost from Vendor #1

$ Cost from Vendor #2

How many times can this product

be used?

How much does it cost to use this

in terms of staff time and effort?

How convenient is it to use?

How good is it to use?

e structure, comfort

pliability, stiffness, etc.

How is this product manufactured?

Is the production process

environmentally-friendly?

What are the pros and cons

regarding cleanliness and

sanitation?

How much garbage does using this

product generate in a week?

Where does the garbage go and

what effects does it have?

Is this product truly recyclable?

(i.e., can it be broken down and

the same product made again?)

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

138

127
Module 3: Building Communities Which Consider the Seventh Generation

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Continuing Professional Development

1. Participate in state or regional conferences on environmental topics

to increase knowledge and skills. Explore offerings on air quality,

water quality, regional planning, or food safety.

2. Investigate the variety of groups which work on environmental

issues in your area. These groups might be affiliated with churches,

labor committees, or safe housing activists. You might also call one

of the national groups to find out if a chapter exists in your area.

Some national groups are:

National Wildlife Federation (Washington, D.C.)

Sierra Club (San Francisco, Calif.)

The Wilderness Society (Washington, D.C.)

Audubon (New York)

Greenpeace (New York)

How can you develop skills in your chosen area while helping with

environmental concerns?

3. Investigate the Small Grants and Community/University Partnership

Grants programs from the Environmental Protection Agency, Office

of Environmental Justice. The address of the office is:

401 M Street SW

Washington, D.C. 20460

(800) 962-6215

Funds are available for both new and expanded projects that are

educational, motivational and/or build partnerships among

community groups working to improve environmental quality in

disproportionately affected communities.

4. Participate in the continuing education program sponsored by the

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services. They have an ongoing series of "Case Studies in

Environmental Medicine" that includes pre- and post-tests and

carries continuing education credits for a variety of health

specialists. The information is written to increase the knowledge and

Continuing Professional Development

142

131
Conan ing Professional Devel me

skills regarding specific toxics in participants who have a fairly high

level of scientific or medical knowledge. For information on the

case studies, contact:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Executive Park, Building 4

1600 Clifton Road, E-33

Atlanta, GA 30333

(404) 639-6205

5. If there is a college in your area, ask whether it has an environmental

studies program. There may be classes you can take as an extension

student, or in pursuit of a degree.

132

143

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Resources

Head Start Publications and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Head Start

Services Bulletin: Issue #52. Washington, D.C.

This issue of the Bulletin focuses on environmental health, and

includes articles on a variety of topics and resources for programs.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Head Start Facilities

Manual. Washington, D.C., February 1995.

This manual outlines a step-by-step process for assessing, selecting, constructing, and funding Head Start facilities. It contains many good suggestions for involving the local community

and considering children's, families', and staff members' needs.

Environmental issues are briefly noted. The checklists can be

expanded to include greater consideration of environmental

issues in the selection or construction of a Head Start facility.

Contact: Head Start Publications Center

P.O. Box 26417

Alexandria, VA 22313-0417

FAX: (703) 683-5769

Head Start Facility Referral & Information Service

(800) 303-0705 FAX: (301) 519-6760

E-Mail: Jallen@aspensys.com

The Head Start FRIS provides grantee and delegate agencies

with information on issues related to facilities. FRIS will help

Head Start programs to locate information for creating and/or

maintaining quality physical environments. One category of

resources listed on FRIS is "environmental hazards and pollutants."

Riley, Mary Tom. Skill Building Blocks: Environmental Awareness.

Lubbock, Texas: Institute for Child and Family Studies, Texas

Tech University.

This booklet is intended to raise the awareness of Head Start

administrators, parents, and children about the problems we face

because of pollution of air, water, and soil. It suggests activities

that can be carried out, in the belief that there are things that we

can do to "save the earth from ourselves." The booklet gives

general ideas for administrators and specific thoughts for parent

committee activities for fall, winter, spring, and summer.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

144

133
Resources

The resourcesorganizations and publicationslisted below are not all inclusive and do not

necessarily constitute an endorsement, real or implied, by the Head Start Bureau. All must be

considered within the context of the local community and the requirements of the Head Start

Program Performance Standards.

General Publications Balachandran, Sarojini, Editor. Encyclopedia of Environmental

Information Sources. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Inc., 1993.

This 1,800-page book covers 1,100 topics. It is a thorough information resource for specific environmental health topics. The

encyclopedia lists organizations involved with that topic, indexes, directories, and publications. It lists major environmental

legislation and environmental departments for most states.

Contact: Local library

Community Alliance with Family Farmers. National Organic Directory.

Davis, Calif., (published annually).

The directory includes more than 1,000 cross-referenced listings

for commodities bought and sold, and names, addresses and

phone numbers of organic growers and wholesalers. The directory is organized by state, so it is easy to locate suppliers in your

area. While this directory does not list all of the organic growers

in the country, it does give you a good start with some growers.

It also includes explanations of the various state and federal

organic growing laws.

Contact: Community Alliance with Family Farmers

P.O. Box 363

Davis, CA 95617

(800) 852-3832

Nabhan, Gary P., and Stephen Trimble. The Geography of Childhood.

Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, 1994.

Two fathersa conservation biologist and a photographer

write a series of essays about the view of wilderness from

children's eyes. The authors note that small children have less

need for large-scale wilderness than for a garden, gully, or field

to create a crucial tie to the natural world. Nabham and Trimble

draw on their own experiences as children and parents, on the

experiences of people in cities and suburbs, and on the rituals of

indigenous people in rural settings.

134

145

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Resources

Contact: Available at local libraries and bookstores

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. New York: Bantam/Turner Books, 1995.

This story describes an encounter between a human student and

his teacher, who happens to be a gorilla. The teacher leads the

student through questions about culture and behavior to an understanding of why human beings behave as they do toward

other beings and the natural environment. The questions are

provocative and the book would be an excellent springboard

toward discussions about environmental values.

Contact: Available at local libraries and bookstores

Reid, Walter V. "Biodiversity and Health: Prescription for Progress,"

Environment. Washington, D.C., July/Aug. 1995.

This article gives a concise yet well-researched overview of the

reasons why human and environmental health are closely linked.

The author discusses the role of plants in pharmaceutical research, the importance of plant diversity to traditional medical

, systems, and how climate change is affecting human health. He

suggests that researchers into human disease could learn much

from studying how the world's flora and fauna have responded

to disease. He advocates greater efforts toward public education

and collaboration between the biomedical and conservation

communities.

Contact: Available through local libraries or

call Environment journal at (202) 296-6267.

Schoemaker, Joyce M., and Charity Y. Vitale. Healthy Homes, Healthy

Kids. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1991.

This practical book was written for parents by two scientists

who are also parents. It is more anecdotal than research-based,

although there is plenty of reference material. The organization

of the book makes it easy to find information on a particular

subject of concern. There are five parts: The Healthy Playroom,

The Healthy Yard, The Healthy Meal, The Healthy Nap, and

The Healthy Cleanup. Each chapter within these five parts also

includes a Resources section that is divided into "products and

services" and "sources of information."

Contact: National Environmental Health Association

(see Organizations)

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

146

135
Resources

Environmental Education Acorn Naturalists. Catalog, 1996.

Resources

The catalog includes print materials, videos, and manipulativesall designed to enrich environmental education activities.

It includes resources for activities in the urban environment and

suggestions for the caregivers of babies and toddlers, as well as

a great deal of information for children in K-12 settings.

Contact: Acorn Naturalists

17300 East 17th Street, #J-236

Tustin, CA 92780

(800) 422-8886

Allen, Judy et. al. Cultural Awareness for Children. Menlo Park, Calif.:

Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1992.

This book includes educational activities that have been used at

The Learning Tree, a school in Texas with a commitment to

multicultural education. The activities are written for use in

preschool, kindergarten, and the primary grades. Although the

activities cover a range of topics, useful information on the

environment can be found in the "nature and science" sections.

The book considers the following cultural heritages: African,

American Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Thai

and Southeast Asian.

Contact: Available at local bookstores

Caputo, Michael J., and Joseph Bruchac. Native American Gardening:

Stories, Projects and Recipes for Families. Golden, Colo.:

Fulcrum Publishers, 1996.

This resource book, from the authors of the "Keepers of the

Earth" series, explores the Native approach to gardening. It tells

us that, in Native North America, a garden is not just a place to

grow food. Tending a garden is one of the most important ways

that people become a part of the "Circle of Life." Stories in the

book lay the groundwork for understanding, and hands-on

projects show readers how to continue the work of generations

of Native farmers. The book includes step-by-step instructions

for preparing a garden site, planting, harvesting, celebrating,

cooking, and creating craft items such as gourd rattles and corn

husk dolls.

Contact: Available at libraries, bookstores, or through

Fulcrum Publishing: (800) 992-2908

136 147 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Resources

Cohen, Richard, and Betty Phillips Tunick. Snail Trails and Tadpole

Tails. St. Paul, Minn.: Red leaf Press, 1993.

This teacher's guide describes the process of setting up indoor

mini-habitats for children three to four years old. The book

gives practical information on constructing several different

habitats, and tells the story of the children's experiences with

the habitats and their animal and insect inhabitants.

Contact: Available from Acorn Naturalists

(see previous page)

Environmental Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI).

INFOsheets. Piscataway, N.J.

These informational brochures provide an overview of specific

environmental and occupational health topics. Each sheet costs

less than $1.00 and some topics covered are: Children's Art

Supplies, Home Use of Pesticides, Indoor Air Pollution, Radon,

Plastics Recycling, and Community Noise.

Also available are environmental curricula for kindergarten

through high school. While not immediately applicable to Head

Start, the curricula provide concepts for adapting or ideas for

transition activities to plan in conjunction with local schools.

Contact: Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Institute Resource Center

681 Frelinghuysen Road

Piscataway, N.J. 08855

(908) 445-0110 FAX: (908) 445-0122

Kavasch, E. Barrie. Enduring Harvests: Native American Foods and

Festivals for Every Season. Old Saybrook, Conn.: The Globe

Pequot Press, 1995.

Food is where culture and environment meet and blend into

social activities and celebrations. This book begins with the

harvest season in September, and travels through the calendar

and all over North America. Readers learn about the natural

features of various areas of this continent, and about indigenous

people and their ways of celebrating Earth's rhythms: the changing patterns of the weather and the availability of different foods

at different times of the year. The book examines ancient as well

as contemporary practices and includes recipes for foods enjoyed throughout North America.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

148

137
esources

Contact: Available at local bookstores and libraries

McQueen, Kelly, and David Fassler. Let's Talk Trash. Burlington, Vt.:

Waterfront Books, 1991.

Subtitled "The Kids' Book about Recycling." This book is

organized for use in circle time, with big headings and

children's drawings about garbage. Parents might enjoy reading

it to their children, too. The book asks questions about trash and

invites children to share their thoughts on the issue. Space for

drawings is included. The book describes the ways to reduce

garbage, in order of preference: Reduce, Reuse, Compost,

Recycle.

Contact: Available at local bookstores

The National Gardening Association. Grow Lab: A Complete Guide to

Gardening in the Classroom. Burlington, Vt., 1988.

For those who might not have outdoor space, this guide offers

ways for kids to get involved in gardening and learn valuable

lessons about food, life cycles, and the environment.

Contact: National Gardening Association

180 Flynn Avenue

Burlington, VT 05401

(800) LETSGRO

Ocone, Lynn, and Eve Pranis. The Youth Gardening Book. Burlington,

Vt.: National Gardening Association, 1996.

This is a book about introducing gardening to kids of all ages

and includes useful resource information, tips on garden planning, and experiments.

Contact: The National Gardening Association (see above)

Scholastic Productions, Inc. The Magic Schoolbus Series. New York.

The Magic Schoolbus books give children a delightful

introduction to science. The books follow the adventures of Ms.

Frizzle's elementary-aged class. Class members visit the

waterworks, a volcano, the ocean floor, and the insides of the

human body. The children are multicultural and very realistic:

there is the class clown, the whiner, the junk-food junkie, etc.

138 143 Sustaining a Healthy Environment
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Magic Schoolbus books have been adapted and expanded into a

video series which is broadcast on local PBS stations.

Although the children are elementary-aged, the stories are easily

understood and enjoyed by four and five year olds. For example,

a preschool teacher used one book to explore the human body

with four year olds in her class. Reading about Ms. Frizzle's

class travels through the internal organs of a classmate's body

helps preschool children make sense of their own bodies and

inspires many fun and engaging projects.

Contact: Scholastic Productions, Inc.

555 Broadway

New York, NY 10012

(212) 343-6100

University of California Cooperative Extension Common Ground

Garden Program. Children's Gardens: A Field Guide for

Teachers, Parents and Volunteers. Los Angeles: U.C.

Cooperative Extension, 1990.

This compact guide offers everything you need to know about

setting up a children's garden, from design to activities for kids

and adults. It provides hands-on suggestions for ways of

incorporating gardens into education about the environment.

Contact: Common Ground Garden Program

2615 South Grand Avenue, Suite 400

Los Angeles, CA 90007

U.S. Department of the Interior. Water: The Resource that Gets Used

and Used and Used for Everything! Denver, Colo.: U.S.

Geological Survey, 1993.

This poster, with accompanying educational activity, is

available without charge. Other free publicationsposters and

brochures on geology, water, mapping and earth scienceare

also available.

Contact: U.S. Geological Survey

Information Services

Box 25286, Denver Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225

(800) 435-7627

Sustaining a Healthy Environment

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139
Resources

Wabash Area Development Inc. Head Start Program. Harmony: The

Season, the Sun, the Soil, the Water, the People. Enfield, Ill.:

1994.

This 20-page booklet of ideas was put together by staff at the

WADI Head Start program. They explore concepts of

multiculturalism and suggest themes for activities for each

month throughout the school year. They weave ideas about

human cultures around the natural features of the different

seasons: rain, falling leaves, harvest time, and April showers.

Contact: WADI Head Start

110 North Latham Street

Enfield, IL 62835

(618) 963-2387

Toxics, Risks, and Hazards Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1962.

If only for its historical significance, this book is worth reading.

Some people consider it the catalyst for the environmental

protection movement of the 1960s, which led to the formation of

the Environmental Protection Agency and passage of a number

of laws still in effect today. However, it is more than a historical

book. It is an explanation of natural systems, written by a

biologist, but accessible to a layperson. The examples of

pesticides' toxic effects on wildlife and human beings are not

technical and are emotionally engaging.

Contact: Available at local libraries and bookstores

Children's Environmental Health Network and California Public Health

Foundation. Protecting Children from Environmental Health

Hazards: A Training Manual for Nurses. Emeryville, Calif.:

Children's Environmental Health Network, 1995.

There are several booklets in this set, and they cover a good

range of environmental health issues and skills. Included are

such topics as:

o Nursing Assessment of the Home for Environmental Health

o Hazardous Household Products

Incorporating Environmental Health into Patient Histories

140

151.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Resources

o Legal Rights in Environmental Health: Tools to Prevent

Toxic Exposures

They are short enough to be read in a few hours.

Contact: Children's Environmental Health Network

5900 Hollis Street, Suite E.

Emeryville, CA 94608

(510) 450-3818

Colborn, Theo et. al. Our Stolen Future. New York: Penguin Group,

1997.

The subtitle of this book is "A Scientific Detective Story." It

tells of the efforts of one scientist, assisted by many others, to

figure out why unusual and frightening health and behavior

problems were pervasive among wildlife in the Great Lakes

region of the U.S. The problems were not cancer, although

clearly related to toxic chemicals. Ultimately, the scientists

identify a great number of problemsworldwideaffecting the

endocrine systems of animals and humans by interfering with

normal hormone activity. The variety of chemicals used in

insecticides, industrial building materials, and plastics may be

causing infertility, immune system disorders, and learning and

behavioral difficulties. The book is full of reviews of scientific

studies and interesting stories of animal and human life. It

concludes with recommendations for study, caution, and special

efforts to assure that children's exposure to persistent toxins be

kept as low as possible.

Contact: Available at local libraries and bookstores

Landrigan, Phillip, and Herbert Needleman. Raising Children ToxicFree: How to keep your child safe from lead, asbestos,

pesticides, and other environmental hazards. New York: Farrar,

Straus, and Giroux, 1994.

This is a comprehensive book that features basic facts on

environmental toxins, as well as information on the physiological

systems they affect. The book describes children's special

vulnerability to toxicants because of developmental and

behavioral factors. Each chapter contains sections on "What Can

Parents Do?" and "What Can Pediatricians Do?" which offer

practical suggestions for protective actions. These suggestions

provide a good balance between personal and community actions.

Contact: Available at local libraries and bookstores

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 152 141
esources

Meadows, Robin. "Growing Pains," Environmental Health Perspectives.

Vol. 104, No. 2, February 1996.

A great deal of information is packed into this four-page article.

It begins with an overview of the differences between children

and adults in relationship to environmental risk, and briefly

reviews air pollution, pesticides in food, home pesticides,

endocrine disrupters, hazardous waste, radiation, and electric

and magnetic fields. It includes a special note of caution about

poor and minority children.

Contact: Large local libraries or university and medical libraries

Rodricks, Joseph V. Calculated Risks: Understanding the Toxicity and

Human Health Risks of Chemicals in Our Environment.

Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

This book describes how scientists come to understand the toxic

properties of chemicalsboth naturally occurring and

manufacturedand the health risks these chemicals pose.

Biological and metabolic processes are described, as are tests

that toxicologists use. The author does not advocate for more or

less use or regulation of chemicals, but instead gives the reader a

great deal of background information.

This book would be useful for anyone who wishes to know more

about how chemicals affect human physiological processes, how

"carcinogenicity" is determined, and what information goes into

decisions to set exposure limits for certain chemicals.

Contact: National Environmental Health Association

(see Organizations)

Wiles, Richard et. al. A Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce.

Washington, D.C.: Environmental Working Group, 1995.

The authors analyzed the results of 15,000 samples of food

tested for pesticides by the Food and Drug Administration

during 1992 and 1993. Then they developed a rating system for

the different fruits and vegetables, considering the prevalence of

pesticide residues found on the foods, and the neurotoxicity,

endocrine-disrupting or carcinogenic properties of each

pesticide. The booklet suggests alternative sources of vitamins

and other nutrients found in the 12 foods they consider the most

contaminated and risky.

142 153

Sustaining a Healthy Environment
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Communities Building

Healthy Environments

Although it includes a good deal of technical information, the

46-page publication is organized simply and it is easy to glean

the important information.

Contact: Environmental Working Group

1718 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 600

Washington, D.C. 20009

(202) 667-6982

Bullard, Robert, editor. People of Color Environmental Groups. Atlanta,

Ga.: Environmental Justice Resource Center, Clark Atlanta

University, 1994.

This directory lists more than 300 people of color groups from

North America, including Mexico. It describes the history of the

environmental justice movement and some current regulations,

and tells the stories of several groups that have successfully

worked for healthier environments in their own communities.

Contact: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

1200 Mott Foundation Blvd.

Flint, MI 48502

(810) 766-1766

Bullard, Robert, editor. Unequal Protection. San Francisco: Sierra Club

Books, 1994.

This collection of essays was written for anyone who is

interested in environment and justice. Parts I and II describe the

plight of poor communities of color who discover and struggle

against contamination of their land, air, and water. Part III

examines some of the emerging alliances, coalitions, and

networks between grassroots and mainstream environmental and

social justice groups. The writers describe the tragedy of racism

as applied through environmental contamination, and celebrate

the success of "rainbow coalitions" who have achieved some

justice for those disproportionately affected by 20th century

industrial processes.

Contact: Available at local libraries and bookstores

Rivkin, Mary S. The Great Outdoors: Restoring Children's Right to

Play Outside. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the

Education of Young Children (NAEYC), 1995.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 154 143
ess urces

Organizations

Mary Rivkin has written a thorough book that discusses the

philosophy of why children need the outdoors and what outdoors means in city and in rural areas. She describes the patterns

of development and lifestyle that have deprived children of their

right to play outdoors and offers suggestions on how to reclaim

that right for them: through safe structures, conflict resolution

on the playground, environmental education, and traffic-calming

streets.

Although this book is focused on school-aged children in the

primary grades, the philosophy, background information, and

community change strategies would be applicable in Head Start.

Contact: NAEYC

1509 16th Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20036

(800) 424-2460

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

P.O. Box 12233

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

(919) 541-3484

National Center for Environmental Health

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Mai lstop F28

4770 Buford Highway, NE

Atlanta, GA 30341-3724

(770) 488-7300

The preceding two organizations are the lead agencies for the environmental health section of Healthy People 2000, the national effort toward disease and injury prevention and health promotion.

These two agencies are good places to start looking for information

and activities related to environmental health.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Public Information Center

401 M Street, SW, MC 3404, Room M2904

Washington, D.C. 20460

(202) 260-2080

This federal agency's mission is to protect the nation's land, air, and

water systems and it is responsible for the enforcement of most of

our country's environmental laws. EPA also provides a great deal of

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Sustaining a Healthy Environment
Resources

public education on environmental issues. Call the national office

for the phone number of the regional office in your area, or check in

the government section of your local phone book under U.S. Government.

Toxic Substance Control Act

Assistance Information Service Hotline

(202) 554-1404

The hotline provides technical assistance and information about

programs implemented under specific laws related to toxic substances, lead, asbestos, and pollution prevention.

Consumer Products Safety Commission

Washington, D.C. 20207

(800) 638-2772 Hotline to report hazardous products or injuries

Office of Information and Public Affairs

4330 East-West Highway,

Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 504-0580

CPSC's mission is to protect the public from unreasonable risks of

injury and death associated with consumer products. The commission was established in 1973. CPSC publishes a number of

consumer information brochures, including several on indoor air

quality.

Children's Environmental Health Network

5900 Hollis Street, Suite E

Emeryville, CA 94608

(510) 450-3818

CEHN is a national project dedicated to pediatric environmental

health. The network is the only national multidisciplinary and multicultural project in the country whose sole purpose is to protect the

environmental health of children. CEHN's mission is to promote a

healthy environment and to protect the fetus and child from environmental hazards. CEHN offers publications and conferences.

National Migrant Resource Program, Inc.

1515 Capital of Texas Highway South, Suite 220

Austin, TX 78746

(512) 328-7682

NMRP's mission is to improve the health status of farm worker

families through the innovative application of human, technical and

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 1513 145
esources

informational resources. The program has a library of publications,

statistics, and newspaper clippings and offers outreach work by

"consejeras," who take to the field to train workers on potential hazards such as breast or cervical cancers.

Agriculture in the Classroom

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Room 4307-S

Washington D.C. 20250-0991

(202) 720-7925

Each state has a coordinator for this program, originated by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture. The program's goal is to help students

understand the role of agriculture in the economy and society. AITC

offers free materials such as coloring books, lesson plans (for elementary and high schools), maps, posters, photographs, slide

shows, and films. Regular workshops and conferences are held for

teachers. AITC can help arrange farm visits and agribusiness tours

and supply news about local agricultural fairs.

National Environmental Health Association

720 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite 970, South Tower

Denver, CO 80246

(303) 756-9090

NEHA represents all professionals in environmental health, including registered sanitarians, environmental health specialists, certified

environmental health technicians, and certified hazardous materials

professionals. Educational materials, publications, credentials, and

meetings are available to NEHA members as well as to all professionals who work to improve the environment and to improve health

and quality of life.

Urban Ecology

405 14th Street, Suite 701

Oakland, CA 94612

(510) 251-6330

This nonprofit grassroots organization works on environmental issues by sharing information about model projects from around the

world, and working to improve and maintain the health of urban

environments in its local area. UE members hold the strong belief

that cities can and should be vital, healthy, and exciting environments for children and adults.

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Sustaining a Healthy Environment
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Food FirstInstitute for Food and Development Policy

398 60th Street

Oakland, CA 94618

(510) 654-4400

E-mail: foodfirst@agc.apc.org

The organization was started by Frances Moore Lappe, author of

Diet for A Small Planet. It uses research, analysis, and advocacy to

promote the kind of social change that could eliminate "the injustices of hunger." In addition to offering publications that seek to

debunk myths about hunger, Food First aims to provide tools for

change. They are active in promoting urban farming.

Pesticide Action Network

116 New Montgomery, #810

San Francisco, CA 94105

(415) 541-9140

This organization works to eliminate poisonous pesticides. It mobilizes worldwide campaigns of consumer, labor, health, environment,

and agriculture groups to advance safer, ecologically sound pest

control alternatives.

Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet

40 West 20th Street

New York, NY 10011-4211

(212) 242-0100

E-mail: mothers@igc.apc.org

This membership organization administers a consumer education

program that encourages choices of products that are safe and ecologically sustainable for current and future generations. The organization issues books, reports, and a number of fact sheets. It also

publishes The Green Guide newsletter, which is sent to members 15

times a year and includes articles on environmental activities and

advertisements from companies that share the organization's philosophies.

American Lung Association

1740 Broadway

New York, NY 10019-4374

(212) 315-8700

This voluntary health agency advocates for clean air and services for

those with lung conditions. They offer classes and educational

materials on smoking cessation, asthma management, and air

quality. There are local chapters throughout the country.

Sustaining a Healthy Environment 147
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