Sustainablewell-being challenge: A student-centered pedagogical tool linking human well-being to ecological flourishing

Human behavioral change is necessary if we wish to evolve into a more sustainable human society, but change is hard, especially given that many people equate environmentalism with personal sacrifice. This paper highlights a semester-long assignment in which undergraduate students examined five behaviors that claim to increase happiness with minimal ecological footprints. We used mixed methods to analyze students\u27 self-reported positive and negative affect scores before and after completing each of the five activities, along with descriptions of the carbon footprint of each activity and student self-reflections on whether each challenge promoted sustainability . Results indicated that students\u27 positive affect increased with each activity, while negative affect decreased. Student reflections indicated that engagement with systems thinking can be used to examine the relationship between their own well-being and the ecological outcomes of each of their chosen activities, as well as alternatives that would decrease their footprint. In final reflections, 85% of students stated that they would promote these five behaviors among the general public to enhance sustainability efforts. We discuss using the SustainableWell-being Challenge as a tool to promote behaviors that support both human and ecological well-being

Green infrastructure solutions to health impacts of climate change: Perspectives of affected residents in Detroit, Michigan, USA

Cities worldwide are incorporating green infrastructure to mitigate climate change and achieve health cobenefits. However, green infrastructure projects are often distributed inequitably based on race and class. Residents\u27 perspectives are necessary to develop and enact effective and equitable \u27green\u27 strategies to address climate change and its health impacts. This study reports findings from interviews and ethnographic observations with diverse residents of Detroit, Michigan, USA, who have experience with both green infrastructure projects and intense weather events (flooding). Residents expressed widespread support for green infrastructure solutions, while also sharing concerns about unintended health consequences from unsatisfactory governance of green spaces and climate change itself. Residents also held differing perspectives regarding their responsibility for, and capacity to enact, these solutions compared to businesses, city government, and nonprofit organizations. These findings illuminate key factors that city governments and partnering institutions should incorporate into planning processes with residents to achieve greater environmental justice through green infrastructure strategies to mitigate climate change and related health impacts

Water Pollution and Environmental Concerns in Anesthesiology

Medications administered by anesthesia health care providers and subsequently excreted into the water supply system have the potential to affect ecological systems. Presently, there is a lack of literature examining which medications or metabolites enter the waste stream. Further, assessments of their potential environmental impact are often unknown or simply not considered as an externality of medical practice. Recent work examining the practice of anesthesiology has explored the solid waste stream, and the global warming potential of anesthetic gases, however the potential aquatic impacts remain unexplored. To address the potential for waterborne pollution and environmental toxicity, we extracted the total intravenous medications (by mass) administered by anesthesiologists in 2017 at The University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC), a mid-size regional Level 1 trauma center in Burlington, VT. The most commonly administered medications were: cefazolin, propofol, acetaminophen, sugammadex and lidocaine. To estimate the amount of each medication that entered the wastewater stream, we used published metabolism profiles to adjust from the total amount administered to the amount excreted unchanged or as prominent metabolites. For each medication we reviewed existing literature concerning their environmental fate and impacts in water. Due to the constraints of current knowledge, it is not possible to determine the exact fate and impacts of these drugs. Some medications, like propofol, have the potential for significant bioaccumulation and persistence. Others, such as lidocaine and acetaminophen, have short half-lives in the environment but their constant delivery and excretion result in pseudo-persistence. The current literature mostly assesses acute exposure at doses higher than could be expected in the environment on select species. While significant toxicities across a variety of species have been found repeatedly, chronic low dose exposures require further study for all the medications discussed. Finally, multi-drug impacts are likely to be more impactful than single-drug toxicities. While we cannot state definitive impacts, the pharmaceuticals most used in anesthesiology have a clear toxic potential and future studies should more closely examine the relative contribution of anesthesia to pharmaceutical pollution, as well as points of intervention for minimizing these unintended consequences of healthcare delivery

Sustainable Farming Association: Making a Difference for Farmers in Minnesota

The Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) of Minnesota is a nonprofit, farmer-to-farmer information sharing network. A graduate student in conservation biology in the College of Natural Resources conducted an assessment of SFA 's membership. The association will use this information to develop a database, identify potentially beneficial relationships between members (e.g., between farmers who produce organic grain and farmers who feed organic grain to livestock), and learn where to focus its energies and resources.Prepared in partnership with the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota by the Community Assistantship Program (CAP) administered by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota

Podcasts as Tools in Introductory Environmental Studies Vol. 10

Technological tools have increasingly become a part of the college classroom, often appealing to teachers because of their potential to increase student engagement with course materials. Podcasts in particular have gained popularity as tools to better inform students by providing access to lectures outside of the classroom. In this paper, we argue that educators should expand course materials to include prepublished podcasts to engage students with both course topics and a broader skill set for evaluating readily available media. We present a pre- and postassignment survey evaluation assessing student preferences for using podcasts and the ability of a podcast assignment to support learning objectives in an introductory environmental studies course. Overall, students reported that the podcasts were useful tools for learning, easy to use, and increased their understanding of course topics. However, students also provided insightful comments on visual versus aural learning styles, leading us to recommend assigning video podcasts or providing text-based transcripts along with audio podcasts. A qualitative analysis of survey data provides evidence that the podcast assignment supported the course learning objective for students to demonstrate critical evaluation of media messages. Finally, we provide recommendations for selecting published podcasts and designing podcast assignments. Technology in the college classroom has increasingly been used to help students engage with course materials (1)