29 min
19. Tobacco and the Environment: It's Worse Than You Think Inspiring Solutions for a Better World
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- Documentary
Although the harms of tobacco use are well-known to almost everyone, the harms that tobacco causes to the environment are less recognized.
These harms start with tobacco growing, which is very hard on soils and woodlands, diverts agricultural efforts away from food production, and harms farmers and their children who are engaged with this cash crop.
Tobacco product manufacturing is a dirty business, now moving away from the US and to countries where environmental regulations may be lacking.
Smoking itself creates health risks through environmental contamination of air (secondhand smoke) and living spaces (thirdhand smoke). The aftermath of smoking, both for traditional and for many types of electronic cigarettes, is a huge, preventable source of waste made up of plastics, metals, packaging, toxic chemicals, and in the case of e-cigarettes, lithium batteries.
Now, there are international efforts involving environmental groups, public health advocates, multinational organizations, and governments to do something about this unnecessary environmental insult. This effort involves countries, advocates, and scientists who have come together under a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) treaty negotiation to address the enormous and growing problem of environmental plastic waste.
Filtered cigarettes are part of this problem, and if they can be eliminated as a single-use, toxic plastic product, there will be significant benefits to both human health and the environment.
Our speaker, Dr Thomas Novotny, is Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Public Health.
He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (MD 1973) and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (MPH Epidemiology 1992). Previously, he served as an epidemiologist in the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the US Department of Health and Human Services. He co-directed the Joint PhD program in Global Health at SDSU/UCSD from 2009-2015, and he has done extensive research on tobacco and the environment.
In 2010, he founded the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project, a research, educational, and advocacy non-profit organization that addresses tobacco's impact on the environment.
He is a member of the American Public Health Association, the American College of Preventive Medicine, the US Public Health Service Commissioned Officers Association, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
To learn more:
https://www.cigwaste.org
https://ash.org/plastic-pollution/
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
Website: Rotary.cool
Meetings’ Video Archive
YouTubeChannel
How to become a member in this online Rotary eClub
More about Rotary International:
Website: www.Rotary.org
Find a local Rotary club
Find an online Rotary Club
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
Although the harms of tobacco use are well-known to almost everyone, the harms that tobacco causes to the environment are less recognized.
These harms start with tobacco growing, which is very hard on soils and woodlands, diverts agricultural efforts away from food production, and harms farmers and their children who are engaged with this cash crop.
Tobacco product manufacturing is a dirty business, now moving away from the US and to countries where environmental regulations may be lacking.
Smoking itself creates health risks through environmental contamination of air (secondhand smoke) and living spaces (thirdhand smoke). The aftermath of smoking, both for traditional and for many types of electronic cigarettes, is a huge, preventable source of waste made up of plastics, metals, packaging, toxic chemicals, and in the case of e-cigarettes, lithium batteries.
Now, there are international efforts involving environmental groups, public health advocates, multinational organizations, and governments to do something about this unnecessary environmental insult. This effort involves countries, advocates, and scientists who have come together under a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) treaty negotiation to address the enormous and growing problem of environmental plastic waste.
Filtered cigarettes are part of this problem, and if they can be eliminated as a single-use, toxic plastic product, there will be significant benefits to both human health and the environment.
Our speaker, Dr Thomas Novotny, is Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Public Health.
He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (MD 1973) and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (MPH Epidemiology 1992). Previously, he served as an epidemiologist in the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the US Department of Health and Human Services. He co-directed the Joint PhD program in Global Health at SDSU/UCSD from 2009-2015, and he has done extensive research on tobacco and the environment.
In 2010, he founded the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project, a research, educational, and advocacy non-profit organization that addresses tobacco's impact on the environment.
He is a member of the American Public Health Association, the American College of Preventive Medicine, the US Public Health Service Commissioned Officers Association, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
To learn more:
https://www.cigwaste.org
https://ash.org/plastic-pollution/
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
Website: Rotary.cool
Meetings’ Video Archive
YouTubeChannel
How to become a member in this online Rotary eClub
More about Rotary International:
Website: www.Rotary.org
Find a local Rotary club
Find an online Rotary Club
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
29 min