Can we improve our health if we improve our environment?
Posted By: Christine Chadwick 
Date Posted: October 9th, 2009 Category: Health Care
Can we improve our health if we improve our environment? Absolutely. Our environment affects nearly every part of our lives. It is, after all, the air we breathe and the water we drink. It affects what goes into our bodies and how we live our lives. Cleaning up our environment is critical to improving the quality of life in the St. Louis community and helping all of us lead healthier lives.
We can all do our part, but governments have the power to make the biggest impact on the state of our environment. They have control over regulations that affect every business and citizen, they have control over millions of dollars of taxpayer money and they control how land in their jurisdictions is used. Governments can design streets and influence development to create neighborhoods that are more pedestrian and bike friendly. This could encourage more drivers to get out of their cars and, in turn, decrease the amount of pollution in the air. To improve water quality, governments can encourage rain gardens throughout the community to help filter polluted storm water before it runs into our streams. Our local governments have the power to make positive change happen and the time to begin is now.
FOCUS St. Louis®, where I have the pleasure of serving as Executive Director, has created a report designed to help governments navigate the path to environmental sustainability. It is completely free and available for everyone to read at: www.focus-stl.org or by clicking here. I invite you to review the report and tell us what you think.