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UPCOMING EVENTS:
Thursday June 2
9:30am
22 Valley Road
10th Anniversary
Celebration
Health and Wellness
Partnership
Networking
Breakfast
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Sunday May 15
9:00am
Brookdale Park
9th Annual
Tour de Montclair
Bike and walking routes for
everyone. Details at:
http://bikewalkmontclair.org
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Sunday June 4
YMCA 2 mile/10K Walk-run
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This newsletter was made possible in part by grants from the Montclair Community Intervention Alliance, and the Governor's Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction.
Major funding and support for the Montclair Public Schools Health and Wellness Parthership come from the Montclair Public Schools, the NJ Department of Health & Senior Services, Child & Adolescent Health Program and the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network. Other past and present funders include The Healthcare Foundation of NJ Junior League of Montclair-Newark, Montclair Community Intervention Alliance, Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, Mountainside Health Foundation, Mountainside Hospital Community Benefits, Rutgers University (grant from NJ Department of Education), United Way of North Essex, and from private donors.
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MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR:
Welcome to the Earth Day issue of HEALTHWISE. Montclair truly walks the talk!
Health, community, and environmental sustainability come together for us this month as we celebrate Earth Day. We are learning that using our feet instead of fossil fuels conserves resources, reduces pollution and greenhouse gases, and fosters personal health.
To get us started, on April 6, Edgemont Montessori Elementary School celebrated National Start Walking Day with a gathering of over 100 students, parents, and community members. The occasion was also a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new Boltage Bike and Walk program, sponsored by the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services.
Then, in our feature article, Gray Russell, Montclair's Environmental Coordinator, describes how the township's energy conservation program - It's In Our Power - and the Partners for Health Foundation's Healthy Eating/Activing Living (HEAL) campaign make the connection between environment and personal health.
This June, the Montclair Public Schools Health and Wellness Partnership celebrates its ten-year anniversary. We are proud to have been a trailblazer in this crusade. We have laid the groundwork for many of the current efforts. Thank you to all the parents/caregivers, community members, and district and school staff who saw the need and sparked the action!
There is room for many more to join the effort! So walk over!
Yours in good health,
Joanne Aidala,
Director
montclairhealthandwellness.org
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FEATURE ARTICLE | |
A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE:
Shrink your carbon footprint
by Gray Russell,
Environmental Coordiator,
Department of Administration, Code Enforcement, and Environmental Affairs,
Township of Montclair
Taking care of the earth and taking care of our personal health are one and the same. Your decision to walk to the Post Office rather than taking your car impacts your personal health and it also impacts the health of our community.
Several important initiatives in both areas are in full swing in Montclair at this moment. The environment is being enhanced by the Township of Montclair's receipt of a prestigious grant award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The goal of the It's In Our Power grant
is to help residents, schools, local businessess, and our municipal operations find ways to reduce utility bills, energy use, and the associated greenhouse gas emissions, known as our carbon footprint.
The grant will begin a new crusade that directly connects to Montclair's health by decreasing its carbon footprint. Engine idling wastes gasoline, harms your car's engine, and damages air quality and our environment. An idling engine produces twice as many harmful exhaust emissions, including smog-forming chemicals and greenhouse gases, as does an engine of a moving car.
Emissions from idling cars impact our physical health as well. Children are especially vulnerable to air pollution: they breathe faster than adults, are closer to tailpipe level, and they inhale more air per pound of body weight. Idling cars pollute the air around the school - just when our excited, active kids come outside. And, our kids are not safe from air pollution inside an idling vehicle - exposure to air pollutants is actually higher inside a car that's idling than a car on the road. Together, we can educate others about idling, and make a change fro the better.
A second important initiative that shares similar goals is the Partners for Health Foundation's HEAL Campaign (Healthy Eating/Active Living). It embraces both community/environmental health and personal health. The campaign promotes biking and walking to get families, students, commuters, and shoppers active and moving around town. It also promotes healthy eating - increased consumption of fruits and vegetables - which has positive environmental effects as well. Farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture (CASs), organic farming and gardening, and other local sources of fruits and vegetables support family farmers and preserve farmland.
With a diverse mix of community campaigns such as It's In Our Power and HEAL, we can enhance the effectiveness of each campaign, and create extraordinary opportunities to improve our community's well-being. |
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RESOURCES FOR A SAFER AND HEALTHIER COMMUNITY
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- To learn more about Montclair's It's In Our Power initiative, and for a list of tips and local events,visit ourpowermontclair.org
- To learn more about the Partners for Health Foundation, visit partnersfdn.org
- To discover your family's ecological footprint (how much land is required to sustain your lifestyle), your biggest areas of resource consumption, and to learn what you can do to tread more lightly on the earth, visit footprintnetwork.org
- To learn more about your carbon footprint, and ways to reduce the amount of carbon emissions from your home, car, and other activities, visit carbonfund.org
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