Nearing the end of the semester I find myself actively considering my actions so much more than I ever did previously.  Before taking this and another environmental course this semester, I had never had much education regarding sustainability and environmental concerns beyond a general approach.  It was never actively on my mind when I would go shopping or go on late night drives just for fun.  Now, when I go to shopping, I am always recognizing how much waste we produce, how everything in grocery stores is plastic, how much I feel the need to buy when I go shopping for “back to school”, etc…

What really opened my eyes to this was the Carbon Footprint activity and the “Story of Stuff” video we watched.  These two lessons, amongst many others, flipped a switch in my head that made me want to take steps in my own life to help our community and ultimately our planet.  The Carbon Footprint activity made me realize how much nonsense driving I do, just because I like to drive.  I have reduced my driving so substantially that I hardly ever take it out of the driveway.  The “Story of Stuff” opened my eyes to my shopping patterns and the speed at which I go through clothing.  I have always loved shopping and clothing, but have been much more aware of what I buy and how I buy it.  I’ve learned new concepts regarding how fast fashion is far from ecofriendly, which is something I probably would have never thought about while shopping in the past.  Even things as simple as when I go to the grocery stores, I bring reusable bags for myself and my friends as well.  I encourage late night walks instead of drives, as that had always been something my friends and I would do for hours on end to clear our heads.  By making it apparent to my friends that I care about this issue, I feel both encouraged to keep sharing what I learn as well as keep taking these steps to hold true to my word.  By making an active effort with my friends to act on these issues, I feel like they hold me accountable for my own as well so I don’t come across as hypocritical.

Although these actions are very simple and seem like they won’t make a huge difference, they are so easy to do everyday that it makes me wonder why anyone wouldn’t.  I am planning to continue taking steps towards a greener future for myself, and taking courses to educate myself on what I can do further.  Gradually adding different approaches to living, shopping, traveling, etc. is easy and has the ability to rub off on people as well!  Something that has made these actions so easy to remember and carry out is being in a city like Charleston where I frequently see different activities going on promoting a more sustainable lifestyle, different policies coming to be to create change, and people sharing their thoughts and ideas on how to make Charleston a better, greener space.

On January 28^th, I went to the seminar by Dr. Stephen Redd, who is a director of Preparedness Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The seminar was called  “The Changing Face of Public Health Emergency Response”.  I chose to attend this event in specific as I am a Public Health major and have an interest in epidemics, and I thought this seminar sounded super interesting.    He spoke about different types of emergencies; predictable, predicted, and emerging.

Predictable events are ones in which the government can respond almost instantly; they are prepared and have the resources to keep the event under control upon its arrival.  The only question in the air regarding predictable events is how bad it will be.  Predicted events are events that we don’t know if it will happen, but the government still prepares regardless because their effects are large.  The likelihood of predicted events is smaller than predictable. Anthrax and other bio terrorism attacks are examples of predicted events.  Emerging events are those that are more unpredictable.

Dr. Redd spoke about many emerging events, including Ebola, Zika virus, influenza, and the opioid epidemic that is currently going on.  He briefly went over many case studies that were very fascinating to me.  He spoke about the 2009 influenza pandemic of H1N1, which first started when a 10 year old boy was infected, and then spread to a 9 year old girl 3 days later, and from their it escalated.  He also spoke about the Ebola outbreak which was a boarder crossing event that began in central and east Africa and then came west, which was an unprecedented.  It began when one nurse was infected and then spread it to a second nurse.  The effects of this case resulted in extra measures being taken and implemented in order to prevent it from happening again, including new airport screening to catch it before it comes into our country.  Case identification and isolation were two strategies used to fix this issue.  Isolation for Ebola lasted 21 days.

One of the aspects I liked about the seminar was when Dr. Redd spoke about communication with the public.  He discussed the strategies that are used, being expressing empathy, setting expectations, and utilizing risk communications.  The most important thing to do is keep the public informed yet under to keep everyone calm so things don’t get out of control.  I think the CDC and other governmental Public Health organizations do a good job relaying information and helpful measures to take in times of an emergency, no matter the scale.

A member also asked Dr. Redd a question regarding the impact that these emerging events have on population, as our global population is growing substantially.  He spoke about our consumption and use of resources that occurs in times of events, and how population growth is a driver for these events.   This can relate most to our class regarding sustainability.

This seminar sparked an interest in preparedness and readiness that I hadn’t had previously.  Dr. Redd was incredibly interesting to listen to as he seemed very accredited and well knowledgeable in his field of expertise.