The green theme of this issue reminds me of the first time I heard David Suzuki speak, more than 20 years ago. It was at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, the subject was PCB and dioxin reduction and I was looking for something to believe in. Freshly out of university (not nearly yet a doctor) and finding it very hard to establish a niche in the saturated labour market, I rationalized it was acceptable to take a low-paying job, provided it was for the right cause.
 
Conservation of the Earth seemed to me to be a pretty paramount cause. And that’s how I ended up being a fundraiser, one long cold winter, for the environmental advocacy group Pollution Probe.

    Armed with information about the dire water quality issues that faced the Great Lakes, we knocked on doors seeking support for initiatives to clean up the Great Lakes perimeter. Each night, we went out as a team to different neighbourhoods. A white van dropped us off at dusk and then circled back to pick us up five hours later. We were about as welcome as a group of telemarketers, but perhaps a bit more successful because we were earnest about the cause and idealistic in our sales pitch.

    Over the maturation of time, I moved on to work on waste reduction issues with the Recycling Council of Ontario, took a physical science degree so I could converse knowingly about such issues as methane (CH4) gas and CO2 emissions reduction, and eventually I became a public health physician. This final occupation is not as far away from Pollution Probe as one might think.

    Our relationship with our physical environment is one of the main determinants of health – the factors that make us healthy or unhealthy – and often emerges in my daily business as a public health physician. Just last week, I was involved in discussions about the indirect health effects of the application of pesticides for cosmetic gardening purposes. In the same week, I also attended a symposium about Aboriginal Health issues. The ceremonial opening of the symposium was conducted by an elder who started by thanking Earth for its faithful and unconditional gifts and reminding us that as we take, so must we in turn give back.

    More and more, I believe, this wisdom is resonating among and within us. Recent surveys tell us at least 70 per cent of Canadians are mindful of climate change. Environmental health has moved to the forefront of public health. And the Canadian Public Health Association is developing a national strategy to encourage responsible individual and group action to reduce greenhouse emissions.

    Closer to home, my employer and your government and service provider, the Regional Municipality of York, has developed a sustainability strategy to best manage our growth, protect and enhance our natural heritage system and foster a strong economy. Simply put, sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This vision now steers our region’s decision making processes.

   Healthy communities are sustainable communities. There is a growing understanding about the importance of urban design, active transportation and green infrastructure on our health. Land use planning decisions shape us in ways we are only just beginning to appreciate, impacting everything from rates of obesity, heart disease and mental health, to social isolation, nutrition and air quality.

     The sustainability strategy is available at www.york.ca. When you read it you will see that it takes its touchstone from the same place me and thousands of Canadians take theirs and often revisit, from the words of David Suzuki himself:

“Sustainability means living within the Earth’s limits. It means living in a world where feeding people does not necessitate polluting groundwater and coastal shorelines. Where transporting people and goods does not mean polluting our air and changing our climate. Where heating our homes and powering our industries does not require vast amounts of polluting fossil fuels. Sustainability means doing things better – not doing without.”


Dr. Erica Weir, MD, MSc, CCFP, FRCPC, is Associate Medical Officer of Health, York Region Community and Health Services.


Do you have a health-related question?
Call York Region Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653