personal choices

· Personal Choices

·

Overview

Write a 3 page report in which you examine ways to reduce your environmental impact.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Context

As you consider your own impact on the environment, it is helpful to look more closely at the environmental issues that plague our natural resources. The Assessment 4 Context document provides a brief overview of some of these issues. You may wish to review this document for key concepts and ideas related to pollution, contaminants, and resource quality.

Questions to Consider

To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.

. What do you see as the biggest pros and cons of the new plastic (PLA) technology?

. What alternatives do you see for reducing plastic consumption?

. Do you think bisphenol A (BPA) should be banned in baby bottles, formula cans, and infant and toddler toys?

. How do you feel about the issue of BPA being used in the production of certain plastics?

. What should individuals do to reduce air pollution? What is the responsibility of industry and government, with respect to air pollution?

. What is the quality of air in your area?

. What are the automobile emissions laws in your state?

. What are the causes and effects of asthma?

. Define what is meant by greenhouse gases and describe how they contribute to the greenhouse effect and climate change.

. What specific examples illustrate the global nature of water pollution?

. Which areas of the world have adequate supplies, and which are facing a chronic shortage?

. How is the majority of water used in the average U.S. household? What are some ways in which households might conserve water and prevent waste of water?

Resources

Required Resources

The following resources are required to complete the assessment.

Capella Resources

Click the links provided to view the following resources:

. APA Paper Template.

Suggested Resources

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Capella Resources

Click the links provided to view the following resources:

. Assessment 4 Context.

Capella Multimedia

Click the links provided below to view the following multimedia pieces:

. Paper or Plastic? | Transcript.

. Why Recycle? | Transcript.

. Pollution and the Ozone Layer | Transcript.

Library Resources

The following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course: 

. Friis, R. H. (2012). The Praeger handbook of environmental health. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

. Volume 1: Foundations of the Field.

. Chapter 7, "Oceanic Pollution."

. Chapter 10, "Solutions to a Growing Solid Waste Problem."

. Chapter 23, "Green Living: Reducing the Individual's Carbon Footprint."

· Volume 2: Agents of Disease.

. Chapter 25, "Keeping Your Home Environment Clean, Safe, and Healthy."

· Volume 3: Water, Air and Solid Waste.

. Chapter 1, "Global Availability of Water."

. Chapter 4, "Wastewater Treatment Alternatives."

. Chapter 7, "History of Air Pollution."

. Chapter 14, "Indoor Air Pollution and Health."

. Chapter 19, "Mortality from Air Pollution."

. Chapter 23, "Challenges Posed by Hazardous Waste."

· Philip, R. B. (2012). Environmental issues for the twenty-first century and their impact on human health. Sharjah, UAE: Bentham Science Publishers.

· Chapter 2, "Water Pollution: The Usual Culprits."

· Chapter 3, "Water Pollution: Oceans and Great Lakes."

· Chapter 4, "Air Pollution and Global Warming."

· Rom, W. N. (2012). Environmental policy and public health: Air pollution, global climate change, and wilderness. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

· Chapter 2, "Particulate Matter."

· Chapter 3, "Ozone."

· Chapter 4, "Sulfur Dioxide and Acid Rain."

· Chapter 9, "Chlorofluorocarbons and the Development of the Ozone Hole."

· Chapter 13, "Environmental Policy and the Land: Wilderness Preservation."

· Chapter 16, "The Clean Water Act and Water Ecosystems."

· Carruth, R. S., & Goldstein, B. D. (2013). Environmental health law: An introduction. Somerset, NJ: Wiley.

· Chapter 3, "Clean Air Act (CAA)."

· Chapter 4, "Clean Water Act (CWA)."

· Chapter 5, "Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)."

· Across the country. What's happening in environmental health. (2014). Journal of Environmental Health, 77(1), 30–31.

· Bloom, M. A., & Holden, M. (2011). Battling ecophobia: Instilling activism in nonscience majors when teaching environmental issues. Journal of College Science Teaching, 40(5), 46–49.

· Dur, R., & Vollaard, B. (2014). The power of a bad example: A field experiment in household garbage disposal. Environment and Behavior, 1–31.

· Overton, T. W. (2014, July). The water-energy nexus takes center stage. Power, 158(7), 32–35.

· Tudor, T., Robinson, G. M., Riley, M., Guilbert, S., & Barr, S. W. (2011). Challenges facing the sustainable consumption and waste management agendas: Perspectives on UK households. Local Environment, 16(1), 51–66.

· Williams, B. F. (2012, Winter). Green teen programming. Young Adult Library Services, 10(2), 29–31.

· Ozzie Xehner: Alternatives to alternative energy [Interview]. (2012, September). Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 68(5), 1–7.

Course Library Guide

A Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the resources in the BIO-FP2000 – Environmental Health Library Guide to help direct your research.

Internet Resources

Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

· Licudine, J. A., Yee, H., Chang, W. L., & Whelen, A. C. (2012). Hazardous metals in ambient air due to new year fireworks during 2004–2011 celebrations in Pearl City, Hawaii. Public Health Reports, 127(4), 440. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3366381/

· NASA Goddard. (2012). Earth's water cycle [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaDkph9yQBs

· Unites States Geological Survey. (2014). The water cycle. Retrieved from http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html

· American Lung Association. (2014). State of the air 2014. Retrieved from http://www.stateoftheair.org/

Bookstore Resources

The resources listed below are relevant to the topics and assessments in this course and are not required. Unless noted otherwise, these materials are available for purchase from the Capella University Bookstore. When searching the bookstore, be sure to look for the Course ID with the specific –FP (FlexPath) course designation.

· Hilgenkamp, K. (2006). Environmental health: Ecological perspectives. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

· Chapter 8, "Air."

· Chapter 9, "Water."

· Chapter 10, "Land." These chapters discuss important biological concepts dealing with global issues affecting Earth's air, water, and land resources, including their impact on environmental health.

· Assessment Instructions

For this assessment, examine in a 3 page report the impact of your choices on the environment and consider positive changes you could implement.

Begin your report by explaining areas of your life in which your choices impact the environment. This list could be endless; choose to focus on 10 areas of impact. Then, choose five changes related to the areas you listed that you could implement in your life.

· Include at least one change relevant to each of the three main natural resources—air, water, and land (soil).

· For each of your five changes you have chosen to examine, address the following:

· What is the financial cost/benefit of the change?

· What health benefits are associated with the change?

· What are the environmental benefits of this change? How does this change promote conservation of air, water, or land?

· What is the impact on your lifestyle if you make the change?

Finally, address the following in regard to your chosen changes overall:

· What message are you trying to convey? Highlight the main points you want to present.

· How do your personal choices affect environmental health?

· Include a reference to the information from at least two reputable sources that support your choices. What do other sources of information say about these concepts?

· Finally, explain how you could convince your friends and family that these changes are important.

Additional Requirements

Use the APA Paper Template (linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading) to format your report.

· Written Communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.

· Length: This report should be 3–4 pages in content length. Include a separate title page and a separate references page.

· Font and Font Size: Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced. Use Microsoft Word.

· APA Formatting: Resources and in-text citations should be formatted according to APA (6th edition) style and formatting.

· Number of Resources: You are required to cite a minimum of 2 scholarly resources. You may conduct independent research for resources and references to support your report. Provide a reference list and in-text citations for all of your resources, using APA format. You may cite texts and authors from the Resources.