Women's Health & Environmental Network

Women’s Health & Environmental Network (WHEN)

champions health through environmental action.

In recognizing the nexus between health and the environment, WHEN has worked to protect health by supporting a cleaner and safer environment through select programs and key initiatives since 1997. Join us in working toward a healthier planet supporting healthier people.

Welcome to our new website

New Year! New Look!

New Opportunities!

More to see, learn, use for a healthier, greener, more sustainable you.

We offer you tools & resources, downloadable materials, useful links, and ways for you to get involved.

Upcoming Events

Health Care Opportunities

• Sign on in support of PAMTA, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (see Programs: Food & Sustainability).

• Sign on to ensure safer products in healthcare (see Programs: Health Care).

• Attend: 3 Key Steps to Becoming a Sustainable Hospital: Saving Money and Developing a Program

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Knoll Showroom, 2300 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA

Registration deadline is February 19, 2010.

Link to flyer here.

• Apply for a free scholarship to CleanMed, the sustainable healthcare conference since 2000. View the above program flyer for more information.

• Submit a poster presentation to CleanMed. Deadline is 2/26/10.

WHEN Presents

Julie Becker, Ph.D., MPH, President, Women's Health & Environmental Network, will present at

SWANA and its Waste Reduction, Recycling and Composting and Special Waste Divisions' technical conference designed to drive innovation in recycling and special waste management beyond traditional blue box programs, February 8-9, 2010, Charlotte, NC.

More Than Just Take Backs: Upstream Approaches to Reducing Pharmaceutical Waste

Pharmaceutical management is an emerging issue for both health care and water quality. While medications improve our quality of life and even extend our lives, a growing body of scientific evidence published in peer-reviewed journals have noted adverse effects in aquatic species as a result of low-level, chronic exposure to pharmaceuticals. This presentation will review 1) existing laws and regulations that create barriers to appropriate pharmaceutical disposal methods; 2) existing disposal methods and respectively, their pros and cons in implementation; 3) and resources that currently exist to address this issue on a limited basis.

Health Care Without Harm has formulated three “upstream” strategies that move beyond community take-back or mail-in programs, and begin the discussion of what is needed in the future to adopt a “womb-to-womb” approach to safer and more environmentally responsible disposal of pharmaceuticals. These strategies build on existing practices and seek to reform the prescribing, dispensing and payment systems for medications, through education and market solutions. Moving to the next level, this presentation will explore new ways to dispose of pharmaceuticals that do not include incineration yet render this waste both chemically and biologically inert.

For conference information, visit www.thinkingoutsidethebluebox.org.

WHEN at APHA

American Public Health Association’s annual meeting & exposition in Philadelphia, November 7-11, 2009, drew thousands of attendees.

• Julie A. Becker, PhD, MPH, Founder & Board President presented on the use of WHEN’s Hidden Secrets: Toxins in Our Environment video as a tool for educating nurses.
• Dianne Moore, MS, MSW, manager of the Healthy Food in Healthcare program, received a scholarship to attend all meetings, workshops and plenary sessions, as well as a tour of local & seasonal eateries.
• Teresa Méndez-Quigley, MSW, LSW, was co-author of two sessions, including Innovative Nursing Curriculum Promoting a Conscious Social Change Through Healthy Community Partnerships with Mary Bouchaud, MSN,CNS,RN,CRRN.

US EPA Presents Environmental Achievement Award to WHEN

The Award, presented on September 16, 2009, recognizes WHEN's leadership role in engaging hospitals in organizing such sustainable events and actions as creation of the Hospital Leadership Team for Sustainable Food in Healthcare, the Sustainable Cook Training event, and the Earth Day 2009 event where the five Leadership Team hospitals served meatless meals as a way to help mitigate climate change.

DIANNE & TERESA ACCEPT AWARD FROM EPA & NBC CHANNEL 10’S TERRY RUGGLES

Nurses, Food & Sustainability

Dianne Moore, WHEN, recently gave two presentations to 130 nurses and nursing faculty and students at the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association’s Environmental Health Conference held September 24, 2009 on the campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Campaign for Healthy Milk: the Risks of rBGH in Dairy provided an overview of rBGH use in agriculture and dairy products, growing concerns for the risks to human health, and what nurses can do to promote healthier dairy products in healthcare.

Nursing Food Back To Health: Importance of and Ways to Incorporate Sustainable Food into Health Care Facilities addressed the historic changes that have contributed to our current agricultural system and the importance of getting sustainable food into healthcare.

Nurses were given the challenge to take the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge back to their facilities to start the discussion and introduction to administration to promote healthy food for people and the environment.

Jefferson and Cooper Join National Project to Reform Health & Food

As the battle for health care reform wages on Capitol Hill, two hospitals lead a local effort to protect the health of their patients, employees and communities. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, and Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ, are restructuring their food offerings toward a more balanced menu for healthier people and a healthier environment.