Plastic Pollution Waste Crisis Discussion

Many of our communities struggle with the everyday challenges of environmental concerns. Pollution from solid waste, garbage, exhaust fumes, burning of fossil fuels increases as our population increases. Chemical poisons from fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and toxic oils invade our waterways and harm wildlife. Landfills foul the air and leach pollutants into the soil. And the list goes on and on. And then we come to plastic pollution. Overuse of plastics has led to one of the world’s biggest global environmental issues. Many have termed this a Plastic Waste Crisis. And it is happening right in our own communities.

In a post of at least 175 words discuss your thoughts on this topic. Is it a crisis? What are the ramifications of plastic pollution in your own community? Can we, as citizens, save the environment in our communities? Is it too late to “fix” the problem? Is it doom and gloom, or are there solutions?

*****part two

HOMETOWN IMR RATES – THEN AND NOW

For part two of the Discussion forum, you will take on one aspect of the role of an Epidemiologist. You will need to search out some data in the form of the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for the year that you were born, in the location of your birth (hometown), and the most current IMR for that location.

Post this on the discussion board and write 1-2 paragraphs (250 – 300 words) about your findings – include the years, whether or not there have been changes, and what factors you think account for the rates (e.g., if it was high/low at the time of your birth, what factors might account for this; what factors might account for changes over the years since your birth?).

To find the data, first review the sources you have already added to your Professional Resources Journal; then, you may want to do a Google search for, as an example, 1980 Infant Mortality Rate YourHomeTown (i.e., Tallahassee, Florida).

You might have to do some searching – looking for state statistics, health department sites/data, population statistics, census reports, etc.