SEC-S16 / W4 | "The Environment and Our Health"🌍👩‍⚕️

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Hello, friends on Healthy Steem! Trust our week is unfolding as expected? Welcome to my blog.
Today, I am dropping my entry for the contest organized for Steemit Engagement Challenge in the Healthy Steem community.
Starting off with the first question which says:

👩‍⚕️ What do you understand by the Word "Environment"?

In my own understanding, environment is the components of the earth which surrounds man and in which man lives.
According to Wikipedia, "it is the surroundings of a man, both living and nonliving things in nature. It includes physical, biological, chemical and other natural forces. Living things live in their environment and they interact constantly with it."

Man is a living thing, and his environment impacts his survival and development. Therefore, we can directly say that the environment health is man health. The Environment consists of the atmosphere (air), water, lands, mountains, hills and valleys, animals and plants including the elements and minerals these components carry.Man is in continuous interaction with these things, and as a result, the environment impacts everything about man and man impacts the environment by his activities.

👩‍⚕️ How do our surroundings impact our well-being?

What makes up our surroundings impacts our well-being. Like I mentioned earlier, we are surrounded by air, water, land, plants, animals and other people in the environment. Having good vegetation such as planting gardens, trees etc contribute to clean air, these plants consume the excess carbon dioxide in the circulating air and produces oxygen for us. We take in oxygen to survive. If the body doesn't receive oxygen, the brain will die in less than 5 minutes. Oxygen is life!

Water is a natural resource in the environment. Water is also needed for life and living. About 75% of our body is made of water. The consumption of clean water from the environment contributes to healthy living. Dehydration (extremely reduced volume of fluids in the body) can result in severe health complications like shock, coma, kidney failure.
Sun produces light and heat for our use. This also impacts our well-being. With sunlight in the morning, our skin can produce vitamin D. This vitamin helps in absorption of calcium for strong bone formation. Heat energy from sun is also beneficial, some whites even go for sun basking. But when the heat gets extreme, it can cause sunburn.

Generally, a healthy surroundings impacts our health in a healthy way , and vice versa. A dirty, unhygienic surroundings breeds disease and illnesses, even if you keep a good personal hygiene but fail to keep your surroundings clean, such person will regularly come down with illnesses. For instance, if a person keeps a clean appearance ,but engages in cooking in an untidy kitchen with unclean water, serving with dirty dishes and cups, living in a house with bad drainage and poor sewage system etc, no matter how personally neat they are, they will keep falling sick until they pay attention to their environment and keep it healthy.

👩‍⚕️ What are some ways pollution, like air or water pollution, can affect our health?

There are several ways pollution of land, air or water can affect our health. Before I state a few, first of all, what is pollution?
Pollution is the introduction of harmful substances into the environment, or introduction of anything that can dangerously alter the health of the environment.

For example, gasoline is good for fuel, but if introduced into a body of water, it causes pollution of the water. This can kill the aquatic organisms in water. When such water is consumed unknown, it can cause harm to the body organs.Water pollution also arises from introducing chemicals and industrial waste from pipelines into underground water.

Air pollution from burning, smoking tobacco, exhaust fumes from motor vehicles affect the lungs and increases risk of respiratory infections, lung cancer, and even heart disease. Burning has reduced the green house effect, and now causes the global warming being currently experienced.

Land pollution from activities such as littering, dumping of waste can breed vectors who carry disease-causing organisms. Waste dumping also gives offensive toxic smell into the atmosphere.
Oil spillage destroys the fertility of land.
Noise from train, airplanes, bad motor vehicles, extremely loud music causes noise pollution. Noise pollution also affect our health. Too loud sound can impair the sense of hearing leading to deafness or trouble with hearing properly in most people.

👩‍⚕️ What are some simple actions you take every day to promote environmental health?

They include

• Sweeping regularly to keep the surroundings clean
• Proper disposal of waste in closed bins or in bin bags tied up.
• Getting rid of stagnant waters tprevent mosquitoes from breeding
• Avoiding burning bush or burning in open air to reduce pollution of air
• Planting gardens or flowers in pots/vases around the house for clean air
• Maintaining a good drainage and sewage system in the home.

These are images of the flowers I planted in flowerpots:

Aloe Vera plants in 3 flowerpots

lungwort plant

👩‍⚕️How can education and awareness play a role in promoting environmental health?

There is a general saying that "knowledge is power". The place of education and awareness creation will go a long way in promoting environmental health.
Education and awareness programs can be created to health educate people on the importance of preserving environmental health.
September 26 is the World Environmental Health Day celebrated globally. This day can be used for massive awareness and educating people on the impacts of environmental health on human lives and other living things.

Community education programs can be organized by health workers. Media promotion on radio, television, social media platforms inclusive , online promotions of environmental health by the Health ministry can bring better awareness to the people.

When people are educated on dangers of polluting the environment, and benefits of maintaining environmental health, they gain a better perspective and mindset. As a result, they can demonstrate positive attitude towards promoting the health of the environment.

Thank you all for reading. Hope my blog gave some value on the topic.

I warmly invite @yaladeeds, @sahmie, @onomzy001 to partake in this interesting topic.