Health, Safety & the Environment

It can be hard for someone who has suffered the loss of a loved one to let friends and relatives become close.  An event that causes shock and sadness sometimes makes us want to withdraw from life–as if remaining withdrawn will keep us protected from the world.  But during those times, it is important to reach out to those trusted and precious people who care about us the most.  One good resource for a thoughtful discussion about grief is the dailyom.com, which believes that “Sharing grief allows us to ease our burden by letting someone else help carry it…We may feel guilty or selfish, as if we are unloading on someone who has their own challenges.  Although, if we think about it, we know that we would do the same for them, and their protests would seem pointless.  Remember that not sharing feelings with others denies them the opportunity to feel.  We may be the messenger sent by the universe for their benefit, and it is on this mission that we have been sent.  By sharing our hopes and fears, joys and pains with another person, we accept the universe’s gifts of wisdom and loving care.”  Copies of this article, titled “Sharing Grief: Opening to Receive Comfort” were in a basket at the home of a cousin who passed away suddenly recently. Also in the basket were copies of  an article, titled “Growing Through Grief”, by Thomas Moore.  Perhaps not suprisingly, comforting words and  healthy perspectives on confronting grief and grieving often come from religions and belief systems other than our own.   During times of great sorrow, we don’t seem to notice.

According to journalist Larry Seltzer, there are new “social networking” sites that are harvesting our children’s personal identifying information (“PII”) and using that information for suspect commercial purposes.  One such company, called Tagged, which Seltzer describes in his article as a MySpace wannabee, blatantly exploits teenagers.  The article should be required reading for those of us concerned about the inappropriate use of personal information transmitted over the Internet on this type of site.  During registration, users of Tagged are required to provide information concerning their demographics and consumer behavior, such as eye color, style, personality type, favorite color, sport, food, activity or TV show, post-graduation plans or graduation year.  Eye color? It is all extremely creepy, particularly as Tagged’s contractual Terms of Service make clear that Tagged ”…..may share the e-mail address and/or other personally identifiable information of any registered user with third parties for marketing purposes……and with parties to target advertising”. Worse, these third-parties can insert tracking devices into your PC, referred to as pixel tags, to gather additional information and sell the information they collect.  All of the social networking sites have intrusive and privacy invasive aspects.  Some are just a whole lot worse than the others.  Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to come-ons from these sites particularly when an invitation to participate appears to come from a trusted friend.  This is not generally the case!

Thanks to a broad grassroots coalition, Connecticut’s legislature passed the “Complete  Streets” bill this week, which will hopefully make it easier and safer for people to get around by foot and by bike.  CTLCV offered thanks in a blog posting yesterday to everyone who was involved in bringing about this legislation.  The bill’s advocates included the Commission on Children, the Central Connecticut Bicycle Association, and the Tri State Transportation Campaign.  Representative Tom Kehoe (Glastonbury), the main backer of the bill, and Senator Don DeFronzo (New Britain) and Representative Tony Guerrera (Rocky Hill), co-chairs of the Transportation Committee, who supported it, should get recognition as well.  The important message here is that we all can make a difference in Connecticut by becoming involving on issues that are important to us.

Higher prices at the pump should not be our only motivation to make our streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.  Part of what we love about living in  Connecticut, particularly when the weather improves and the days become longer,  is being able to bicycle around the community to do errands and visit friends.  Unfortunately, more can be done to make cycling and walking safer.  Keeping our roads  safe and accessible to cyclists and pedestrians should be an important consideration in project planning and development.  A small step in the right direction is “Complete Streets” Bill, SB 735, which is pending before the Connecticut legislature.  Our legislators need to get behind the “share the road” concept to encourage cycling and walking, not only because it is energy efficient activity, but because being able to bicycle and walk  improves our quality of life.  Each year, billions of dollars are invested across the United States in infrastructure and transportation projects.  Transportation For America recognizes that how this money is spent today will affect our quality of life for generations to come.  Our representatives in Hartford should recognize that Connecticut’s future depends upon thoughtful long-range planning.  The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (“CTLCV”)  is partnering with Transportation For America to educate Connecticut about  smart transportation options that make Connecticut greener, cleaner and healthier.  We all need to let our representatives know that we care about this issue.

The Stamford Advocate reported recently that area residents are concerned about the potential toxicity of compost obtained from the Scofieldtown recycling center in North Stamford.  On-line gardening resources in lower Fairfield County have long touted the recycling center as a terrific source of unlimited free compost. The compost has been used in vegetable gardens throughout the area. According to the Advocate, the City shut down Scofieldtown Park, which is adjacent to the compost site, after tests reveals PCBs and other contaminants in the soil.  City officials gave assurances with a “very high level of confidence” that the composting material contained no contamination, but without offering comfort that there “are no contaminants of any kind”.  Muncipalities have a bad track record in the United States when it comes to re-using former landfill property.  Facilities including public schools, public parks and low-income housing developments have experienced potential health and safety issues because they were built, often without the knowledge of town residents, on old waste dumps.  This is not to suggest that  Scofieldtown compost is not as pure as mother’s milk.  However, until tests are performed across the entire compost area, no one will know for sure whether the area has been adversely impacted by the contaminants identified in the neighboring parcel..