NH Climate Health Action Talk
April, 2024
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NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action’s 3rd Earth Day!
This Month’s Events
Climate and Health Survey
Highlight Resources
Earth Day Bimonthly Challenge
Corporate Sponsors
NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action’s 3rd Earth Day!
Since the summer of 2021, NH HWCA has been dedicated to education and advocacy efforts focused on the health impacts of climate change on New Hampshire communities. In just a short time, we've made impressive progress. In the last year alone, NH HWCA has advanced significantly in addressing the intersection of climate and children's health—a cause close to the hearts of many individuals with children or grandchildren.
As we emerge from New Hampshire's warmest winter on record, the urgency of addressing the impact of climate change on our daily lives has never been clearer. We invite you to join us as a member of NH HWCA and pledge your support to this critical cause. Your membership not only strengthens our credibility with funders, affiliates, and policymakers but also demonstrates to the community our commitment as a coalition of dedicated healthcare workers who are driving real change in New Hampshire. The more members we have, the louder our collective voice becomes. And with a stronger voice, we can better empower healthcare professionals as climate catalysts and bolster resilience against the effects of climate change statewide.
For as little as $10, you can lend your voice and support to this crucial work. Visit our website today to become a member and join us in our goal of keeping Granite Staters safe in a warming climate. Members will also receive an exclusive invitation to our annual in-person meeting, where you can help shape the future direction of our organization.
Join NH HWCA today and stand with us as we work towards a healthier, more sustainable future for all. Thank you for making our work possible.
This Month’s Events
NH Audubon and the Climate and Health Initiative for Caregivers and Kids (CHICKs) are partnering to host a climate café for parents on Sunday, April 28th at 10 AM at the McLane Center in Concord.
Climate cafés are facilitated, small-group gatherings where participants are provided with a safe space to share their thoughts and emotions around the threat posed by global warming. This event will uniquely focus on the mental health of parents, who are presented with the burden of raising their children in the shadow of an uncertain and dangerous climate. The café is an opportunity to meet and connect with other local parents who are concerned about the impact of climate change.
The event will be co-facilitated by Maria Finnegan and Michelle Wagner. Ms. Finnegan is the Director of CHICKs with NH HWCA, where she leads the organization’s work around the physical and mental health impacts of climate change on children and caregivers. Ms. Wagner is a mental health educator and advocate here in New Hampshire.
Registration is required for this event. If you sign up and are unable to attend, please let organizers know so that we can let others in from the waitlist.
Say hello to members of NH HWCA at the following Earth Day in-person events: The Keene State College Fair on April 19th, Monadnock Food Co-op 2024 Earth Festival on April 20th, and the Plymouth State Earth Jam on April 20th.
The Rochester Child Care Center Earth Month celebration is taking place on April 23rd from 10-12pm at the Rochester Child Care Center in Rochester, New Hampshire, for children enrolled in the program. It be a fun morning of play and learning, with the ultimate goal of connecting children with the natural world by combining nature-based programming with elements of the CHICKs curriculum. Our hope is that these children will begin to recognize the role we all play in ensuring the future health of our planet, and continue to develop their own relationship with nature. We are very excited that Representative Chris Pappas is planning to be in attendance.
Join us for, “What we learned from COVID 19 about the indoor air environment, and how to use that knowledge to prepare for the future?” on Tuesday, April 23rd from 4:00 - 5:00 PM ET with Paul Bemis.
Last chance to take our Climate and Health Survey!
We are conducting this survey to learn what you as healthcare workers are currently observing in your offices, healthcare facilities or community as a result of climate change and to understand your concerns about future health impacts if the trajectory of climate change continues.
If you are a NH healthcare worker, please take our survey and share it with your networks.
Highlight Resources
Find highlighted resources for health professionals on this page of our website.
This features the 2024 Communicating on climate change and health toolkit from the World Health Organization, an American Nurses Association infographic, and more.
Earth Day Bimonthly Challenge
Earth Day is almost here! The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970. In 1969, Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin was horrified by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Taking inspiration from the passionate student-led anti-war movement of the 1960s, Senator Nelson came up with an idea of a teach-in on college campuses across the US and advertised this to the media. This caught on with a wide range of organizations and the name was changed from a “teach in” to the simple but apropos “Earth Day”.
Since that time we have celebrated Earth Day every year. With this in mind I want to suggest the following for our April NH CHAT Challenge: Plant a native plant in your yard.
Planting a native plant will ensure the survival of our local wildlife. Two good resources to get you going are: Landscaping with Native Plants, and Recommended Flowering Plants and Groundcovers for Wildlife.
You can get many of these plants from your local gardening center.
There are tons of plants that are native to NH and great for planting in our yards. The above resources mention plants as diverse as low and high bush blueberry, Solomon’s seal, elderberry, columbine, wild yellow lily, winter berry, New England aster and many others. Since I am reading “Bicycling with Butterflies” by Sara Dykman, I will tell you about four of the many types of Milkweed that we can plant in our yards here in NH.
As you probably know, milkweed is the only plant that Monarch butterflies can lay their eggs on, so they are critical in the life cycle of this beautiful insect. The Common Milkweed plant is, well, common here in NH. It is easy to grow and is host to over 450 species of wildlife that feed on it. That’s just awesome! The Butterfly Weed is another milkweed species that is particularly good for dry sandy soils, is drought tolerant and likes full sun. Poke Milkweed likes partial shade and moist rich soil. The Swamp Milkweed as its name implies likes to be in wet areas near a backyard pond or small stream. If you want to develop a real passion for Milkweed as well as Monarchs, relax with “Bicycling with Butterflies” when you are done planting your native plant. In the book, Ms. Dykman will take you with her on a bike ride across Mexico and the US following the migrating Monarch’s as they go on their quest to find Milkweed to lay their eggs on.
Yours Truly,
Dr. Darla Thyng
Rethinking, Refusing, Reusing and Recycling.
Thank you as well to the corporate sponsors of NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action, sponsoring this issue of the NH CHAT.
