Kathleen's Environmental Health Blog

Population explosion refers to populations that continue to grow more quickly than the environment has resources to support. It’s part of an intersectional issue of the need to provide comprehensive care (particularly family planning services) to families around the world. Promoting women’s health and education regarding their choices and their options is deeply important, and again, is an intersectional issue regarding environmental justice, racial justice, and gender justice. Better education and access regarding birth control, as well as more opportunities for women to obtain education and employment, particularly in developing countries, could help reduce the population stress on the environment.

My definition of environmental health has been largely shaped by my experience of living in Malawi and working on the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) team in a refugee camp with Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). Prior to working with JRS on WASH, I mostly linked the environment to mental health – and the ways in which being outside positively impacts mental health. Through these modules and my WASH experience, I’m reminded that it is so much more – and that health is deeply intertwined with water, waste management, air quality, etc. and how many disparities there are in health due to environment.