Environmental Justice at CHC

Climate action is critical to achieving health equity.

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Environmental Justice at CHC

Did you know that people of color and people with low incomes are more likely to live in polluted areas and have unsafe drinking water? Environmental pollutants can cause health problems like respiratory diseases, heart disease, and some types of cancer, among other ill effects. Children and pregnant women are at greater risk of health problems related to pollution.

Environmental Justice

To address these health disparities, CHC believes it is critical to focus on Environmental Justice to ensure all communities have access to nutritious foods, safe drinking water, clean air and green spaces.

Environmental Justice (EJ) – Fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.

Action at CHC

CHC is championing efforts to create more green spaces, improve efficiency, reduce pollution, and eliminate single-use plastics in exchange for eco-friendly materials.

These are some of the initiatives we’re working on:

Developing green spaces like the rooftop gardens at our Middletown and Stamford health centers, greenhouses at John Barry Elementary School in Meriden, Pulaski Middle School in New Britain and Joseph Melillo Middle School in East Haven, and gardens in New London and Hartford
Supporting the Middletown garden club and our school-based garden club to address food insecurity and nutrition in our communities
Switching from plastic toothbrushes to bamboo in our dental clinics and reducing the use of plastic when possible in other ways
Composting waste at our Middletown health center
Distributing stainless steel reusable straws to staff and community members
Promoting sustainable practices across our organization and in our communities

The Environmental Action Task Force, an employee resource group at CHC, spearheads many of these initiatives and works to spread awareness and inspire efforts to protect the health of people and the environment at CHC’s health centers and in the surrounding communities.

CHC has replaced plastic toothbrushes with ecological bamboo toothbrushes in our Dental offices.

Our friends at the Middletown Garden Club and MARC Community Resources plant and harvest nutritious fruits and vegetables in our rooftop garden beds.