Female leaders play a critical role in helping to end global poverty. Emphasizing the need for equity, education and improved health care services, these women have used their minds and resources as means for bettering the conditions of the world. Here is a list of 10 women who have helped fight global poverty.
Michelle Obama
Recognizing the necessity of educating girls and women around the world, Michelle Obama has continually advocated on behalf of the world’s poor. Citing education as a leading contributor to fighting global poverty, Michelle Obama has suggested that, by giving girls and women access to schooling, global poverty can be ended. In 2016, she launched a Twitter campaign entitled #62milliongirls, seeking to raise awareness regarding the number of women who remain uneducated. That year, with funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, she announced plans to provide $100 million for education efforts. Her efforts to emphasize education have managed to hinder the perpetuity of poverty throughout the world.
Angela Merkel
The current chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel provided Global Citizens with a straightforward message prior to the G20 Summit. She stated that the G20 group of major economies has “a shared responsibility to enable people worldwide to live in dignity.” Suggesting that the interconnectivity of the world established through the Internet and economy links people now more than ever, she emphasized sustainability and development. Merkel has established an ongoing desire to reduce poverty and conflict by teaming up with African nations to create stability. When she was declared Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2015, one of the main reasons cited was her tremendous generosity with refugees, having provided one million with refuge.
J. K. Rowling
Another of the most influential women who have helped fight global poverty is J. K. Rowling. She is a tremendous advocate on behalf of the world’s orphans, demanding that they receive more help than they were once provided. The author of the Harry Potter series established the Lumos Foundation, which works to help millions of children worldwide to regain their right to a family in the face of poverty, disability and minority status.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey does tremendous work for girls globally. Like Michelle Obama, Oprah values the role of education in improving women’s quality of life. As a result, she has funded a number of organizations that seek to grant women additional rights worldwide, including Women for Women International and Girl Effect. Women for Women International has assisted over 462,000 marginalized women in unstable, war-torn nations. Girl Effect prides itself on creating a new normal, where girls previously living in poverty are empowered through technology and safe spaces.
Melinda Gates
One of the two leaders of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates has made incredible strides toward ending global poverty. Emphasizing the need for quality healthcare and education in order to end poverty, Gates has used her organization to help provide children in poverty with exactly that. In particular, for many communities around the world, the Gates Foundation has provided financial tools to the poor, taught farmers how to increase production sustainability, helped women with family-planning, increased college completion rates and combatted infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV and polio.
Angelina Jolie
The recipient of the 2005 Global Humanitarian Action Award for her work with the U.N. Refugee Agency and refugees themselves, Angelina Jolie epitomizes global advocacy. Supporting 29 charities, including the Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan, the Clinton Global Initiative, Doctors Without Borders and the U.N. Millennium Project, Jolie has done unbelievable work in terms of ending global poverty. In 2016, Jolie worked to bring light to the ongoing need to help Syrian refugees.
Cindy Levin
Cindy Levin is another one of the most influential women who have helped fight global poverty. Seeking to engage children and stay-at-home parents in global child survival, she works to teach grassroots volunteers to fundraise through an organization known as RESULTS. In October of 2012, Levin traveled to Uganda with the U.N. Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign, personally meeting mothers living in poverty. On that journey, she accompanied UNICEF to health programs days, which provided vaccines and AIDS testing to people living in the area.
Ellen Gustafson
Sustainable food system activist, author, innovator and social entrepreneur Ellen Gustafson has given TED talks about the necessity of using food as a means for ending global poverty. The creator of the ChangeDinner campaign, she seeks to change the food systems at dinner tables and in schools around the world. She is now a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ertharin Cousin
The former executive director of the World Food Programme, Ertharin Cousin has been fighting global hunger since 2012. Using innovative tactics, Cousin implemented a program called “forecast-based financing.” The program utilized weather models to identify droughts prior to their occurrence in order to emphasize proactivity. Ultimately, the goal of this program was to enable countries to grow enough food before disaster hit, saving both money and lives.
Jacqueline Novogratz
Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and chief executive officer of an organization called Acumen. Acumen prioritizes the voices of the world’s poor, using them as a compass for eliminating poverty. By creating the organization, Novogratz helped make significant strides in emphasizing what the poor truly need.
Clearly, women who have helped fight global poverty play a large role in beginning to combat the issue. While male, female and gender non-binary leaders continue to contribute significantly, it is still incumbent upon governments to provide funds to help address the problem. Only by ensuring that each of these entities works in tandem can the world truly ensure that poverty comes to an end.
– Emily Chazen
Photo: Flickr
Heart Ailments Top List of Common Diseases in the Philippines
Heart ailments are still the most fatal and most common diseases in the Philippines, according to the country’s Department of Health.
Called the “silent epidemic” by former Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have topped the list of most common diseases in the Philippines over the past few years, responsible for 15 to 20% of reported deaths annually. In some years, these numbers are significantly higher. In 2012, the National Statistics Office reported that half of the country’s deaths stemmed from cardiovascular causes.
The most common of these ailments is coronary heart disease. Other heart ailments such as angina, atherosclerosis, hypertension and congenital heart disease have also been rampant among Filipinos.
Heart diseases can lead to other complications in vital organs, which makes the commonness of heart conditions alarming.
The Department of Health has estimated an increase in the number of kidney disease incidences from 10 to 15% annually starting in 2013. The trend coincides with increases in reported hypertension cases. Hypertensive patients are more likely to develop kidney complications.
Analysts trace the cause of these diseases to two main factors: growing urbanization and a general unawareness of public health issues. As cited in a 2015 study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, the quick development of high-paying industries and subsequent rapid economic growth have given Filipino consumers more purchasing power than ever before. Yet this growth has not always necessarily translated to a shift toward healthier options or awareness of healthier food alternatives. Fast food consumption is higher than ever before, with 25% a week according to Nielsen.
The Filipino government acknowledges the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases among the citizenry and has put in place several strategies and plans to combat the increase in cases. The Health Department has begun its efforts to remove CVDs from the top of the list of the most common diseases in the Philippines by targeting the most basic of social groups, schools, as a starting point for training, research and propagating information regarding the possible consequences of unbalanced diets and unhealthy life choices. The agency hopes that the chances of Filipinos adopting high-risk behaviors and habits that lead to the development of cardiovascular diseases will be diminished by informing citizens in their early years.
Other Health Department actions include the continued development of a framework for an integrated chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) registry system, which enables patients to access government programs more easily and train national hospitals for its operation. It has also established a national coalition on the prevention and control of NCDs. Its future plan of action involves the full implementation of the integrated NCD registry system and the development of service packages for patients, among many others.
– Bella Suansing
Photo: Flickr
On Improving Water Quality in Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a European country with a population of over 7.1 million. There is a history of unsafe drinking water throughout the country. Bulgaria has imposed heavy monitoring and various bans to help improve the situation. While the water quality in Bulgaria hasn’t always been up to par with other nations around the world, the nation has made some positive gains over the last few years.
Despite having 60 rivers flowing through the country, Bulgaria’s freshwater sources are scarce. The largest river is the massive Danube River, which travels through much of Europe, flows through 470 kilometers of Bulgaria. Rivers provide a potential source of clean water that could improve the water quality for Bulgaria’s citizens and in the near future.
On top of some of the problems already present, drought has ravaged the country, and the demand for drinkable water has increased. Scientists have forecasted additional droughts in the coming summer. Additionally, multiple heat waves continue to hit Bulgaria as the summer progresses.
Many districts in Bulgaria have had ongoing issues with low-quality drinking water. In 2012, 18 of the 28 Bulgarian districts reported contaminated drinking water. Water quality continues to be the worst in the southern districts of the country, most notably the district of Pazardzhik. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2012 that the district was well over the set limit of multiple contaminants.
Since joining the European Union in 2007, the nation has issued bans for four sources of drinking water in Bulgaria due to poor water quality.
The future of Bulgaria depends on cleaning up rivers and waterways, as well as improving water retention. In addition, Bulgaria is working towards developing water treatment facilities around the country.
Water quality in Bulgaria varies throughout the country, but with proper infrastructure and treatment, there is potential for all of Bulgaria to have access to clean drinking water.
– Brendin Axtman
Photo: Flickr
10 Women Who Have Helped Fight Global Poverty
Female leaders play a critical role in helping to end global poverty. Emphasizing the need for equity, education and improved health care services, these women have used their minds and resources as means for bettering the conditions of the world. Here is a list of 10 women who have helped fight global poverty.
Michelle Obama
Recognizing the necessity of educating girls and women around the world, Michelle Obama has continually advocated on behalf of the world’s poor. Citing education as a leading contributor to fighting global poverty, Michelle Obama has suggested that, by giving girls and women access to schooling, global poverty can be ended. In 2016, she launched a Twitter campaign entitled #62milliongirls, seeking to raise awareness regarding the number of women who remain uneducated. That year, with funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, she announced plans to provide $100 million for education efforts. Her efforts to emphasize education have managed to hinder the perpetuity of poverty throughout the world.
Angela Merkel
The current chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel provided Global Citizens with a straightforward message prior to the G20 Summit. She stated that the G20 group of major economies has “a shared responsibility to enable people worldwide to live in dignity.” Suggesting that the interconnectivity of the world established through the Internet and economy links people now more than ever, she emphasized sustainability and development. Merkel has established an ongoing desire to reduce poverty and conflict by teaming up with African nations to create stability. When she was declared Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2015, one of the main reasons cited was her tremendous generosity with refugees, having provided one million with refuge.
J. K. Rowling
Another of the most influential women who have helped fight global poverty is J. K. Rowling. She is a tremendous advocate on behalf of the world’s orphans, demanding that they receive more help than they were once provided. The author of the Harry Potter series established the Lumos Foundation, which works to help millions of children worldwide to regain their right to a family in the face of poverty, disability and minority status.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey does tremendous work for girls globally. Like Michelle Obama, Oprah values the role of education in improving women’s quality of life. As a result, she has funded a number of organizations that seek to grant women additional rights worldwide, including Women for Women International and Girl Effect. Women for Women International has assisted over 462,000 marginalized women in unstable, war-torn nations. Girl Effect prides itself on creating a new normal, where girls previously living in poverty are empowered through technology and safe spaces.
Melinda Gates
One of the two leaders of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates has made incredible strides toward ending global poverty. Emphasizing the need for quality healthcare and education in order to end poverty, Gates has used her organization to help provide children in poverty with exactly that. In particular, for many communities around the world, the Gates Foundation has provided financial tools to the poor, taught farmers how to increase production sustainability, helped women with family-planning, increased college completion rates and combatted infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV and polio.
Angelina Jolie
The recipient of the 2005 Global Humanitarian Action Award for her work with the U.N. Refugee Agency and refugees themselves, Angelina Jolie epitomizes global advocacy. Supporting 29 charities, including the Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan, the Clinton Global Initiative, Doctors Without Borders and the U.N. Millennium Project, Jolie has done unbelievable work in terms of ending global poverty. In 2016, Jolie worked to bring light to the ongoing need to help Syrian refugees.
Cindy Levin
Cindy Levin is another one of the most influential women who have helped fight global poverty. Seeking to engage children and stay-at-home parents in global child survival, she works to teach grassroots volunteers to fundraise through an organization known as RESULTS. In October of 2012, Levin traveled to Uganda with the U.N. Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign, personally meeting mothers living in poverty. On that journey, she accompanied UNICEF to health programs days, which provided vaccines and AIDS testing to people living in the area.
Ellen Gustafson
Sustainable food system activist, author, innovator and social entrepreneur Ellen Gustafson has given TED talks about the necessity of using food as a means for ending global poverty. The creator of the ChangeDinner campaign, she seeks to change the food systems at dinner tables and in schools around the world. She is now a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ertharin Cousin
The former executive director of the World Food Programme, Ertharin Cousin has been fighting global hunger since 2012. Using innovative tactics, Cousin implemented a program called “forecast-based financing.” The program utilized weather models to identify droughts prior to their occurrence in order to emphasize proactivity. Ultimately, the goal of this program was to enable countries to grow enough food before disaster hit, saving both money and lives.
Jacqueline Novogratz
Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and chief executive officer of an organization called Acumen. Acumen prioritizes the voices of the world’s poor, using them as a compass for eliminating poverty. By creating the organization, Novogratz helped make significant strides in emphasizing what the poor truly need.
Clearly, women who have helped fight global poverty play a large role in beginning to combat the issue. While male, female and gender non-binary leaders continue to contribute significantly, it is still incumbent upon governments to provide funds to help address the problem. Only by ensuring that each of these entities works in tandem can the world truly ensure that poverty comes to an end.
– Emily Chazen
Photo: Flickr
Fighting Non-Communicable Diseases in Brunei
Brunei is an incredibly small country that shares borders with Indonesia and Borneo. Some of the top diseases in Brunei include various cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases. These non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a widespread issue for countries in The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN focuses on improving political and international economic relations to improve the stability of Southeast Asia. Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Brunei comprise the organization.
Brunei’s Ministry of Health is working to promote the prevention and treatment of these diseases. The ministry is concerned because the prevalence of these NCDs has paralleled the economic growth of ASEAN countries. Consequently, they called a meeting in 2013 with the health sector of ASEAN. Together, the two groups established goals that will attempt to control NCDs in the region by 2025.
For 30 years, NCDs have been among the most common diseases in Brunei and have been the leading cause of death. The government launched the Brunei Darussalam National Multisectoral Action Plan, which is working towards reducing NCD mortality rates by 18% by 2018. This is part of the larger goal to reduce mortality rates from NCDs by 25% before 2025.
This action plan includes five main goals to combat common diseases in Brunei. They aim to reduce tobacco use, promote healthy diets, increase physical activity, identify at-risk individuals and improve NCD treatment. With these goals in place, Brunei expects to see a reduction in the rate of diabetes by 1 percent before 2018. Diabetes is a major issue in Brunei, where 62% of people are overweight.
These programs have been successful thus far. The World Health Organization (WHO) created the NCDs Progress Monitor to track the progress of ASEAN countries. According to the WHO, Brunei has made the most progress in terms of fighting NCDs out of all ASEAN countries. The WHO has highlighted Brunei’s progress in particular areas, including drug and alcohol counseling, tobacco usage warnings and public awareness programs.
Although there is still potential for further progress, this report from the WHO indicates that Brunei is moving in the right direction to combat NCDs.
Photo: Flickr
Top Diseases in Belarus
Ischemic heart disease is the most prevalent disease and has risen almost 9 percent in the last decade. Males are more likely to have heart disease later in life than females. Cerebrovascular disease has also maintained its position over the decade as the second-most prevalent diseases. However, it has seen a decrease of just about 5 percent over the last decade.
Belarus has the highest mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases in Europe. There are other countries around Europe where the impact of heart disease is much lower. Places like Norway, France and the Netherlands all have relatively low rates of heart disease. Studying healthcare and government initiatives of these countries could help Belarus fight these disease on the home front.
Since 1983, cardiac rehabilitation has been routinely used by doctors in Belarus after a cardiac event. In 2016, 53 percent of patients underwent rehab to strengthen their heart back to working condition. The opportunity to monitor patients and control the rehab process with newer technology is working to bring people back to healthy lives after a cardiac event.
More of the top 10 diseases in Belarus include three different types of cancers. Lung cancer is the only cancer that is in the top five. The other two types of cancer are colorectal and stomach cancer.
Alzheimer’s disease saw an increase of 37 percent over the last decade and jumped from eighth on the list up to fourth.
The main risk factors for the top diseases in Belarus include diet, high blood pressure, alcohol and drug abuse and smoking. Many of these risk factors can be controlled with preventative measures. Controlling even a few of these risk factors could drastically reduce the number of cases of heart disease and cancers.
Belarus is still feeling the effects of communist rule under which healthcare was severely neglected. However, there is a very large number of doctors, about 42,000, relative to the size of the population. There is also emergency care available. The country has 834 hospitals and more than 100,000 beds.
The top diseases in Belarus are similar to the rest of the world, with heart disease as the leading cause of death. Focusing on controlling risk factors and increasing preventative care could help to decrease the prevalence of these diseases and increase the life expectancy for Belarusians.
– Brendin Axtman
Photo: Flickr
A Brief Guide to Activism on YouTube
Most of the millennial generation might remember the splash that “Kony 2012” made on the Internet, a video about Joseph Kony forcing child soldiers to fight his wars for him in Uganda. Regardless of the resulting conduct of the filmmaker, the film was a digital phenomenon, shared from every social media platform known at the time. There’s no mistaking the amount of awareness that the video generated. Kony 2012 was one of the first and most viral examples of activism on YouTube.
While bingeing on Netflix or finding the latest funny videos on YouTube can waste the day away, platforms such as YouTube also provide a unique space for creativity, art and passion that can easily be tied to activism and global issues. Whether it is a specific person or an organization, a YouTube channel can be the means to a movement. Below are some channels to get started with bineging on activism on YouTube:
While this is certainly not a comprehensive list, this list provides a basic starting point for seeing what activism on YouTube has to offer. Social media is a major part of life in modern society, and these channels have used it to make a change.
– Ellie Ray
Photo: Flickr
Understanding the Main Causes of Poverty in Timor-Leste
After almost three decades of Indonesian occupation, Timor-Leste gained its independence in 2002. The widespread violence during the years of occupation has taken its toll, however, and, since independence, the nation has striven to rebuild. Despite these efforts, Timor-Leste remains one of the world’s poorest nations, with an estimated 42 percent of the population living in poverty. Before investigating methods by which this issue can be alleviated, it is important to understand the main causes of poverty in Timor-Leste.
As a young nation with limited resources, assistance from the developed world is critical to progress in Timor-Leste. Increased foreign aid, focused on the primary causes of poverty in the country, will be a strong starting point to enabling a stable economic future for Timor-Leste.
– Gavin Callander
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Refugees in Singapore
In recent history, Singapore has had a complicated relationship with refugees. Having been burned once before, Singapore now routinely turns away refugees with the intention of turning the responsibility over to a third party. But should they be doing more to help? Here to help you decide are ten facts about refugees in Singapore:
– Audrey Palzkill
Photo: Flickr
Fighting the Top Diseases in Zambia Through Collaboration
In Zambia, located east of Angola and south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis have the highest incidence rates. The risk for infectious diseases in Zambia, as with many Southern African nations, is particularly high. Here are the most common diseases in Zambia:
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus transmitted through certain bodily fluids that weakens or destroys the immune system’s cells. If not started on antiretroviral treatment (ART), HIV can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)— the most advanced phase of the HIV infection.HIV/AIDS afflicts a large proportion of the Zambian population. In 2015, the adult prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS was the seventh-highest in the world, with an estimated 13 percent of Zambian adults aged 15-49 being HIV-positive.In 2016, the Zambian government partnered with the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to deliver anti-retroviral therapy to 693,599 Zambians. The partnership will also supply 2.7 million Zambians with HIV counseling and testing, support voluntary medical male circumcision and offer supportive care services to 366,447 Zambian youth affected by HIV/AIDS.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease transmitted through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria can be prevented with interventions, such as indoor insecticide spraying and insecticide-treated mosquito nets and treated with anti-malarial drugs.Each year, malaria affects more than four million Zambians and is responsible for nearly 8,000 deaths. Pregnant women and children under the age of five are the most vulnerable groups, with malaria being the cause of 35 to 50 percent of under-five mortality and 20 percent of maternal mortality.Zambia is a member state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Malaria Elimination (E8), a regional alliance of eight Southern African nations committed to malaria elimination in Southern Africa by 2021. Recent interventions, including the distribution of more than 1.8 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets, indoor insecticide spraying programs and mass antimalarial drug administration have assisted Zambia in reaching its elimination targets.“The [Southern] province has done extremely well in the malaria elimination agenda. We are talking about zero mortality rate and single-digit malaria cases in most of the districts,” said Zambian health minister Chitalu Chilufya in an interview with Zambia Daily Mail on June 12, 2017.
Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne bacterial disease that primarily affects the lungs. Most cases of TB can be treated with a course of antibiotics.Annually, an estimated 50,000 cases are identified in Zambia and about 5,000 deaths are attributable to TB. HIV-positive individuals are at higher risk than the general population for developing TB; in 2013, an estimated 50 to 70 percent of Zambian TB patients were coinfected with HIV.An initiative for a 75 percent reduction in TB-related deaths among HIV-positive individuals by 2012 was included in the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS (UNAIDS).“It is unacceptable that so many people living with HIV die from tuberculosis, and that most are undiagnosed or untreated,” UNAIDS Director Michel Sidibé said. “Only by stepping up collaboration between HIV and tuberculosis programs to accelerate joint action can the world reach its critical HIV and tuberculosis targets.”
HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB incidences are concentrated in the world’s poorest populations. Limited resources, deficient transportation and sanitation infrastructures and a number of other issues accelerate transmission and the severity of diseases in Zambia.
Recently, the Zambian government unveiled its 7 National Development Plan (7NDP), 2017–2021, which addresses the need for community-based preventive health services and new programs for prevention and reduction of diseases in Zambia. The plan proposes a conceptual framework to transition from sector-specific to multi-sector health intervention programs, which address the non-biological determinants of public health (e.g., water and sanitation, nutrition, education, household income and road infrastructure).
With the addition of new, multi-sectoral development programs for infectious disease control and reduction, the government anticipates declining incidences of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB in Zambia.
– Gabrielle Doran
Photo: Flickr
Superb Water Quality in Italy Still Needs Improvements
Italians, the descendants of the water-savvy and water-loving Romans, still maintain a potable supply of drinking water today. Overall, the water quality in Italy is excellent. Italy’s drinking water is safe to drink and widely available, with public fountains running fresh drinking water throughout many major cities.
These fountains, called “nasoni,” which means “big noses” in Italian, provide high-quality and free drinking water in cities like Rome and Florence for locals and tourists alike. Florence regulates its water with a strict code of 61 parameters. Florentine officials examine the chemicals in the water and its microbiology using these parameters to ensure potability.
Both rural and urban populations in Italy have 100 percent access to improved water sources, making water quality in Italy superb, even better than the United States, which comes in at 99 percent access to improved water sources.
Although all Italians have access to improved water sources, the water quality in Italy does vary slightly by city. Naples, for example, has lower quality water than most other major Italian cities. The water in Naples “may be safe to drink” according to a tourist water safety website. However, strains of local E. coli are present within Naples’ tap water. Locals are accustomed to these strains of E. coli, but tourists and other visitors are not. Therefore, the water is safe for locals, but visitors require a transition period in order to drink the water without experiencing unpleasant after-effects, such as diarrhea.
The inferiority of Naples’ drinking water compared to other Italian cities could be due to the toxic waste and immense pollution in Naples. Some claim that the mafia dumped hazardous industrial waste on agricultural lands outside of Naples, creating pollution problems. More obvious pollutants are the immense piles of garbage lining the streets of Naples and the litter on its surrounding farmlands.
Although pollution threatens health and safety standards in Naples, the city fights against it by cleaning up dirtied areas and installing spaces for outdoor recreation. By 2014, the city of Naples created a larger beachfront for pedestrian use and a bicycle lane lining its coast. Additionally, large portions of Naples’ bay have been cleaned, allowing for swimmers to retake the water.
Decreasing pollution creates tangibly increased standards of health and safety, including better water quality in Italy. Additionally, reigning in pollution increases the quality of living for residents of a city, as it provides greener and more appealing outdoor spaces, encouraging physical activity for its residents.
– Mary Kate Luft
Photo: Flickr