ASK THE DOCTOR: The Last Straw
It can be hard to believe that we have any power to change the course of climate change.
Each time I get one of those soggy paper straws with my smoothie, I am reminded why we love plastic so much. How can it make any difference to use just one plastic straw? Maybe it cannot. But during this Plastic-Free July (plasticfreejuly.org), consider the simple drinking straw. In itself, it is a small thing. Created for our convenience, it sure makes it nice to sip your drink.
Much of what makes society productive and comfortable was born for our convenience. Refrigeration and Ziploc bags allowed us to store food without salting and curing, canning and drying. Sliced bread and lunch meats in plastic wraps reduce the time it takes to make lunch — no baking the bread or raising the pig or chicken.
Airplanes zip us quickly from place to place — on a whim for an adventure or to visit distant relatives, or for jobs and work — dumping tons of carbon into the atmosphere. When my grandmother immigrated to Canada from Europe at the age of 19, she got on a boat, said goodbye to her family, knowing full well it was unlikely she would ever see them again, and spent weeks traveling. Not terribly convenient or comfortable.
I grew up in Wisconsin and for some time thought cheese came in single plastic-wrapped slices. A grade school field trip to the cheese factory in Coon Valley showed me otherwise. Who knew you could get cheese so varied and fresh? Cool Whip turned out not to be the only way to scoop whipped cream onto strawberries. Don’t even get me started on Cheez Whiz.
Many now begin to see processed and ultraprocessed foods as a health concern. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, that is a sensible discussion. Convenience is, well, convenient, but there’s a downside and a cost for everything — climate change, for example.
The World Health Organization reported that pollution from factories and cars caused about 42 million excess deaths worldwide in 2019. Here in Humboldt County, we have some of the cleanest air in the world, scrubbed by the Pacific. We do not suffer from extreme heat (though a few hotter days would be nice now and again, and we don’t have to go far inland to bask in 100 degrees during our 54-degree summers). People who move here for the beauty and temperate climate may be surprised by the cost of living and poor access to primary medical care and other unexpected downsides to life in Humboldt.
Besides pollution and heat, climate change results in increased infection rates and changes in how infections spread. Flooding and tainted water sources challenge modern life with outbreaks of diseases and shortages of potable water. The emotional and psychological toll on people who go through epic storms, wildfires and other climate-related disasters is a worldwide concern. Such events lead people to flee to other countries.
Whatever the cause of their migration, refugees are often unwelcome. Although there is plenty of food in the world, political and social instability are often barriers to distribution of resources. Shortages of food, health care and other essentials can lead to desperation, unrest, conflict and violence.
The health effects of climate change are felt most severely by children, pregnant women and older adults. Infant brain development is impacted by pollutants, hunger and extreme stress. Ironically, our amazing medical advancements and technologies contribute to climate challenges. One example: between 2014-2024, metered-dose inhalers like albuterol increased carbon emissions in the U.S. alone by about 25 million tons. Newer HFA inhalers (hydrofluoroalkane) were thought to be an improvement, but they contribute to increased trapping of heat in the atmosphere — as bad as a whole lot of automobiles. The biologics many of us inject have been a great advance in treatment of autoimmune diseases and some cancers, but I cringe at the pile of plastic that accumulates from these shots, not to mention their Styrofoam packaging.
How do we balance convenience and life-improving or life-saving advances with protecting the overall health of our habitat? Modern life has created separation between humans and nature, and we forget that we actually live in nature. It is our home.
As a physician, I see the climate crisis as the biggest threat to public health we have ever faced. As a citizen, I watch people looking for ways to be healthier through supplements or fad diets or the advice of the latest social influencers, but not listening to scientists who have studied climate and health for decades. I don’t know about plastic straws and their impact — how many plastic straws are in the massive 618,000-square-mile Great Pacific Garbage Patch swirling around between California and Hawaii? — but they are a reminder of conveniences that don’t pan out so well in the long run.
Think of this next time you try to take a walk outside on a day when cars are dusted with wildfire ash, and your lungs are burning, too. We should remember the simple plastic straw, and keep telling our elected officials to pay attention to climate concerns or be voted out of office. It isn’t sensible to keep doing things exactly the same way. Our lives depend on taking better care of our home.
Dr. Jennifer Heidmann is chief medical officer at Redwood Coast PACE (707-443-9747) at the Humboldt Senior Resource Center. This column should not be taken as medical advice. Ask your medical provider if you have health questions. Send comments to SN@humsenior.org.
