Earth Day 2011: A Billion Acts of Green

On April 22, 2011, we celebrate Earth Day, of which this year's theme is "A Billion Acts of Green." The idea behind this theme is to mobilize people to accomplish one billion acts of environmental service around the world.
 
Sometimes I ask myself, “How can I, as just one person, impact the world?” As creatures of habit, we often follow a daily routine that we execute without much thought. As I considered my contribution to Earth Day this year, I decided to write down everything I did for a day. The results were shocking! From brushing my teeth with the water running to buying coffee in disposable cups, I found much room for improvement. 
 
My husband and I are diligent recyclers, but what about our unused electronics, appliances and cell phones? This year, my husband and I committed ourselves to donating at least 50 used cell phones to an initiative that supports vulnerable populations. We’ve chosen to donate phones to a project led by IntraHealth International in partnership with Hope Phones and Medic Mobile. This initiative provides mobile phones to African health workers who offer maternal and child health services, including obstetric consultations, safe deliveries, family planning, and malaria and HIV prevention and treatment.
 
IntraHealth International reports: “The critical global shortage of more than four million health workers means those health workers in place are playing an increasingly important role in meeting the health needs of their communities. Health workers, especially those in remote areas, equipped with mobile phones can transmit and receive up-to-the-minute health information that can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency, improving the overall quality, effectiveness and impact of health care in underserved locations.”
 
Modern mobile devices, in addition to functioning as telephones, can support text messaging, email, internet use, and multimedia messaging. Within the reproductive health field, organizations are collaborating on Mobile Health (mHealth) efforts to reach community workers on the ground in an effort to support positive health outcomes. 
The Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs recently published a mHealth eToolkit. This toolkit provides clarity around mHealth and how mHealth technology can fit within current health systems in developing countries. 
 
In keeping with this year's Earth Day theme of "A Billion Acts of Green," I challenge you to make one minor change in your daily schedule that could make a huge impact for the future!
 
 
Ashley Isabelle Spence is a Communications Coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs (CCP) and works on the K4Health Project, which is funded by USAID and implemented by CCP, FHI, and Management Sciences for Health (MSH). 
 
-          For more information about Hope Phones, IntraHealth, and Medic Mobile Collaborate on Phone Donation, please visit http://www.intrahealth.org/page/hope-phones1
-          Campaign to Support Health Workers in Africa
-          For more information about this year’s Earth Day theme, please visit http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2011
-          For information about the K4health Project, please visit /
-          Photo retrieved on 4/20 from Photoshare. http://tiny.cc/g1a2x