This is Alisha again - I wrote a previous blog called "Making Changes."  I was able to attend this workshop called "Creating and Using Active Public Spaces," which was about using outdoor public spaces to make your community healthier.  The keynote speaker, Gil (Guillermo) Penalosa, is originally from Bogota, Colombia. He is passionate about improving quality of life through the promotion of walking and bicycling in parks, trails, and other public spaces to have a healthier, happier community.  Gil led his team to design and build over 200 parks in Bogota, of which the best known is Simon Bolivar Park (360 hectares).  He says 1.5 million people come out to walk, run, skate, and bike in that park. Click here to see some pictures and information about Simon Bolivar Park. 

Gil Penalosa is now executive director of the Canadian non-profit Walk & Bike for Life and a successful worldwide speaker.  From the presentation and workshops, I got ideas on on how to create a better community, improve my personal and the public's health, and help enhance our transportation systems to provide a clean environment.

I also attended a workshop called "Thriving in Motion" by Dr. Betty Kung, a physician from Redwood City Kaiser Permanente.  In the workshop, Dr. Kung discussed what you can do to be healthy through normal, everyday physical activity and the importance of environments that support these activities.  Exercising helps with prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, obesity, and premature death.  The part I liked most is that Dr. Kung believes strongly in preventive care and in the health basics - proper nutrition, exercise, rest, and striving for balance between mind and body. 

Please tune back next time, as I will be talking more about Gil Penalosa and a video about World Health Day in 2010.  See you then!

On November 2, 2009 Collective Roots, Conexions, and the San Mateo Public Library hosted a panel discussion and introduced the movie Fresh.  Collective Roots is a non-profit organization, which focuses on improving health aspects in the community. The panel discussion took place in San Mateo at the library. It was nice to see Collective Roots go outside the community and try to make a difference. 

The main focus of the movie was the food system, the importance of fresh foods and how every community should have access to quality food. People spoke about their personal actions, what they do and what communities can do to get fresh, local food for themselves and their families.

The panel consisted of Pietro Parravano (moderator), Jennifer Gross, Robin Galas, Jered Lawson, Gail Raabe, and me, Janae. I had a wonderful experience hearing the other panelists' opinion. I, being the youngest panelist, was very nervous because of the other individuals and all the experience and knowledge they held; but they immediately made me feel comfortable and welcome. I am very grateful for the experience. I thank Collective Roots for all their efforts and hard work. 

Please take the time to visit the website for Collective Roots and add yourself to their monthly newsletter called The Root of the Matter.  The newsletter includes what is happening during the month and how YOU can get involved! 

Would you like to watch a trailer of the movie Fresh? There is a website for that too! Go to www.freshthemovie.com and watch it for yourself. You will not regret it! 

Jenny here again and with something very interesting.  Check out this link to a video on YouTube.  In the video, people make the stairs to the subway into a piano.  Yes, a piano.  Crazy, right? 

By Melissa

Each day, the air quality in San Mateo County changes both in healthy and unhealthy ways, depending on how much people drive their cars. The San Mateo County website commute.org provides commuters with opportunities to ride public transit all over the county for free.  Check it out - you might be able to take a free shuttle to school or work. 

Having clean air keeps us healthy, but polluted air negatively affects our health.  In my opinion, during these past few weeks, the air in San Mateo County has been more polluted than ever.  Many people don’t realize it but they are hurting themselves by driving cars, trucks, or other mobile transportation that emit hazardous chemicals in the environment. By using these modes of transportation, pollution is being spread through the air.

Some health risks associated with air pollution are asthma and cancer. Pollutants in the air can trigger an asthma attack in children. Cancer risks in San Mateo County are due to the many pollutants in the air such asbenzene and ethylene dibromide.  By just inhaling these pollutants, people have a higher risk of getting cancer.

Instead of hurting our environment and ourselves, we can change this by taking simple actions that are more beneficial. Some practices that people can add to their every day lives are walking, biking, or carpooling with others for transportation.  There are also programs such as Spare the Air Day, where Bay Area residents are encouraged to carpool, bike, and use public transportation in order to reduce the amount of pollutants put out into the air by driving automobiles.  By participating in this, we as a community can improve our own health by just helping to improve the quality of our air.