By Sarah Nance
Madison Magazine
Special To Channel 3000

These days, everything -- from the car you drive, to the electricity you use, to the toilet paper you buy -- can be green. Madison is embracing the green movement from interior decorating to environmentally friendly clothing to free trade chocolates.

It seems a little strange, then, that it took so long to realize that our bodies -- from attitudes we hold and the medicines we put in them -- can be green, too.

"We (have) increased our consciousness of how our lifestyles and behavior affect the planet and how the health of the planet affects human health," says David Rakel, Director of Integrative Medicine at UW Health. "As healthcare providers, we make conscious choices within healthcare."

A search for greener medical practices is not just limited to hospitals or the ER, says Michael Hernke, a research fellow at the Wisconsin School of Business who has done research on ecological business cycles and green product design. Hernke says the green medicine movement aims to help people to see ways they can stop harming the environment by changing the ways they think about everything from business to healthcare.

"Essentially [the green medicine movement] says, 'Here are the basic ways we can stop messing up as a community,'" Hernke says. "It provides for preventative thinking, a precautionary approach for living one's life, to doing business, to healthcare."

Where Environment Meets Health

The wellbeing of the environment affects humans in ways many people overlook, says Rakel.

"We're trying to bring awareness of how global health relates to human health," he says, such as how global warming might lead to the spread of infectious disease, or how we can reduce our toxic impact on the environment.

According to "Green Medicine: A Primer," a paper co-authored by Hernke, more than 82,000 chemicals documented under the EPA Toxic Substances and Control act have been developed, used and discarded in the environment within the last fifty years. The majority of those chemicals have not been tested for potential disastrous toxicity in humans, animals or other natural life.

"You've got to be careful about things you invent, create and let loose in the environment," Hernke says, noting that the green medicine movement is not anti-chemical or anti-technology, but rather tries to increase awareness of what the effects of chemical waste and toxins on the environment may be.

Increased awareness about the effects of chemical waste and toxins on the environment is becoming a top priority in the medical field, according to Rakel.

"(We) are trying to incorporate [green techniques] into our daily practice," Rakel says. "That might mean we use healthcare products that don't increase medical waste."

One major step forward for green medicine in Madison was the "Green Medicine: Healthy People, Healthy Planet" conference, which took place in April at the Monona Terrace.

According to Rakel, the conference focused on the physical impact of the environment on human health, pertaining to issues such as global warming and toxicity.

To continue reading, visit MadisonMagazine.