In this article, the author talks about a chimney sweep--also called a "sweep"--which inspects chimneys as well as cleans them. Some inspections are for a specific purpose, such as home appraisal, but most precede cleaning. Chimney cleaning requires a certain level of dexterity, because the job includes a lot of climbing, squatting, kneeling, and…

Phosphorus (P) is the limiting nutrient controlling productivity in most inland freshwater systems. Several materials have been proposed for use to remove excess P from wastewater treatment, including volcanic lapilli and ash (tephra). There is limited data in using tephra as a P filter. There were two objectives of this study: (1) to determine…

Much like unpalatable foods, filthy restrooms, and bloody wounds, moral transgressions are often described as "disgusting." This linguistic similarity suggests that there is a link between moral disgust and more rudimentary forms of disgust associated with toxicity and disease. Critics have argued, however, that such references are purely…

The restroom, and what goes on in there, are subjects that cause many people discomfort or embarrassment. However, washrooms do not always receive the attention they require. Their design may be an afterthought. Cleaning and maintenance schedules may not be sufficient to get rid of grime and unpleasant odors. In schools, where hundreds of students…

Providing food safety training to a diverse workforce brings with it opportunities and challenges that must be addressed. The study reported here provides evidence for benefits of using visual-based tools for food safety training when educating immigrant, Hispanic foodservice workers with no or minimal English language skills. Using visual tools…

Asking parents about their top priority when choosing a child care program, most will say their child's health and safety. Children thrive in safe, healthy, and loving environments that help them learn about themselves and the world around them; a place where they can exercise their curiosity and explore without being exposed to danger or health…

While one cannot control the water chemistry, he/she can control personal hygiene and facility cleanliness. Giardia and cryptosporidium (crypto) are only two of the many recreational water illnesses (RWIs) that can turn happy swim memories into serious illness situations. In this article, the author discusses three factors that determine how…

The process of finding inspiration for a class project is fascinating and intriguing. In this article, the author describes a class project inspired by the gyre, a widespread circulating rotation or vortex of ocean currents, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This particular gyre is the location of an enormous floating mass of garbage,…

Geology is increasingly involved in the planning and implementation of community development projects throughout the globe. A partnership among the Water For Life organization, Wheaton College in Illinois, and the village of Tushile in Kosovo during the past few years has proven to be successful in potentially sustainable improvements, including…

A training video was produced and evaluated to assess its impact on the food safety knowledge of agricultural workers. Increasing food safety knowledge on the farm may help to improve the safety of fresh produce. Surveys were used to measure workers' food safety knowledge before and after viewing the video. Focus groups were used to determine…

Objective: To assess whether there was an improvement in the knowledge, attitudes and practices of students after the Healthy Eyes in Schools Project intervention and to complete a process evaluation to inform future implementation of health promotion interventions. Design: A descriptive, mixed-methods design was used, including questionnaires and…

This project explores the beliefs and perspectives of urban adults and youth regarding community violence prevention strategies and identifies points of overlap and differences of opinion that can contribute to the development of successful youth violence prevention programs. We coded transcript data from adults and 10-16-year-old youth from the…

The social purposes of education are long term and oriented towards the construction and maintenance of a sustainable future. This article focuses on developing-country contexts with relatively low formal school enrolment rates, where dropout and failure rates are alarming, and where many children leave school semi-literate, soon to relapse into…

Much criticism exists concerning a lack of focus on real-world problem-solving in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) infrastructures. Many of these critics say that current educational infrastructures are incapable in preparing future scientists and engineers to solve the complex and multidisciplinary problems this society…

This study aimed to understand the environmental knowledge (EK) of the residents of Hong Kong. A territory-wide survey was administered to investigate the subjective and objective EK of the respondents as well as their means of receiving information about the environment. The results indicated that Hong Kong's residents have a comparatively low…